A bar cabinet

[Frank Pratt]

Here's my latest project, finally complete. Design is my own, but is similar in format to many commercially available cabinets.

Corner detail.jpg

Construction is 3/4" flat cut white oak plywood. Trim and corner treatments are also white oak. To make those plywood corner joints more robust, I glued in a 5mm square piece of solid oak & then chamfered the corner. For the most part it blends in fairly well with the plywood.

Corner mockup.jpg

The detail on the left hand door is a goof that I turned into a happy feature. Somehow, I cut the door panel too narrow and didn't have enough plywood left to cut a new one. So I cut and carved the maple piece and glued it between the two plywood pieces. I'm pretty thrilled with the way it turned out. It's a nice point of interest visually and has a very tactile feel to it. That was the first time I've tried carving like that and it was a lot of fun to do.

Door detail.jpg

Hardware and interior lighting are from Lee Valley. The power for the door lighting is cunningly conducted through the piano hinges, which are cut into two lengths for each side with enough of a gap to insulate them from each other. No loose wires dangling from door to carcass.

Interior.jpg

[John TenEyck]

What a serendipitous mistake. That carved piece takes it from a very nice cabinet to outstanding.

The plywood looks like rift sawn white oak, rather than plain sawn, to me, which I really, really like.

I never would have guessed as to the contents of the cabinet. Very clever.

I like your quality control specialist, too.

John

[Jim Becker]

Stunning!!!! And that's because you took what was already a great piece of workmanship and kicked up a whole bunch of notches with that "mistake" being replaced by the carved maple. Bravo!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Stunning piece and execution!

I should be so lucky with a mistake!

[Andrew Hughes]

I like it.
It’s a very good looking piece.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Stunning! That makes my last lighting install look shabby.
Screen Shot 2023-03-27 at 7.27.31 AM.jpg
May I please have a White Russian, hold the vodka, hold the liqueur.

[Bill Carey]

What a great looking cabinet Frank. Very nice work - love the corner treatment. And an absolutely beautiful mistake. Wonderful recovery on that one!

[Frank Pratt]

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

[Frank Pratt]

What a serendipitous mistake. That carved piece takes it from a very nice cabinet to outstanding.

The plywood looks like rift sawn white oak, rather than plain sawn, to me, which I really, really like.

I never would have guessed as to the contents of the cabinet. Very clever.

I like your quality control specialist, too.

John

Right you are John, I just meant that it was flat cut as opposed to rotary cut (yuck!). The plywood is rift sawn on one face and quarter sawn on the other. I chose the rift cut side for the exterior just for the look of it. I love both rift and quarter sawn white oak. Much of the face frame and the drawer fronts are quarter sawn.

[Lee Schierer]

A nice looking cabinet.

So which beverage does the cat prefer?

[Frank Pratt]

A nice looking cabinet.

So which beverage does the cat prefer?

He's partial to the Everclear with a shellac chaser

[Mel Fulks]

“The Great Fix That Became An Embellishment.” Especially the tapering. I suggest a taper ,arrowhead type thing at the top to ‘let it
soar ,some more”. And show “there’s no opening , until I say so!”

[Christopher Charles]

I’ll just echo everyone else-nice save! And the addition really does elevate the cabinet well beyond your original plan. Enjoy the cocktails!

Best,
Chris

[Tony Shea]

This came out wonderful!! I really like this piece and the "mistake" is stunning. I agree with everyone that the "mistake" actually takes this cabinet from being nice to absolutely stunning. The break in the vertical oak grain really sets this design off. Great work!

[Tom Bender]

Wires are a bane of modernity. Conducting low voltage thru the hinges is an excellent idea.