Server/Buffet in Cherry & Curly Maple

[Jay Aubuchon]

This has been nearly finished for quite a while. I had a misadventure with the alignment of one of the doors. I needed a long cooling-off period after my first couple of attempts failed to fix the problem.

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I used the plan for the bottom unit of the Country Hutch (https://www.finewoodworking.com/2006/12/15/build-a-country-hutch) by Martin Milkovits in Fine Woodworking. It replaces a cheap one we bought in 1982, when I started my first real job, teaching at Ohio State.

The wood for the side panels came from some leftover cherry flooring I got from a friend of a friend.

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The top is made of three pieces. The outer two are from one board, the center from another.

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I deviated from the plan and used soft-close, full-extension slides for the drawers and for trays behind the doors.

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The finish is just home-made WOP over BLO.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very nice Jay! I like the contrasting panels.

[Von Bickley]

Great looking piece of "Fine Furniture".

[Malcolm McLeod]

Curly panels go well with the simple lines - nicely done!

[Christian Hawkshaw]

Very nice.

[roger wiegand]

Very nice-- my favorite combination!

[Mark Rainey]

Jay, well done. I did the Milkovits piece a few years ago - the plans are excellent. I, too, had problems with aligning the doors with the hinges. I still live with a slightly off door...it looks like you nailed it!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I absolutely love it. I am a huge fan of combining contrasting woods. Well done.

[Paul F Franklin]

Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jim Becker]

That is totally beautiful! Great design and execution.

And "hi" to Happy Valley!

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful piece, Jay. The contrast is perfect. Love the character in the side panels a lot.

[Jay Aubuchon]

I did the Milkovits piece a few years ago - the plans are excellent. I, too, had problems with aligning the doors with the hinges. I still live with a slightly off door...it looks like you nailed it!

I found the Milkovits plans through your post. Thanks!

My suspicion regarding the doors is that the front of the piece is not sufficiently rigid. I put it on its back and laid the doors in place to mark for the hinges. They fit perfectly. I installed the hinges. Still perfect. But when I set it back on its feet, one door was off.

I don't know what I would do about that though, if I were to make another.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Thanks all for your encouraging words!



Love the character in the side panels a lot.

Our family is fond of that kind of character in cherry.

[John TenEyck]

I'm late to the love fest, but let me add my congratulations, too, for a beautiful piece.

Before you finish your next cherry piece, try leaving out the BLO on a side by side sample with the rest of your finish schedule. Or try spraying a coat of dewaxed shellac followed by your topcoat. Just a suggestion and in no way any criticism of this piece.

John

[Jon Grider]

Nicely done Jay.

[Lee Schierer]

Excellent work, curly Cherry with curly Maple, nothing better.

[glenn bradley]

Looking good Jay. Clean classic lines, great color, and pull outs are the only way to go :-)

[Mel Fulks]

A really appealing piece! Strong 2-tone color, one and a half pair of lush orb knobs. One stile over two stiles making
Deco style center. Love the magic of the horizontal drawer front grain and vertical door grain ...having parallel grain! Real unstudied
art-ful beauty.

[Frederick Skelly]

A beautiful piece, Jay. Just in time for the Holidays, too!

[Ron Citerone]

Awesome, I'm sure it will be appreciated! Those panels are gorgeous!

[Ed Gibbons]

Beautiful piece! Great knowing a fellow Creeker is a neighbor. I live in Boalsburg.

[michael langman]

You did a beautiful job on this piece Jay. It looks REALLY nice. Sure glad you got the door straightened out. Would have drove me nuts too.

[Ed Gibbons]

Running along the leg by the hinges appears to be a reveal of some type. Anyone know what that is?

[Jay Aubuchon]

Running along the leg by the hinges appears to be a reveal of some type. Anyone know what that is?

The doors are set back a bit from the front of the legs. There are applied 1/4” thick spacers to allow room for the hinge knuckles. Although the drawers don’t need the spacers, they provide continuity of the lines.

This seems to be a fairly common design element.

Also, it so happens that I cut a couple of mortises in the wrong place on the insides of the front legs. I was lucky that the spacers covered my mistake!

[Ed Gibbons]

Thanks Jay.

[Ed Gibbons]

Jay, how did you install the hinges? Also, what size are they?

[Prashun Patel]

Just perfect. Great lines, finish, and craftsmanship. I like the exposed dovetail pins on the pull out fronts.

[Brian Tymchak]

Geesh, not sure how I missed this before. Beautiful work Jay! Love cherry+maple and you have a great balance of feature panels to the overall cabinet.

[Bruce King]

I found the Milkovits plans through your post. Thanks!

My suspicion regarding the doors is that the front of the piece is not sufficiently rigid. I put it on its back and laid the doors in place to mark for the hinges. They fit perfectly. I installed the hinges. Still perfect. But when I set it back on its feet, one door was off.

I don't know what I would do about that though, if I were to make another.

Very nice furniture!
Not sure how you fixed the alignment thing.
The door alignment fiasco can be solved by putting a felt pad under a certain leg or sometimes two pads or two legs, just experiment. I had to do that on a purchased piece once. On later pieces use a 3/4 thick back to mostly eliminate racking due to uneven floors.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Jay, how did you install the hinges? Also, what size are they?

The hinge leaves are 2 1/2 inches tall. They are non-mortise hinges. Here you can see how the spacer and door are set back a little from the front of the leg. Because of the set-back, the spacer is needed to allow room for the knuckle.

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Here you can see how the hinge leaves are mounted to the surfaces of the spacer and the door stile. Because the smaller leaf nests inside the larger, the hinge requires only 1/16” between spacer and stile.

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Hey, somebody forgot to erase the pencil lines marking the hinge location!

[Jay Aubuchon]

Not sure how you fixed the alignment thing.

The door alignment fiasco can be solved by putting a felt pad under a certain leg or sometimes two pads or two legs, just experiment. I had to do that on a purchased piece once. On later pieces use a 3/4 thick back to mostly eliminate racking due to uneven floors.

I confess that I trimmed the top of the door at a very slight angle and moved the hinges. I did try shimming under legs but never got a satisfactory result.

The back of this piece is frame and panel, with three 5/8” thick cherry panels. My opinion is that the design of the front framing does not provide enough rigidity. I reserve the right to label that opinion as complete bunk after I gain more experience with larger, more complicated pieces like this.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Thanks to all for your encouraging words! I started making small, simple furniture items when I retired, with the hope that I could eventually build pieces like this. I’ve learned a lot lurking here and asking an occasional question.

Any time I get too full of myself, thinking I’ve arrived, all I have to do is log in and look around to see that I still have a long way to go. And that is part of the fun!

[Ed Gibbons]

The hinge leaves are 2 1/2 inches tall. They are non-mortise hinges. Here you can see how the spacer and door are set back a little from the front of the leg. Because of the set-back, the spacer is needed to allow room for the knuckle.

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Here you can see how the hinge leaves are mounted to the surfaces of the spacer and the door stile. Because the smaller leaf nests inside the larger, the hinge requires only 1/16” between spacer and stile.

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Hey, somebody forgot to erase the pencil lines marking the hinge location!

Thanks Jay. Really appreciate this. Where did you get the hinges?

[David Utterback]

Very nicely done.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Where did you get the hinges?

I got those from Lee Valley, item 00H5223, 2 1/2" × 3/4" Bronze Finial-End No-Mortise Hinges.

I’ve bought similar hinges from House of Antique Hardware in the past.

You can also find them at Amazon by searching for “Non-mortise hinges”.

[Bill Carey]

Lovely piece Jay - really well done. Beautiful wood, beautiful workmanship.

[Ed Gibbons]

Jay, I got the hinges from Lee Valley. The screws are pretty small. Did you upgrade them?

[Jay Aubuchon]

Jay, I got the hinges from Lee Valley. The screws are pretty small. Did you upgrade them?

I used these: 3/4 inch Phillips wood screws. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JDU2UZQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

[Jim Dwight]

Looks great!