I’m secretly building a jewelry cabinet for my wife for her birthday.. She collects vintage costume jewelry and she works in an antiques shop that specializes in vintage jewerly. She has boxes and treasures of hers all over the house. So I’m building her a show cabinet in the Krenov style.
I’m a big fan of Krenov and I thought I’d see what I could do with the style he is so famous for. The cabinet will be made of Cherry, with Spalted Maple doors. The door pulls are made from Zirocote as will all the drawer pulls. I have to work on the cabinet when she is not around so progress is slow, but I’ve completed the doors.
I made the doors first because the spalted maple panels I resawed would dermine the door size. So I will build the cabinet in reverse.
Joinery in the doors is haunched mortise and tenon.

Really nice figure in the panels.

I made the pulls out of a hunk of Zirocote that I had stashed and shaped them for her fingers. The joinery to the door is wedged thru mortise and tenon, so they will never pull out. The tiny wedged are maple for contrast and were cut with a very fine dovetail saw and then prefit into the slots I cut in the pulls.

These are not great photos, they were taken with my cell phone. It would give her a heads up if she sees me out in the shop with her camera, so sorry for the quality.
Test fit of the wedges.

I cut the moritse in the door with a jig and and a plunge router, and then tested the fit of the pulls in the doors.


The doors are lipped so that will be no gap when the doors closed.
The finished pulls installed


The completed doors. Next will be the case and the stand . I’ll post the construction when I start them.

I took this under a light so that you can see the doors better. I made a small jewelry box as a decoy, to throw her off of her real present it’s in front of the doors. It will fit in the interior of the cabinet as a seperate box.
The box is hand dovetailed and has a sliding tray.
























22 comments so far
Scott Bryan
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20061 posts in 700 days
posted 362 days ago
Bob, these are gorgeous doors. Cherry and maple are my personal favorite wood combination but the spalted maple panels give these doors a lot of visual interest and appeal. I am looking forward to seeing more entries in this series.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
OutPutter
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315 posts in 868 days
posted 362 days ago
I love that wood umhum I sure do. If the rest turns out as the doors have, you’re going to be one lucky dude.
;2)
-- Jim
John Gray
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1722 posts in 764 days
posted 362 days ago
Looks great.
-- Only the Shadow knows....................
Topapilot
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123 posts in 719 days
posted 362 days ago
Nice job on the doors, your wife will love showing off this project for years and years; you get points every time!
In the last picture there is a widgit in the background with a dowel poking out – what’s that?
BigBob
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59 posts in 367 days
posted 362 days ago
The widget is a dead man bench attachment that I made for my workbench. It is held into the tail vise and then you can change the dowel setting to hold a long board or panel to the bench.
3fingerpat
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884 posts in 546 days
posted 362 days ago
Awesome job so far! Excellent design on the pulls, I am sure Krenov would approve your design and attention to detail, you are doing fantastic, keep up the good work, can’t wait to see it to completion.
-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"
MsDebbieP
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14090 posts in 1039 days
posted 361 days ago
i’m smiling from ear to ear – I’m so excited. The thought that has gone into this is so touching.. the decoy box (brilliant) the pieces made for her fingers.. sigh…
the sentiment is overwhelming
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
BigBob
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59 posts in 367 days
posted 361 days ago
That’s very nice of you to say MsDebbieP, I needed a female point of view. I wanted to do something special for her. All of my projects seem to be for me, for my personal satisfaction, so I’m building this for her, and her alone. I have also scaled the project to her height so that is a Golden Rectangle based on her 5’ 8” frame when the cabinet sits on it’s legs. It will be about 5ft tall.
I want the peice to be quiet in its repose ,unassuming and graceful, like her.,and for her to look deeper into the cabinet and find little things she didn’t notice at first, like a secret compartment I plan to make inside the case .
Any other ideas are welcome.
Thanks again.
Blake
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2715 posts in 752 days
posted 361 days ago
Very nice work! keep up the progress blog.
-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com
jockmike2
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7222 posts in 1125 days
posted 361 days ago
Nice looking Armoire, she should love it, beautiful wood match.
-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com
Karson
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25271 posts in 1279 days
posted 361 days ago
Great job on the doors. She should be verry happy.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
MsDebbieP
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14090 posts in 1039 days
posted 361 days ago
secret compartment .. hmm sounds like an Awards entry.
of course you could always hide a new “trinket” in one of the drawers for her to find :D
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Jojo
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581 posts in 850 days
posted 361 days ago
Looking really good, Bob,
Your choice of wood is excellent for a piece with clean lines and a quiet elegance and beauty. Please keep us posted on the evolution of the project, this really promises a lot.
-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/ · http://twitter.com/japanesetools
mmh
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1366 posts in 600 days
posted 361 days ago
So, when you present this to her, you’ll have to wrap the box separate and give that to her. Inside the box you can have a note instructing her to go to the wrapped cabinet (Find a used appliance box or something that would make her think you were really cheap and out of your mind!). After she unwraps the box the cabinet is in, and sees “toaster oven, Pampers 100’s, or something outragious, then actually opens the box to see your beautiful jewelry case, she’ll faint. Make sure you have pillows on the floor. It’s beautiful so far, I’m sure it will be breathtaking when you’re done.
-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe
Mule
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9 posts in 385 days
posted 361 days ago
Those doors are just beautiful.
I really like the look of the spalted maple with the cherry. Please keep us posted on the progress of this project.
-- so much to learn and so little time.
Thos. Angle
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4015 posts in 840 days
posted 360 days ago
That is some dandy spalted maple. She will love this. Oughta add up some brownie points.
-- Thos. Angle
Todd A. Clippinger
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5590 posts in 978 days
posted 360 days ago
This is going to be a gorgeous piece. I can’t wait to see the finished project.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Beginningwoodworker
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3857 posts in 551 days
posted 360 days ago
Looks real nice, Bob.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
BigBob
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59 posts in 367 days
posted 360 days ago
I just started the mock up of the case and the stand. I’m experimenting with the design until it looks “right”
. I wish I knew how to use Sketchup or some other program like that, but I just draw and then build.Thanks again for the encouragement, I’ll post some progress pics this weekend . She works on Saturday, so I’ll get a chance to finish my mockup before I start cutting my stock.
mmh
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1366 posts in 600 days
posted 360 days ago
When do you have to have this finished?
-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe
kolwdwrkr
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2218 posts in 468 days
posted 360 days ago
I’m a big fan of Krenov’s work. I’m actually reading “A cabinetmakers notebook” now and will start “The fine art of Cabinetmaking” after. I’ve read “The Impractical Cabinetmaker” and enjoyed his thoughts of woodworking. I look forward to seeing this project finished. Thanks for sharing.
-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~
BigBob
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59 posts in 367 days
posted 359 days ago
I have plenty of time, I have to be finished by May 17(her B Day.) I’m hiding the doors in the shop and so far, I don’t think she’s thinking about her birthday yet, so I’ll work on it when she isn’t around. I’m building a 18ft mahogany runabout in the shop right now, so she doesn’t come in the shop much.