Entry Details

The idea for this cabinet came from a number of sources. My design ascetics are for clean functional shapes with minimal ornamentation. I am also influenced by japanese artistic form and function. In making this cabinet, I have tried to stay true to these ascetics by incorporating simple jointery that lets the wood texture and grain complement the overall design.

I had a couple of boards of the sapele for a long time, not knowing what to make with them. It wasn't until an apartment in my neighbourhood was redoing their outside balconies that I was able to salvage some douglas fir (old growth) from their renovation to make the door fronts, that this cabinet idea came together. The salvaged lumber was full of nails that had rusted and left black streaks in the wood which I thought added a lot of visual interest. The fir was all quarter sawn and selected to accentuate the blacken nail holes. There was not enough salvaged materiel to create the inner door panels and backing for the cabinet, so edge grain fir ply was used for those sections.

The removable sliding shoji doors are solid fir with a simple finger hole for a pull.  These fit into upper and lower routered, parallel twin grooves with the doors sliding on the wood without the use of glides or hardware.  All the shelves are supported by fitting them into stop dadoed slots on the sides of the cabinet.  The shelves were hand sanded down to provide a tight fit with no gap whatsoever between the shelve and sides.

The back of the cabinet frame is rabbeted to fit a continuous sheet of 1/4" ply and allows for flush mounting against a wall.  I didn't use a french cleat since it shortens the usable depth of space inside the cabinet.  Instead the cabinet has two metal cleats countersunk into the upper backsides for mounting.  The size of the cabinet is such that it will spand two framing studs at 16" apart.  By using 2 wall screws positioned 32" apart, the metal cleats mate up to secure the cabinet to the wall.  Works well and very secure.

The cabinet doors are inset into the cabinet face frame.  My first thought was to use some expensive brass hinges, but that won't fit into the ascetics of the overall design.  I ended up using a simple full back-to-back wrap-around hinge that was colored black to match the black features of the nail holes.  Again, easy to install with the added benefit of being able to adjust the position until the door fitting is just so.  If you look closely the doors are a snug fit.

I placed a small circular magnet on the inside stile to provide closure when the doors are shut.  The magnet mates with a small black wood screw countersunk into one of the shelves front edge.

All four corners of the cabinet were finger jointed. A challenge in itself, but with a pleasing result. The outside of the cabinet was hand planed finished including the rails and stiles of the doors and the sliding shoji doors. Only the inner surfaces of the cabinet saw sandpaper.

The handles are made from african blackwood, of which I used sparingly. The piece I had still had one edge with a rough rip saw kerf. I chose to leave that surface alone and fashion a pleasing shape around this edge. The handle is meant to be pinched between thumb and forefinger and the saw kerf texture on the one side provides a surer grip for grasping the handle. The handle size was purposely created small to better blend in with the other small black features of the cabinet front.

The cabinet doors were made using stub-tenon joints with flat inner panels. Given the relatively small size of the doors and their light weight, there was little reason to use mortise and tenon, dowels or biscuits for jointery. Stub-tenon was simple and straightforward, especially when using ply as the panel and glueing it into the grooves for optimal strength.

The cabinet is finished in several coats of tung oil, rubbed out and final wax buffed. This was originally a cabinet for my woodworking handtools, but upon completion, my wife decided it was too nice to hang in the workshop. It now houses an assortment of china and nick knacks. There is no justice.