Finished Cabinet

phmade

phmade

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
162
I've been posting a lot of criticism for Festool lately - so I thought I should post a picture from a job that I just finished.  This is a storage cabinet for a customer who lives in a beautiful condo looking over chicago and Lake Michigan.  I built the whole thing using my Festools!  It was the first stand-alone piece that I've completed since starting my own business.  I used Blum Intivo boxes + Servo Drive for all of the drawers.  I was very impressed with the product! 

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Great job and congratulations and good luck with the new business.

Richard.
 
That is a beautiful contemporary piece of furniture! where are the drawerfronts made of?
It looks like glass to me...

Really like it!!

Cheers René
 
Really nice work!  Keep that up and your new venture will be a successful one.  You will love being self employed!

Also would like to know the finish on the cabinet, looks great. 

Jon
 
Looks great! I think I know what the drawer fronts are made of (Parapan) but what's the top and sides made from and how is it assembled?
I really like the look of this. particularly in this room. These pieces can be difficult to photograph (lots of contrast) I think you need some better photo to show it off.
From what I can see though, I think looks great.
Tim
 
looks nice, fingerprint attracter tho lol.

is the top middle drawer a tad higher than the others [tongue]
 
thanks for the compliments!  The drawer faces are glass which has been back-painted.  I haven't found anything else to have the same deep look and scratch resistance.  The top and sides are Riftsawn white oak veneer ply with built up edging - I ended up mitering all of the edging so it looks like a solid top.  They are dyed black and then the topcoat is also tinted with dye...

I took the pictures on my iphone as I was walking out the door - I'll get a chance to take real photos in few weeks when I install an entertainment center for the same customer.  I do love being self employed but I definitely do more business work than cabinetmaking!  I'm lucky if I spend half of my time actually building cabinets! 
 
Very sharp looking.  So give us the run down of how you attached the glass, what it was sprayed with on the backside.  Details.
 
Stunning piece, I also would like some more info on the construction details, drawer box construction, materials ect.
Is there any construction photos ? Maybe you could take some pics of the next one.

Cheers, woodguy.
 
Construction details?  And give up my secrets?  haha - I'm just joking (kind of).  I recommend working with a local glass shop for all of the glass work.  I found many differing opinions among cabinetmakers, but I paid a consultant from the glass industry to help develop details and the design.  Like everything else, there are many paths to the same result and you really need to tailor your design to the finished product. 

In summary, have a glass shop work with you so you can have confidence in your final piece.  I still consider my product a prototype that needs further refinement.  The coatings are especially secretive and the glass industry is pretty tight-nit.  I'm outsourcing all of the glass because I just don't have time to learn another material and then stand behind it. One word of caution is the tolerance when working with glass.  Tolerances are often listed as plus or minus 1/8"!  You either need to incorporate this into your designs or pay the fabricator for tighter tolerances.

I'll be doing another glass-faced job in a couple of months and I'll post some pictures in process. 
 
phmade said:
In summary, have a glass shop work with you so you can have confidence in your final piece.  I still consider my product a prototype that needs further refinement.  The coatings are especially secretive and the glass industry is pretty tight-nit.  I'm outsourcing all of the glass because I just don't have time to learn another material and then stand behind it. One word of caution is the tolerance when working with glass.  Tolerances are often listed as plus or minus 1/8"!  You either need to incorporate this into your designs or pay the fabricator for tighter tolerances.
Click to expand...

The company I work for makes back-painted glass products, mainly splashbacks and worktops (countertops) for kitchens & bathrooms. The paints used are specialised, but I wouldn't call it secretive.

You're right about the tolerances - here in the UK, tolerances can vary hugely. Some places quote +/-2mm, some quote +0/-2mm. We try to acheive +0/-0.5mm, but it depends on the method of production. If it's hand cut & edged on an SLE (straight line edger) it's harder to get it bang on, whereas if it's done on a CNC it's far more accurate, but takes longer, wears more tooling, and costs more.
 
Yes Johnny  - maybe secretive wasn't the right word... I'm certainly not a professional finisher so I'm a bit intimidated by the coatings.  Fidelfs, that Glasspaint seems like a good product but it's pretty pricey and it requires training to be covered by a warranty.  If you're an experienced finisher and can spray solvent-based coatings, I think it would be perfect!  Unfortunately, neither of those apply to me - haha. 

One option for dealing with tolerances is this:  You can often find a local glass shop who will match a template that you provide.  You could always make templates of your drawer faces and have them matched.  I have found that this is cost prohibitive and you're better off to address the tolerance in the design detailing. 
 
Phmade,

I am not a pro, but I learned how to spray paint.  It looks more difficult that it is.
Get a sprayer, bulleting paper, paint.  Start practicing, you will get better in no time.
 
thanks for the encouragement fidelfs.  I really want to start bringing more operations in house - it's difficult to rely on others - and even more difficult to correct any problems when they arise.  Right now I'm renting a small shop where I cant spray but in the future I hope to move to a bigger space and put in a spray booth.
 
phmade, That is a sweet looking cabinet.

So how did you attach the glass fronts to the drawer boxes? As the glass has a paint finish effect at the back, the only way I can think of of attaching the drawer boxes is some kind of glue, but that would mean the joint will only be as strong as the adhesion between the paint and glass. 

tazprime
 
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