Design droppings.

[Brian Holcombe]

Just wanted to start a thread to encourage the discussion of design elements and architectural elements of furniture.

I'll start things off with a topic that has been at the foreground of my thoughts recently. If the opportunity presents itself, I like to plan continuous running grain in the top and sides of case goods where those elements will be visible.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/1C6614CB-EFB3-419B-9524-4C21B15ACBB7_zpsfakev4um.jpg (http://s27.photobucket.com/user/SpeedyGoomba/media/1C6614CB-EFB3-419B-9524-4C21B15ACBB7_zpsfakev4um.jpg.html)

Similarly in panels, when possible, grain can be book matched, quad matched, ect and duplicated throughout the project.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/d5b81c9a-90f9-4717-8d7b-01297fcea90b_zps2eef2b4d.jpg (http://s27.photobucket.com/user/SpeedyGoomba/media/d5b81c9a-90f9-4717-8d7b-01297fcea90b_zps2eef2b4d.jpg.html)

[Judson Green]

Yep! Do that too. Haven't had the opportunity for a quad-match. Do book match alot, not just the panel, styles & rails too. even the subtle changes in the grain make a big deal, at least to me. Drawing the eye up or down, making the cabinet appear slimmer or wider. If doing something curvey try to have the curve in the grain to.

Sometimes I feel these things are silly, no one else is gonna take notice, but I remind myself that many times its these unnoticed elements that make the cabinet. "I don't know what it is but it has that certain something"

[Brian Holcombe]

I agree, to some extent it's for the appeal of the maker. All of this matching appeases my OCD.

I'll keep adding content to this thread as it comes up, but I would like to encourage you guys to do the same. I was inspired by David Weaver's thoughts on what he would like to see in a magazine.

A was watching an interview with Mirra Nakashima and she put, very eloquently, that her father's design ethos (for tables) was an architectural base supporting the free form shape of a live edge slab. Which started the gears turning in regard to a juxtaposition of design elements.

[Brian Holcombe]

I'm building a wall hanging cabinet with sliding doors, the doors will be solid wood frames with plywood panels veneered with maple burl.

I like to work from the center out and mirror the panel as it progresses to the sides. This is a mockup of the four door panels.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/8E68E664-6371-4186-9CBA-C403004AECDD_zps3s5gjp68.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/6D1C5A28-A26F-46E0-8146-FA4E7B5409F1_zpsutnkjrcm.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/ADE7F9C3-C685-4CF8-BF23-7B38C5CBE46B_zpswqeyqdbv.jpg

[Judson Green]

Well how that, I'm making a wall cabinet too. Just one door about 40" tall x 15" x 7" deep. Matched quilted maple with a bit of mineral staining and spalting.

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[Brian Holcombe]

Very cool, and that door is sexy. What kind of wood are building the case in?

[Judson Green]

Thanks. It'll be neat to your project being created. The carcass for my little cabinet is gonna be maple and cherry.

As designer, craftsman and the guy that pays for it and the guy who wants it done. I guess it obvious but we sometimes design around what we have (lumber, tools, time and other supplies), the skills we feel confident about and our willingness preform those skills and use that lumber and use that time. One of the like about and can total relate to is that George Nakashima thought, or seemed to, that some wood it just to pretty make into something. Like its fine the way it is, clean it up and find a place for it.

How are you gonna glue the venner up? I used liquid hide glue and MDF cauls with about every clamp I've got. I've got a bag system but those are such a pain in the rear if not setup. One of these days I'll make a frame.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks as well. This is true, with the occasional exception to up the ante.

Funny enough mine will also have sliding doors, is yours going to be a media cabinet? I've been looking forward to replacing the one that is in my study with something of my creation for some time.

[Judson Green]

No, it will have hinges. And I don't know what the owner is gonna stash in there, its a Christmas gift. Not real big though so I guess smaller things. Could make for a good booze cabinet.

[Brian Holcombe]

Cool, if you would, post pics when complete or throughout. I'm surprised at how many of my cabinets have become booze cabinets.

[Brian Holcombe]

Just some thoughts on proportions, I hope you guys enjoy reading my thread of tangents and encourage you to add a tangent.

I like to employ both abstract principals of proportion (golden ratio) and practical application of human proportion (ergonomic). I think this is an especially important consideration for tables and chairs.

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[Jim Koepke]

Someone gave me a book about 40 years ago from an architect's office that was tossing it out. It had a section on drawers and cabinets and the different grades. The grades were based on how the grain ran through the faces of doors and cabinets. Top grade work had continuous grain patterns or book matched patterns.

Not sure if that book is packed away somewhere. Most likely there is a newer edition.

Here is something similar:

http://www.modinteriors.com/pdfs/0400.pdf

jtk

[Judson Green]

It had a section on drawers and cabinets and the different grades. The grades were based on how the grain ran through the faces of doors and cabinets. Top grade work had continuous grain patterns or book matched patterns.

jtk


I used to work at a mom and pop cabinet shop. My job there was making nearly every door, drawer and the drawer front. And I would strive for the grain to be continuous. One board becoming four drawer fronts, that kinda thing. Sometimes I'd luck out and find a book match or two in the commercially bought lumber. Most times I would also install the drawers.

One project, a built-in dresser kind of, I installed the drawers on site. IIRC, a hickory cabinet, six drawers. About a week later the lady called back to the shop and asked if someone could come out, the drawers weren't working right. I got sent. No sooner did I see the cabinet did I realize what had happened. She had taken the drawers out (all at once) to line with contact paper (why do some people need to do this?) and failed to put the drawers back in the right openings.

Apparently continuous grain isn't for everybody.

[Bill McDermott]

I enjoy seeing design elements that clearly distinguish handwork. Things like fair curves in places that would be very difficult or impossible to machine. A chamfer that goes into a corner where someone with a sharp chisel minded the details. Carefully laid out grain and color (as illustrated above). Nice hardware that was tastefully selected and carefully installed. It should also be said that it really destroys an otherwise well made piece when some of these things are clearly ignored. One of my favorite design elements is a custom made fitting, apparatus or other capability that suits a specific purpose.

[Jim Koepke]

Apparently continuous grain isn't for everybody.

Style and beauty are wasted on some.


I enjoy seeing design elements that clearly distinguish handwork.

Well, Brian did welcome some tangents. How many catch them selves backing up or pausing during a movie to take a closer look at furniture or architectural features?

jtk

[Jim Belair]

I do the continuous grain thing on boxes but haven't really applied it to casework yet.

Realizing this isn't a "critique" thread and it's a very small snapshot, on the panels you show in the first post Brian, I might have flipped the right and left panels over to reduce reversing grain jointed with straight grain. Sometimes there's no choice though, unless you have an unlimited supply of boards to select from.

And speaking of cabinet shops, it urks me to no end to see kitchen cabinets (especially in oak) where merely flipping a frame piece or swapping with a neighbour would have made a so much more pleasing line.

[Brian Holcombe]

Agreed, and I certainly do not mind a critique. It's difficult to avoid in 9' glue ups of character grade, so I generally join edges that have a majority of similar grain.

I came across this Arts and Crafts cabinet at Musee D'Orsay and it has stuck with me ever since. I think I spent over an hour looking at it in the museum while most people were looking at the famous Impressionism.

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[Judson Green]

How many catch them selves backing up or pausing during a movie to take a closer look at furniture or architectural features?

jtk

Yep! Gosh I wish the camera guy would just pan a little more to the left. Did ya see the cutting board on the kitchen island at the goons mother house on the Following the other night?

[Jim Koepke]

Did ya see the cutting board on the kitchen island at the goons mother house on the Following the other night?

Missed it.

I don't watch much TV.

jtk

[Brian Holcombe]

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Jean Prouve. I've been looking at the wooden works by the French Modernists and Bauhaus as a bit of inspiration for my cabinet. I think I've figured out the door 'hardware' which will be ebony wood.

[Judson Green]

Brian, what the approximate dimensions of your cabinet gonna be? And you said wall hanging right?

[Brian Holcombe]

Yup, hanging it on a french cleat. It will be 74.5" wide, 16" tall and 18.5" depth.