Antique French Cabinet

[Memphis Larry]

Several months ago, my wife saw a large cabinet in a designer shop she proposed to buy.  Asking price was $4,200.  I told her I could make it for much less, maybe around $1,000.  I was going to have it completed by Christmas, but that was not to be.  Then I told her I would have the bottom finished by Christmas, and I almost made that deadline.  But alas, I have not completed the finish.  My copy is poplar, stained like mahogany then painted white and distressed.  The overall measurements are about 5 1/2 feet wide by 8 1/2 feet tall.  Here is a picture of what I am copying:
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Here is a picture of the bottom as of yesterday after painting and before distressing:
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Today, I drove about 45 minutes to buy Poplar I found on CL for $.35 per bf.  Bought about 116bf for $42.  Got enough to finish this project and make whatever else my wife sees for the next few weeks.
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[rnt80]

Nice job thus far.  Did you do the turnings?

 

[Memphis Larry]

Nice job thus far.  Did you do the turnings?

Thanks.  Yes and No on the turnings.  Made the split column moldings and was going to make the feet.  Saw some legs at Lowes that I turned into feet by sawing off a portion to get the height and effect I wanted to simulate the original.

 

[Wim]

It looks nice to me, seems like a good copy.
It always puzzles me why people like old and battered furniture that much that someone has to make a perfect new piece of furniture looking like it has survived front line duty in WW1 and WW2 and spend the rest of the time in a pigsty.
But on the other hand, I admire someone who is able to convert something freshly made into furniture that shows traces of heavy use, looks like it went to Moscow and back with the Grande Armee of Napoleon and was painted and stained by generations of users.
Maybe I lack a certain romantic feeling.  ;D

 

[EquatorTwo]

Please keep posting pics. Looking forward to details on how you distress the finish.

 

[Memphis Larry]

Please keep posting pics. Looking forward to details on how you distress the finish.

Used all General Finishes water-based products on this project.  Applied with foam brushes.

The fiction of this piece is stained mahogany and later painted with white paint.  The interior of the bottom was not painted.

The finish schedule for the interior is:

Stain with Natural (untinted) Stain to seal the wood and raise the grain.
Sand and then stain with Shaker Maple.
2 coats of semi-gloss poly.

For the exterior, start as above then:

Paint with 3 coats of Snow White Milk Paint.  Apply thick 3rd coat.  Allow to sag and collect in corners.
Allow to cure overnight.  Apply distressing marks.  Sand paint off corners and other rub marks.
Apply Antique Wax, tinted Scrub Pine.
Rub out with white Scotch-Brite pad and water to desired effect.

Picture of completed bottom cabinet:

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With doors open:

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Detail of distressed finish:

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Detail of interior:

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I'll start the top cabinet tomorrow and will post more pictures later.

 

[honeydoman]

and when you are done it will have cost you almost $6,000 dollars!

Yep.... you had to buy the kapex, the domonio, the of 1400 mft3 t able sanders !  lol 

looks nice!

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I will have brand new cabinets in my kitchen but, they will look like they have been there since the begining.

I also like one color milk paint with a different color over, do a bit of sanding and distressing and you see the bottom color peek through!

I have a thing for distressed items, looks great.

 

[monstrol]

Nice looking cabinet and finish.

 

[Memphis Larry]

I spent all my spare time in the past 2 weeks working on the top half of the cabinet.  As of today, except for the doors, all of the construction is complete.  

The cabinet will be placed in a room that has a 9' ceiling.  The height of the completed cabinet will be 8' 4" with a removable 5" crown to allow it to be placed in an 8' high room in the future.

Cabinet without the additional top trim.
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Crown in clamps.
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Cabinet with the additional crown.
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Behind the crown.  I cut a 1/4' deep rabbit into the crown and then placed a cross brace and a couple of metal brackets in the back to hold it all in place.
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I will make the doors this week and then start on the finish.  I will post additional pictures when completed.

 

[Memphis Larry]

Finished the new Antique French Cabinet last week.  Wife is very pleased!  [big grin]
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With doors open and lights on.
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[rnt80]

Larry, that looks fantastic.  The finish is spot on.

 

[honeydoman]

yep great job larry,  thanks for posting the update.  what festools did you use.?

 

[EquatorTwo]

Very nice work! In the beginning you had estimated that it would take about $1000 in materials--where did the total end up?

 

[Memphis Larry]

Thanks for the kind comments.

I have not kept an exact total of my direct expenses, but I think I'm in the $800-$900 range, not counting tools purchased.

As to Festools, I bought my first, the Domino, in the fall using this project as an excuse.  Since then, I have sold several tools I was no longer using or needed to upgrade.  I used the proceeds to buy 2 sanders, track saw and MFT.    Need the 1400 router and a vacuum, but must raise some more funds first.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Turned out great Larry! Awesome job on the finish too.

What are these tables and how do you like them?

 

[Memphis Larry]

Turned out great Larry! Awesome job on the finish too.

What are these tables and how do you like them?

These are Vika portable work tables.  Bought 2 of them at Costco for about $100 each.  Good portable work surface.  Leg braces are the only weak link.  Doubles as a scaffold when set to a lower height.

http://www.vikausa.com/