Cherry Chimney Cupboard

[Mark Stutz]

This was the last project I completed before my shop was packed for our move. It was delivered to my brother last October, but in the rush to get finished (I only worked on this for 8 months:eek::D) no pictures were taken. We finally got back for a visit and I was able to take these. Poor lighting, but we did not want to carry it outside! Sorry about the picture quality.:o

This is from Cherry with Poplar the secondary wood. The basic idea came from plans I downloded, but was modified to suit the stock I had on hand. This was 90% done with hand tools. Some of the pieces were jointed and machine thicknessed, but some, the door panels for example, were flattened on one side by hand since they were too large for my 6" jointer. All the joinery was hand cut and the raised panels and cove molding done with hand tools. I attached the top mo;ding using dovetailed keys to allow for cross grain movement. I was under the gun for time so these were done with the router. The back is from 3/8 tongue and groove beaded boards, but I don't have a picture of this.

All final surfacing was with planes and scrapers, and the finish was several coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. This is a nice size for smaller spaces, as it provides a nice amount of storage in a small footprint.

Mark

[Don C Peterson]

That's a really nice cabinet. Simple looking, and the proportions are nice.

When I say simple looking, that's intended as a compliment. The more I study furniture making, the more I have come to realize that flashy gets tiresome, but simplicity well done is a thing of beauty.

[Sean Nagle]

Beautiful work. Did you have a specialized plane to make the cove molding?

[glenn bradley]

Very nice indeed. Like a sofa or hallway table, I have no where to put one of thee but want to make one. I don't know why certain pieces fascinate me.

[Mark Stutz]

Did you have a specialized plane to make the cove molding?

Sean,
Nothing special. Starting with 8/4 stock, the majority of the cove is removed with a series of rabbets, and the final profile with a round...#12 or 14 IIRC, and cleaned up with a gooseneck scraper.

Mark

[John Keeton]

Very, very nice! The added plus of doing it with handtools is just icing on the cake.

[Richard Magbanua]

Mark beautiful work! Handtools rock!

One question though. The sliding dovetail key looks like it may be one piece all the way across. I am used to seeing them cut in sections across the width which would allow for expansion within the moulding. Was this how you did yours?

I am going to attempt a dresser with sliding DT's for the side mouldings and want to make sure I understand it.

Thanks for sharing!

[Mark Stutz]

Richard,
The picture doesn't show it, but it is in pieces. I started with it in one piece so that I could be sure it lined up, then cut out sections with a small saw. I saw and article in FWW many years ago by Garrett Hack, IIRC, showing this technique.

Mark

[John Thompson]

Very nice looking piece Mark.. and you get an A+ for the hand tool use. The cherry looks great...

[Richard Magbanua]

Thanks Mark. I can't wait to try it.

[gary Zimmel]

Great looking Chimney cabinet Mark.

Bonus points for all the hand tool work!

[David Keller NC]

One expansion on Mark's comment about the method for sectioning the dovetail key for the moldings - Christian Becksvoort (sort of the Dean of cherry Shaker-style cabinetry) had an article in a more recent FWW (but still several years ago) about doing this. He advised making the dovetail key as one piece, as Mark did, fitting it to the socket on the back of the molding, then screwing the whole key to the side of the cabinet. He then used a chisel and a mallet to whack out some chunks of the key.

One question he was asked by the article writer was whether that scarred the side of the cabinet - he replied that it did, but so long as the chisel wasn't too wide, that scarring was totally covered by the applied molding.

Very nice job, Mark

[Mark Stutz]

David,
That's probably the article I was thinking about. My apologies to Mr. Beeksvort:o.

Mark

[Tom Sontag]

Beautiful work Mark. Clean design, gorgeous wood (if I may say so), and meticulous craftsmanship. I usually stumble on that last bit, so I appreciate your achievement.

As for the bambi on top, I guess that just goes to show us we have no control once we let go of a piece!

[Mark Stutz]

Hi Tom! Good to hear from you!...and yes, I really do use the wood I got from you...and still have some of it left. Looks like I'm going to have to find a source closer to home, now that I'm 4 hours away:(

For those of you in the St. Louis area looking for nice hardwood lumber, check out LumberLogs.

Mark

[Pat Zabrocki]

Well done Mark! Hope your enjoying your new home in Indiana.
cheers
Pat

[Mark Stutz]

Thanks, Pat. Things are going well, though work has kept me from setting up my shop thus far. Sorry we weren't able to get together again before I left.

Mark

[Harold Shay]

You make the Cherry look really nice. Like the proportions. Great job
Harold