Walnut Corner China Cabinet

[Chris Dodge]

I just recently finished this corner china cabinet for a customer. She wanted a corner china cabinet that looked old because she wanted to house her great, great grandmother's china. I remembered Lonnie Bird had built one in Fine Woodworking Magazine a couple of years ago so I showed her the picture and she loved it.

Obviously it is walnut, the back is 1/2" walnet boards running vertically and has beaded edges along each board. I made all of the moulding myself. I used antique glass for the door and found old black nails, like would have been used two hundred years ago, and lined the back along each shelf with the nails.

I gave it an antique look (doesn't show up in the picture real well) by applying two coats of a formula of Linseed Oil, Turpintine, Tung Oil, French Lac, Spar Varnish, Solorlux Bloodred and 710 Thinner. I then applied a coat of brown paste and quickly wiped it off after applying it, leaving it in the inside edges to give it an aged look.

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Detail of tombstone door. I had two matching panels for the tombstone doors but measured once and cut twice instead of measuring twice and cutting once. That was about the sickest I have ever felt! The customer didn't even notice though.
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[Vaughn McMillan]

Wow Chris, that's beautiful. I really like the details on the sides of the cabinet, but the whole thing is gorgeous.

- Vaughn

[John Timberlake]

Wow, beautiful. I really like the arched door panels. Just the color I like to see in walnut and pretty grain.

[Corey Hallagan]

I will second Vaughn's response, WOW! Nice job. The fit and finish looks superb and the details just make this an awesome piece! Congrats.

Corey

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Beautiful job, Chris.

Bruce

[Doug Shepard]

That's a very beautiful piece. I think you nailed the 'old' look. It looks an awful lot like some walnut pieces my grandmother used to have.

[Alan Turner]

Nice work, my friend. I am sure your customer will value it for many years, and her family for many generations.

[lou sansone]

real nice work
would love to hear how you did the mullions for the glass door. would like to see a few more photos if you have them

lou

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Great job Chris! It looks like an old piece!

[David Duke]

As has already been stated several times great looking piece, your detail work on the side rails is outstanding (I love the fluted detail) and the care you gave on finishing it really made this a "period" piece.

[Jim Dunn]

Chris, that's a very nice of furniture. Very nice indeed, but it raises a question. Why do you need a new jointer? Does your wife know how good a job you do with that old one your using now?? Hmmm how many brownie points could I get if I informed her that you need to send me that new jointer? Just kidding:)

Jim

[Jim Becker]

Chris, that looks wonderful. Nice job...a new heirloom is born!

[Tom Stovell]

real nice work
would love to hear how you did the mullions for the glass door. would like to see a few more photos if you have them

lou

I'll echo that sentiment and the request for more photos. Nice work!

Tom

[tod evans]

nice work chris!

[Rob Horton]

Chris, thats a real eyeful of good lookin' work there. And I'll third the request for more pics if you have em.

[Dan Oliphant]

Chris,
Well done, Mr Bird would be pleased I'm sure.

[Lars Thomas]

Impressive work . . .keep the detail coming. Lars

[Pete Harbin]

Really fantastic Chris!

[Chris Dodge]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I do have more pictures but they are on a different computer. I'll transfer them over and upload when I get a chance. They just show some of the details.

[john whittaker]

[They just show some of the details.[/quote]

Devil is in the details....:p
This is a beautiful piece of furniture. Please post some more details. You do very high quality work.

[Howie French]

Chris, I really like this piece. I hope to be able to do work of that quality someday. I would enjoy seeing more pics as well.

Howie

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I really like the finish.:)

[Chris Dodge]

Per a few people's requests, following are some detail pictures of the cabinet:

Below is a detail of the shelves in the upper portion of the cabinet. The picture didn't turn out real clear but you can see the curves that the front of each shelf takes. I cut these on a router using a pattern.
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Below is a detail of the inside of the cabinet. I routed a bead along the edge of each board and cut rabbets so that the boards overlap each other.
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Below is a detail of the back of the cabinet. This will probably face a wall all of the time so nobody will ever see these old nails but I know they are there and they look cool!
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This is a detail of the moulding that runs along the waist of the cabinet. I cut the main one from several pieces of wood and glued them together to make up the moulding.
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This is a detail of the top of the door. I used a circle cutter on the drill press to cut the half circle and then routed out the edges. The door is made up of individual pains of glass and the top ones are cut to the tombstone shape.
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Hope you like the pictures!

[Tom Drake]

Beautiful work!

[Chris Dodge]

I was asked by a few people via email and PM what issue this plan came from. I made a mistake; it was not Fine Woodworking Magazine, it was the August 1998 American Woodworker Issue #67.

[lou sansone]

thanks for the photos chris
for the glass dividers, did you mortice them into each other or how are they joined as they meet each other?
lou

[Chris Dodge]

I routed the ends with the same bit I used for the door rails and stiles. That always works well for me.

[Don Baer]

Realy work of art

[Hank Knight]

Chris, that's beautiful work! I've wanted to build a walnut corner cabinet for years, but too many other things get in the way. Your's is an inspiration - if I can only find the time.
Again, very nice job.
Hank

[Von Bickley]

Chris,

Great looking cabinet...:)