The Refined Edge

New designs...

2012-01-20T16:01:00.018-05:00

I've spent time recently sketching some new designs for furniture. What I like to do is put pencil
to paper and just let the creative juices flow. Ideas beget ideas and the iterative process of fleshing out an appealing furniture design begins. Some of these ideas will be technically challenging but I don't let these details get in the way of the initial sketching. The existing skill set of a furniture maker can influence the designs they create. I strive to avoid this influence and instead concentrate on the design aspect. The skills and knowledge needed can be seen as a challenge, but maybe this is what drives us to be better furniture makers. Staying in the comfort zone of creating work you are technically familiar can keep you from developing new skills and knowledge.

I'm not going to get into these particular designs as I have yet to draw them in both orthographic and perspective views. I'll pick and choose from the sketches and continue to render the designs into drawings. Of course, the material comes into play and this can influence the design somewhat. For example, if I intend to use wood with particular graphics on a cabinet door, the dimensions of the material (wood) can limit the size of the door(s) especially if the door is a frameless design. Door size then impacts the width and height of a cabinet.

This brings up the debate about beginning a design with particular wood(s) in mind or to focus purely on the design and worry about materials afterwards. In reality, it is a bit of both, I design with material in mind but somehow work the proportions of the furniture around the availability of this wood. The primary objective, however, is the implementation of the design. Substitute woods can always be acquired if necessary.

Once I've finalized the design(s), I move on to creating a maquette for each of the designs; the miniature renderings of the furniture. This part is actually fun and gives a better idea of the proportions and how the individual components of the furniture piece work with and are scaled to one another. In the end, the design of the furniture needs to be in harmony and balanced although not necessarily symmetric in form. With the price of wood nowadays, it becomes increasingly important to get these designs right.

Holiday writing...

2012-01-04T15:19:00.011-05:00

With the year end having just passed, I spent most of my free time writing. This is between dinners and family and friend get togethers. People I know were coming and going, leaving on trips... a nice time of year overall and an opportunity to catch up with friends. The writing I refer to is a highly detailed tutorial on building a display cabinet. In this tutorial I cover every aspect of designing and creating such a cabinet with all the techniques and knowledge I have accumulated. There is a considerable amount of photography and sequences in the tutorial. It is almost complete.. and I'm getting excited about getting it out there.

On another positive note, I read the economy is improving. I guess people are getting tired of all this recession talk. As all cyclical economies go, we might have crested bottom and be on an upturn. This bodes well for the woodworking community, tool makers, machinery makers and wood suppliers. I also see a continued movement towards hand tools, although it is tempered with a mix of both machinery and hand tools. The realization that using hand tools is very often not much slower than setting up a power tool is less and less of an impediment to hand tool use. Advantages such as no noise, no dust and the need for smaller workspaces make hand tool use more and more appealing in this new era of smaller homes, smaller budgets and more awareness of environmental concerns.

I also spent some time acquiring some interesting wood. I like to hand pick the boards I use in my furniture pieces and often seek out either clean, straight grained wood or wood with interesting graphics, figure, colors, and tones. It really depends on the application. In the past few years I tend to place more and more emphasis on the woods which will form the furniture as well as the design of the furniture piece.

I've been busy...

2011-12-07T14:13:00.007-05:00

I haven't abandoned my blog... just been very busy participating in exhibitions lately. Most of the work I have created recently was intended for these exhibitions so I'm not currently making much furniture to speak of. I like alternating between functional and non-functional work. The non-functional allows me to push the boundaries of my creativity as the work is more free-flowing and not restricted to formal designs. This particular work is primarily wall art as well as sculptural work. I can't decide which of these forms of art I prefer making :) Typically when I have a vision of a particular piece of art I attempt to create it within a short period of time so as not to lose the vision. Of course, I can work from sketches I have drawn but I need to seize the moment sometimes. I'm incorporating more curves in my sculptural work now as these sculptures evolve from my earlier work.

I'm also working with more colour in my wall art as I feel it brings out the beauty of the woods I use. I've been trying to work within a theme as much as possible.. for at least a few of my pieces. This makes the work more exciting to look at as opposed to a few random pieces of art assembled together. Since I am considered an emerging artist at this time, I'm still developing my style and voice. I can also get away with more experimentation. The exhibitions also allow me to meet many interesting people, artists who follow their passion. The talk is not of careers and money, but instead the love of creating art and objects of beauty and the pure enjoyment derived from this.

Sculptural art...

2011-10-23T21:23:00.016-04:00

If you have perused my web site, you've probably noticed I also create wood art in the form of sculptures and wall art. Since this form of art is not quite as technical as creating studio furniture.. I can express myself through the creation of this free-form wood art. This is often a welcome break from the structured process of creating studio furniture. Recently, I have had the need to create two sculptures which follow a theme. These particular sculptures are different from one another but are related as to the theme and vision I am trying to put forward. With their small size and minimal need for materials such as wood, sculptures instead allow me to focus instead on the art itself. I select wood which has interesting graphics and a cohesive grain pattern. The wood blanks are typically large in dimensions, allowing me ample material to sculpt the components of the sculpture. Often the sculpting process can be somewhat of a challenge when I use compound curves.

When I create sculptural work I usually start with a sketch and move on to creating the sculpture directly from the sketch. I don't bother with maquettes or mock ups since at least for me, the sculpture is not too far removed from a sketch. The proportions are not critical as with studio furniture, they need to instead work to represent the intended vision. Once I flesh out a design for a sculpture through a series of sketches, the fun begins. How to turn a sketch into a 3-D object. How to sculpt an object out of wood to represent an image without going overboard; without inserting too many elements into the design. The saying "less is more" often applies to sculptural work. How to create this sculptural work with minimal elements, only enough to put the image or vision forward. I often alternate between creating studio furniture and other forms of wood art, this keeps the monotony to a minimum and allows me to express myself with minimal structure and technical details... a very liberating feeling!

Cabinet...(almost done)

2011-09-15T21:42:00.021-04:00

I've often heard the last 5% of a build takes the longest to complete and I have to agree. I've slowly been applying finish to the now complete cabinet. Since my finishing process is classic thinned layers of shellac with subtle scraping between every few coats... it can become tedious. However, the beauty of the increasing lustre and the emphasized wood grain overcome the tedious process. The ambrosia maple is coming to life now and I am more than pleased with this selection of wood. Some other final adjustments and fitting have also been completed including the fastening system of the cabinet to the stand. Here I simply use a series of dowel pins which serve to both align the cabinet to the stand and to keep them attached together. This also allows the cabinet to be separated from the stand quite easily for movement of the cabinet. I install mechanical fasteners towards the end to combine the cabinet and stand into one unit once it is in its chosen spot.

The cherry is slowly becoming darker, which contrasts well with the cabinet. At this time I am installing the unobtrusive small latch for the right hand door. This will keep the door closed against the small door stop I had previously installed. The contrasting maple interior and ambrosia exterior of the cabinet is a nice touch, something I had never done before. The pale maple interior helps to naturally light the interior. The different interior and exterior woods also remove any monotony which might occur with too much of the same wood.

The interior of the cabinet harmonizes with the top and bottom panels leaving the exterior doors, side panels and back to flaunt the wild and colorful ambrosia graphics. With the doors open, the book-matched ambrosia back panels come to life with the surrounding maple. The cherry drawer fronts harmonize with the stand although the darkening of the cherry will occur at different rates but eventually fairly well match. Next I continue to apply finish with much lighter coats with scraping and polishing afterwards. Some shots of the fairly complete cabinet to the left and above. You can see larger, more detailed images by double-clicking any of these smaller photos. On another note, the crisp fall weather is in the air.. they're calling for some frost overnight. It was hot here only a few days ago.

Cabinet stand...(completed)

2011-09-06T11:26:00.016-04:00

When I last left off I was continuing work on the components of the cabinet stand. As discussed earlier I decided to lighten the upper rails and instead use smaller stretchers and rails towards the lower part of the stand. This effectively maintains the strength of the stand while reducing the size of the horizontal components of the stand. Since the stretchers are fairly small in dimension I decided to use dowels to attach the stretchers to the legs and to the lower shorter rails. The criticality of getting the measurements right cannot be stressed when creating these components. They need to fit together in unison at the time of gluing so dry-fitting becomes important. This I did. I also make sure to place a slight clamping force against each of the joints to reproduce the tightness of a normally clamped joint.

Transferring the upper spacing to the lower stretchers of the stand involves the use of large squares. The squares are used to confirm that all the lower components of the stand are perfectly perpendicular to each other. Once I have the top of the stand clamped I can begin to mark and measure the lower stretchers. The lower rails, on the other hand, are effectively the same length as the upper rails so this is not an issue. Once the components are cut I mark out the dowel holes and transfer these markings to the legs.

The criticality of all the dimensions for the stand are important since this particular design needs to be exactly the same in width and depth as the actual cabinet. Therefore, the leg dimensions need to be subtracted from the rail lengths. This is another step where some clamping pressure is necessary to reproduce the final tensioned assembly. In these photos, I have the components laid out, then the stand is clamped using fairly lightweight clamps to eliminate the introduction of any unnecessary tension in the stand while it is being clamped. I had earlier assembled and glued the sides of the cabinet stand first to minimize the craziness of clamping many components simultaneously. Those of you that have done this can relate. The cabinet stand is now complete and ready for finishing. I have confirmed the dimensions are correct and it is so nice when this works out well. The cherry is a light pink color now but while slowly become darker as the days go by, aging to that beautiful cherry color we are familiar with. This provides a great contrast to the lighter cabinet above.

Cabinet stand...(cont'd)

2011-08-31T21:18:00.012-04:00

I've been working on the joinery for the upper rails of the cabinet stand. There aren't too many option for joinery for this cabinet stand since the stand is supporting the weight of the cabinet as opposed to coffee table legs for example. I decided on conventional mortise and tenon joinery since it is time proven and has the benefit of being a strong, mechanical joint and capable of any racking forces. My procedure is to mark out the mortises in each of the legs. Each of the legs will have mortises in two adjacent faces to be able to join a short and long apron rail. I also select which side of the apron rails I want to face outward at this point as well as orienting the legs in their most aesthetically pleasing faces.

The mortises are offset from the top of the legs some distance to maintain sufficient solid wood between the end of the tenon and the top of the leg. To offset the resulting, shorter tenon I offset the bottom of the tenon a smaller distance to the bottom of the apron rails. This allows for a wider tenon than if I had made the tenon symmetrical. I typically rough cut the tenons slightly larger than the mortise and then trim them to fit tightly into its mating mortise. Measuring and marking cannot be stressed enough for this operation, the final dimensions of the stand need to be exactly the same as the bottom of the cabinet in my design. The tenons of two adjoining apron rails meet in each of the legs at a right angle. To accommodate this within the mortise housing I saw a 45 degree angle out of each of the tenon ends. The result is two of the rails meeting at 90 degrees within the mortise housing.

The markings for these cuts can be seen in the top photo. In the bottom photo, I test fit all the tenons and mortises and can now proceed to the next phase of creating the bottom stretchers for the cabinet stand. I also have not cut the legs down to their final length quite yet, I will also be doing this next once I decide on a final height for the cabinet.

Cabinet stand...

2011-08-28T17:52:00.011-04:00

I have begun to work on the cherry stand for the ambrosia maple cabinet in the past few days. This involves preparing all the components of the stand. I usually cut some blanks or components from one cherry plank and let the smaller blanks acclimatize and settle down over a period of a few days. This allow any hidden tension in the wood to be released. Over this time, I slowly dimension these wood blanks down to very close to their final dimensions. Another reason for sawing all the components for the cabinet stand is to maintain colour consistency throughout. Although the cabinet stand will be in cherry, black cherry varies considerably from tree to tree in colour and tone. This cabinet stand design calls for a set of upper rails mortised into the legs. If I chose to have these upper rails as the sole cross-support for the stand, they would need to be fairly wide and the aesthetics of this do not please me.

Rather than this, I have decided on narrower top apron rails and move some support to the bottom of the stand in the form of stretchers instead. The aesthetics of this are more pleasing to me, very much like dividing the load at the top and bottom of the cabinet stand.The leg dimensions remain the same, instead I divide the original upper rails into two components per rail and use the narrower component at the bottom of the stand. The strength and integrity of the cabinet stand should be maintained with this design along with more pleasing aesthetics, and more subtle, smaller components.

The leg blanks are cut to exhibit a rift-sawn pattern. This ensure that each face of each leg displays straight grain instead of a cathedral type grain pattern. I carefully marked out a large cherry plank to be able to accomplish this. The inner core of the plank will be used for the top and bottom rails. Since the plank was thicker than 8/4, I am therfore able to cut the rail pieces on edge therefore ensuring a quarter-sawn appearance. This ensure straight, consistent grain throughout. In the photos, I outline the grain pattern I will be using. Next, I will continue to prepare the stand components down to their final dimensions and then mark and cut the joinery for the stand. I should have the stand assembled within the next two to three days.

Drawer pulls...(cont'd)

2011-08-17T19:16:00.012-04:00

After a few days delay I continued the shaping process for the pulls and fitted them to each of the drawers as well as the right-hand door of the cabinet. To maintain consistency and harmony I oriented the pulls in the same way, with the lighter color at the right of the drawers. Locating the pull mortises is an important step since the pulls need to be located similarly on the drawer fronts or it would be kind of obvious something maybe went wrong. At least this is my thinking. I carefully marked the mortises and checked their locations with the drawers in their respective drawer compartments. The pulls fit into the mortises with a snug fit as this is my goal.

Afterwards, I fitted the remaining pull to the right-hand door of the cabinet. To get away from absolute symmetry and to make more of the door graphics visible when looking down, I located the door pull slightly lower than center. After installing this door pull, I feel I have succeeded in this effect. A single door pull confirms that it is the right-hand door that needs to be opened first, as the door lip orientation demands this. Having a single door pull also creates a cleaner cabinet front and evokes uniqueness, mystery and a non-conforming design, since the large majority of cabinets in existence have two pulls. Next, I continue scraping the interior to a point where I can begin applying finish. As well, I need to create an edge treatment at the front of the tops and bottom of the cabinet. I had purposely left this until now in case I needed to perform any trimming of the front of the top and bottom. The edge treatment will be a small chamfer which is continuous with the sides of the cabinet. Any trimming is better determined with the doors in place.

Drawer pulls...

2011-08-09T19:53:00.011-04:00

I've been working on the drawer pulls since my last post. This involves designing the pulls, selecting the preferred wood to use for the pulls, deciding on a size for the pulls, laying out the pulls, and shaping them. I have to admit this is one of my most enjoyable processes. Pulls often add considerably to a cabinet both in aesthetics and design. The pulls are often a draw to the cabinet if they complement the cabinet yet impart a unique addition to the cabinet. The pull design I came up with is a rectangular one with a tenon extending out. The pulls are of mixed cocobolo so both heartwood and sapwood create a nice contrast in colors. The tenon has shoulders on four sides to overlay the drawer front. This tenon fits into a matching mortise in the drawer front. The mortise is marked and created using hand tools, namely small chisels.

Creating the tenon is meticulous work and I used a small, fine saw to delineate the tenon from the actual pull area. Once this is done, I use a skew rabbet block plane and some small chisels to shape the sides of the tenon. The important part of this sequence is to accurately mark the mortise to fit the tenon. A mistake here could ruin the drawer front or involve a re-design of the pulls to correct the error. The tenons of the drawer pulls fit tightly into the mortise and then glued in. I also take some time to orient the drawer pull graphics and orientation to match each other.

After completing and installing the three drawers pulls I proceeded to the right hand door of the cabinet. This door pull is similar to the drawer pulls to maintain harmony in the design. This design involves one pull on this door to distinguish this door as the one to open first. I've always liked the idea of having a single pull on the cabinet front, it just looks like a clean, minimalist design. This door pull is also slightly offset towards the bottom of the door to minimize any impact it might have on the door graphics as more of the door graphics are now visible above the door pull.

Drawer bottoms...

2011-08-07T19:52:00.009-04:00

Creating and fitting the drawer bottoms was the last step for me in the drawer creation process for the cabinet. The conventional approach for installing drawer bottoms is to create a groove in each of the sides as well as in the drawer front. These grooves are carefully marked to maintain enough material below the groove while keeping the groove itself as low in the drawer as possible. Another consideration in the location of these grooves is to not affect the dovetail joint, or at least the visible part of the joint. Once this is performed I needed to create the drawer bottoms.

The drawer bottoms fit into the grooves in the sides and drawer front. The drawer bottom is accurately fitted so the grain orientation is from front to back. This allows the drawer bottom to remain tight in the grooves and instead any movement is directed towards the back of the drawer bottom. The thickness of the drawer bottoms is another consideration. I wanted to maintain strength in the bottom but at the same time make the bottoms fit into the narrow grooves. This is accomplished by rabbeting the drawer bottoms to fit the grooves while the rest of the drawer bottom remains thicker, in this case a little over 1/8 inch thicker. The rabbets are also created while maintaining a small reveal in the two sides and the drawer front. This can be seen in the above photo. The drawer bottoms are now strong, fit tightly, are replaceable, and are pinned to the back of the drawer. The drawer bottoms are loosely pinned to the drawer backs to allow for wood movement.

Next I will continue to fine tune the fit of the drawers into their respective drawer compartments and then I will create and fit the drawer pulls.

Drawer fitting...

2011-08-04T22:43:00.008-04:00

I completed the dovetails for each of the three drawers and began the meticulous work of assembling the drawers and fitting them to their respective compartments in the cabinet. Sometimes when I begin to saw and carve out dovetail joints I can go on and on, it is such a peaceful and fulfilling process. I never tire of staring at very good, tight dovetail joints. A few of the steps involved in assembling and fitting drawers are fitting the drawer sides to the drawer fronts. The sides need to be square to the fronts in two planes.

I created rabbets in each of the drawer sides as well as the fronts of each drawer. The back of the drawer has an opening which allows me to slide a custom fit drawer bottom in and pin it to the drawer back. This is a time-proven technique which allows me to replace the drawer bottom if necessary at some point in the future. It also allows for wood movement as the drawer bottom grain orientation is front to back and such is not placing any undue stress on the drawer itself.

The fitting procedure is a bit time-consuming as this is part of the process and a necessary one. I have a couple of the drawer dimensions ever so slightly oversize to allow me to tune the fit to the compartment. Better slightly oversized than undersized. I handplane the sides down to fit the compartment and lightly trim the top and bottom as well. One of the drawers to the right has a lower lip which also needs to be tune to the bottom drawer top, to create a minimal gap yet provide an allowance for wood movement. The drawer bottoms, which I have yet to create, will have rabbeted sides to fit the drawer grooves. This allows me to maintain a thicker drawer bottom yet rabbeted to fir the sides and front of the drawer. I'll continue on with this procedure and begin to give thought to the drawer pulls.

Dovetails..

2011-08-01T09:00:00.004-04:00

In the last post I had designed and created the three drawer compartments. Since then I have cut the parts for the individual drawers and begun the process of dovetailing the fronts to the sides of the drawers. Fitting of the drawers into their respective compartments can be a time-consuming process. Instead, by carefully measuring the parts to more precisely fit the compartments, much of the final fitting is reduced. This is my approach, I mark and measure precisely and then lay out the dovetails.

In this case I went a step further by creating a test joint using similar components as the actual drawers. I do this for a couple of reasons. One is to determine the best dovetail placement and spacing and secondly to prepare the two marking gauges and the divider I use to mark and create the dovetails. The dovetails are of the half-blind type, referring to the fact that the tails are hidden or set back in the pins. This type of dovetail hides the joint from the drawer front face and is more elegant than through dovetails.

Creating dovetails is an enjoyable process and a few precision tools are involved: different sizes of chisels, a fine dovetail saw, marking tools, a small block plane, etc. In one case, a drawer has a small lip overhanging the drawer divider so there is more of a challenge with this particular one.
There is little to no margin for error as the joints need to be perfectly fit. The pin marking need to be offset from the bottom by the width of the overhang or lip. I make most of the adjustments of the dovetail joints within the hidden part of the joint.In the photo you can see one complete drawer, a smaller test drawer and the components of another drawer being prepared.

Drawer compartments...

2011-07-21T10:05:00.006-04:00

After tossing around different designs for the interior of the cabinet I decided on one particular layout. I had used this layout on a previous cabinet and like it. What I like most about it is that the drawers and compartments are equally divided between the left and right side of the cabinet. I can open the right hand door and have access to two drawers and the shelf above it. This cabinet is primarily designed as a showcase cabinet and I would imagine it to be used to display art objects, small sculptures, etc. With this in mind, I want to leave as much room above the drawers as possible, or maximize the open height of the interior of the cabinet.

The drawer compartments are pegged to the cabinet interior which ensures they will move with temperature and humidity variations. Since the cabinet sides, top and bottom panels are veneered they will hardly be any wood movement with these panels. The drawer compartments however are of solid wood and it is expected they move with the seasons. My approach is to simply peg them into the cabinet, attached at single points. This technique has worked well for me in the past, essentially separating the interior compartments from the exterior carcase.The top drawer on the right hand side will have a lower lip to overhang the drawer divider. The drawer fronts will be of cherry and dovetailed to the sides.

I just want to mention that the drawer openings need to be perfectly, or close to perfectly accurate in height and width. As well, these drawer openings need to be completely rectangular to be able to have the drawers fit well. I take extra time to ensure these parameters are met.

Door fitting...

2011-07-18T17:00:00.010-04:00

I left off with having completed the mortises for the knife hinges, both in the cabinet doors and in the cabinet itself. The fit is very good with a consistent reveal all around the doors and from the cabinet sides. There are many variables with fitting the doors at the center where a lip and rabbet meet, so I usually just take these measurements after the doors are hung correctly. I had left some extra solid wood along the inside edges of both cabinet doors specifically to be able to shape them into a rabbet and lip. The lip will be on the right hand door as is fairly standard and the rabbet on the left hand door. The lip and rabbet combination work really well at keeping the gap between the doors closed as well as providing a stop for the right hand door.

In the upper photo I am creating a rabbet on the left hand door. I use a skew rabbet plane for this and it works very well in this application. There is a fence on this type of block plane which allows me to set the depth of the rabbet. I began by marking the center at which both doors meet and using that point as the center of the rabbet and lip joint. I typically work one door, mount it and then measure the opposite door. This process is repeated a few times to get everything just right.

The photo at the left shows the completed joint after some final tuning to allow for a small amount of door movement. I can't stress enough to plan before making any cuts, especially when creating knife hinges and fitting doors. Mistakes are all to easy to make and extremely difficult to undo. Not that I've ever made any, ha...

Next I develop a design for the interior compartments and drawers. I have had a design in mind and I'm going to pursue this. Once the compartments are laid out I can begin to plan the drawers. I'll be cutting up some maple for this part in the next day.

Knife hinges...(cont'd)

2011-07-13T19:54:00.013-04:00

Most recently, I've been working at creating the mortises for the doors. Accurate measurements are critical for this fitting and I typically measure and re-measure before even beginning to chisel out the knife hinge mortises. I dry fit the cabinet sides, top and bottom and then use a spacer I created as part of the fitting process to transfer the hinge mounting offset to the top and bottom panel. This is the offset from the side panels to the hinge in the door. As well, I transfer the length of the hinge in the door panels to the top and bottom.

Once I have this particular measurement marked out on the cabinet top and bottom for both doors I can use the hinge itself to mark the opposite, parallel side of the mortise. A short time later and the mortises are completed in the top and bottom panels. The next critical test is dry fitting the door panels and knife hinges into the cabinet. This part is successful. I have left a little extra in each door panel where they meet in the center to allow me to fit them so the rabbeted ledges will meet correctly.

I'm also very happy with the choice of graphics in the ambrosia maple veneers I have chosen. I need to perform some final fitting of the mortises, very small adjustments in the hinge placement withing the mortise itself. I had purposely left the length of the cabinet mortises a fraction of an inch short so I can dial in the placement of the doors. The very small reveal at the top and bottom of the doors needs to be perfectly parallel with the respective cabinet top and bottom panels. Once I have this done I will begin the cabinet glue up process.

Knife hinges...

2011-07-10T16:44:00.014-04:00

After the doors are fitted into the cabinet opening the next step is to layout and create the hinge mortises for the knife hinge pairs. Each door has one pair of knife hinges as they come in pairs. I use spacers and my small adjustable square to make certain the doors are spaced uniformly from the cabinet case. This is important as the door reveal all around needs to be uniform. After the hinges mortises are marked the process of creating the recesses is accomplished with a set of sharp chisels and a small mallet.

Once the hinges mortises have been created on the doors, the hinge markings are transferred from the doors to the cabinet to maintain accuracy.I do this with the use of a spacer. The spacer allows me to maintain the same reveal of the door from the cabinet sides. Creating the hinge mortises with hand tools is somewhat of a pleasant task although it can take a while. Care needs to be exercised with grain orientation as the grain is reversed depending on which corner of the cabinet is being mortised. I use both chisel bevel down and back down orientation to remove waste from the hinge.

The outline of the hinge and its offset from the edge of the cabinet and doors is fairly important, I usually mark this with a sharp knife, then with a wide chisel define the mortise using these fine knife markings. Once this is accomplished, removing material from the recess is fairly foolproof. I remove wood from the hinge recess in stages, exercising care not to go too deep in one pass of the chisel. To the left, a photo of the completed knife hinge mortise on a door, one of four to be completed.

Preliminary fitting...

2011-07-05T13:58:00.008-04:00

When I last left off, I had trimmed and prepared the panels for the cabinets. With this task complete, the next step is to test fit the side panels to the tops and bottoms. I use a few loose dowels to assemble the panels together, just enough to keep everything rigid and square. I need to perform this step to both fit the back panel correctly and to fit the front doors.

The front doors need to be fit accurately as the knife hinges I am using do not allow much of a tolerance in the gap between the top, bottom and door. I am liberal with the use of blue tape to hold the doors together. This also gives me the opportunity to confirm that the grain orientation and the graphics of the doors are in harmony with the rest of the cabinet. The veneered top and bottom panels provided me the opportunity to make them thicker and in my opinion this adds to the aesthetic of the cabinet in a positive way. I feel good about this design and the proportions...the ratio of height to width I have chosen. I did work with limitations however... namely the available widths of the veneers I had resawn. I can now proceed with marking the knife hinge mortises and then begin the hinge installation process.

I've been away from this cabinet build for a while and hope to catch up quickly now. I've been working on a new endeavor http://www.woodskills.com/ and this has been somewhat time consuming but very enjoyable to me.

Dynamic design...

2011-03-21T05:15:00.004-04:00

Over the past two years,I have come to use a new term in my design philosophy. The term, "dynamic design", allows me to modify a design to adapt to circumstances, for either technical considerations, or for purely aesthetic reasons. This is a term I have coined to describe how design doesn't necessarily need to be cast in stone but instead can be modified as a project progresses. The changes I refer to can be either subtle changes or large scale changes. One of the meanings for the word "dynamic" from the American Heritage Dictionary.

dy·nam·ic - Characterized by continuous change, activity, or progress.

As my wood art or studio furniture is being handcrafted, sometimes the design I originally envisioned can be improved at different stages, or the original design can remain as is. Having this flexibility provides a continuous excitement for the wood artist or studio furniture maker along with the benefit of improvising on the original design after seeing the wood art at various intermediary stages. An excellent example is the hall table design in my previous posts. I had chosen to invert the base of the table for both aesthetic and technical reasons. Not to say the original design of the maquette would not have worked, inverting it just simplifies a design dilemma for me and introduces a new aesthetic to the piece. After creating the maquette, I realize I needed to have a fairly stable, strong sub-base to be able to support the V-shaped arch, whereas inverting the base utilizes the points of the arches as legs. Often, we become fixated on a particular design and don't bother seeking out alternatives which often stare us right in the face.

Case in point, I have been creating a new design for a smaller wood object, and as part of my philosophy I strive to use as many materials in my possession as possible, without continuously sourcing new material for the components. Working with material at hand sometimes limits what I can do, but on the other hand challenges me to work within certain constraints, in this case certain materials. So here I have an instance of what I like to call "dynamic design", sometimes the beauty of a design is also in its simplicity. Simplicity is one of the tenets of the minimalism philosophy. I have to admit that I am a fan of "minimalism", and have read one book on the subject so far. You tend to gain a different perspective on design after being exposed to the philosophy of minimalism.

Trimming...

2011-03-20T19:03:00.013-04:00

I have the panels for the two cabinets ready for trimming now. They have been hand planed and scraped to a polished texture. This is a step I like to complete before beginning the assembly process as it is much simpler with the panels separate. The individual panels are marked and stacked to correspond to one of the two cabinets. I also fit the stopped rabbet to the back edges of the side panels to confirm the depth of the rabbet on both the top, bottom and sides are uniform. Fitting is to confirm all the panels are square to each other and the side panels are correctly set back in the top and bottom panels.

This part is important to not have any problems with wind in the doors. If, for example, the front edge of one side panel is slightly deeper than the other side panel, the front doors will need to be skewed a little and this is something to avoid, unless absolutely necessary. In the photo at left I am trimming the front edge of this side panel to have it exactly as wide as the other side panel to avoid any issues with the front edge of the sides that meet the front doors not being coplanar. Next I re-assemble the cabinets and begin fitting the doors to the cases. You will notice I take precautions and always sticker all the panels to prevent any possibility of warping due to uneven exposure to ambient air.

Design update (1)...

2011-03-13T09:15:00.001-04:00

The design process is an iterative process, with multiples sketches, drawings and just going through the process of fleshing out a design. This design change is a little more subtle in that I am changing one of the dimensions of two cabinet components, namely the thickness of the top and bottom panels. Not a major design change per say but maybe an update... since the major proportions of the cabinets remain the same. Sometimes, at least in my experience, you need to actually be partway through a build to form a subjective opinion of where the project is heading. If a part of it isn't satisfactory to the makers taste, it doesn't make too much sense to continue and and be displeased with the results. I normally create a small maquette or mock up the design to get a better idea of the proportions, but I'm not sure it would have made a difference in this case. The change is subtle and might not be readily apparent on a smaller scale. To the left, this is how the cabinet appears with the new top and bottom panels and a door temporarily mounted.

I left off with having created new top and bottom panels for the cabinets. I haven't finalized the edge treatment I will be creating on these panels, although I am strongly leaning towards simply chamfering one edge of each surface, the edge adjacent to the side panels and doors. As well, I'll likely slightly round over the corners a little and trim back the front length of these panels once the doors have been marked and installed. To the left is another set of side panels and newly created top and bottom panels for the second cabinet... ready to go. I only use two dowel pins for test fitting,, and these are not very tight dowel pins at that. I don't want to enlarge the holes any more than necessary for this phase, since the hole diameters are fairly important to how the dowels capture the surrounding wood.

To the left the second cabinet with new top and bottom panels temporarily installed for fitting of the back panel. The back panel fit this second cabinet without any need for taking a shaving off here or there. I'll need to work on the surfaces of the top and bottom panels a little more now since the fitting is successful in both cases... to plane and scrape them to a reasonable state. Once I have done this, I'll begin to work on fitting the doors and installing knife hinges.

Design update...

2011-03-12T17:43:00.014-05:00

I wrote something about dynamic design once upon at time.. about how there is nothing wrong with changing a design mid-stream through a build..and I needed to invoke this recently. After some deliberation, I found the top and bottom panels of each the cabinets a little thin with not enough substance. I've grown to like thicker top and bottom panels in cabinets, it's just more pleasing to my eye and in a second opinion I received. What I therefore decided to do was to increase the thickness of the top and bottom panels. This involved re-creating the panels using a thicker substrate than the one I used previously. I selected some maple from which to resaw veneers, selected the solid wood edging and went through the methodical process of cutting and slicing everything to size as well as preparing the surfaces.

I had a concern about the dowel holes and getting them to line up exactly as on the original top and bottom panels. This was easily accomplished however, since the dowelling jig I used is fairly universal as long as the dimensions of the new panels match the former panels. Another concern I had with the original panels was since the depth was less, the dowels had considerable less wood to attach to, the thicker panels solved this dilemma if in fact it was even an issue.

The steps involved in re-creating these panels were somewhat lengthier than anticipated including the re-creation of the stopped rabbets for the back panels, preparing the veneers, joining them, etc. I am definitely pleased with the results however.. the panels turned out well. The deciding test was to see if the back panels fit the cabinets as they did with the previous top and bottom panels. and they did , flawlessly. I must be getting better at doing all this..

Back panels (1)...

2011-03-02T19:25:00.017-05:00

The creation of back panel continues... I spent considerable time fitting each of the stiles and rails as well as the individual panels for each of the cabinets. There is hardly any room for error here so this is time well spent. There are different design options for the frame and panel back panel, namely the orientation of the stiles and rails. I could have chosen to extend the rails from end to end and instead have three shorter stiles, but I decided on the longer stile option. Often, my choices in the design of cabinets and their individual components is determined by the wood I have available as well as aesthetic considerations. In this case, the short rails, longer stiles are an alternative approach.

The selection and orientation of the actual panels within the frames was interesting to say the least. I like many of the choices in graphics, each one presenting an exciting view of the fantastic ambrosia maple figure. Unfortunately, the lower section of the inside of each cabinet back panel will be obscured however as I intend to install a set of drawers.. to be decided soon. With this in mind, I selected a particular area of each of the panels to be visible. Each of the photos both represents a different cabinet and a different view of the cabinet. Nothing is glued at this point, all held together with clamps and tape. Next, I begin to create the interior layout for the drawers I will be installing. As well, I will be final trimming the front door panels and installing knife hinges. I'll also probably mock up some cardboard drawer fronts to get a better idea of the layout I feel is right for these cabinets, possibly each cabinet will have a slightly different drawer layout.

Back panels...

2011-03-01T19:20:00.007-05:00

In the photo at left, the doors for each of the cabinets are somewhat more trimmed than before and next need to be scraped. The capped outside edges are also visible in this photo. Moving on from the front of the cabinet... next I begin work on the frame and panel back. I milled the frame components, the rails, vertical stiles, center stile and created grooves in each of these components for the ambrosia maple panels. These panels will float within the frames. The frames are divided vertically to add rigidity to the back panel assembly and to create a more interesting aesthetic. I had the choice of dividing the frame horizontally but decided on this approach due to the limited widths of ambrosia maple I had available. I've also had success with this orientation in the past.

The frame itself is marginally larger than the recess at the back of the cabinet, this to allow for final trimming once the frame and panels are completely assembled and glued together for each of the cabinets. In the photo I mock up the frame and slip the panels underneath to get a better idea of how I want to orient the panels with each of the frames. I decided to work on one frame at a time to avoid any confusion and to be able to focus entirely on each frame and panel assembly.

I will be spending some time with this part of the cabinets as I want to be confident that everything fits just right and the panels with each of the frames are oriented to the best of my ability.

Capping the doors...

2011-03-01T19:06:00.011-05:00

To fulfill the desired seamless wraparound ambrosia maple aesthetic, I decided to cap the outside vertical edges of each set of doors. Carefully matching some narrow remnants of ambrosia maple to both the side panels and the respective doors for each cabinet, I think I succeeded in this endeavor. The cap edges are a little thicker and wider than necessary, but this is simply to allow for trimming with a hand plane afterwards.

Another reason for thinner cap edging is to not present a grain conflict with the door fronts. Thinner cap edging are not very noticeable from the front whereas they present a full graphic when viewing from the side of the cabinet. In the photo, I am judiciously hand planing the extra width I allowed for each of the cap edges. I use a smaller hand plane to allow me more control of the highs and lows of the cap edge without disturbing the front skin of the door.

The doors...

2011-02-27T18:15:00.010-05:00

Since I now have the cabinet case temporarily assembled I took the opportunity to create the door panels. The doors are also veneered both front and back, the front is ambrosia maple whereas the back is a soft maple which matches the interior of the cabinet. There are a few steps involved in veneering as I mentioned when I created the side panels, namely applying bake-ins to the substrate, levelling these bake-ins to match the level of the substrate and applying the veneers. Not quite so simple in reality though... the door panels need to be accurately measured to accommodate the bake-ins and the center part where the doors meet. There is an overlap here and it needs to be done correctly, hopefully I got it right.

Once the substrates are prepared and accurately measured, I spend a little time reviewing my choice of ambrosia veneers for the fronts of the doors. I place them in different orientations to confirm my original choice is correct, and if not change it around. This part is actually fun and I also managed to get a second opinion from someone else. Afterwards, some trimming of all the veneers to slightly overlap the substrates and off to the vacuum veneer press. A few hours later the first of the door panels is ready, aside from the next phase of trimming. At the very least I can begin to visualize how part of the cabinet will look like once completed. I'm confident I have the aesthetics right for each of the cabinets. I can safely say that a veneered cabinet can easily take twice the amount of work to create, in this case these cabinets are sort of hybrids, some solid panels, some veneered panels. You can see some of the tight curl exhibited in the front panels. It's kind of unusual to find figured wood with both interesting graphics and colours as well as other elements such as tight curl. The highly figured woods became veneers and in my small way I make very efficient use of some rare and not so rare woods by using them sparingly throughout the cabinet.

Test fitting...

2011-02-26T18:23:00.019-05:00

I spent some time creating the rabbets for the frame and panel backs. These rabbets run along the inside rear of the side panels as well as along the backs of the tops and bottoms for each of the cabinets. The rabbets for each of the tops and bottoms are stopped, this to create a rectangular recess in which to fit the frame and panel back. I typically use the router to create these rabbets and I need to square the ends of the stopped rabbets to fit the vertical rabbets which run in the side panels. A picture is worth a thousand words here and the picture at the left provides the best explanation for what I am accomplishing.

Once I have completed this I was anxious to test fit the components of each of the cabinets to physically see what the cabinet begins to look like. I assembled the sides and tops and bottoms for each of the cabinets carefully marking each component for both orientation and to associate the component with the correct cabinet. You can see I am a big believer in liberal use of markings. The issue isn't any confusion while one is in the studio but rather when one comes back after a day or two and then trying to remember which part goes where.

Everything is fine at this point and next I temporarily clamp each of the cabinet components together. This temporary clamped state will remain for a while as I now begin to take exact measurements for the next set of components. I begin with the cabinet doors. These doors will also be veneered and I need to determine the size of each of the substrates while allowing for bake-ins and top and bottom edging. I also need to allow for the door rabbets, the ingenious method of having cabinet doors close onto themselves through the use of a lip and rabbet. This temporary clamping also allows me to begin measuring the frame components for the frame and panel at the rear of each of the cabinets.

I also now have the opportunity to better match the ambrosia maple door fronts with the ambrosia side panels, while seeking continuity in grain, graphics and also colour variations. The top and bottom edge treatment I have not decided on yet, this will likely be a very small chamfer around the periphery of the cabinet. There is an alternative approach to all this.... to create the doors first and build the cabinet round the doors. I've never done it this way, but it's like any other process, a matter of becoming familiar with it...much like the tails vs. pins approach to dovetail joinery. Next I create the substrates for the veneered door panels.

Cabinet joinery...

2011-02-24T22:10:00.005-05:00

I tend to use dowel joinery for this type of cabinet. This is to allow for any overhang of the top and bottom of the cabinet over the sides. I'm also a close follower of Krenov principles of furniture design and construction and James Krenov was an advocate of this type of joinery for small cabinets. At first it can be intimidating to get all the dowel holes perfectly lined up on both the vertical sides and the horizontal tops and bottoms of the cabinets, but over time this process becomes less threatening and I should dare say enjoyable. As with most types of joinery, one needs to be extremely methodical, develop a process and be very liberal with developing a marking strategy for the individual components and their orientation. This combined with a good ruler, long straightedge and sharp pencil is all that is needed really.

In the photos I use a small jig I created for these cabinets to drill the dowel holes and transfer the same holes to both the sides and the top and bottom components. No problems were encountered but I needed to re-drill the holes in one side since the jig skewed a little on me, I did this after plugging a few of the holes. I have all the cabinet case components drilled and ready to go now and am currently creating the rabbets at the back of each of the cabinets to house the back panel. I also assembled the cabinet sides and top and bottoms to determine if everything is fitting well together as well as determining if the aesthetics of each cabinet is pleasing. I'm happy so far, I will be even happier once I create the doors and view them as part of the cabinet. My goal is to have visual cohesiveness of the side panels and the front doors for each of the cabinets.

Side panels done...

2011-02-22T19:33:00.013-05:00

I've gone ahead and applied the veneers to the side panels for both cabinets. The process I use for this is vacuum veneering. I used to use a large mechanical assembly with many vertical threaded rods and a series of horizontal cauls, but moved on to the vacuum press as it is somewhat more convenient and versatile. I still use the small mechanical press for very small flat veneer panel work, but the vacuum press excels at larger flat panels and curved veneering. It is important to mark and orient everything before correctly placing in the vacuum veneer press because once the glue is applied there is not much open time to sort things out. The process needs to be planned beforehand. The vacuum veneer press applies pressure uniformly so no worries about this aspect of veneering.

Once the veneering for each of the side panels was complete, I applied vertical ambrosia maple caps to the sides of each of the panels. They are a little fatter than the intended size and this is intentional to allow for trimming in both thickness and depth afterwards. I also orient the grain of each of these caps to follow the grain of the ambrosia and soft maple veneer, this makes life so much easier since any reversed grain issues are eliminated. After a little hand planing to bring the cap surfaces down to the level of the veneer, I scraped the complete surface of the front and back of these side panels. The ambrosia maple surfaces look seamless now and this is the ultimate goal. You can see the pink hues I was referring to earlier in this panel at the left. You can also see the layers and components which comprise these side panels; the substrate, veneers, bake-in, caps. The remaining operation for the side panels is to trim them in length, but I have yet to come to a decision on the exact length so they will remain a little long for a while. Next I am preparing the tops and bottoms for each of the cabinets.

Bake-ins...

2011-02-20T09:43:00.009-05:00

Strange title I agree.. Also known as solid wood edging for substrates. The name probably originates from the fact that the solid wood is baked or veneered in with the rest of the substrate. Provides a solid wood surface to attach another layer of hardwood edging to the edges of the substrates. This step is in preparation for the veneering to follow. I normally use a softer, inexpensive hardwood such as poplar but in this case have gone ahead and use some of the remaining wood strips from the ambrosia maple. Once the veneer sheets are applied to these baked in substrates I will cap the horizontal edges with narrow strips of ambrosia maple.

All this to provide a strong, flat seamless surface with the illusion that the panel is a solid board of hardwood. As I mentioned earlier, since one side of these panels is ambrosia maple and the other side soft maple, the only real way to accomplish this is through veneering. The bake-ins are thicker than the substrate once I glue them to the sides, but a sharp, standard angle block plane makes quick work of bringing the surfaces to an even level. I tend to use smaller planes for these scenarios as I have much better control and can see where I am going. Planing the substrate is a no-no at this point, so I perform the planing very carefully. I might have forgotten to mention that the substrate I use is approximately 1/2 inch baltic birch... fairly stable, flat material. Sandwiching two layers of veneer around this substrate essentially creates a very flat surface. More about this later...

Ambrosia veneers...

2011-02-19T15:15:00.019-05:00

The exterior side panels and door fronts of each of the cabinets will be of ambrosia maple although the top and bottom panels of each cabinet will continue to follow the soft maple theme. I have chosen ambrosia maple because it is a wood I have worked very little with in the past and am intrigued by the subtle variations in color throughout the boards. The grain graphics can be summarized in one word...wild. In one of these particular planks I am using to create veneers there are also traces of a pink colour throughout, the traces take the form of swirling areas which run the length of the planks. It is this particular color which caught my eye, and these planks beg to be used on a cabinet. I have paired the boards into two sets, one set for each of the cabinets.

Each set has slightly different characteristics. The second set of cut boards exhibit a darker chocolate colored swirling area which when set against the lighter background provides dramatic effect. Another unusual characteristic of each of the boards sets is that they exhibit curl, and tight curl at that. I usually look for either interesting figure or curl in planks, but these boards exhibit both characteristics together.

To the left are the resawn sets of veneers, one set per cabinet. I make sure to keep the sets separate from each other and mark them as much as I can to identify them once I begin creating the veneered panels. These particular planks from which I resaw these veneers are very wide and this allows me to use the veneers as a whole instead of gluing two halves together as I did with the soft maple veneers. Slicing these veneers was somewhat of a challenge for my bandsaw, but I took my time. I also sliced them a little thicker than normal to accommodate any blade wander which might occur.

At this stage, I am very pleased with how these veneers have turned out.

Taping veneers...

2011-02-18T13:18:00.005-05:00

I left off with clamped veneers. This photo illustrates how I tape two veneer slices together to form a wider veneer sheet. These particular sheets are destined to the interior of the cabinet as well as the inside of the doors for the cabinets. My resawing setup is not ideal and I make do with a too small bandsaw for the operation. This introduces some issues as some of the veneers are not quite the same thickness as others, although all the veneer slices are thicker than necessary. I need to use a very slow feed speed to make sure the waste is cleared from the bandsaw blade gullets, this keeps the blade tracking straight and true, otherwise the induced stress of clearing the blade gullets might cause the blade to wander or even worse bow or barrel.

These particular veneer slices I am taping are marginally under 1/8 inch overall and are slightly too thin to clamp. I joint them straight and true using the technique described earlier and use the tape process to clamp them together. This process works surprisingly well with a practically non-existent glue line resulting afterwards. Working with veneers introduces another element of time into any project as the veneers sheets need to be sawn, dressed, glued together, and prepared for use... whereas using solid wood uses considerably less time. In my case, I need to resaw these veneers as the exterior and interiors of the cabinet panels are of different woods.

Clamping veneers...

2011-02-18T13:01:00.008-05:00

I left off with jointed veneer slices. I usually use two different methods to create wider sheets of veneer from narrower individual pieces. If the veneers are 1/8 in. or greater in thickness, I clamp them using very light clamps and weigh the sheet down afterwards to keep any of the veneer slices from buckling. This method works well for me and the photo illustrates how I do this. The other technique I use is to tape the two halves of veneer together and use the tape as the clamp. I place blue tape at regular intervals along the length of the veneers halves and make sure to do this on both sides of the veneers. This method works well with thin veneer slices as they cannot be easily clamped together any longer.

Another technique I sometimes use is to spring the joint, that is each side of the joint is so very slightly concave, there is a minuscule gap at the center of each of the slices. This technique only really works when clamping veneer halves together, veneers which are thicker than 1/8 in. The reasoning behind this is that when the center portion of the slices are clamped together, the ends of the slices are so much tighter there is little opportunity for the joint to open up. This is purely cautionary though, as once the veneers are laminated to the substrate there is little chance any of the joints will open up anyway.

Shooting veneers...

2011-02-17T21:36:00.007-05:00

I left off with a good selection of soft maple veneer slices. These veneers are narrow or a little over half the width necessary for the cabinet panels. I need to double them up to create the wider sheets necessary for the cabinets. One long edge of each of the slices needs to be jointed as it will mate with another corresponding narrow slice of maple. I carefully select and match the slices to form pairs; these pairs are somewhat similar in grain and graphics to present a cohesive expanse of veneer. The technique I use to create a perfectly matching edge which can be used to join the two halves is to fold the veneers over and joint them simultaneously. This techniques serves to create a matching joint regardless if the edge is perpendicular to the face, although it is. It is a time proven technique, I didn't invent it, just glad someone thought of successfully doing it this way! The shooting process is quite straightforward. Clamp the two veneers together at one end and hold the other end, or clamp both ends, your choice. I use a wood handplane with a square body, this works well along the surface of my bench.

I have to say this part of the cabinet construction is very enjoyable. Creating all the bits and pieces I will need to assemble the cabinets ensures that the components are uniform and correctly matched in grain and graphics. Word of advice, be very generous with markings when building multiples. All the components I an creating will be used in one or the other cabinet and matched accordingly. Also, the orientation of the grain of each of the veneers sheets is important. Grain orientation should be in the same direction for certain reasons, the main reason is that the grain direction affects any handplaning and scraping operations. The chatoyance of the woods is also dependant on how the grain is oriented and having two reversing slices of veneer together can create a strange effect in the right light. Next I will begin to assemble these veneer slices to form the wider sheets of maple veneer.

Resawn veneers...

2011-02-17T09:41:00.006-05:00

I left off with rough cut planks. These particular soft maple planks are thicker than I need; this allows me to resaw a couple of sheets of veneer from each of the planks. I typically slice a veneer sheet from one side and then slice another veneer sheet from the opposite side. I do this to equalize the contact the newly cut plank has with the surrounding air to avoid any warping, twists, cupping or bowing of the resulting, narrower board. The planks I am working with are on average seven inches wide so this does not present too much of a load on my bandsaw and it is easy to track the planks straight and true through the wide blade.

The thickness of each board after resawing the veneers sheets is still thicker than I ultimately need for the cabinets, this will be to allow for handplaning and any irregularities in the resulting boards. I need quite a few of these maple veneer sheets as they will be doubled up for each of the panels in the two cabinets. In this case eight panels, therefore sixteen sheets of soft maple veneer are necessary. There are a few extra sheets I have also sawn just in case. The resawing went well, with each of the sheets a little over 1/8 inch in thickness. One side of each sheet of veneer has been dressed on the jointer prior to resawing so I will only need to smooth the other face of each of the veneer sheets. It is a great feeling to be able to draw so much more wood from single planks of wood instead of planing away to reduce the thickness. Some of the veneer sheets in the photo above.

The beginning...

2011-02-16T17:30:00.004-05:00

The creation of these two cabinets begins with rough planks of wood which I have been acclimatizing in my studio for many months. While the exterior sides and door fronts are of ambrosia maple, the majority of the cabinet, the top, bottom and interior are of soft maple. I begin with rough planks of soft maple which have been cross-cut into manageable pieces, somewhat longer than the longest dimension I will be needing. The soft maple I have is fairly thick so I can remove a layer or two of veneer from the majority of the planks. This has another benefit in that the grain or graphics of the soft maple are similar throughout the cabinet since the veneers originate from the same boards which are reserved for the top and bottom of the cabinet.

In the photo there are a total of ten soft maple boards, eight of which will be used for tops and bottoms and the other two boards strictly used to slice veneers from. After having worked with wood for many years, I am still both amazed and excited to see the process of turning rough wood into fine, polished boards for furniture. Slicing veneers can sometimes be challenging particularly if the widths of veneer are wide. This taxes the bandsaw I use and in some of these cases it is at the limit of what it can cut. I need to slow the speed at which I feed boards through the blade considerably to compensate for these wide boards. Another benefit of utilizing veneers in the creation of furniture is that valuable wood is saved as a few slices of veneer can be sawn from a single board.

Cabinet design...

2011-02-15T16:51:00.009-05:00

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.

Mixed media sculptures (2)...

2011-02-12T18:17:00.009-05:00

The second in this series of sculptures depicts an oriental styled shrine. I decided to continue using curved wood elements and stone with this piece. The top and bottom wood elements are fairly symmetric and I added small, narrow lengths of blackwood to the bottom of the sculpture for stability. The stone is surrounded with vertical ebony pieces creating the structure around the stone. This particular sculpture began as a small sketch and some wood pieces I had on hand in my studio. The conceptual drawing of this sculpture was a little difficult to envision in three dimensions since I was not sure if the scale of the curved elements would be overwhelming to the central stone element. I think I got it right though, the curved elements depict the roof and base of the shrine while accentuating the central stone and ebony section.

I deliberated over striking the correct balance of colour in this sculpture. I feel confident the lighter maple contrasts well with the stone, blackwood and ebony as well the light coloured maple accentuates the colorful central stone section. The darker vertical ebony accent elements separate the the upper and lower sections of the scaled down structure. This will be the fourth sculpture where I combine wood and stone and I am enjoying the process as well as the resulting work.

Mixed media sculptures (1)...

2011-02-10T18:49:00.009-05:00

An opportunity came up recently to create two sculptural pieces for an exhibition. I decided to continue with the mixed media approach once again, incorporating wood and stone in this piece. I had free reign to create anything I wished without the constraint of following a theme. I decided to work with wood I had on hand as I find it too easy to overlook wood I have stockpiled and instead go out to purchase more, sometimes I feel like a chipmunk or a squirrel, continually stockpiling wood. A good habit to have, it's just that the earlier acquisitions seem to get forgotten in light of the new acquisitions. I decided to have curves in these sculptures to accentuate the beauty of the woods I have selected. The woods are figured big leaf maple, blackwood and ebony. The stone pieces constitute the mixed media part of the sculptures.

I also decided to depart from any of my previous sculptural work and create work which is a little more exciting and focused. I made some preliminary sketches and began to get excited about creating the sculptures as I fine tuned the sketches. The big leaf maple is very pleasant to work with and contrasts well with the dark blackwood and ebony. The sketches portray the image of a shrine or at least in my mind I envision a shrine or a symbolic gathering place. I really like to see how well the stone integrates with the wood as they are both natural elements in nature, in this case they complement each other fairly well I would say. This is the frist of the two sculptures, the next post will have the other sculpture. Although I am not following an exhibition theme, I somehow managed to create a theme for these two sculptures...

Elements

2010-10-31T17:49:00.008-04:00

I had a desire recently to create a sculptural piece which combines a few of the natural elements which surround us. I decided on wood ( my primary medium) along with metal and stone. With this in mind I had to somehow combine these three elements into a small sculptural piece of art.

Typically, I use what I have available in my studio for smaller works unless I absolutely have something else in mind which demands other material. A little searching through my inventory of materials, I found what I needed. Metal rod, some stone pieces, and a very nice fairly hefty piece of figured big leaf maple.

These materials have specific dimensions associated with them, so the next phase is how to combine these materials into a sculpture which brings forward the vision I have in mind. The vision is to somehow demonstrate how three different elements can come together cohesively. A few sketches and design iterations later, and it came to me on how to put this all together. Next came the technical aspect of the creation, how to attach three completely different elements together as well as sculpting the main wood body into the desired shape.

The result is above and judging from initial feedback I have received, it is not bad as a sculpture. I enjoyed the process of designing and creating this particular sculpture as it presented some challenges to my skill set. This is the first time I have combined these particular three elements into one piece and hopefully I will be able to use this experience to continue exploration into these alternative mediums.

Slice Of Nature

2010-07-22T16:42:00.012-04:00

I recently decided to create a small sculpture and wanted to maintain the characteristics of the woods as much as I could. I like to work with woods I have on hand and in this case I had a small block of beautifully colored and figured mesquite and a chunk of blackwood available to me. The blackwood had a live edge ( very light bark still there) so it made for an interesting contrast with the dark portion of the wood. The mesquite had an interesting characteristic in that it had existing fissures and cracks which somehow made the wood more appealing to work with. Since the theme of the sculpture slowly evolved into "A Slice Of Nature" I thought it best to maintain as many of the characteristics of the two woods as possible.

I decided to use the mesquite as the base of the sculpture and the chunk of blackwood as the upper part. A few sketches later and a rough vision of the intended sculpture began to emerge. Since the sculpture was to be as natural as possible I minimized the shaping which needed to be done to merge these blocks of wood together. The blackwood with live edge depicts a slice of the tree ( bark included) and the mesquite base (with cracks and fissures) depicts the particular mesquite tree ( warts and all) used in this sculpture.

The finish is thinned shellac to maintain the natural tones and colors of the woods. Each time I stare at this sculpture I think of the tree the blackwood originated from and the great contrast between the figured mesquite and staid blackwood above. The blackwood with live edge brings home the fact that this piece of wood is straight from a tree.

Hidden Treasure

2010-06-19T10:43:00.008-04:00

Recently I tasked myself with creating a sculpture for an upcoming exhibition in a gallery I am a member of, a piece which would blend in with the theme of the exhibition, "Little Gems". The inspiration of creating art is often hit or miss, great inspiration appears in view or no inspiration for a while. Having an exhibition theme to work with helps the process of deriving inspiration. I slowly began to sketch out some possibilities for this sculpture with the theme in mind. Since I intended to create the work with some interesting, unusual wood I have on hand, this also became a criteria for the piece. A few iterations back and forth between sketch, drawing and approximate size and suddenly the piece I had in mind began to take shape.

I like to work with contrasting woods and with this in mind the sculpture slowly began to take shape. This particular sculpture is composed of three pieces which need to mate correctly. I very often utilize non-standard angles and curves in my work so part of the process is to device ingenious methods to attach the pieces of the sculpture together. Having done this, the rough sculpture slowly evolves into a fine, polished sculpture. The sculpture is named "Hidden Treasure" and depicts a gem or diamond hidden or captured between dark walls. The gem itself is of curly maple whereas the walls are of cocobolo. I enjoyed the process of creating this sculpture and look forward to creating more of this type of work.

Wall cabinets...cont'd

2010-03-31T18:31:00.009-04:00

I last wrote that I was completing a second identical wall cabinet. This has been done since with not too much difficulty. The difficulty was raising the cabinets to the proper height for attaching to the walls. I devised a setup utilizing my rolling shop cart and a spacer which consisted of a wood crate that happened to be very close to the correct height. The rolling cart has lockable casters and this helped considerably. The cabinets are quite heavy since they are mainly composed of baltic birch ply although I lightened some components by using solid poplar and cherry shelving and the doors are fairly light in comparison to the cabinet. I snapped the picture at an angle to display the reinforced corner joinery which consists of long screws capped with contrasting wood plugs. The corner joints are rabbeted and glued together.

I decided to apply light , thinned tung oil to the cherry door frames to both protect the joinery from any moisture change and to keep the wood from staining and attracting dirt. These frames will slowly develop a nice aged cherry look with a patina. My next challenge was attaching the cabinets to the different walls. I gave some consideration to the weight of the cabinets and the tools I would be placing in them and decided on a mounting rail. The mounting rail is installed in the interior of the cabinets at the very top where the top and back intersect. I used hardwood cherry for this and glued and screwed it to the cabinet through the top and then attached the cabinet through the cherry mounting rail to the wall studs using large wood screws. I also screwed the back into the wall studs along the length of the back.

I like to remove any doubt as to the strength of the hanging cabinets as you can see. On the other cabinet I also installed a hardwood cherry cleat below the cabinet and into the wall studs for additional strength but realized afterwards it was not really necessary. It was enjoyable making these cabinets and I now have so much more room for small tools and hardware in my studio. It's great when everything works out as planned!

Wall cabinets...

2010-03-28T20:23:00.021-04:00

In the past two days I have been working on two wall cabinets for my studio. The cabinets are intended for small tools , marking gauges, small hardware and odds and ends. There is never enough cabinet space for all this, as I'm sure many of you can attest to. My final design is based on a certain depth, width and height of the cabinets. There are existing wall mounted cabinets in the studio and as part of the criteria I wanted these to be of the same approximate width and height size only deeper. This was arrived at by using the maximum depth allowable without the cabinet interfering with any activity I might be performing nearby. I also opted to have two doors on each of the cabinets instead of one wider door, this made much more sense and would eliminate any issues with wide, swinging doors interfering with anything close by.

I will build two of these cabinets since I would eventually need another and the extra effort in creating a second cabinet is far less when they are made at the same time. The cabinet itself is assembled with dimensionally stable baltic birch plywood. The joinery is rabbets in the corners reinforced with plugged screws. The shelves ( 2 per cabinet) are housed in dadoes within each of the side panels. I applied solid cherry edging to the functional edges of the baltic birch plywood primarily for aesthetic reasons since I intend to have the door frames of solid cherry. These cabinets were designed and created with a small budget in mind, and since they are somewhat utilitarian I did not want to spend needless amounts on top grade wood. In fact, I used some cherry seconds I had in my lumber pile.

The door panels are thinner baltic birch pieces. I cut the best pieces from a larger piece of baltic birch ply for these panels, focusing on the lighter colour and appealing graphics to complement the cherry frame. The panels are inset into grooves in both the rails and stiles. The door frames are assembled using dowels. I took extra time to select better grain orientations for the long stiles to eliminate any twist possibly causing the doors to warp. I also installed solid edging on the shelf fronts to create a uniform cherry appearance once the cabinet doors are opened.I decided to use piano hinges to attach the doors to the cabinet since I already had a few of the piano hinges and I wanted both cabinets to be identical. More on the cabinets and I will have a photo of one of the cabinets mounted on a studio wall once the second cabinet is completed.

Design revivals...

2010-01-21T19:00:00.008-05:00

I occasionally research previous furniture and design styles to develop a better perspective of the evolution of design over the centuries. I often read that much today has already been done before, and after seeing some good examples of early decorative art and period furniture, I find some truth in this old adage. My favorite influential maker is George Hepplewhite and the associated furniture of his era. Furniture of the late 18th century has been mostly characterized by Chippendale and the cabriole leg design element. George Hepplewhite, however, is much less written about and known, and was characterized by the slight, tapered legs of his furniture and lightness and delicacy of his pieces. A considerable amount of 20th century furniture has been derived from this late 18th , early 19th century period and in particular the makers Chippendale and Hepplewhite. American Federal style furniture had its origins in the Hepplewhite style. Much of the design elements of this particular period have made their way into furniture of the past century. This can be considered a "revival" of a previous style in time, but I like to think of it as simply embracing design elements which were and continue to be pleasing to the eye.

When I flip through examples of furniture and decorative art representative of previous periods and styles, it is easy to see what worked and what didn't work. The design elements which are pleasing and well-proportioned are carried into later periods, whereas the not so pleasing styles typically die off. Another trend which I notice is how previous styles of furniture are sometimes renounced and discarded only to be replaced with a radically different style of furniture. We see this very same phenomenon today in everything ranging from fashion, automobiles, and continue to see it in furniture styles and decorative art. A "revival" of a previous period, style of furniture, or decorative art then occurs, much like what occurs in the fashion world today.The reason I raise this is that this is something to consider for designers and furniture makers today. We all have our favorite style as makers, but it may be important to incorporate proven design elements in our designs, the elements which have demonstrated the most success over the past few centuries. Since what we are designing is often derived from a previous style or work, it makes more sense to derive elements from the successful styles of furniture or decorative art.

I'm a big fan of clean, simple lines with minimal adornment, although I like to incorporate some inlay and color into my work. The inlay work sparks my creativity and in a strange way provides me the impetus to complete the furniture so as to add the inlay detail. I can relate the piece of furniture to a large canvas and the inlay is the artwork. Other makers might define themselves through another feature on their work, perhaps some carving or marquetry. George Hepplewhite often distinguished his work with added inlay. A large proportion of Hepplewhite and Federal style furniture is inlaid with the exotic woods which had come into popularity by the late part of the 18th century and early 19th century. The work in the photo is representative of my minimal adornment philosophy.

Cubism...

2009-12-28T22:52:00.008-05:00

A few art movements were introduced in the early part of the 20th century. One of the defining art movements of this era was "cubism". Cubism had a great influence on both modern art and later generations of art. Even today, if we look at the art from the cubist movement, it looks contemporary and modern. Early 20th century Europe was at a great turning point and innovative art movements were appearing one after another all over the continent such as Fauvism in France, a forerunner of Cubism,expressionists such as the Brucke and the Blaue Reiter in Germany,and Futurism in Italy. This spirit of innovation had gradually been evolving since the the 19th century and it is said the Cubism innovative art movement was begun by Picasso and Braque.

Cubism can be defined as follows, "leaving the tradition of seizing natural objects from a single angle under the laws of perspective,a tradition which had existed since the Renaissance,and while shifting the viewing point of the object to different positions,at the same time dividing it into many fragments seen from various angles,and rearranging these fragments later became an important characteristics of Cubism". Cubism went through different phases over its short life, ranging from analytical to synthetic cubism. In its relatively short lifespan, much innovation occurred within the Cubism genre which has influenced later art movements.

The Cubist emphasized a flat, two-dimensional surface and rejected the idea that art should imitate nature, refusing traditional techniques such as perspective, foreshortening, modeling, and chiaroscuro. Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso and French artist Georges Braques in Paris founded the movement before World War I. The movement is considered to have its roots in the work of Post-Impressionist, Paul Cezanne. It reduced everything to cubes and other geometrical forms. Cubist artists depicted drastically fragmented objects, sometimes showing multiple sides simultaneously. Cubism was the forerunner of abstract art.

Cubism can be regarded as a wide ranging art movement that lasted from 1907 until the middle of the 1920's. I recently designed the wood art in the photo as a tribute to Cubism. It was an interesting exercise in design for me with cubism in mind along with other criteria such as limited materials, stability, introduction of metal into the work, etc. The work depicts three levels of cubes, the larger virtual cube, the middle solid cubes, and the single dimension cubes in the form of inlay.

Dynamic design...

2009-12-15T21:32:00.006-05:00

dy·nam·ic - Characterized by continuous change, activity, or progress.

As my wood art or studio furniture is being handcrafted, sometimes the design I originally envisioned can be improved at different stages, or the original design can remain as is. Having this flexibility provides a continuous excitement for the wood artist or studio furniture maker along with the benefit of improvising on the original design after seeing the wood art at various intermediary stages. An excellent example is the hall table design in my previous posts. I had chosen to invert the base of the table for both aesthetic and technical reasons. Not to say the original design of the maquette would not have worked, inverting it just simplifies a design dilemma for me and introduces a new aesthetic to the piece. After creating the maquette, I realize I needed to have a fairly stable, strong sub-base to be able to support the V-shaped arch, whereas inverting the base utilizes the points of the arches as legs.

Often, we become fixated on a particular design and don't bother seeking out alternatives which often stare us right in the face. Case in point, I have been creating a new design for a smaller wood object, and as part of my philosophy I strive to use as many materials in my possession as possible, without continuously sourcing new material for the components. Working with material at hand sometimes limits what I can do, but on the other hand challenges me to work within certain constraints, in this case certain materials. So here I have an instance of what I like to call "dynamic design", sometimes the beauty of a design is also in its simplicity. Simplicity is one of the tenets of the minimalism philosophy. I have to admit that I am a fan of "minimalism", and have read one book on the subject so far. You tend to gain a different perspective on design after being exposed to the philosophy of minimalism.

Hall table...

2009-12-06T08:03:00.011-05:00

In my previous post I discussed how I like to use maquettes as part of the design process, how I can better visualize the design in three dimensions with the maquette. The maquette also allows me to determine if both the proportions and aesthetics of a piece are fine or need to be improved. While toying with the maquette for the hall table base, I came upon a different orientation for the base...simply inverting the maquette provided me a completely different outlook on the design. The base then evolved from a V-shape to an arched look. Orienting the maquette with the legs down eliminated the need for me to create a sub-base for the upper base, a sub-base which was to stabilize the V-shaped base above. This sub-base can be seen at the bottom of the maquette.This was not much of a design dilemma and if done correctly would have enhanced the V-shaped base above.

On the other hand I now needed to create a structure to firmly hold the table top itself, since the base is arched and the pointed top has minimal latitude with which to securely fasten a table top. The new design of the base now opened up a possibility for me, to create a "wishbone" styled arch. The arched base could be simply an arch but why not create an image of something else while maintaining the arch structure and shape? I looked at a few wishbone details and re-designed the arch to better reflect the shape of a wishbone. In this process I also developed the semi-circular table top support for the table top which melds with the curves in the wishbone and would soon be part of a curved table top. This semi-circular support actually evolved from the original maquette orientation as you can see in the photo above. I also needed to consider the harmony of the table, do all the elements blend together well? I wanted the semi-circular table top support to blend in with the table top so I created it with the same wood species, in this case bloodwood. Bloodwood also nicely contrasts with the maple base.

The cocobolo feet on each of the legs are a small touch I included to bring some of the colour down to the bottom of the "wishbone" shaped base and to create balance.The hall table also needed to have a narrow profile so I placed this criteria in my design. I made it narrow but at the same time stable. When I designed this hall table I use predefined measurements for typical hall table designs. I incorporated a curved top into the design with its widest part at the peak of the "wishbone" arch. I hope I have enlightened a few of you of the positive aspects in using a maquette as part of the design process.

The maquette...

2009-11-30T22:20:00.008-05:00

As part of the design process I believe in creating a scale model or maquette of the full scale piece or work I am creating.

"A maquette (French word for scale model is a small scale model or rough draft of an unfinished architectural work or a sculpture. It is used to visualize and test shapes and ideas without incurring the cost and effort of producing a full scale product."

I often use maquettes to visualize my design in three dimensions. The maquette also serves to determine if both the proportions and the aesthetic of the piece are correct, which is to say visually appealing. There can be a fair amount of time spent on actually creating the maquette but typically it is of no cost and the benefit is tremendous. I make my maquette from scrap wood and the process becomes one of experimentation. Often the maquette will help identify any issues which can arise in the creation of the larger, full scale piece. Another benefit is to help determine the stability of the full scale piece. The maquette is essentially a scaled down version of the larger work so the inherent characteristics are there but on a smaller level.

The maquette in the photo above began as the base of a hall table I recently designed and created. The orientation of the maquette has the arches of the base in a V-shape. This maquette is based on the final drawings for the hall table. After creating the maquette I realized that I much preferred an inverted orientation. It made more sense to me as the points of the arches could serve as the legs without creating a base as illustrated in the maquette. I also realized that I could easily minimize the number of arches to simply two, one in the front and one in the rear. This updated design also greatly minimized the technical details of creating the hall table.

The original design of the hall table base as illustrated in this maquette is something I would like to pursue at a later date as it is quite intriguing. In conclusion, the process of initially creating a scale model or maquette greatly alleviates any doubts about a design. I can now feel confident pursuing the full scale version that I am on the correct path. In my next post I will show the completed hall table with the modified base...

Design (2)...

2009-11-25T19:07:00.001-05:00

In my previous post I discuss the concept of hatching a design and transferring it to paper. Now I have a sketch on a pad and need to evolve this sketch into an object. At this stage I begin to refine the design, after all it is but a sketch at this point. The sketch now evolves into a drawing with more defined, straight and equidistant lines. This process involves a few iterations and I build from my previous drawing with each of the iterations. This process results in a drawing which closely resembles the wood object I wish to create. Although the shape of the object has been essentially defined, an important component of the design is yet to come. Many of my designs have the type of wood and the grain graphics of the wood as the focal point. I usually begin with the design and then select wood which has interesting graphics. Graphics is another word for grain pattern and the mix of heartwood and sapwood on a board, which can be either pronounced or subdued. I then spend time determining how to incorporate this interesting wood into the predefined design.

On occasion, I instead create a design around a particularly interesting board or set of boards which have exciting, interesting graphics. Basing a design around a particular board or set of boards can be quite challenging, and I like to rise to challenges. I find challenging myself expands my skills and provides me a different outlook on the design process. Instead of a methodical approach, it is instead "material based" for lack of a better set of words.

These are my two approaches to design. The first one involves drawing and refining a design and then acquiring an interesting wood selection for the piece. The second approach involves having wood with interesting graphics and basing a design around this wood. This approach is more of an artistic approach to my craft, whereas the first approach I would say is the craftsman method. They both have their place and serve a purpose. I typically use the artistic approach for speculative work and use the more structured craftsman method for commissions where a design needs to be defined. Once the design is fairly complete and drawings ready, the technical details are determined. These details involve the dimensions of the individual pieces of wood, the joinery involved, is there any alternative media in the piece?

I must say I get excited about finding a board or boards with interesting graphics and colour and creating an object with this wood. This must be the artist in me...

Design...

2009-11-18T21:14:00.005-05:00

When creating either a piece of furniture or a wood object, if not following a pre-determined plan, a design will need to be established. I hardly ever work from plans. The design process typically begins with an idea hatched in my mind and is then transferred to a sketch pad. The idea might have originated from a shape I have seen, the need for a particular object or a furniture piece with certain design criteria, or simply an idea hatched on a whim. The basis of the design process is coming up with a good design. What is it about a design that make it a success? Is it the aesthetics of the piece, the pleasing proportions, the balance of form and function... or all these characteristics combined?

Taking a step back, the aesthetics and pleasing proportions are definitely at the forefront. I'm usually drawn to a piece of furniture or object that stands out with respect to the "look" of the piece. This one characteristic causes me to stop and further examine the piece by trying to understand what has drawn me to this particular design. This analysis aids my design process as I better understand what characteristics of an object or piece of furniture I am drawn to. We all have different styles of furniture that we are drawn to, but the common theme is good design. My favourite style of furniture is modern and contemporary. Typically even an admirer of period styles of furniture will stop at a well-designed modern piece of furniture to further analyze it.

We've all heard the saying that everything has already been discovered or invented. I have even heard of this saying applied to furniture design. After all, we're re-shaping the same objects over and over... adding curves, changing proportions, adding ornamentation, removing the ornamentation, using darker or lighter woods, utilizing curves, replacing curves with straight lines, utilizing thicker or thinner components, etc. It is easy to come to this conclusion, however, I regularly see new pieces of furniture or decorative wood objects that make me sit back and say "wow, that is an interesting, unique design".. or "that is a cool design, I wonder if it's been done before". In light of this, the boundaries of design are limitless, one just needs to think outside the box. Also, I feel that often using pre-existing styles as templates for a new design sometimes handicaps the designer , the designer subconsciously has the existing style in mind and cannot get past it. Sometimes it is better to begin with a clean slate, in my case, hatch an idea then transfer it to pad and pencil and begin to sketch it without being influenced by pre-existing designs.

Mixed media...

2009-11-13T21:05:00.001-05:00

The medium which forms a large percentage of my work has for the longest time been wood, both of the domestic and exotic type. Over the past few months I have begun to explore alternative media such as metal and glass. You can see a few pieces in my portfolio which incorporate metal or both glass and metal. What do I attribute this radical shift to? For the most part, I have entered an exploratory stage in my art. The challenge of working with new media and the associated techniques I need to develop and acquire to be able to use these alternative media excite me. I also like to develop and create a new aesthetic which will be predominately wood but include metal and glass elements to enhance the design. The beauty and curiosity attached to mixed media work is another factor.

I've faced some new challenges with this new mixed media aesthetic and for the most part overcome them, although I continue to learn and develop. Technical considerations such as how to attach metal to wood and how to attach glass to metal have come up, the issue of expansion and contraction is somewhat different with extremely stable material such as metal and glass. Metal and glass don't noticeably expand or contract with environmental changes such as wood does. Another interesting technical issue that has arisen is the lack of compression characteristic of metal. The slots or holes which I use to insert metal components need to be created very precisely for precision fitting. Working with metal also involves slightly different tools and processes, I don't even prepare the metal components in the space I work with wood to not contaminate wood with metal filings.

Once these issues have been overcome, the design possibilities open to me are unlimited. The choice of media I previously created my designs with was somewhat limited to different types of wood; domestic, exotic and figured. Today I can incorporate metal, glass and possibly stone in my work, along with my predominant medium of wood. Throughout history, much art and craft has been designed using mixed media so I am by no means a trend setter here. Artists and artisans of earlier eras had probably also sought to challenge themselves with the addition of different medium to their main material and to appreciate the beauty of mixing wood, metal, glass, stone in a piece of art.

Bauhaus...

2009-11-09T21:31:00.012-05:00

Another influential style from the early part of the 20th century has its origins in Germany. The "Bauhaus style" was developed during the era of the Weimar Republic in Germany. The arts and design community was actively supported in the years following WW I up until 1933 in Germany. It was during this period that the Bauhaus design movement flourished in parallel to the Art Deco movement. It was very avante-garde for it time and incorporated shapes and forms which are fairly modern looking even to this day. As an example, I walked into a local furniture showroom recently and there was a reissue of a Marcel Breuer tubular metal and leather chair on display. This particular chair is iconic in the furniture design world as it set the trend for tubular metal furniture and encouraged the use of tubular steel in many furniture designs.

A fairly well known abstract painter, Wassily Kandinsky, was an art instructor at the school. Walter Gropius founded the school and Mies van der Rhone and Marcel Breuer taught architecture. The Bauhaus developed from the Expressionism of the early Weimar years, 1918- 1919 and transitioned to Constructivism and finally to a architectural emphasis in its later years towards 1933. The school itself evolved during the few years it was in existence in both direction and location. It began as an edgy art and design school but became more mainstream in its latter years and was ultimately dissolved.

Although Bauhaus is today associated with a style of design it was in fact a leading art, craft and design school in its era. In the period from 1919 - 1933 this school was the leading design institute in Germany. The school was comprised of different departments ranging from arts. crafts, metalwork, furniture, design, printing and architecture. These departments combined to form a fairly independent art and design institute which heavily influenced much of the design emanating from Germany throughout this period. Much of the Bauhaus style continues on to this day, influencing a considerable body of design. The Bauhaus derived style of architecture has been very influential in mid-century buildings.

Many of the instructors at the Bauhaus design school emigrated to the US and became architects and professors of architecture in the leading universities of the 1930's through the 1950's. A fascinating period of design and architecture in my opinion...

Furniture design... some background

2009-11-05T21:38:00.007-05:00

One of my favourite topics is furniture design and its evolution. In earlier centuries, furniture was not very common, typically only the aristocracy could indulge in furniture such as chairs,tables and cabinets. The aristocracy of the era would regularly task furniture makers to create ornate chairs, tables and cabinets. The furniture of these early periods was assembled without much consideration for wood expansion and contraction, also known as wood movement. This methodology did not present much of a problem as the buildings of these early years were not heated very much, and inside, outside temperatures and humidity levels were often similar. In later centuries, heated interiors introduced wood movement as a criteria in the furniture making process.

Frame and panel construction was invented in the middle centuries precisely to address this wood movement issue. This technique allowed a solid wood panel to literally float within a wood frame composed of rails and stiles. The solid wood panel could expand and contract on a seasonal basis and not cause any structural failure within the furniture. Using this process of building furniture created many more possibilities for furniture design and its widespread appeal began in earnest. In more recent centuries, furniture also began to become more affordable as more furniture makers flourished and along with this standardized, robust joinery techniques began to appear.

Numerous periods exist over the past centuries and each of these periods had a style or styles associated with them. Additionally, each country had a style of its own within these periods. Similar furniture design principles were adopted by many countries over the different periods. Popular furniture styles which are widely recognized have familiar names such as English Chippendale, German Biedermeier, American Federal and Arts & Crafts, French Art Nouveau, Italian Rococo, etc. To be continued...

Art deco...

2009-11-02T21:00:00.022-05:00

I briefly touch on my interest and fascination with the art deco period in my artist statement. The art deco period of style was probably the most exciting period of design of the 20th century. As with most periods, Art Deco is partly derived from the previous, organic Art Nouveau period and partly to distinguish France as a leading nation for design. The Art Deco name is derived from the "Exposition International des Arts Decoratifs", an event in 1925 Paris showcasing many European designers. There was competition in this era between countries to determine the leading centers of design, and this exposition brought to light some of the leading design movements of the time. Consequently, the art deco style resulted from the predominant style of the exposition. The exhibition reflected contemporary style of the time and popularized the coherent theme which is today regarded as Art Deco.

The Art Deco aesthetic is comprised of many elements and characteristics. Not all elements need to be part of a design, but as few as one or two elements would define a object as Art Deco influenced. Sun rays, geometric forms, curvilinear forms, chevrons, stepped forms, inlay are a few of the elements which define Art Deco style. Art deco became an international design movement quickly moving from country to country. Europe was at the forefront of embracing this movement and the US was on board two or three years later. One of the reasons I find this period fascinating is how Art Deco evolved from the 1920's through to the late 1930's. What began as the earlier Art Deco style later embraced the "streamline" characteristics of the 1930's, Art Deco of this later part of the period had somewhat different design elements than the earlier part of the period. In its later years, Art Deco had become very commercialized and as with other periods of design, a revulsion to the style slowly began and the creation of a new design aesthetic resulted.

I embrace design elements of Art Deco and try to be subtle with minimal ornamentation, simply focusing on the elements which appeal to me from this period of style. There seems to be an ongoing revival of the Art Deco style occurring with more or less popularity in certain decades since the 1960's. I like to work with this style based on its merits, enjoying the fascinating and beautiful aesthetic of this period. When inspired to create Art Deco styled wood art, I incorporate certain Art Deco elements in the piece, deriving my own style in the process.

Inspiration...

2009-10-29T19:01:00.015-04:00

Not to be taken lightly, inspiration is one of the motivating forces behind each artist. As a wood artist, I can completely relate to this notion. You've heard of the term writer's block, well I have often experienced artist's block. Design ideas are not forthcoming, a creative void occurs and sometimes this can last for days. Often I remain focused on a particular design because I've been working with it for a number of days or even weeks. It becomes time to break away, to expose myself to new sources of influence or inspiration. At the very least, not being in the studio often clears the thought process, preparing the mind of new ideas for art forms.

in·spi·ra·tion - an inspiring influence; any stimulus to creative thought or action

What I do in this situation is to seek out inspiration, sometimes from unusual sources. I can either stumble upon inspiration or seek it out. For example since nature can be an excellent inspirational source and it is everywhere around us, I often take a weekend trip to the mountains or simply go hiking. This serves to both clear the mind and also to open my eyes to new shapes and forms. A subtle curve along the surface of a rock ledge, unique shapes of trees, meandering streams, fallen leaves, waterfalls, unusual yet harmonious shapes in nature, curved shapes of polished rocks, all attract my eye. These organic shapes influence my ideas for my designs. Every season brings us new forms and shapes from which to derive art . Often I bring a small pocket-sized sketchpad along with me to draw the outline of an interesting shape or formation I have seen. I have this sketchpad with me more often than not, never sure when I might stumble on to an interesting shape. Another excellent source of design inspiration can be found in the architecture around us. Unusual buildings, bridges, pavilions, monuments and photographs can also serve to provide design ideas in my work. Inspiration can also be derived from every-day items, the shape of a tray, household objects, etc.

From the sketches I then begin to use my imagination as to how a particular shape can evolve into wood art I create. The shape from the sketch can either influence the complete design of the wood art or simply to influence one or two elements of the design. A collage of different elements I have seen can also be instrumental in the creation of a new design or art form. The conclusion to this is that we are surrounded by so much inspiration for design, it is well worth the time and effort to get out and seek new ideas for art forms. The process of taking ourselves away from our studios to seek out inspiration also clears the mind. I feel like I'm recharged after a day or two away from my studio, ready to tackle a new design and create an art form from a shape or image which has inspired me.

Cabinet complete...

2009-04-01T11:30:00.015-04:00

I guess I disappeared for a while, but in reality I've been busy with a multitude of things. I did finally get around to completing the beech cabinet I began a few months ago. There wasn't really much left to do except to design and create the drawer and door pulls. I use a two-tone cocobolo for this and carefully selected each pull from a blank to maximize the heartwood and sapwood graphic. The drawers needed a little more fitting, but the rest was primarily the task of judiciously scraping the exterior and interior of the the cabinet and applying finish. I also installed a brass door catch in the upper portion of the right hand door. The doors can be individually opened and each door reveals a partitioned section of the cabinet. The left side is composed of one drawer while the right side is composed of two drawers. Above each of the drawers is a shelf which is ideal to place art objects. There is also a small space below the left drawer for a smaller art object. The middle partition is purposely only half-height both to provide a separation and to admit light to either side of the cabinet interior.

The inside of the cabinet is kind of sparse, but in my opinion this adds to the beauty, it is after all a display cabinet designed to showcase art objects. The graphics on the front doors immediately bring to mind plumes of fire or smoke to me. The orientation of this cabinet is a departure for me. I typically design cabinets with their height or vertical dimension longer than the width, but this cabinet has it the other way around. I like the proportions of this. An alternate photo of the interior can be seen here:

http://www.refinededge.com/Portfolio-TwinPlumes.htm

The finish is primarily many coats of thinned shellac with a final application of wax. I finally liberated a small part of my shop by completing this. Why is it that the final 10% of a project takes the longest :)

On to my next project(s).

Tapering...

2009-01-30T19:49:00.011-05:00

I am currently shaping some legs for a table. The legs are double-tapered and will be shaped to form a curved outside edge overlapping three facets of the leg. I spent some time measuring and re-measuring the width and depth of the top and bottom of the leg since everything in between leads to these two points. I quite like the shape of tapered legs which provide a larger surface for strength at the joining area towards the top and then taper down to a thinner point at the bottom where strength isn't as much an issue.

In this case I have combined cherry and maple feet to form these particular tapered legs. I work with certain sizes and slope of legs which I have been successful with in the past. The slope is not too dramatic, but more gradual which presents an elegantly shaped leg once I have completed the shaping. I rough out the blanks on the tablesaw and bandsaw , but the handplane is my tool of choice for shaping the legs. I use an variety of handplanes ranging from a block plane to the jointer plane, the jointer plane to maintain the correct and straight taper on each of the leg sides.

I can't begin to explain how joyful it is working these rough blanks to fine, elegantly tapered legs which are smoothed to perfection. It's almost like forming a chunk of rough stone into a fine diamond. As the bandsaw marks disappear and the leg sides become straight, true and square to each other along their taper, it becomes difficult to stop planing :) This is where the regular measuring and comparing enters, since even with pencil lines, these are soon enough planed away and any reference disappears. What I do is use one leg as a template and compare the others against this one.

Next entry I will show the completed, shaped leg.

Pre-processing...

2009-01-18T10:36:00.024-05:00

I like to devote much of the time I spend on a project to the design, wood selection stage and the latter stages , referring to board preparation, joinery and detail work. The intervening part about cutting boards to length and ripping these boards I leave to my machinery. This methodology also allows me to perform a better job of selecting parts of planks with which to incorporate in my project, since the laborious part about slicing and dicing the planks is done with safety and ease. I recently completed a sliding miter saw station to assist me in cross-cutting long, wide planks into more manageable pieces.

In the past, I would, through use of either a handsaw or smaller circular saw, try to accomplish this with varied degree of success. I had a miter saw station in mind for a while, and decided recently to go ahead and build one with certain criteria in mind. The station needed to have some portability since permanently attaching to a wall is out of the question for the time being for numerous reasons. The length ( 7 ft.) should allow me to safely and easily manage planks up to eight or nine feet in length and the height is sufficient for me not to need to crouch or bend down. With this in mind, the station also needed to be rugged to handle the heavier hardwood planks. I also needed to be able to work either on the left or right side of the sliding blade with appropriate adjustable flip stops and solid stops.

The sliding miter saw itself has all the features I need.. dual bevel, 10-12 inch wide capacity and 3-4 inch deep cut capacity. The station is composed mostly of baltic birch plywood with hardwood fences. The portability is there through use of two workmate type stands which can be folded and the whole unit with the saw removed can then be moved around. These stands easily handle the weight of the station and saw and any planks I need to cut and are rock solid. The station itself is attached to two large, wide planks spanning the workmate type stands. Having used the station for a week or two so far, I'm very satisfied with it as it meets all my criteria.

Small components...

2009-01-14T18:22:00.009-05:00

I've been working on small components lately. The components are partially shaped and a great deal of handwork is involved to ensure all the components are uniform in profile, contour and overall dimensions. The components are part of larger pieces which are destined for a client. I kind of enjoy working on smaller components, it's a welcome break from the larger frame members typically used in furniture. As you can see in the photo, much handplaning is involved to develop the contours of the components. I make use of a spokeshave to round the edges out afterwards.

One of the problems working with small components is handling them while shaping them. Since the parts are small and low profile I use my planing board and raise the bed with a narrow sheet of masonite. This provides just enough of a stop for the small part as well as allowing me to handplane it, I place the part at the outermost edge of the planing board to add clearance for the shaping process. I do need to hand hold the components for some of the shaping or profiling though as the tapered shapes just aren't conducive to setting up firmly in a vise..

Interesting how second nature working with hand tools becomes once you've spent some time at it. A long while ago, I would seek out solutions to shaping issues through the use of machines. In the past few years I find it simpler and more efficient to pick up a handplane or a spokeshave and shape the component. No dust and instant results.

Recent exhibition...

2008-12-02T10:29:00.017-05:00

A while ago I mentioned I was working on two pieces for both an local exhibition and a gallery. The exhibition piece is at the left and I had it displayed this past weekend. A little about it... Solid quartersawn cherry cabinet and dovetailed cherry drawer fronts. I have a subtle hint of lighter sapwood which meanders through where the cabinet doors meet. The pulls are carved cocobolo with contrasting colors, designed with the lighter maple stand in mind. The back panel is solid maple set in a cherry frame also selected to merge the stand with the cherry cabinet. I had something small in mind, and decided on the proportions of this cabinet to fulfill this requirement.

It was a truly enjoyable experience to design and create this and to slowly watch it evolving into a cabinet. The quartersawn cherry was somewhat of a challenge to handplane and I used a scraper extensively in the final stages of preparation of the components. There is a lot to be said for smaller work with smaller proportions, the focus can be more on selection of woods and detail. This cabinet is the smallest I have created so far. Having completed it I moved on to the stand. I wanted a contrasting wood in the stand with a somewhat interesting design yet maintaining structural integrity. In designing the stand I needed to take a criteria into consideration, namely the short depth of the cabinet above.

This short dimension introduced the issue of stability of the stand and cabinet. To compensate for this I have the stand slightly deeper than the cabinet above, but not by much. This is accomplished with the legs slightly proud of the cabinet at the front and back. To work this in, I decided on somewhat of a floating cabinet attachment to the stand, they appear to be separate from each other. To further increase the stability from front to back, I designed bird's feet into the stand to extend the depth of the stand just enough to make it fairly stable without an overwhelming appearance.

The diamond inlay in the front rail of the stand was an added touch to meld the color of the cabinet to the maple stand below in the most understated sense.

I thought I would share this design...

If interested, you can either select the image above for a larger view... a view of the interior of this cabinet and dimensions can be seen at http://www.refinededge.com/

Drawer pulls...

2008-11-26T22:51:00.003-05:00

I resumed work on the beech cabinet this week. I thought I would begin with something small, as in drawer pulls. Actually the pulls are for the drawers and for the cabinet doors. I haven't decided on the final pull color or style and instead am going to make a sample of two pulls in different woods. These pulls will be similarly sized with a protruding four-shoulder tenon at the back and they will fit into a appropriately sized rectangular mortise. It's easy enough for me to accomplish this, to create two similar drawer pulls and this will allow me to consider the aesthetics of each pull sample on the cabinet.

I needed to do this because it was a toss-up between a blackwood pull and a cocobolo pull. Both might work equally well but I'm concerned of the amount of contrast between the pulls and the beech, should I have very contrasting colors or more of a subtle contrast. Having said this, I'm leaning towards the blackwood at the moment. A light tan background with a black pull works aesthetically in my opinion.

In the photo I have prepared a rectangular pull and am shaping the back square. This particular pull is rectangular, but I have the other option of a more sculpted, rounded pull. I'm not sure at this point, so I'll begin with this. I could have mocked up a small block of wood and darkened it black to be able to do this testing, but not too much more work is actually involved in making the blackwood pull, so I decided to do this instead. You can see the large block of blackwood in the background from which I have resawn and cut the small blank.

Off duty...

2008-11-06T21:49:00.013-05:00

What does a furniture maker do in his spare time except spending even more time in the shop? Sometimes it's good to get away from the woodworking environment altogether and just do something completely different. In my case I like to get back to nature and do some hiking or kayaking in summer, skiing in winter, or anything outdoors for that matter. This past week my wife and I were away in the mountains for a few days of just this, getting away from everything, clearing our minds, and regaining focus. I have to admit, it's very hard for me to pull myself away from my studio and from my love of making furniture, but in the end I'm always glad I got away. Shifting focus is a good thing and often puts things into perspective.

We often head to an area two hours or so away, in the mountains, which prides itself on a very outdoor way of life. The surrounding towns and villages offer great craft and art type shops which open up the mind to new design possibilities. Something both my wife and I love to see is other crafts people's work, regardless of the media. We both have a soft spot for crafts and craftspeople in general and their typically modest, rewarding and fulfilling lifestyles.

While visiting some small shops, I found this beautiful small irregular shaped bowl, handmade in Central America. An ideal small piece to complement one of my small cabinets. The workmanship that went into this decorative bowl is amazing and I had to have it. I already have it placed in one of my cabinets.

I also had the opportunity to read parts of a good book, it is furniture related, but nonetheless I had the free time to be able to sit down and focus on this book, which I've sort of read before, but never really in depth. I find I need to set aside an hour or so every day to be able to catch up on my reading, usually much later in the evening at home. This doesn't always work out, and I begin to accumulate partially read books, etc. I'm a book hound and have shelves full of interesting books that I've read, but also a few small piles of books in the process of being read.. I still hope to address this dilemna somehow, maybe I'll just pack a pile of books into a bag and get away for a few days to do just this.

Drawers installed...

2008-11-03T08:05:00.014-05:00

I now have the three drawers fitted and installed into their respective compartments, masking tape serving as temporary pulls :) The partial vertical divider I referred to earlier is also installed with the correct grain orientation which follows every other part of the drawer compartments. I like the idea of the divider as it separates the two halves of the interior. I have designed the drawer compartments to be accessible with one door open, so this makes more sense now. The transfer of light between the left and right areas is also a consideration, at least to me. I don't want to compartmentalize the individual areas above the drawers. Next, I need to decide on drawer pulls, I'll probably go with dual pulls per drawer to avoid any racking issues since the drawers are fairly wide.

And of course, what to do with the opening below the left hand drawer. I have a few options, okay maybe three options. Either it will be a hidden compartment, or a larger, deeper drawer for larger objects. The third option would be to simply leave it open and accessible. In any case, I'm excited about this since it opens up design possibilities to me. I might even apply some inlay to the facade if it is a hidden compartment. I will mull over this for a while while I move to another project I need to work on. and come back to this in a few days. My wife and I are also on a great three day hiking and outdoor vacation as we speak, up in the mountains. Time to clear the mind and get the thought processes recharged, something I like to do periodically.

Drawer completion...

2008-11-01T19:26:00.009-04:00

The three drawers are fairly complete now. There is some back and forth between my bench and the cabinet to test fit each of the drawers and tune them to their respective openings, almost like a ballet. Everything went smoothly with relatively minor tuning and fitting. I don't have the drawers too tight in their opening to allow for seasonal changes in movement of the wood. I had the drawer fronts just a tad proud of the opening and dialed them in just so.

I normally don't attach the back of the cabinet until the later stages of completion, but it's been such a long time with this particular cabinet, I guess I did permanently attach the back panel months ago. The small problem this introduces is that I cannot fit the drawers in completely for there is no way to get them out again without a pull on the drawer fronts. Fortunately, the fit was so good that a strip of masking tape is all I needed to pull the drawers out from their fully closed positions.

There is considerable hand tool work involved in fitting the drawers, but relatively no dust is generated, just fine shavings. I also prepared the bottoms for the drawers by rabbeting a solid wood panel on three sides. The rabbeted portion fits into the groove on the drawer front and sides. The drawer bottoms are easily removed for any reason which might come up. I also loosely attach the drawer bottom to the back of the drawer to allow for some wood movement between seasons. In the photo, the lipped drawer in the foreground has the bottom partially installed with rabbets and grooves visible. Next I make the final test fitting of the drawers and install the cabinet interior divider I prepared in the meantime.

Drawer fitting...

2008-10-31T19:57:00.009-04:00

The work of assembling and fitting the individual drawers into the drawer openings has begun. I work on one drawer at a time, assembling and fitting the back and bottom of the drawer. I also purposely leave the back a bit proud in order to tune the length of the drawer so that the drawer front is flush with the opening. The sides of each of the drawers are slightly proud also, just enough to be able to smooth the sides down uniformly with the drawer front. I find it important to orient the grain direction of the sides so that the grain is inwards from the front, this helps the handplaning part greatly. Also, these ever so slightly oversized measurements greatly reduce the chance for error in fitting and it all works out in the end.

I have also installed the rabbeted backs and pinned them to the sides, greatly enhancing the strength of the joint. The bottoms are custom fit to each drawer although most of the drawer bottom measurements are almost identical. I have oriented the grain of the drawer bottoms from front to back, this will allow for expansion and contraction of the bottom, or wood movement.

In the photo, the drawer at the front is the lipped drawer. I have left this one for last as fitting it involves an extra step of tuning the drawer front for a perfect fit with the lower drawer of the right hand drawer compartment. Most of my handplaning is done over at my bench at the other end of the shop and all of my dovetail work on this bench, I think it has mostly to do with the height of the benches, this lower one is more conducive to dovetailing, at least for me..

Drawer joinery...

2008-10-29T19:22:00.013-04:00

Over the past day, I have been creating the joinery for the cabinet drawers. The joinery at the front is half-blind or lapped dovetails, whereas the back of the drawers is assembled with pinned rabbets. In the photo I have created grooves for the bottom in one drawer. The location of the groove is situated over a tail so as not to cut into the corresponding pin of the drawer front. A little trial and error measurement is necessary here, but it all works out in the end. The drawer sides have been purposely left a bit longer than necessary to be trimmed later and fitted with the drawer back. I will continue to work on the other drawer components and leave the lipped drawer last, as the measurements and offsets on this particular drawer are differently located. I like to plan ahead when creating dovetail joinery and mark all the components extensively, including the board orientation and reference faces and edges. It is very easy to get confused otherwise, not that it's ever happened to me :)

After completing the drawer shells tomorrow, I will make the drawer bottoms consisting of edge glued hardwood planed down to a fraction of an inch, to easily fit the drawer grooves. I should have everything including drawer bottoms, assembled and glued later tomorrow. There is some tuning and fitting involved for each drawer both at the sides and front to back. The drawer pulls come next and I'm currently giving this thought.

The combination of beech cabinet and sapele drawers actually work out very well, there is contrast but not overwhelmingly so, more on the subtle side. My other choice was to use cherry for the drawer fronts, but I have been using this extensively lately and wanted something different.

Drawer fronts...

2008-10-28T18:50:00.010-04:00

I've been busy gathering the right wood for the drawer fronts, sides and bottoms. Drawer fronts will be Sapele, a fine-grained wood in the mahogany family. As part of the drawer front fitting, I cut the fronts oversize in thickness, width and length and then proceed to shoot the ends so they fit the drawer opening just right. I follow the same process with the width of the drawer front, handplaning and tuning it down to size. Prior to this, I had planed the thickness of the drawer fronts to fit the opening. The drawer front of the upper right hand set will overhang the divider providing a seamless look, I designed the divider to be shorter than the drawer opening by the thickness of a drawer front. Next, I begin dovetailing the drawer sides into the fronts and then create the grooves for the drawer bottom, in this order. Important to position the groove correctly over a tail so the groove doesn't exit through a pin in the drawer front. This would preclude using a stopped rabbet instead of a through rabbet.

I'm glad to have completed the stand as the cabinet has been occupying a cool rolling cart I built a few months ago. I now have access to my rolling cart once again, which by the way I'm kicking myself for not having made earlier. These things are great in the shop, allowing me to wheel components around to different benches and assembly tables, etc. Also, I haven't decided on the drawer pulls just yet, preferring to wait a few more days and examine some options in the meantime.

I'm also going to install a short divider between the sets of drawers creating more of a delineation between the left and right sides of the cabinet interior. The area above each of the drawer compartments is to be used to display an art object , the divider perhaps will separate the styles of art objects? It just feels right.

I'm still not sure how to work the area below the left hand drawer compartment into the mix. The design of this has been up in the air for a while, and I'm thinking once the drawers are in along with the divider it will make more sense and a a spark of imagination will occur, an "aha" moment. I'm leaning towards a hidden compartment at the moment. Or I might leave it open, in the spirit of "dynamic design", a philosophy I coined a few months ago.

Cabinet stand...

2008-10-24T06:21:00.005-04:00

I assembled the stand and am test fitting it in the photo a few hours after glue up. It fits well and is in very good alignment with the cabinet. This is a concern otherwise the stand looks more like an afterthought than designed with the cabinet if it doesn't fit right. The twin stretchers at the bottom work out well and introduce a small focal point into the design. It is quite a small feat getting the rails and stretchers in position for the glue up and a good point to stop and plan this out well. I assembled the sides initially, then put everything together with the front and rear rails and stretchers. The upper and lower rails are mortised into the legs with single tenons, whereas the twin stretchers are dowelled into the bottom side rails.

I am quite pleased at the aesthetics of the piece and the harmony between the cabinet and stand. I needed to spend some time at the edge treatment phase of all the stand components. The edges of each component are slightly chamfered with a small hand plane, then the edge transition is touched with a very fine sanding block to knock out any sharp edges. Since this is all done by hand, I find myself counting the exact number of strokes with the hand plane, in this case two. It is recommended that all the components be completed in one pass to avoid confusion. In other cases, where multiple passes are necessary, counting the handplane strokes is a good technique.

The stand is also beech and all the front and side facing components have non-descript grain pattern, straight grain for the most part, to not introduce any crazy graphics which take away from the main focal point, the cabinet.

I'm kind of anxious at this point to complete the interior of the cabinet, create the drawers and a small partition, then the pulls, so I can begin to apply finish. I'm curious to see how the figure of the door panels comes out. Of course, I can always wet the surfaces with naptha to temporarily see the figure pop, but I can wait a few more days.

I had a little deliberation deciding on the final height of the cabinet and settled for a 55 inch height , along with a second opinion from my better half. Having the piece too low and it begins to look like a credenza , too high and the stand begins to look spindly. I also wanted to provide an opportunity to see the cabinet as a whole, including a partial view of the top. Accessibility and visibility of the cabinet interior is also important as this is somewhat of a showcase cabinet, and my wife and I did take this into consideration.

Cabinet stand...cont'd

2008-10-21T19:11:00.006-04:00

I have resumed work on the beech cabinet in the past few days. I've rethought the design of the cabinet stand and made some changes. The original design called for four upper rails mortised into the legs. I would need to have wider front, rear and side apron rails to maintain the strength and integrity of the stand. Rather than this, I have decided on narrower top apron rails and move some support to the bottom of the stand in the form of stretchers instead. The aesthetics of this are more pleasing to me, very much like dividing the load at the top and bottom of the cabinet stand.

The leg dimensions remain the same, instead I divide the original upper rails into two components per rail and use the narrower component at the bottom of the stand. The strength and integrity of the cabinet stand should be maintained with this design along with more pleasing aesthetics, and more subtle, smaller components. I should have the stand assembled within the next day or two. In the meantime, I need to replace one of the components in the stand, a front top rail. In the handplaning effort I was a bit overzealous with this particular rail and the dimensions are no longer right, a little too thin. Rather than handplane the other rails to this dimension, I would rather replace this rail instead.

With significant hand planing, it becomes more important to maintain keen edges on the plane irons. The dullness of the irons sneaks up on you, and before you know it the handplane is struggling to produce fine shavings. I stop occasionally to sharpen the plane irons, otherwise the temptation is to increase the depth of cut with dull irons and all of a sudden they grab and tearout follows.

It's amazing how much the weather has changed in the span of two to three weeks in these parts. It was early fall weather a few days ago, now I hear some wet snow is arriving overnight. It should be nothing significant and late fall will resume, I hope.

Off on a tangent...

2008-10-16T16:24:00.008-04:00

I had some spare time recently while waiting for finish to dry and thought I would experiment with some inlay techniques. I have always found a piece of inlay with a surrounding border to be fascinating to be able to make. I need to confess, I've done this before although quite a while ago and need the practice. What I had in mind is a fair sized yellowheart diamond with a black border, I used blackwood. I have the inlay set in a lighter wood, nothing special, just a small offcut. The process of creating and inserting the inlay is a very good test of patience and fine hand tool skills , for almost everything here is accomplished with hand tools.

The border itself is bandsawn from a larger piece of blackwood and the yellowheart also bandsawn from a solid block. The yellowheart inlay is first drawn out and cut with careful attention to the shape of the diamond, each of the sides and facets needs to be a mirror image of the other side. I then mark the inlay onto the lighter background wood with an allowance or margin for the surrounding border. Once marked with a fine knife, I then remove or carve out the recess for both the diamond and border. Next step is to fit both the yellowheart inlay and blackwood border into the recess with glue , make sure it is well seated and wait for everything to set. Afterwards, I judiciously handplane the inlay and the result is in the photo at top. I find it great therapy to go off and do some other type of woodworking during or after some intensive furniture making, it clears the mind and the instant results can be very gratifying, the practice also keeps the skill retention up...

Back panels...

2008-09-27T23:02:00.011-04:00

Much of my cabinet design and build process involves the creation of a cabinet back. Conventional wisdom says the back of a cabinet is not nearly as important as the front or sides, so it merely needs a panel which is rabbeted into the sides, top and bottom. The problem with this thinking is that it assumes the back of the cabinet will be placed against a surface or wall and never seen. This doesn't apply to all cabinets as many cabinets are designed as showcases which are away from walls, sometimes placed in the center of a room or even a foot or two away from a wall. Something also feels wrong about diminishing the importance of the back of a cabinet when so much emphasis is placed on the design and structure of the front and sides of the cabinet. With this in mind, the need for a more aesthetically nice cabinet back becomes important, along with the function that it introduces to the cabinet. An example of function is if the cabinet is a wall-mounted cabinet and needs a structurally strong back.

The resulting back panel which best meets the criteria of both aesthetics and function is the frame and panel back; a panel inset into a surrounding frame composed of rails and stiles. The frame and panel back is inset into the cabinet back much like a panel would be and in the process the frame and panel also provide some rigidity to the cabinet. In those situations where a single panel is too wide, a middle stile is installed to divide the frame into two halves, otherwise for smaller cabinets a single panel is sufficient. The panel itself can either complement or contrast the cabinet, providing an interesting focal point once the doors of the cabinet are opened, as well as drawing the eye to the pleasing back of the cabinet.

Dowelling technique...

2008-09-21T19:43:00.001-04:00

In many of my cabinet assemblies I use dowels to attach the sides to the top and bottom. The use of dowels gives flexibility to the design of the corner joint. For example, I can offset the side panels away from the edge of the top or bottom and in the process work the protruding edge of the top and bottom into a shaped contour, chamfer, rabbet, etc. The alternative would be to use specific corner joints which need to have the side panel and top or bottom panel intersect right at the very edge. An example of this would be a dovetailed joint, a box joint, or a rabbet and lip edge. If you've ever read up on James Krenov and his work, you will find that he embraces the dowelled corner joint for these very same reasons. This is where I received the inspiration for this type of joint and its virtues.

Creating the doweled joint involves some measurement , but most importantly it involves the little jig you can see in the photo, the dowelling guide. This is a piece of wood with the exact dimensions of the panel I am dowelling, the length and thickness. The dowel holes are marked with arbitrary spacing and the dowel guide holes are bored out on the drill press. I use this dowelling guide to create the dowel holes on both of the mating surfaces , in this case the side panel and the top or bottom panel. There is some skill involved in aligning the dowelling guide to both surfaces since the holes for the dowels need to be perfectly aligned. Marking and orienting the dowelling guide to the correct edges becomes very important and I make many pencil marks in the process. The old adage, "measure twice , cut once" becomes "measure and mark three times, drill once". in this process.

Under wraps...

2008-09-11T21:44:00.007-04:00

These past four weeks I have been working on two new pieces of furniture. The first is intended for a gallery exhibition and the second to be entered in an upcoming local furniture exhibition. Unfortunately I will not be able to share the design and build of both these pieces for a while. The second piece intended for the exhibition, is essentially under wraps as all entries need to be in and judged by a certain date. I can say that I am really enjoying creating these two pieces as they are purely on built on speculation and I therefore have complete carte blanche on what I make.

Once I have completed these two pieces I will continue with the beech cabinet on stand which is currently on the back burner. I would estimate I can continue my work on the cabinet on stand in the first week of October. The two pieces I am working on are purposely not very large so I can instead focus on some extra detail I can hopefully incorporate into the design. Sometimes we need to take a leap forward and move into uncharted design territory to be able to add new skill sets and techniques to our furniture making repertoire. We need to regularly challenge ourselves. Wood selection has been a bit of a challenge lately as I have a difficult time locating wood with nice grain and good graphics. Most of what I find is suitable for cabinet work and not so much for fine furniture. Veneering becomes more of a viable option to circumvent this issue. Once I have boards with ideal grain pattern, graphics or figure in my hands I can simply slice veneers from it to use as components of furniture I am creating.

Cabinet base (2)...

2008-07-25T22:48:00.004-04:00

I have let the components of the cabinet base or the cabinet stand sit for a couple of days to have them release any internal tension from the resawing operations performed earlier. This tension is due to the interior part of the wood not being as dry as the outside , therefore typically contracting inwards to form a concave form. After a day or so I began to plane the legs a small amount to create flat reference surfaces on two adjacent sides. I then use these perfectly flat sides to dimension the legs to the proper thickness all around. This is one area where it is best to take the time and do it right regarding the judicious dimensioning. I monitor the leg stability every so often, making sure there is no bowing or twist occurring from pent up tension. Th extra material I had left in each dimension would allow me to remove this safely if it does occur. I have also highlighted the grain orientation of the legs and aprons.

I also have the parts for the four aprons almost ready, they are rough dimensioned at this stage with a flat reference surface. I also check this flat reference surface periodically to confirm that it is still flat and not cupped, bowed, etc. When these base or stand components have stabilized further, I will dimension them to the finished sizes. Afterwards, I introduce a taper to each of the legs which I perform initially with the bandsaw and then handplaning the surfaces flat. I also have the blank for the drawer faces selected. The blank is a straight, fine grained Santos mahogany and from it I will rough cut three drawer faces.

Well, it's that time of year again. My wife and I are off to the mountains for a few days of hiking, kayaking and relaxing. With our warm and humid summers up here, we like to go to the mountains as it's cooler and drier. I'll continue where I left off when I am back.

Cabinet base (1)...

2008-07-23T17:40:00.010-04:00

We have decided to go ahead with a cabinet base of the European beech. The process of creating a base from the beech slab involves a few steps. Initially the slab is partitioned for optimum use and minimal waste with an important consideration to grain orientation. Ideally, the slab is quarter-sawn. This particular slab is a cross between rift-sawn and quarter-sawn but I do need to pay attention to how the grain is oriented on the individual pieces. Ideally, the grain should be straight along the length of the aprons and all faces of the legs. The grain pattern in this case is diagonal to each face and not parallel to any of the four faces of the individual legs. I will saw the four leg blanks from the larger pieces I have already sawn with this in mind, and the possibility of re-orienting the leg blank within the larger piece of beech.

The original beech slab has now been sawn into three parts. Two of the three parts comprise the legs and the remaining part is utilized for the aprons. There are a total of four aprons, front, back, two sides. I'm cutting this slab in three stages leaving the sawn pieces to stabilize and to release any internal tensions. Since the original slab is resawn into smaller pieces, internal tension in the slab is released when resawing occurs. This isn't a hard and fast rule but in my experience occurs every time. I have also sawn the pieces oversized to allow for sawing at the next stage and the possibility of any cupping or bowing from internal stress. I leave these three sawn components to stabilize for a day or so before proceeding to the next stage of rough cutting the actual pieces which comprise the cabinet base.

Cabinet base design (1)...

2008-07-18T23:06:00.005-04:00

The other option of wood for the cabinet base is European beech from the same slabs I used to build the cabinet itself. This would provide a uniform color between the cabinet and base. I need to weigh this uniformity vs. the contrasting wood and color of a mahogany base. Since there is a client involved in this commission, the best thing for me to is defer the decision to the client. In the meantime, I have possibly found just the right slab of beech to be able to accomplish the build of the cabinet base. The cabinet base will be composed of four aprons and four legs. I have a slab of European beech with possibly enough wood to cover these eight components. Another option I have is to have the cabinet floating above the base, this would involve two more components.

In the photo, the beech slab is marked at one end with the divisions of the different components along with a small percentage of waste and dressing for each component. If the decision is made for the beech, this will be somewhat of a challenge for me. There is little margin or error when slicing this slab, with almost no wood to make spare pieces. Forgot to mention, this is the last of the European beech I have in my studio, and would need to source some more if I need it. It is not readily available in my area. Since I love challenges, I'm looking forward to this if the client decides on a beech base.

To be continued...

Cabinet base design...

2008-07-17T19:33:00.003-04:00

I'm picking up where I left off on the beech cabinet I began a few weeks ago. The cabinet itself is fairly complete except for three dovetailed drawers. I will build the drawers only after having decided on the type of wood to use for the cabinet base. The reason I am doing this is to bring some of the color from the cabinet base up to the cabinet itself. The very first step in this process is to select the type and color of wood to use for the base. I have the option of either making the base of the same wood (European beech) as the cabinet itself, or selecting a contrasting wood instead. If contrasting, how much variation in the color and grain pattern also.

I've been mulling over this for a few days now as I complete some smaller items in my studio. It is not a simple decision as it can affect the complete aesthetics of the piece. I need to consider if the eyes are going to be drawn away from the upper cabinet and how much so. I also need to design the cabinet and base to be in harmony with each other. I have the actual design in mind, the stumbling block now is the color and which wood to use for the base.

In the photo, I have a fairly large plank of mahogany I have kept for quite a while now. The plank is rift-sawn and has ribbons of color in it, although subtle. Using this wood would provide the base with a reddish-brown color once the patina of the wood has developed completely. This is something that should always be considered when selecting woods for a piece of furniture. after a number of months or years, what color will the wood finally attain. It is important when using two colors or tones of wood, as the initial contrast might either become subdued or more pronounced over time.

This is one option I have, to use this plank for the base components. I should decide in the next few days however...

Perspective on design (1)...

2008-07-12T22:19:00.003-04:00

I sometimes ask myself, what constitutes good design. Is it the aesthetics of the piece, the pleasing proportions, the balance of form and function... or all these characteristics combined? Taking a step back, the aesthetics and pleasing proportions are definitely at the forefront. I'm usually drawn to a piece of furniture that stands out with respect to the "look" of the piece. This one characteristic causes me to stop and further examine the piece by trying to understand what has drawn me to this particular design over another design on the same page. This analysis helps me in my own design process as I better understand what characteristics of a piece of furniture I am drawn to. Of course, we all have different styles of furniture that we are drawn to, but the common theme is good design. I am convinced that even an admirer of period styles of furniture will stop at a well-designed modern piece of furniture to further analyze it.

We've all heard the saying that everything has already been discovered or invented. I have even heard of this saying applied to furniture design. After all, we're re-shaping the same objects over and over... adding curves, changing proportions, adding ornamentation, removing the ornamentation, using darker or lighter woods, utilizing curves, replacing curves with straight lines, utilizing thicker or thinner components, etc. It is easy to come to this conclusion, however, I regularly see new pieces of furniture that make me sit back and say "wow, that is an interesting design".. or "that is a cool design, I wonder if it's been done before". In light of this, I think the boundaries of design are limitless, one just needs to think outside the box. Also, I feel that often using pre-existing styles as templates for a new design sometimes handicaps the designer , the designer subconsciously has the existing style in mind and cannot get past it. Sometimes it is better to begin with a clean slate, in our case, a pad and pencil and begin to sketch without any existing furniture designs to influence our design. All for now...

Perspective on design...

2008-07-10T17:28:00.001-04:00

This is a previous post, but I never did continue the discourse. I find it fascinating how furniture design has evolved over the centuries. If we go back to the middle ages and the era before, quite a few developments in furniture construction techniques were in progress. Prior to this era, in the centuries before, very little furniture was available, it was considered a luxury to have chairs, tables and cabinets. The larger, more finely made furniture of this era was typically destined for the aristocracy of the time as a display of their wealth and status.

Most conventional furniture of these early periods was assembled without consideration to wood expansion and contraction or wood movement. This worked for many years, since the interior of buildings in this era was often at the same temperature as the exterior. With the advent of heated interiors, wood movement became much more of a factor to deal with in construction and design of furniture, and the practice of simply assembling wood planks together to form furniture needed to evolve. It was in the middle ages that frame and panel construction was adopted. This technique allowed a solid wood panel to literally float within a wood frame composed of rails and stiles. The solid wood panel could expand and contract on a seasonal basis, and not cause any structural failure within the furniture.

All of a sudden many more possibilities were created for furniture design and its widespread appeal began in earnest. Furniture also began to become more affordable as of the 18th and 19th century, more furniture makers existed and sound construction techniques began to become standardized. There are numerous periods over the past centuries and each of these had a style or styles associated with them. Additionally, each country had a style of its own within these periods. One can see how similar furniture design principles were adopted by successive countries over the different periods. Popular furniture styles which are widely recognized have familiar names such as English Chippendale, German Biedermeier, American Federal and Arts & Crafts, French Art Nouveau, Italian Rococo, etc. The evolution continues to more recent styles such as Modern Swedish ( Krenov style) and Contemporary styles.

One interesting tidbit is that a style of furniture is never really defined until the particular period has elapsed, almost like looking through a rear view mirror. Today's styles might be referred to as a particular period of style, but only after the period has lapsed. In the photo, a small swedish modern styled tabletop cabinet . To be continued...

Dash almost complete...

2008-06-24T19:25:00.007-04:00

In my last post I had the dash veneered on both sides and the cutouts for the gauges and switches prepared . I am now kicking myself for not taking a picture of the dash panel when I received it and the dismal state it was in. In any case, I began to apply the finish which consisted of a lightly tinted danish oil, the tint a light colored shade of walnut. After I let this dry for two days, I began to apply the top coat of a wipe-on polyurethane. Since the dash panel is exposed to temperature and environmental extremes, humidity, and possibly direct sunlight, polyurethane is a good finish to seal out the elements. The original dash panel delaminated and the veneer was flaking off due to these same environmental extremes, so I had to make sure the correct finish is applied.

I'm just about done with applying the multiple coats of this wipe-on poly with light sanding between coats with fine sandpaper. The back of the dash panel is similarly top coated with a polyurethane finish along with the continuous edge of the dash panel and the gauge openings. I'm trying to leave nothing to chance with respect to moisture or humidity permeating the dash panel.

In the photo, I have a portion of the dash panel. The bird's eye figure stands out well and is deep and vibrant. Next I will complete assembly of the small glove box hardware and ship off to the owner. From what I understand the restore of the vintage TR6 is going to be complete in a matter of weeks and I also look forward to seeing the dash in the car. If you click the image you can see more detail in a larger photo.

A different type of woodworking...

2008-06-19T17:00:00.016-04:00

I've been tasked with reconstructing the wood dash panel from a vintage British automobile which is currently being restored. The dash was previously veneered and after about thirty five years, it succumbed to the elements and began to delaminate. Along with this, the original veneered surfaces were cracked and flaking off. This is a type of work I have not done before. The only effective way to remove the veneer completely and uniformly was with a sanding machine. After performing this on either side of the dash panel, I had clean wood underneath. The wood was high grade plywood with many plies. I judiciously re-laminated the laminations which were separating, which was no small feat. Once I was completely satisfied that the plywood dash had regained its strength and rigidity I began to plan the application of veneers both on the face and back of the dash panel.

The veneers were applied one at a time, beginning with the back of the dash panel. I cross banded or alternated two layers of the back cherry veneers to add rigidity and strength to the dash panel. I next cut out the multitude of holes from the back along with screw holes and rectangular cut-outs. I used reamers, sanding pads, and small half-round and round files to accomplish this.After I was satisfied with this, I applied veneer, bird's eye maple, to the face of the dash. Similar to the back, I re-created the holes, cut-outs, etc. from the front. Next, I veneered the glove compartment box door following the same procedure.

In the photo, I have just completed veneering and sanding the dash panel, glove compartment door, and have it fitted in its opening. Some more small detail work and I am almost ready to apply finish to the dash panel. There were some stressful moments in all this, veneer being so thin with very little margin for error, but it seems to have worked out. I thought I would share this experience.

Drawer cases installed...

2008-05-29T22:05:00.009-04:00

After some deliberation, I decided that I really like the drawer case layout and went ahead and permanently installed them in the cabinet. The mounting method I arrived at is actually quite straightforward. The right hand drawer case is pegged to the bottom of the cabinet with four short dowel pieces. It is not directly attached to either the back or right side of the cabinet with this method, eliminating any wood movement issues however small they might be. The left hand single drawer case is also not directly attached to the cabinet side or back for the same reason. Instead I created a small platform for the left drawer case using two pieces of beech with grain in the same direction as the rest of the cabinet.

The two pieces of beech are directly below the left drawer case on either side and do not extend completely to the front, but approximately one half the distance. The drawer case can be considered to be cantilevered on this small platform. Also, to make the platform sides somewhat subtle in appearance, I created a fair size chamfer at the leading edges rather than have a square edge. This has successfully accomplished the effect I intended. The platform sides are pegged to the cabinet and right hand drawer case with one alignment dowel and subsequently glued to the left side and right drawer case. The back is open however, and the back panel can be seen in the opening.

I attached the left drawer case to the platform sides with 3 vertical lengths of dowels on either side, this adds considerable strength to the left drawer case. In doing so, I have left myself the option for the hidden compartment panel I might or might not install later on. In the photo, you can see the chamfered platform sides. Next, I begin to plan the actual drawers, something I've been longing to begin.

Laying out the drawer cases (1)...

2008-05-14T17:41:00.010-04:00

I have had to take a short break from this project due to circumstances and other work in my schedule. I'm back on track with this cabinet now and I am in the process of laying out the configuration of the drawer cases. The original plan had one upper drawer at the top left and the two drawer assembly at the lower right. Upon reflection, I decided to configure the drawer cases differently as in the photo. This is somewhat of a staggered, stepped arrangement with the appearance of a floating drawer at the left with the original location of the two drawer case at the right. Since I have complete freedom to lay out the drawer cases as long as there is sufficient room above either of the drawer cases for art objects, I have taken this liberty in the design process.

At the left, beneath the single drawer case, I am also considering a false front which would appear as a solid piece of wood and is only removable through a hidden slot. This feature can be considered a secret compartment. I like the idea, but I also like the design of having the left drawer case appear to be floating as in the photo. I have mocked up the drawer cases with the empty compartment at the bottom left.

This is my current design dilemma and I will continue to experiment with the layout of the drawer cases.

Preparing the drawer cases (5)...

2008-04-27T22:03:00.005-04:00

I left off with the individual boards which comprise the two drawer cases. I moved on, trimmed the boards and created the joinery for the sides and top and bottom. The joinery will consist of a rabbet with some small reinforcement. I need to accurately trim the sides of the dual drawer case since there is an allowance for the middle drawer divider which needs to be taken into consideration. The accuracy revolves around the fact that I want each of the three drawers to be of the same general height.The dado for this particular divider will also be stopped, end just short of the front of the drawer case. This allows me to have the upper drawer have a lower lip to meet with the bottom drawer, hiding the center divider in the process.

In the photo, the drawer cases, not yet complete are placed sided by side and amazingly enough, there is hardly a gap between them. This allows me some flexibility in placement of the drawer cases, which has not quite been finalized yet.

Preparing the drawer cases (4)...

2008-04-22T17:02:00.004-04:00

I have completed dimensioning, handplaning and scraping the surfaces of the panels for the drawer cases. The panels were longer in length than necessary, an extra length allowance of each of the panels comprises one side of each drawer case. These drawer case sides will be rabbeted into the top and bottom panels. The grain orientation of the drawer cases is similar to the cabinet top and bottom, this is purposely designed in to accommodate any expansion and contraction due to humidity changes in the ambient air. In the lower drawer case, the sides are somewhat longer to accommodate two drawers and a drawer divider. The hardwood drawer divider will be fitted into dadoed slots in the center of either side of the drawer case. Dadoes run perpendicular to grain orientation as opposed to grooves which run parallel to the grain orientation.

The drawer case sides, and top and bottom panels are oriented in the same direction to have the complete drawer case movement occur front to back similar to the cabinet itself. The drawer case sides need to be trimmed to size next and then a dado created in the dual drawer case. The drawer cases are assembled afterwards with careful attention to maintaining the drawer cases perfectly square. Once the assembly is complete, I will fit the drawer divider into its dado.

I'm anxious to begin work on the drawers and have yet to decide whether the drawer faces will be a contrasting color, most likely so. In this case, I need to find a wood which complements European Beech.

Preparing the drawer cases (3)...

2008-04-16T22:25:00.013-04:00

The measurements of the boards which comprise the four drawer case panels are a tad smaller than originally planned, so I have had to forgo squaring the ends of the boards of each of eight boards. Instead I have assembled the eight boards into four panels and will instead square then ends of these panels off. It is just an arbitrary decision at this point and doesn't affect the assembly of the panels, although nicer panels would have resulted had I squared the ends of the boards first. This also allows me to dial in as much length as absolutely possible in each of the panels.

I had also jointed the mating edges of each of the boards, the edge which mates with the other, matching board of the panel. This went well and I let the boards sit for a day or so afterwards to determine if any further cupping would result. A very small bit of cupping did result, and of course it becomes more pronounced due to the width of the panels. The next step involved scribbling witness lines across each of the cupped faces of the boards and handplaning the outside edge area working towards the middle. I regularly go back and forth with a flat, steel rule to determine how much progress is being made. I also try not to overshoot... which essentially decreases the overall thickness of each of the boards.

At this point, I have four panels ready to be squared to finish dimensions, both in width and length. A small part of each of the panels form the sides of the drawer case. I will also need to cross cut these sections off, which leaves me with four shorter panels which form the tops and bottoms of the drawer case.

I'm going to take some time and spend it outdoors today. We had wintry weather until late last week, but this week has been getting wamer and sunnier with temps in the low 70's today. We've had such a long winter up here, and this weather couldn't arrive soon enough.

Preparing the drawer cases (2)...

2008-04-13T22:17:00.006-04:00

I left off in the previous post with a few boards to flatten and smooth with handplanes. I typically use a planing board with a plane stop at the end to perform this type of work. The boards are relatively small and are easily held against the plane stop. This allows me to quickly flip the board around to plane either side without needing to clamp the board again. If I were planing a larger panel I would most likely fasten it between bench dogs.

The handplaning of these particular boards is straightforward along their length with little diagonal planing... so it works out well. Handplaning these boards which will comprise the panels for the drawer cases begins with a long fore or jointer plane to flatten the faces of the boards and ensure they are flat and parallel to each other. I also have the final thickness of each board in mind and work towards this. After the individual boards were resawn a little cupping was introduced , inherent to resawing, and although acclimatization to the studio environment helps to relieve this cup and any other tension in the boards, some minimal cupping remains in each of these boards.

I use a jointer plane in this case, I have it tuned and ready most of the time for work like this. A shorter fore plane would also be ideal since the boards are relatively short in length. Once the boards faces are flat with parallel faces I then move on to a finely tuned smoother plane to ensure the faces of the boards are flat as can be. The term which is used for this type of board preparation is four-squaring the board which ensures that both faces and the two long edges are parallel to each other, and the ends and edges are perpendicular. After completing this process on each of the other boards which will comprise the drawer case panels, I will be squaring the ends to achieve both the correct length of each board and to ensure the boards are perfectly square.

Preparing the drawer cases (1)...

2008-04-12T21:21:00.007-04:00

After slicing (resawing) and dicing (ripping, cross-cutting) the rough blanks for the interior parts, I am now left with a few fairly identically sized boards. The individual boards are thicker than the final dimension to allow for any cupping ,bowing, or twist that may result from the resawing operation and acclimatization of the boards. I have also resawn a few extra boards to allow for any problems or mismatched grain when creating the wider panels for the drawer cases. The boards are fairly similar in width but differ in length. Half are destined for the single drawer case, the other half to the stacked drawer case. Some wane or bark can be seen on a few of the boards and this will be trimmed off to create square edges with minimal removal.

I will let these boards sit on edge for a day or so and then proceed with hand planing them closer to the final thickness. Once the "approximate" final thickness is achieved, the next step in the sequence is to square the mating edges and join these boards to create the panels for the drawer cases. There are two approaches to creating the panels, either glue the boards up initially and hand plane or surface the panel to final thickness or ..... hand plane the individual boards close to final thickness and then join to make a panel. I prefer the latter as any strange characteristics of each board will be manifested before joining. This allows me to substitute one board for another, more stable board. Of course, there is a little final hand plane surfacing to complete the thicknessing to size step, but very minimal.

Selecting wood for the interior...

2008-04-11T20:22:00.006-04:00

After having decided on a layout for the interior, I proceeded to take measurements of the
drawer case mockups. With these measurements in hand, I then create a cut list. The cut list provides me a clear idea of the amount of wood necessary to make both the drawer cases. The cut list also allows me to optimize the individual components for the drawer cases in order to minimize the wood necessary. This is only valid to a point however, as the wood components need to be selected with careful consideration to grain orientation and to maintain the harmony of the individual drawer cases.

With this information in hand, I selected an area of a large beech plank to cut my blanks from. Fortunately, I have some very nice European Beech planks in my studio I had acquired a while ago. The planks are rift to quarter-sawn in grain orientation and fairly thick at approximately 2.5 inches. The blanks are slightly different in size and are rift-sawn. The difference in blank size is attributed to the different size of either of the drawer cases. In the photo above, the two blanks can be seen along with my measurements and cut list. I also drew the components of the drawer cases out on another sheet of cardboard as a visual aid in laying out the components. Since the depth of the drawer cases is fairly large, I will be gluing two pieces of beech for each of the tops, bottoms and sides of the drawer cases. In doing this, I will try to maintain grain orientation and harmony to create fairly seamless components for the drawer cases.

Next I will layout and mark the boards to be cut from both of these beech blanks. After cutting the blanks in half and squaring one face and one edge of the individual halves , I will slice the boards off using a bandsaw similar to resawing.

Cabinet interior mock up...

2008-04-07T19:19:00.002-04:00

I have been mocking up a few different layouts for the interior of the cabinet in the past few days. There are certain criteria which need to be considered in this process. The original design calls for three drawers with maximized interior space for art objects. One of the factors used in the design of the layout is the height and width of the cabinet itself and allowing as much room for taller art objects. This space will co-exist with the three drawers. Initially, I designed the drawers on the right hand side of the cabinet interior with two lower drawers, a space for art object(s), and a drawer above. I had also considered shelving in the design but decided against this as the height of the cabinet would further limit any taller art objects from being displayed.

In the photo, is my latest design of the interior. This layout is a good example of the design adage, "less is sometimes more". There is a fair amount of room on both the left and right side of the cabinet interior. The drawers have been divided into two assemblies with one drawer at the top left and two drawers at the bottom right of the cabinet interior. The design is also somewhat interesting and does not conform to the typical, established layout of drawers within a cabinet. This feature enhances the uniqueness of the cabinet interior in my opinion.

This design is not quite cast in stone as yet. I intend to further refine the layout with both interesting, unique design and optimized space as criteria. Mocking up is a great exercise in the design process, both initially and in finalizing the design. Having the components of a furniture piece mocked up to scale proportions reveals any design considerations which might have been overlooked in the initial design.

Cabinet taking shape...

2008-03-23T21:19:00.019-04:00

I now have the cabinet case, back panel , and front doors installed and adjusted. Everything looks fine at this point, with my next emphasis on the interior of the cabinet. Afterwards, I will finalize the design of the cabinet stand. With respect to the interior, I have a design idea in mind and have begun to make a few sketches. I will most likely leave the left hand side of the interior free and clear and build up the right with two stacked drawers and perhaps a third drawer further up. This design allows the right hand door to be opened independently in the sense that drawers can be accessed without the need to open both doors. This part of the design is interesting and helps me to resolve the division of the interior compartments.The client has indicated I have carte blanche to design the interior as I wish with the only requirement to have one large and one smaller space for art objects, along with two drawers. Sometimes less is more and in this case ( no pun intended) the larger the non-drawer compartments, the larger the objects which can be showcased.

In the photo, I use tape as temporary door pulls while I decide on the door pull design. I'm debating whether to simply have one pull located on the right hand door. If I decide on one door pull, I will elaborate on the thought process leading to this decision.

After my return from a ski trip this week I will be dedicating the next few days to finalizing the design of the interior and beginning to create it. On this ski trip, my wife and I are staying in a small resort town with surrounding towns that have plenty of small shops and boutiques. We both plan to glean some fresh design ideas from other visual objects, not necessarily wood objects... and inspiration for this piece of furniture and other, future designs along with inspiration for her wood inlay jewelry designs.

Contrasting stiles...

2008-03-21T20:02:00.005-04:00

A cherry cabinet on stand I built three years ago had developed a small bow in the inside vertical stile of the right hand door. This happened a few weeks after I completed it. I kept telling myself I would one day either make some new doors or replace the bowed stile in the right hand door. Well, I finally decided to do this. I hunkered down , disassembled the right hand door and replaced both the inside lipped stile and the top rail. The cherry cabinet was originally finished with multiple thinned coats of super blonde shellac. Cherry develops a wonderful color and patina as it ages. There is no sense in staining this particular wood as the natural aging process and exposure to light and air provide the most beautiful color. We had this cabinet around for the past three years as it slowly developed the cherry patina. It is sometimes difficult to appreciate how much of a color change has actually occurred since the cabinet ages uniformly.

Well, I found out how much it aged and developed a dark color when I began to replace parts of the right hand cabinet door. The photo has the inner lipped stile and the top rail as fresh, new wood. I made sure to have these two pieces acclimate in my studio for a couple of weeks. The contrast is incredible... with nothing originally applied to the cherry cabinet but super blonde shellac and wax, no stain of any type applied. I took this photo to be able to show any prospective clients just how much cherry changes over time.

I notice the issue of either staining or leaving cherry to develop it's own aged color comes up occasionally in forums and the overwhelming advice given is to let it develop its own color over time. When you see the difference, it is easier to accept this advice.

I thought I would share this..

Door lip and rabbet...

2008-03-19T18:43:00.015-04:00

Rather than leave an open gap between the doors, even a small one, it is much preferred to create a mating set of lip and rabbet along the inner edges of the front door panels. This serves to provide a positive closure of the doors and masks the very small reveal between the doors. In this particular case , I create an outside lip or rabbet on the right hand door as this is the first door opened. The method I utilize is to mark the outline of the rabbet, in my case 1/4 in. X 1/4 in. and begin to remove material at the edge of the right hand door. The wood removed is part of the hardwood edging I installed within the door panel edges prior to veneering. The tool I use is a skew rabbet block plane with adjustable fence. This particular plane is based on the Stanley No. 140 plane. I added a wood auxiliary fence to the plane to extend the bearing surface of the plane against the edge of the door panel.

This process went along fairly well without any surprises and afterwards I re-installed the door and began to fit the mating edge to it. This rabbet will mate perfectly with the right hand door edge. Rather than concern myself with a slightly wider left hand door I add a lip of the same wood and grain orientation to the inner edge of the left door instead. This allows me to create two identically sized door panels and since veneer is involved, the complexity of the process is simpler if the door panels are of equal dimensions.

I currently have the left hand door rabbeted edge in the process of glue-up and afterwards I will perform any small trimming to ensure the fit is perfect between the doors. There is a small, slightly greater than 1/32 in. gap between the doors at the moment which will have less of a reveal apparent once the lipped edges are created and installed.

Door panels (4)...

2008-03-18T21:13:00.010-04:00

Once the mortises for the knife hinges are successfully created and care is taken to make certain the offsets are uniform and the depth of each knife leaf is consistent, the next step is to temporarily install the doors while fitting each door to the cabinet. The reveal around each door is important as well as any small differences in how the doors hang within the cabinet frame. In this photo the cabinet is reversed in orientation top to bottom for me to work on the fitting. The left door is in the photo. The knife hinges have a very small amount of leeway for me to adjust the doors so the reveal at both the top and bottom and the center part between doors is uniform.

I also need to be conscious of how the outside edges fit the cabinet , they need to be parallel and in the same plane as the cabinet sides. The fitting of the doors can be somewhat time consuming but in my opinion this needs to be done correctly at this stage or the visual impact of a non-uniform reveal will be very apparent later.

After completing this fitting and knife hinge adjustment I will be creating the lip at the juncture of the doors in the middle of the cabinet. The lip serves to hide any open space between the doors and also to create an interlocking, positive closure for the doors. The right hand door will have a rabbeted lip whereas the left hand door will have a additional piece of beech added to the rear of the center edge of the door to form a mating lip. To maintain grain matching I have pieces of beech left over from the same plank I used to resaw the veneers earlier.

We have plenty of snow up here at this time , more than the average winter, and my wife and I will be leaving for a skiing trip at a resort next week. We're both crazy about spring skiing and there is plenty of nice weather coming up.

Door panels (3)...

2008-03-17T22:29:00.056-04:00

The hinge markings are transferred from the doors to the cabinet to maintain accuracy.Creating the hinge mortises with hand tools is somewhat of a pleasant task although it can take a while. Care needs to be exercised with grain orientation as the grain is reversed depending on which corner of the cabinet is being mortised. I use both chisel bevel down and back down orientation to remove waste from the hinge recesses. The outline of the hinge and its offset from the edge of the cabinet and doors is fairly important.

Once this is accomplished, removing material from the recess is fairly foolproof. I remove wood from the hinge recess in stages, exercising care not to go too deep in one pass of the chisel.

Door panels (2)...

2008-03-13T22:49:00.020-04:00

I now have the door panels assembled and roughly fitted to the cabinet front enclosure. In the previous post I mentioned that I had stumbled on to some nicely figured European beech. This is an excellent example of the concept and term dynamic design I described in a much earlier post. As much as I like to follow through with a pre-existing design, when an opportunity presents itself and I can enhance a design,a strong consideration is given to seizing this opportunity. My original design was nebulous regarding the front doors, I had some sort of inlay in mind as an embellishment. The figure I have found in these slices of European beech are, in my opinion, a more natural embellishment and if oriented correctly, dramatically change the front graphics of the cabinet.

Some judicious resawing and a short time later and I had enough veneer slices to create the bookmatched veneers for the fronts of the door panels. I utilize straight-grained beech veneers for the back of the door panels. The veneers are edge jointed prior to assembling together to form each of the four sheets for the two door panels. I take great care in veneering the substrates for the door panels and make sure that the substrates are perfectly flat and smooth since the veneers will telegraph any bumps or surface irregularities into the top surface.

In the photo, I have the door panels mocked up in the cabinet front to determine if the aesthetics are both correct and pleasing. I'm not looking for complete symmetry at this point and this is obvious in the detail of the figure of the individual door panels. There is instead, a partial symmetry in the door graphics which makes us more aware of the natural growth pattern of wood.

Next I make preparations for installation of the knife hinges for the doors after some final fitting of the doors within the cabinet opening.

Door panels...

2008-03-11T22:12:00.010-04:00

I have begun work on the front doors in the past day or so. I'm not sure if you recall, but in an earlier post I decided to create the doors of the cabinet as veneered panels rather than solid wood. The primary reason for this is the width of each of the doors and the large expansion and contraction coefficient of the solid wood, along with the exceptional stability of veneered panels. Although I had originally intended to use quarter-sawn wood, the expansion rate is still uncomfortably large with the approximate 13 inches of width for each door. The first part of creating the individual doors is to have a straight, flat and solid substrate. I have selected multi-ply baltic birch for the substrate, the virtues of this wood are dimensional stability and strength. It is very well suited for use as a substrate for veneering.

After cutting the pieces for each door to approximate size, I added some solid beech edging to all four sides of each panel. This allows me to overlap the veneer the full expanse of each panel and in turn I gain solid wood at each of the ends and sides. As part of the design I need to have solid wood at the junction of the doors to be able to create a rabbeted lip. The strips of beech I use along with the substrate together provide me with two oversized door panels which I will trim after veneering.

While the glue is setting on the substrate door panels, I take the opportunity to lay out some veneer pieces from solid European Beech stock I have. Once the stock is marked I begin to resaw the veneers. This operation is fairly slow as each piece of veneer needs to be sawn fairly uniform in thickness and with minimal saw marks and due to the depth or width of the veneers, the stock can only be passed through the bandsaw at a low feed speed. While laying out the veneers I stumbled across some nicely figured stock which I will use to create the veneers for the front of the doors. This was not anticipated and a welcome surprise, the inherent beauty of wood and the surprises it holds. I now need to spend a little more time bookmatching the figured veneer for each door panel. Hopefully this will work out and the veneered sheets come out fine.

Next I will continue to work on the veneers and use the individual veneer slices to create sheets large enough to cover each side of the door panels. Working with thin sheets of veneer like this involves careful attention to their fragile nature. Although the resawn veneers I am creating are an order of magnitude thicker than commercial veneers, they can still be fragile.

Cabinet back (2)...

2008-03-08T22:08:00.003-05:00

The back frame and panel is assembled with panels in place and installed at the back of the cabinet. The cabinet is slowly evolving into a piece of furniture. The frame and panel back fit very snugly after some light, judicious planing of the outside rails and stiles. I have not yet finalized the layout of the interior of the cabinet, but I expect to create an assembly with two or three drawers in the lower right section of the cabinet. In the photo, you can see the overhang at the front top and bottom of the cabinet to allow for the front doors. The amount of overhang or space I allowed for is the thickness of the individual veneered door panels along with a very small extra gap both behind and ahead of the door.There is also the small chamfered edge of the top and bottom surrounding the cabinet front, sides and back.

Creating the door panels is my next task in this cabinet build and I will be working on this over the next days. I'm also working on the stand design which has not yet been finalized. I have a feeling I will be modifying the original drawings and doing something a little different here. I'm just waiting to determine how the enclosed cabinet looks to me and what stand design provides the best complement for the cabinet. This goes back to a term I coined a few months ago on an earlier project.

The term I coined is "dynamic design" and allows the maker to dynamically modify a design as the build progresses. The modifications in design are directly attributable to how the project is taking shape, as opposed to moving forward with an existing design which might or might not make sense any longer. The concept of dynamic design and artistic freedom go hand in hand. I mention to my clients that the design will most likely evolve as the project continues and to expect some changes, most likely small ones. There needs to be a certain trust between the maker and client to be able to accomplish this, something I strive to provide the client.

I should have the beginnings of the door panels done in the next day or so along with resawing of the veneers I will be using.

Cabinet back...

2008-03-06T22:11:00.012-05:00

I've been working on the frame and panel for the back of the cabinet. This frame is composed of the same wood, European beech, as the cabinet. The components of the frame and panel back are two outside stiles, a center stile, and the upper and lower rails which are continuous along their length. The width of the individual components is approximately 2 inches or thereabouts, and I based this on aesthetics along with availability of clear quarter-sawn beech stock on hand.

The type of joinery I have selected for this back is the mortise and tenon. The stiles are of equal length, so are the the respective tenons at either end of each stile, which also fit into the grooves in either horizontal rail. In the photo, the frame is temporarily installed in the cabinet back recess for a test fit. I am in the process of creating the panels to fit into each of the frame halves.

Some judicious planing is involved in creating a perfect fit of the frame and panel into the back of the cabinet, but I had already allowed for this with a very small fraction of an inch in extra width of the frame. Another factor in the decision for the stile and rail widths is the factoring in of any small wood movement of the rails and stiles in their widths. The wood I have selected is fairly quarter-sawn so movement is substantially reduced and the fairly narrow widths of the components reduces the remaining movement considerably.

The panels will be floating with a small gap around each edge to allow for wood movement. Once I have this frame and panel back installed, the cabinet will have developed an entirely new look, that of a cabinet without front doors.