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Showing posts with label custom cabinets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label custom cabinets. Show all posts

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Mirrors for the Tapered Cabinets

Mirrors for the Tapered Cabinets

Back in December, we finished a pair of tapered cases for a client in Philadelphia. The whole concept has now evolved to include two mirrors and a beautiful handmade quilt ... We finished the mirrors yesterday and they will be delivered next week sometime to complete the picture ... I kind of like fooling with Photoshop and I've got the whole concept mocked up below. This was a great project and I look forward to seeing it in person next time I'm in Pennsylvania, which may be to see the Philadelphia Fine Furniture Show at the end of March ....
The mockup with the mirrors and the quilt added .. Click to enlarge

Head on of the finished mirror
We made up the stock, sanded and assembled all the frame parts with the walnut edges tacked on. Next we mitered the molding sections and then disassembled the outside edges so we could glue the corners and reinforce the joints with corner screws. Then we added the precut walnut edges back to the frames with clamps, glue and blocks to wrap them up.
Adding the walnut borders

Thursday, September 15, 2011

two chestnut cabinets

two chestnut cabinets

we finished one up yesterday that we've been working on for a while. it was good to wrap it up since we first started with our design work back in april. there were delays along the way while the stone was changed on the fireplace, which added to my work and required some additional site visits, but all in all, they look about the way i imagined them in my photoshop paste up below ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
here's the 'before' shot. the clients purchased this house last winter and remodeling started in earnest in the early spring ... sam made about 65 feet of new steel and wood railings for the stairs and the balcony; we made an expanding pedestal table in chestnut, and this pair of cabinets. nice job ....
here's my photoshopped mockup using a picture of a cabinet we built back in 2002 ...
the cad drawing showing the interiors of the cabinetsone of our first design issues was accommodating a tv that was wider than the space between the retracting doors. we made a couple of mockups using our standard sanus bracket, with different ways of mounting the bracket and decided on the 'sidewall' approach, which worked fine ...
we also had some fitting issues as the client requested that both cabinets be identical in width. after they changed the stone on the fireplace, that increased the width of the space and thus the cabinets, and brought a twisted spruce beam into play that was previously not an issue.
the tops and molding backer boards actually slid into a slot created in the masonry
we also had to revise our installation plan from a grouted board against the existing stone to a 'slot' created by the masons when they reset the facing. that made me define my spaces pretty exactly and while it was fussier to install made for an elegant look of the cabinets integrating into the whole fireplace surround ... looks greatwhile we were checking the twisted post, we also mocked up a paneled end, which is what you see when you come down the stairs.
tight fit; twisted beam; all ok in the end ...
we also had a kickspace heater on the job and had to integrate a design for the grill into our finished cabinets, as well as make the heater accessible from the top for later repairs.
so, a removable floor was installed,
and the drawers in the lower case are in a separate cabinet that slides in and out of the main cabinet.lots of door parts, something like 85 or 90 pieces, plus the panels.we finished and assembled everything in the shop before loading it up for the jobsite.
below you can see the way we accommodated the 46" tv in the 44" cabinet opening with the retractable doors....
and yesterday, we installed the 'turnstyle' hardware that arrived last week from england.
the finished interior of the left cabinet ... it's a wrap ....
with the big windows to the right, this was a hard project to photograph so i have included these two other images. the sunlight sort of emphasizes the 'orange' in the finish that is much more subdued in person. a challenging project, all in all .. below are a couple pictures of the original cabinets that inspired them, and here is a link to my website listing on them ...

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Tapered Case Project

Tapered Case Project


Most of the hardware is on .. (missing two long dangles on drawer case) ... Final sanding and finishing starts tomorrow ...

11/26/08
An update on the tapered cases shows the drawer faces and the doors veneereed with burl,edged with walnut and bordered with quartered cherry. The hardware is being 'blacked' and we're working on the proportions for the long dangles on the case 'columns'. Coincidentally, the second picture down shows three of the projects that are happening right now ... the tapered cases, a piece of the the concertina game table and the top of a new piece not yet posted, a macassar ebony Art Deco style cabinet with mother-of-pearl inlays. I'll be posting that one soon. Also, next up on the project list is a 'post and beam' pool table. Click the pictures to enlarge them
The drawer case with the veneered faces .... Jeremy will start the drawer boxes Monday.
The doors are almost ready to glue up....We're patching a few defects in the burl veneers and they'll be good to go Monday.

The blackened hardware sample
11/11/08 update on case construction .... note models

mockup picture below

We're underway on the 'New Design Project' , a post I started back in August ... We got some beautiful bubinga for the tops from Trade Winds in Grafton, Vermont and a really fine log of Pennsylvania cherry from Irion Lumber in Wellesville, PA. After finalizing the scale CAD drawings, we made a quick full size drawing, to which we made some small adjustments and started cutting. We will be working on both cases at the same time as the case work is similar except that one has doors and pull outs and the other, drawers. Stay tuned ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ...

The CAD drawing
10/31//08

Cherry from Irion

cases 11/7


Wednesday, August 6, 2008

New Design Project

New Design Project

8/24/08 Below is a quick photoshopped mockup reflecting design changes the client has requested. We have entirely eliminated the lace wood under the bubinga tops and on the door panels, opting instead to consider using big leaf maple burl which is more similar in color and less 'contrasty'. I like the new look and is similar to a piece I did a few years ago, for which we won a national design prize from Custom Woodworking Magazine. We may modify/simplify some of the door and drawer face details later if this is the palette we decide to work with. The doors and drawer faces in the photo below were plucked from the original sideboard image. Click the photo to enlarge it ....


Well, after a month or so of putting this on my to do list, I've finally gotten back to working on this project. It took a rainy Sunday afternoon to give me some uninterrupted time to finish the first scale model 3 photos down. The model is 1/6th scale, +/- 7.5" long, 6.5" high and 4" deep, translating into a full size cabinet 45" x 39" x 24" deep. I also made model pieces for the second cabinet with doors, shown in the drawing below and I hope to assemble that one before another couple of months go by. I would have finished it today but the sun came out around 3;30, a friend called, and we just had time to squeeze in 9 holes before it rained again. Click the pictures to enlarge them.

8/6/08
I wonder if the lacewood door panels are too dark and if maple burl might be better there ... The models have been placed in a 'to scale' cardboard 'room setting' which gives an accurate representation of how the pieces will look when they are installed.

Better I think


Unfinished, without hardware ... cherry base, lacewood under top and a bubinga top

With steel hardware photoshopped in ... The 'step in' just above the cabinet base seems too big and will have to be adjusted when we build the cabinet full size [or maybe when we make the other model.

Original Post from 5/4/08
This project involves designs for the second floor of a Philadelphia +/- 1840 downtown townhouse. The room is at the top of the stairs between a library/tv area and a formal sitting room in the front. The ceilings are high and the space is dramatic. We are currently working with conceptual sketches by a local architect and palette of Bubinga and American Cherry. We're seeking a somewhat contemporary/historical combination with simple but elegant detailing to go with the more formal and traditional feeling of the architecture without feeling reproductionist. (Is that a word?) Anyway, here's what I have so far ... Click photos to enlarge ..

Cabinet interiors

Side Elevation



May 31st ... Revised drawing ... cabinet width increased to 44" ...
center table eliminated for now

My first drawing over the architects renderings ...
Pretty literal

I've increased the width of the pieces ...
maybe a bit too much, Maybe 42-44" would be better ...

Photoshopped in a bubinga half oval
and two cherry cabinets with bubinga tops

Went on to add the artwork ...


Links to other posts on models and mockups below