Finished up another project this month. Actually I completed the build back in January, but it’s too cold up here in Minnesota to apply finish then, so I had to wait for a nice Spring day. Now it’s all done and put in its home.
This cabinet will store our drinks and accessories. It’s built from solid cherry wood, with oak and pine secondary woods, finished with amber shellac and clear wax. The case joinery is housed dadoes joined with nails, the drawers are dovetailed with solid bottoms, and the door panels were carved with two different sized gouges to give it the wave texture.
A cabinet like this contains a surprising number of components. The main case is built from 9 panels, 6 of those glued up from two boards; the drawers are each make from 7 pieces; the doors 5 each; and there are 8 tongue-and-groove boards making up the back. In total that’s about 50 panels, each independently worked and joined, to come together to make this cabinet.
I also want to put in a special mention of the drawer bottoms. I used to share my shop space with my neighbor, but he moved out a few years ago. When he left, he left some wood behind in the shop. One of them was this ratty-looking old pine, dirty and scuffed up. I have no idea where it’s from. I used a bit of it for some shop project, and after planing off the dirty outer surface, it turns out it’s this absolutely lovely, clear white pine. The wood actually sparkles off of the plane blade. I had just the one plank, so I saved it for the right use, which turned out to be the drawer bottoms for this project. The light color perfectly brightens up the drawer interiors. Here’s a photo of one of the drawer bottoms next to the wood as it was before cleanup.
Finally, I’ll wrap up this post with a couple construction photos.
On to the next project!
