Looking for Design ideas, sort of Cupboard-like

[Bill Holt]

I like the direction you have chosen.

[C. in Indy]

Thank you!   It may not finally suit the original room of intent, but it will be going *somewhere* in the house eventually.

I got the 4 stretchers into a miter-box and put 45-degree cuts on the ends of the tenons, so everything could fit together.  Then it definitely looked too bulky.  I thought I would further taper the legs before reducing any of the stretcher-lengths or leg-lengths.   My hand rip-saw is really better on hardwood than on poplar, so I just ended up using my first-ever (2009) home-built jack/scrub plane to lighten the legs.  Partly inspired by the example cabinet in the prior postings, I decided to have some tapering-from-vertical on all 16 of the leg surfaces.   This is a work in progress.

In the process I could see the laminated poplars were "down on the corner, starting to unwind", so I did additional truing on them.  A great stress-buster.  Only a small percentage of the shavings are in the picture.

The cardboard box which was hanging around the basement was already a pretty neat size-estimator.  Then I turned it on its side so I could envision cabinet-doors!  Great fun on a rainy morning.  The rest of the weekend will be shot on other stuff.

   

Happy Woodworking,
Chris

[hbmcc]

  Great fun on a rainy morning.  The rest of the weekend will be shot on other stuff.

That piece looks pretty cool.... 

I on the other hand have weather of the opposite, crappy, sort, and need to get out and attack the yard jungle. Ugh!

[C. in Indy]

Ol' "Tortoise Boy" continues thinking about the job.

The 3/4-hp, 11-inch bandsaw was busy yesterday resawing a number of pieces to stretch those board-feet.  Here, I have taped some yet-to-be-planed ash samples on the cardboard, to mull it over:

   


I've got some old pine (or other SPF) reclaimed posts which plane up pretty nice after resawing... I counted past 30 rings per inch at the central area of the board.  Too nice to just hide away, I think, so they'll likely be parts of the sides of the unit:

   


Happy Woodworking,
Chris

[C. in Indy]

I haven't had much shop time lately, but I was aiming to make a little progress this weekend.  It is still not a lot to look at, but the tasks of lumber planning and some repetitions of grooves and rabbets are getting off of the to-do list.  

I also toyed with a top-slab-surround 'border ring' which I started to full-dovetail.  But, in the end, there will be a knock-down aspect to this, so some screws will be used too....

   


Chris

[C. in Indy]

Another busy week kept me away from the shop most of the time.

Here's a pick-up on the work....


Using thru-dovetailed borders and veneered plywood, I had a Top piece which I could then lightly mortise.  No real load-bearing here; these are more for location accuracy on other pieces:

   


Here is the prettier side of the new Top, and a sort of a mockup jig to think more about proportions:

   


When the top is done, it will be a pretty comfy fit onto the base:

   


More later!
Have a great weekend,
Chris

[C. in Indy]

I now cut the hickory corner posts a couple of times with the miter box and I think I've got the size I'm after.   Nice to have it starting to stand without a bunch of clamps!

   

Chris

[Mike Brady]

Nice looking project, Chris.  Not sure how practical it is for the purpose, meaning: "how do you handle the routing of wiring with that large open space below the cabinet?"  Wireless speakers are here now.  The Sonos Beam is a good example.  Employing those into a design can literally "cut the cord" and avoid having to cope with concealing wiring.

[C. in Indy]

Hi Mike!

Your point about the cables is a good one!   As much as my day-job is about such things, I get exhausted thinking about those things at home.   The cabinet project is taking on some life of its own, and I'm just hoping "if you build it, they will come."   It may turn out to be more of a wine-cabinet than an entertainment cabinet, for example.

During a rainy Sunday I had planed down a lot of resawn boards, manually.   Then a bit of machine-rabbeting followed by manual clean-ups with a 140 plane.

So here is a visualization aid on how the tight-grained SPF sides will be.  I rabbeted them for lapping in the final assembly.   Also, this view shows just how ungainly the common poplar legs are; I will likely end up painting them black or almost black:

   


If the concept of lapped sides and strap hinges looks familiar... yes, I made a cabinet for mother-in-law doing the same things

From 2017:

   


- Chris

[C. in Indy]

I have been able to 90% lay-in the lapped cabinet sideboards... this may or may not have been my best idea, but it has certainly allowed me to use up a lot of tight-grained resawn wood.  The overall carcass has needed a number of small trims and adjustments, but generally is going to (mental) plan.

I am now mocking-up the front-door sizes in cardboard; the nice resawn Ash planks on the floor will be applied as those doors.

Again the photo shows the 4 legs to be mainly paint-grade poplar, which is what I'll do some time (brown or black range of color).

   


Chris