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Jewellery Style Wall Cabinet
Wednesday 23 July 2008
David Barron takes inspiration from a jewellery case for this cabinet
1.The starting point for the door and panels is a fine board of heavily rippled maple. To reduce the chance of tearout, spray the surface with water before each pass on the planer thicknesser. Do not leave the panel long after spraying in case it warps. The heat generated by the planer stops rust forming inside the machine
Following on from the jewellery cabinet made for my wife, I was asked to make a similar cabinet, incorporating shelves instead of pegs. The overall design is clean and unfussy, allowing the sheer beauty of the wood to stand out. Using solid timber construction would have almost certainly caused problems with wood movement, so veneering all components with solid wood edges seemed the best choice. I cut the veneers on my bandsaw to a thickness of 2.5mm (3/32in), so that I could treat the panels as solid wood. I hand planed them, with nicely rounded edges, as well as carving a recessed finger-hold.
Happy outcome
Making this cabinet was satisfying but quite demanding. The simple lines belie the work involved. Bandsawn veneering panels is a very useful technique, giving all the advantages of solid wood without the need to allow for wood movement. This type of veneering should in no way be regarded as 'inferior'. Taking 85 hours, this cabinet took longer than the first.Without the overheads that come with a professional workshop, my estimated price of £1,200 was about right and the new owner seemed pleased with the result.
