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Thread: Good Scotch deserves a good home

  1. #1
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    Good Scotch deserves a good home

    All good Scotch deserves a good home! Working on a tight deadline, this bar-back went into place last night for a fund-raiser on Saturday.

    IMG_0787.jpgIMG_0788.jpgIMG_0789.jpgIMG_0792.jpgIMG_0794.jpg

    Curly Cherry and Beech in what turned into a Stickley-meets-modern (I hope) design. I’d love to claim it has every dimension set from a Golden ratio, but it is strictly utilitarian in that regard: it fits the space for which its intended, storage is sized for the contents, and it gets the mini-fridges up off the floor. (You know how you reach that certain age and then reach for that 5th bottle of wine and all of a sudden like you need someone to help you up off the floor?? No more of that for this body!)

    Rails and stiles are Beech, re-sawed from 8/4 leftovers from a bench build. The curly Cherry panels are shop sawed veneers over ¼” MDF. Tops are solid Cherry, with the best curl saved for the center console. The inset drawer fronts are veneered with curly over No1 solid cherry blanks (so no obvious veneer lines). BB ply was used for several of the interior structures. And Domino joinery on much of it.

    Nearly everything was finished before assembly - - and I let that get way too complicated (lesson learned – and I blame SWMBO …Please don’t tell her!). Beech and Cherry both got a different Transtint dye: a weak orange to get the Beech into the right tonal range, and weak red-brown to pop the curl, respectively. The cherry then got a coat of Watco Cherry to warm it up and darken it – followed by 10 days - - that I didn’t have - - to thoroughly dry. Then de-waxed shellac on the cherry to seal the oil-based. Last was 4 coats of HVLP sprayed Minwax Polycrylic.

    Caveat - For those contemplating the water-borne ‘poly’, it goes on SUPER easy, but it does leave a ‘cold’ look. It was perhaps a mistake, and may very well ultimately relegate this to the firewood pile. Time will tell. SMC’ers certainly warned of this, but even tho’ I did test this whole finish regime, it is much more pronounced as the size/scale increases. Lesson: test the finish at near final scale.

    And what would any project be without a last second crisis? My leveling scheme got ‘amended’ at the last second, when I discovered nearly 1” of fall in the floor over 9’ span. …Gotta love pier & beam on clay!

    Sorry, not much of a photographer – and this at night under rather harsh lights, but hopefully will give you a glimpse. No progress photos to speak of, due to looming deadline.

    C&C welcomed (it’s how I hope to get better at this craft).

    And now - - Uisce Beatha!

  2. #2
    Nice work! I like the design and I LOVE the grain in that bar top!

  3. #3
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    WOW! That's absolutely beautiful!!! WOW...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
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    It certainly is gorgeous! Love the curl in that cherry!

    I'm a fan of Scotch too but...I prefer Scotch ales.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  5. #5
    Nice project Malcolm. Both the scotch and the cabinet work on a high level. I like the detail at the intersections of the drawer dividers.

  6. #6
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    Thanks very much. I've seen examples of all of your work, so it means a lot.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Todrin View Post
    Nice project Malcolm. Both the scotch and the cabinet work on a high level. I like the detail at the intersections of the drawer dividers.
    That would be a faaahhh, er, I mean a feature. Yeah, a feature!

    The dovetail bit crawled, ever so slightly (unnoticed) out of the collet on the last 2-3 cuts. All of the drawer blades were already assembled, so it was either remake them from scratch, or plow out a larger 'mortice', fill them, and re-cut. Contrasting wood won the snap re-design conference. Almost entirely driven by time constraints, but hopefully lemonade from lemons...?

  8. #8
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    i like the detail as well. I will vote whisky sour from lemons on that snap design decision.

  9. #9
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    Thought you we gonna show us a new trash can! Sorry, Bourbon guy myself. Had to be done!

    In all seriousness......good looking project there!
    If over thinking was an Olympic event, I'd win Gold every time!

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Fox View Post
    Thought you we gonna show us a new trash can! Sorry, Bourbon guy myself. Had to be done!

    In all seriousness......good looking project there!
    Hey, its all whiskey; just made with different grain. Oh, and Bourbon only uses 250 yrs less tradition and experience, but I guess someone has to drink it? If you have access, check out a program on HULU called "Neat. The Story (history?) of Bourbon". Very informative and thought provoking comment from Master Distiller at Buffalo Trace - - changed me from a 'collector' to a 'sharer'.

    And thank you for the comments!

  11. #11
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    Malcolm, absolutely nothing to apologize for with that finish. Just gorgeous. I've seen a couple of projects in past few days done with Polycrylic that looked amazing.

    John

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    That would be a faaahhh, er, I mean a feature. Yeah, a feature!

    The dovetail bit crawled, ever so slightly (unnoticed) out of the collet on the last 2-3 cuts. All of the drawer blades were already assembled, so it was either remake them from scratch, or plow out a larger 'mortice', fill them, and re-cut. Contrasting wood won the snap re-design conference. Almost entirely driven by time constraints, but hopefully lemonade from lemons...?
    I thought it was a feature....Good save.
    Chris

  13. #13
    Very nice! I see a bottle of Lagavulin up there

  14. #14
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    Nice work Malcolm beautiful wood. It’s nice to see unique designs.
    The insert drawers shows your patience
    Thanks for sharing
    Aj

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    That would be a faaahhh, er, I mean a feature. Yeah, a feature!

    The dovetail bit crawled, ever so slightly (unnoticed) out of the collet on the last 2-3 cuts. All of the drawer blades were already assembled, so it was either remake them from scratch, or plow out a larger 'mortice', fill them, and re-cut. Contrasting wood won the snap re-design conference. Almost entirely driven by time constraints, but hopefully lemonade from lemons...?
    Thought there was a story behind those.... but in the end turns out to be one of the best detail features!

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