After attaching the side pieces, I was able to measure around the circumference of the arch and determine the length of the top pieces. I used 3/8” bendy board (flex-core) and cut a slight angle on each end where it attaches to the plywood on the sides. The bendy board goes from 33” on each end to 43” out in the very center. I again radiused this off the template furnished by our installers. I then glued the bendy board to the plywood with titebond III glue and attached a cargo strap to pull it tight to the plywood and also to keep it tight to the form itself. (If you look closely in the center of the side pieces you can see the hole in the support where I placed the hooks). When the glue was dry, I took off the strap and attached a 5” piece of 3/8” plywood over the joint. I used laminate glue to attach this piece and used some 5/8” staples at an angle to hold the bendy board and plywood together for support.

I then re-attached the cargo strap and and used some Bondo to strengthen the bendy board. After the first one was done, we sent it out to the jobsite to check the fit before making the others.

After the first one was test fitted on site, I made a slight change to the others. I decided not to use bondo since it took so much and was very time consuming. I cut 5” wide strips of 1/8” masonite and used contact cement to glue them on the bendy board. I put a total of 3 around each arch and this was very sturdy and kept the arch solid. You can see in the following picture the piece that I added to the top of our first window. I attached the others where I had used the Bondo on the original.

And here is the completed window ready for the veneer.

Next: applying the veneer.

Taking that into consideration, I started by getting a 3/4” sheet of plywood and laying it on my workbench. I then took the template I got from the installers and figured out the circumference of my arch over the windows. I also figured out the final width of the windows and made some supports to attach to the plywood. These supports are to hold my side pieces to the exact width of the windows.

I then cut my arch pieces to apply to the form. I made 2 so I could attach one to the plywood and one to place up higher to keep the eyebrow itself perpendicular.

I then cut my side pieces. These sides are 43” high and taper from 1 1/2” at the bottom to 32” at the top. The plywood is 3/8” birch. I then attached them to the form and screwed them to my supports.

Next: attaching the arch piece to the sides.

As you can see from these pictures, whoever did the job the first time did not get the veneer on right and it bubbled. The owners did not give the people a chance to fix it. They told us that they were very happy with all the cabinets and woodwork that we were doing and they wanted us to do it right.

I think the main problem was that there was very little substructure behind the veneer.

I thought that I would blog the construction to show how I formed and veneered these windows. My next chapter will show how I made the jig to form the windows.

After setting in place I attached 4 corbels, (4 still in shop getting outlets put in them) and installed the 2 spice racks.

Karson, you can now see how huge this main kitchen is. The whole room is about 30’ X 30’ with a huge stone fireplace in the dining area. In the second picture you can see 2 doorways. The one with the gray blankets goes into a hallway and the other into a working kitchen. You can also see where the range and the hood will go along with the rest of the cabinets in this kitchen.

I have started to build the curved doors and the molding for the doors. When I get these completed I will show them and hopefully get some pictures of the completed island in the next 2 weeks. The granite was templated last Monday so the granite may be installed by the time I get the doors there and install them.

This section has a farm sink cabinet centered between 2 dishwashers.

Farm sink Cabinet.

This side has a bowfront cabinet ceneterd between 2 cabinets that are built opposite of each other. The small center section of each cabinet will have pullout spice racks with carved posts on them. The larger sections will have pullouts and the center bowfront cabinet will have curved front pullouts as well.

Again these cabinets will have Inset doors and veneered panels, molding and Carved baseboards. Along with a lot of gold etching.

It will be a couple of weeks before I get the doors and panels done but I will keep this blog going as things develop.

This side has a prep sink, two drawers and a warming drawer, and a door that opens all the way to the floor for a trash can and a small stool.

This side has two special pullouts on the left and right cabinet and has 2 huge pullouts in the center section.

The corbels go on all four corners and are hand carved. These will be stained and will get gold etching to highlight them. 2 of these will also have an outlet that pops out and will be hidden behind the carvings. This will have to be routed out when we get the outlets in and before installation of the corbels.

This island will have inset doors with veneered panels, a lot of carved molding and special carved baseboards. I will post more as these develop.

The gentleman told me that he had cut the cedar 30 years ago and it had been stored in his attic. He decided to get it down and sell it. He took it out of his attic and put it on the back porch. But before he got around to putting it in the paper for sale, his cats and dogs got to doing there #1 duty on it and boy did it smell. The wood was so black you couldn’t tell it was actually cedar until you scratched it with a knife and got some of the darkness off.

I finally agreed to buy it for $45.00 and loaded it up on my pickup. It almost filled the back of my truck when we got it loaded. We headed back to the shop and unloaded it and I just had to see what it was like so I headed to the planer.

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After planing it and seeing what it looked like I made 2 cedar chests for my Step-daughter and my step-sons wife and here is what they looked like.

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So do not judge the look of the lumber before you see what is under the weathered look.