Cabinet design...

I was given the opportunity to design and build a pair of cabinets recently. The design of the individual cabinets is very similar and this process exercises my skills at producing more than one piece of studio furniture at a time. The cabinets are destined for different locations and will be slightly different in the outside graphics of the side panels and doors. The other elements of each cabinet are fairly similar in many respects. The dimensions of each of the cabinets is both based on my earlier work and the size of the woods I have available for the components of each cabinet. I have not decide on the interior layout yet, although I have something in mind.

The availability of the woods to be able to create these cabinets is an important consideration for me since it can be somewhat of a limiting factor in the dimensions of the cabinet. In this case the limiting factor is the side panel width and the door widths. The side panels will be veneered inside and out since I plan to use highly figured ambrosia maple on the outside and lighter soft maple on the insides of these panels. Likewise for the doors of the cabinets. I like to have a seamless expanse of wood on both the outside of the side panels and the door fronts therefore the width of ambrosia maple I have limits these widths, although I do have fairly wide ambrosia maple planks on hand.

The drawing illustrates the basic design of the cabinet with overall dimensions specified. The depth of the cabinet is another consideration in the design. I need to have a minimum depth to introduce stability into the cabinet design, in this case I have decided on a 12 inch depth for the cabinet itself. The cabinet stand will be slightly deeper but not noticeably.... this to provide a smooth transition from the upper cabinet down to the cabinet stand.