Jewelry Cabinet

[Cody Colston]

I made this for my daughter. In the past, I've generally worked from existing plans but lately I've begun designing my own pieces. I still have a ways to go.

The cabinet wood is Chinaberry that I sawed from a log my neighbor brought me. It misbehaved a bit when drying but I really like the look of it and plan to saw some more. The drawer/door pulls and necklace pegs are Ebony. The door catches are 1/2" rare earth magnets. The base is Walnut that I treated first with a solution of steel wool soaked in white vinegar then followed that with ebony stain.

The cabinet width is 20" and overall height is 52 inches. The cabinet sets on two 3/8" dowels to keep it from shifting on the base. The inside drawer bottom are covered in black suede-tex flocking. The bottoms are removable. Finish is three coats of Minwax WOP.

It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped but my daughter is happy with it. I'll do better on the next one.

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[Gene Davis]

Very nice!

Tell us about the coopered door panels. James Krenov made and used hand planes, with concave and convex soles and matching irons, to make his curved doors.

What did you do?

[Malcolm McLeod]

Beautiful work. The curves would kill me.


. I'll do better on the next one.
Woodworking is like golf. ...No matter how well I played my last round, I know I could have done at least one thing better.

[Cody Colston]

Very nice!

Tell us about the coopered door panels. James Krenov made and used hand planes, with concave and convex soles and matching irons, to make his curved doors.

What did you do?

On the outside, I used a Stanley block plane and then a shop-made, Krenov-style polishing plane but it wasn't a concave sole/iron. I sanded out the small ridges left from the plane.

On the inside, I made a 6 deg., convex sole plane and shaped an iron I had but it didn't work very well. (I'm currently re-making the plane body after re-shaping the iron on a wet grinder using a shop-made, 6 deg. jig to get a consistant bevel.) I ended up using a shaped sanding block on the inside but the stave facets still show a bit. It isn't a fair curve like the outside.

Also, I glued up the 8 staves for the coopered doors before I started trying to fair the curves. Next time, ala Krenov, I'll glue up in pairs and do the shaping before continuing with the glue-up.

Note that the "bird's feet" on the base are stolen directly from a picture in one of Krenov's books. :D


Initially, the cabinet was intended to have four short legs in Ebony. However, I was looking at it on the assembly table and realized access would be much easier if it was raised higher, thus the stand.


Beautiful work. The curves would kill me.


Woodworking is like golf. ...No matter how well I played my last round, I know I could have done at least one thing better.

I have to say that even with all my mistakes, my woodworking is much better than my golf. Before I gave up the game, I could never get below a 15 handicap, primarily because I would card at least one 8 almost every round.

Thanks for commenting.

[Mike Allen1010]

Cody a beautiful and creative project! I think you're being way too hard on yourself. I'm sure your daughter and her family will treasure what you built for generations. In our fast-paced society, it seems to me there's no greater gift than joyfully investing your time and effort to build an enduring keepsake for someone else.

Thanks for posting!

Cheers, Mike

[Pat Barry]

I like what you created here Cody and I'm sure your daughter must really love it. You did a very nice job with the design, the material selection, the finish, the joinery, the grain matching, and the stand is very nice also.

[Frederick Skelly]

VERY nice Cody. Love the figure/grain!

[Cody Colston]

Mike, Pat, Frederick, thanks for the kind words. You are very encouraging and it's appreciated..

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

Gorgeous. I am NOT going to show that to my wife....No where near ready to tackle anything that complicated.

[Cody Colston]

Gorgeous. I am NOT going to show that to my wife....No where near ready to tackle anything that complicated.

Thank you, Todd. I put about 75 hours into the cabinet and stand but a lot of that time was scratching my head and trying to decide what to do next. Plus, the first iteration of the stand was too narrow. I made the table top only 1/2" wider than the cabinet base and since it is oval shaped, the legs wouldn't fit far enough towards the ends. It looked pinched with the cabinet on it. So, I made another top that was 6" wider and 3" deeper than the cabinet base. That let me move the legs out to where they are in the pics. That's something I learned reading Krenov...do mock-ups and dry fits to judge the look before gluing for keeps.

Other than the work of fairing the doors, the cabinet is not a complicated piece. I'm guessing I could build a second one in a third of the time it took for this one. Gluing up the coopered doors takes a while as they have to be done in sections but it's not difficult. I got good, tight joints right off the saw (WWII blade) without hand planing the edges or running them over the jointer.

I see you are in the Metroplex...how 'bout those Rangers!

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

I see you are in the Metroplex...how 'bout those Rangers!

Pretty amazing--isn't it? Never thought they would be in first place this late.

The Metroplex part is a joke. I am not actually in The Metroplex, but down outside of Austin outside of a small town (Manor).


I see you have a Kioti 30--I have a Kioti 27 and kick myself for not buying the 30 or 35.

[Cody Colston]

I see you have a Kioti 30--I have a Kioti 27 and kick myself for not buying the 30 or 35.

Yeah, I love my 30. I could use more hp sometimes on the bigger logs when placing them on my sawmill but overall, I'm very happy with it. A tractor is one of those things you don't know how you got by without.

The Rangers walked-off the A's tonight. Magic number is 7. Woo Hoo!