I'm building this wall cabinet using some new techniques. If it turns out well, it will go in the office or the house, if not, welcome to the workshop my walnut friend! It has a dovetailed carcass and a chamfered face frame which I learnt from Garrett Hack in Fine Woodworking. Essentially, you leave a small vertical rabbet and chamfer it away leaving a seamless joint. I may also add a small moulding down the side to accomplish the same thing and to lighten the heaviness of the walnut. The frame extends past the drawer sides removing the need for stopped dadoes. Not everything is cut to finished length yet.

It is made from walnut with birdseye maple door panels. I used the same plank for all the stiles to give the piece grain continuity. You can see this most easily by looking at the two door stiles in the centre of the cabinet. Walnut and maple is a great colour combination.

I also modified the dimensions as I was building it. I have never done this before, but as I was laying out the pieces it seemed as if the stiles were too thick for the cabinet so I narrowed them down. Also I thickened the rails to make the panels less long. I was trying to get closer to the golden ratio. The finished cabinet will have a cove moulding on the top. This will reduce the boxy look it is too easy to get with these types of cabinets.

TS55, OF1400, RO125 but no Domino this time. What, no Domino? No, unnecessary this time. I really went to town with the hand plane and the block plane. On a piece of furniture this small, it is so much "faster, easier and smarter" to mill the lumber close to final dimension with the power tools, and then get a precise fit for the last couple of millimetres with the hand tools. Because the piece is so small, the fit of the joints has to be that much more exact to stand up to scrutiny.

I actually found the much-maligned Parallel guide (491469) to be very useful when cutting the thin stiles and rails. Because the guide rail was not clamped to the wood that was being cut but another piece of the same thickness behind it, the parallel guide kept the wood from wandering away from the guide rail.

I also have to give a special mention to my 36" Veritas straight edge and my new Woodpeckers precision square. The square is one of the best tools I have ever bought. It is accurate, solid, easy to read, and a pleasure to use. $80 very well spent.

I thought it would be a little different to show some in-progress photos for a change. I should have the finished piece ready in a few more days. Maybe I will present it to my wife for her impending 40th birthday to show her where all my time and money is being spent!

Richard,

I have no idea how I missed your original post on this.  I love your melding of hand and power tool results.

Great pics  .

Please post more!

Love your work Richard!  That is a great cabinet!

I have to ask, in one of the pics, to the left of the "off green" miter saw, there's a board with several sticks fixed at different angles.  What is that???  Looks like a really interesting jig.

Beautiful cabinet and I love the doors in the 2 tone. Great job

Almost done. Just the back and the finish. I thought about extending the banding along the top but it looks better without. I am going to experiment with some finishes but I am sure shellac will come first.

Richard.

Absolutely dewaxed shellac every time. I use the dry flakes, and mix them with ethyl hydrate (same as denatured alcohol more or less). Then after a few coats I can see whether I need to apply a gel stain- which may be the case here as I have some gray areas- and then a top coat.

I am really excited about seeing the maple pop out.

I really like it Richard.  Nice work.

I like that magnifier/loupe you have.  Where does one buy decent ones would you say?  You mentioned it is a 10X, would you suggest that magnification only if being used solely in the shop?

Let the finishing begin. After sanding to 400 grit with Monsieur Rotex, I spent yesterday trying out several finishes on walnut and maple samples. I have settled for a simple shellac finish on the walnut to start, with no stain. I am undecided about the maple, but am leaning towards danish oil. Shellac yellows the maple a bit too much and I want to maintain the contrast with the dark walnut.

The photo is after two coats of shellac, with the maple untouched. Actually, keeping the shellac off the maple is the hardest part.

OK, I finally finished the cabinet. 6 coats of shellac on the walnut and 1 coat of Danish oil on the maple, followed by 2 coats of buffing wax with the rotex and sheepskin pad. I got just the finish I wanted, smooth to the touch, deep in colour and satin rather than glossy. The shellac has darkened the walnut a little and evened out the colour where there was sapwood. I was careful to avoid getting shellac on the inlay to avoid yellowing it.

Hopefully you can see from the photos in the preceding posts and this one how the finish changed over time. I thought it would be useful to document this.

I turned the knobs on the lathe- it's about all I use it for these days. Note: when looking for examples of doorknobs doing a google search for "ebony knob" can give you some unexpected and child-unfriendly results! 

The knobs are just touching each other so the friction keeps the doors closed, which was a complete fluke and a real bonus. Now I don't have to mess about with magnets. I didn't plan it that way but it worked out.

Hope you like it,
Richard.

Festools used: TS55, Rotex 125, OF1400, MFT/3, CT22.







 

I love the contrast between the walnut and maple.  The quilted maple center is gorgeous.  Very nice job.

Beautiful work Richard!

Fred