cabinet construction

These pictures show the coming together of the unit. The horizontal pieces have not yet been veneered and are therefore shown as the lighter birch timber of the plywood. Also the drawer front have only been solid edged and not yet veneered either. The second of the images shows the hinges chosen for this unit, I ordered these from Hafele and am really happy with there application as they allow the centre doors to open 180 degrees to finish in front of the outer fabric doors and therefore provide easy access to the internal drawers.

I am thoroughly happy with the way this unit is coming together, the scale, size and proportions have all combioned to achieve what i feel will be a highly aesthetically pleasing piece.

internal assemblage

Demonstrated in this picture is the internal construction unit for the cardboard memories piece.  As you can see the finish has already been aplied to these pieces and allowences have been made for the sdjustable shelving, rebates for the drawer runners and rebates for the hinges have all been completed pre assemblage. This planning ahead allows for the piece to progress in the construction process as the need to continuelly stop and assess and problem solve is minimised.

Next step is to assemble this part of the unit with the two outer horizontal member.

further plans for cardboard memories

After consultation with Rodney the head of the workshop i have been able to confirm thoughts i have had for the future construction needed in the piece:

1/ To have the rear of the cabinet removable so as to allow for access and installation.

2/ To have the drawer runners in the internal parts of the unit pinned into rebates therefore allowing the runner to be replaced if the time came that they were wareing down.

internal construction

From where we last left the construction process i have veneered and solid edged the internal components. The solid edging i have decided to complete pre veneer therefore creating a more harmonious feel to the piece. Although this process adds a great deal more time to the manufacturing process i feel that the aesthetical appeal outways the time factor.

As the unit takes shape i have decided to pre finish the members before assemblage. This serves two purposes, firstly it enables easy clean up whilst gluing as the glue will not adhere to the finish and secondly it is far easier to apply finish to a single board than it is to finish all the nooks and cranies once the piece is fully completed. After much deliberation i have decided to finish this piece with a white shellac and natural wax so to not darken the quality of the beech used in the construction, therefore keeping the unit a light and visually soft as possible. Further pictures await as my camera has just died with the remaining pictures on it!

rail and cardboard torsion construction

Photos here demonstrate the methods used to clamp the finger joined horizontal rail. This finger join was created by running smaller rails through the table saw vertically while clamped to a guide and then cutting the opposing fingers on the second rail, therefore lengthening the existing stock to the required dimension.

The second picture shown illustrates the method of my cardboard torsion construction. The cardboard is cross laminated to achieve the 30mm thickness and is surrounded by the corner piece tenons and rails. By cross laminating the cardboard i can achieve amazing acoustic properties while not compromising on the integrety of the strength of the unit. Also inserted into this construction are solid laminations of plywood which will act as fixing points for the internal constructed members.

construction continues

Ok time to catch things up with the progress in the workshop. Further to the construction process these pictures show the shaping of the corner pieces and a mock asssemblage to assess the proportions of the unit. The corner pieces where roughed down on the table saw and then finished with a no.4 plane.