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137K views 181 replies 71 participants last post by  kaerlighedsbamsen 
#1 ·
Design Process

For several months now I have been dreaming about building a credenza as the ultimate next project to tackle. I don't have a clue where I am going to put it when its done. I don't have any space for a 6 foot long cabinet, but I really want to build one.

So I started drawing and looking at pictures of credenzas online. A credenza is basically a low, wide cabinet that is mostly used these days as living room furniture, often below the TV. My first design looked like this:

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What I liked about this design is the simple symmetry and the fact that there was an open shelf in the middle where you could put the DVD player and be able to use the remote control without opening a door. But I felt like there was something just too generic about it… something bothered me about the design but I couldn't put my finger on it. I asked my wife, "does it look too Ikea, or something?"

Then I walked into the kitchen and it hit me. This is the cheap Ikea cabinet we have been living with and looking at every day for the past 5 years:

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When I finally made the connection, I couldn't believe it. My brain had sub-consiously lead me to the familiar and I had re-designed our Ikea cabinet. How weird and absolutely hilarious. No wonder I came up with that design. But it wouldn't do at all. So back to the drawing board, and this time the goal was to design something as far from the Ikea look as possible.

I really struggled with the door/drawer arrangement in the front of the cabinet. How could I lay it out so that it was interesting, practical, and unique? Here is part of my brainstorm-on-paper process:

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Finally I came up with this design, and built it in Sketchup:

Credenza

...And I really liked it. The style, proportions and layout was just what I was looking for.

Then one day I was in the shop and was thinking about this project and I decided to build a 1/6 scale model of it out of scraps. I didn't have my Sketchup drawing with me so I built it form memory. I forgot the exact dimensions and layout of the original drawing and it ended up a little different, including three drawers on the left side instead of two.

I also decided to try something a little different and added an inlay (masking tape) of "grass" across the front for visual interest. Here is the 20 minute model I came up with:

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I've never built a model before starting a project, but I'm glad I did. First of all, I hated the "grass" inlay. Too corny. And after taking it home and comparing it to the Sketchup drawing, I decided that the original proportions of the drawing were much better than the model. I also like the two drawers on the left instead of three.

I had also put four sweeping arches in the Sketchup drawing that cascade from top right to bottom left (look closely for the thin black lines). I really like those arches and think I will carve them into the front of the solid drawer fronts instead of inlay them. That will keep the color uniform and subtle, add depth to the piece, and make the furniture-savvy recognize instantly that this is a solid-wood piece of furniture… no veneer to be found.

Feel free to let me know what you think.
 
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#2 ·
Has a distinct Asian Influence.. the shallow drawer over the doors is incredibly intuitive..The carved arches are inspirational without being corny…I think that over all you have come up with a design that will fit in many homes..
Look forward to the following blogs..and 3 drawers draws on nature.. all things in 3's.
 
#3 ·
Stunning design !!
No open space for DVD player ?
How about a flip down false drawer front above the double doors.
Can be dropped open when in use, closed to hide when not in use.
Still keeps with the overall design, yet functional for TV unit,
if that is what it will be used for.
I think Larry is onto something with the 3 drawers : )

Lisa
 
#4 ·
Hi Blake.

I agree with you, the sketch-up design is much nicer, the proportions are much better, I especially like the ratio of the cupboard doors and the long narrow drawer, 2-high drawers are better than 3 smaller ones. The carving/inlay of the grass is more fluid and pleasing to the eye (mine anyway), than the mock up, which looks confusing. The sketch-up version is more fluid and gently take moves you vision to follow the lines gracefully.

The larger legs on the sketch-up version are better proportioned than the model, and if you can keep the crispness on the corners, it will keep it individual. The legs reaching and becoming a part of the top is very nice in the profile view, what does it look like from the top view?

The colors you selected on the sketch-up model are a great contrast, mahogany legs and black walnut (for example), if you do inlay, then maybe very thin Holly, but I think the shadow created by a carved relief would be more subtle and interesting.

Where did you buy you miniature hand tools to make the model? . The shavings created with those miniature hand planes are in great proportion.
 
#5 ·
Sweet. I like the sketchup version better too.

Like Tony, I would like to see a top view too. Your model has the top overhanging the legs, while the sketchup has the legs level with the top. But I know that the model was just a quickie.

Keep it up Sir,
Steve
 
#9 ·
Tony-the top of the legs will be flush with the top of the cabinet. The square of end grain will show from above. Here is the joinery I plan on using where the top meets the legs:

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And I also forgot to mention that I plan on joining the top and sides with hand-cut dovetails so it will look something like this:

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Oh yea, and here are the tools I used to make the model:

 
#11 ·
Blake can you post a sketch-up view of the top and an oblique view (45°), it was the visual impact I was thinking about.

You cannot two dove tails joints at right angles to each other, there is no way to get them to slide in to each other. You could use dovetail keys to slide into one of the joints to lock it into place, or two sliding butterfly keys (double dovetails).

The top does not look that thick on the sketch-up (maybe an 1" or so), will it really provide any real strength to have a dovetail joint? I think that hidden joints would look nicer, keeping sides clear, not drawing attention to the joinery and distracting from the appearance.

Where can I buy the 1/12 scale 1" screws that you use (nice photograph)
 
#12 ·
Thanks for sharing your design process. It is great to see how others approach this very difficult, and crucial phase. I have found that even with Sketchup renderings I don't always get the proportions right. I find it helpful to make full-size elevation drawings and tape them to the wall to get a better feel for the piece. Sometimes I will make a cardboard mockup to see how the mass of the piece will relate to other elements in the room.

On this credenza I like the asymmetric yet balanced look, the curves of the legs, and the simple detailing. However, I think the top might need something to balance the mass of the feet. In your initial sketch you had the ends of the top curving up. That was a nice detail. Not saying that is what the newer design needs, but to my eye the top is wanting 'something'.

I am looking forward to following your progress.

Bryan
 
#13 ·
Blake I don't remember you showing me your minature tool set when I visited your shop..lol. You know how much I love this design and I am excited that you have decided to build this piece. looking forward to following your progress. I really like the leg joinery that you are planning on using. As far as the number of drawer goes I think it is simply a matter of "form follows function" Think about what you will be storing in the drawers and then that will determine if you need 2 larger drawers or 3. One suggestion, hold the stile between the doors and drawers back 3/4" and overlay the door/drawers so that you don't see it from the front elevation. It will be a much cleaner look especiallly when if you carve the curved lines in the front which I think is a great idea. Are you going to route that or carve the design? You could make your fronts from the same glue up (blank) and then carve or route the design. After that cut to size your fronts so that all your grain and design is consistant across the front.
 
#14 ·
Yes… lots to think about still.

Tony,
"You cannot do dove tails joints at right angles to each other…" Sorry for the poor drawing, those are not dovetails where the legs meet the top. It is just a wrap-around L-shaped mortise and tenon that you will see form the sides.

Bryan,
I wish I had room to pin up a full-sized elevation drawing or 1:1 cardboard model. I know what you mean though about needing to see it in life-size. I usually leave my legs and other pieces a little long until I can clamp it all together to get a sense of it before cutting the parts down to their final dimensions. This way I can make changes as I go.

Brian,
I think I am going to hand carve V-shaped grooves for the arch detail. And I agree with you on hiding that partition. I was thinking the same thing.
 
#15 ·
Milling the Main Parts

I've been thinking about this design for several months. But I decided to get serious about it a few weeks back when I found the perfect piece of wood to built it with.

The design:



This is the HUGE slab of Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) that I found at the local lumber yard. It is 8 feet long, 18" wide and seven quarters thick (almost 2 inches).

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The slab is fairly straight grained and uniform in color but I've seen Jatoba finished before and its beautiful. The slab will make the top and sides. I also picked up some 3/4" stock for the drawer fronts that is actually figured. I forgot to take a photo of it but its gorgeous. You will just have to take my word for now.

I have worked out a really great working relationship with a fellow woodworker in town. His name is Don and he's a really nice guy. He welcomes me into his professional furniture-building woodshop whenever I need bigger tools or more space to work. In exchange I help him when he needs an extra set of hands. So to mill and re-saw my slab I went to his shop.

Here is the 3×3 mahogany stock I am using for the legs, about to go through the planer:

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The Jatoba slab going through the jointer:

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Don took a bird's eye photo from the stairs as I was working:

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Here it goes through the 19" Grizzly bandsaw:

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I re-sawed and book-matched the top and sides.

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Back at my shop

Here is the book-matched top being glued up:

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The top, glued:

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And the sides:

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In this photo you can start to see the beautiful figure of the Jatoba:

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Here are the milled mahogany legs. Sitting on top is the leftover mahogany that I decided to laminate to the leg pieces near the base in order to flare the bottoms out wider…

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The leg blanks glued up:

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Once I had all the parts made (but not finished) I clamped the legs and sides together and rested the top on them to get a sense of the overall size and proportions of the cabinet.

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I have not cut the legs down to there final height and I still have the opportunity to trim any of the parts to change the dimensions if it doesn't feel right. I decided to stop here and come back another day with a fresh eye before making any final decisions.

This is typical of my design process in any project large or small. Only about half of the design work is done before I start building. The rest of the final decisions (including most of the joinery and aesthetic details) are made during the building process.

Man that Jatoba is nice! You can see another project in the background… that will be posted soon.

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Total building time so far: 10 hours
 
#28 ·
Hand Cutting Dovetails

I am hand-cutting the dovetails for the case joinery. Its the first time I've ever really done this. I've been playing around with dovetails a little lately for practice but haven't used them for a project.

Layout

First I had to figure out how I wanted to lay them out. This took quite a bit of time actually. I started by looking at the two pieces to be joined.

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I have a little dovetail sample that I use for a reference so I don't get confused as to how the tails and pins go, how many marks I need, etc. The dovetail sample was one of the practice pieces that I cut off.

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This is what the process looked like for figuring out the dovetail pattern. Basically trial and error with sharpie on masking tape until I liked the spacing. The spacing you see here changed before I settled on one I liked.

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Marking the depth:

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I love my Japanese marking gauge. In fact, I love the tools I work with as much as I love doing the work.

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Cutting the Tails

I am using a Veritas Dovetail Saw Guide with my Japanese rip saw to cut the dovetails and man is that a sweet combination. Veritas claims that there saw guide "lets amateurs achieve professional results" and I can tell you its true. It just arrived in the mail a few days ago so this is the first time I'm using it.

I know if I practiced enough times I would eventually split my pencil line every time without the guide. But this is just a jig that holds the saw and I can get perfect results in a joint as critical as this one right in the top corners of my case. So call me a cheater if you want, but I am still hand-cutting the dovetails. No power tools, just the "zip zip" of my saw and John Coltrain in the background.

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Here you can get an idea of the spacing I finally decided on. There are three sizes of tails, the widest in the middle, two mid-size on either side of that one and three small tails on the ends:

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Ahh…

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Sorry, thats all I had time for in the shop and this weekend I'm going camping in Big Sur so you'll have to wait till next week to see the finished dovetails.

Total building time so far: 14 hours
 
#36 ·
Completed Dovetail Joinery

This is where I left off last time:

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Chopping the tails

I cut most of the waste out with a coping saw and then clamped down the tail board to my bench to chop out the rest:

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First it is necessary to test the sharpness of your chisels… yep they are sharp. (I accidentally grazed my chisel when I reached across my bench for a pencil)

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After chopping the tails:

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The two sides of my case:

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Transferring the tails to the pins

I had a little bit of a dilemma trying to figure out how to transfer the lines from the tailboards to the pins. Finally I devised a way to hang the side piece from the ceiling with string so the tails would rest on the edge of the top piece, which was secured in my vice.

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With a little creative clamping I was able to secure it until I could transfer the lines with a marking knife. This photo was taken by holding the camera against the ceiling.

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Cutting the pins

Then I used my saw and guide to cut the pins in the end of the six-foot top piece while standing on my shop stool (I know, this is the wrong photo)



The coping saw was getting a little tedious on this very hard Jatoba so I used my scroll saw to hog out some of the waist… (perhaps the biggest board a scroll saw has ever seen?)

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Chopping the pins

And then chopped the pins on my bench:

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Fitting and dressing the dovetails

I swear this is the first time I've done this (it was a perfect fit).

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A little clean-up with my Stanley No. 62 to smooth out the joint:

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Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet…

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I still need to cut the pins and fit the joint on the other side of the case.

Total building time so far: 18 hours.
 
#37 ·
That's a great looking joint, especially for a first try! I wonder how many of the old pros actually used home-made jigs similar to yours to guide their cuts. It seems as though freehand cuts leave too much room for error. I can't wait to see the finished product (and more progress shots).
 
#57 ·
Curvaceous Legs

The last time I left off I still needed to cut the dovetails on the other side of the case. I didn't photograph that because the process is the same as before. But it took another four or five hours. I did think this was interesting enough to take a photo of though… "stretching" my clamp collection:

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Leg Joinery

The legs are going to protrude up through the top of the case in the corners and attach with a sort-of "L" shaped mortise and tenon. This is the jig I made to cut the squares out of the corners of the top:

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Using the jig to route the tenons:

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The top part of the tenon routed:

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Then I rough-cut out the waist form the corners by hand:

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Then I used the same jig but added some width to the stops to bring it out further. This allowed me to square up those rough corner cuts and the sides of the tenons.

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Squaring up the tenons:

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Then I squared the round corners with a chisel:

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I forgot to take photos of cutting the slot mortises in the sides of the legs but I just used a dado blade on my table saw on two sides… you get the idea. Here is how they fit together:

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Shaping the Mahogany legs

Once I had the joinery cut for the top of the legs I was free to cut the curves into them. I drew the curves on the first leg freehand based on my original drawings:

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Then cut it on the bandsaw…

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...Sanded it smooth on the OSS:

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...Transfered that line to the other legs:

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...Cut them and sanded them:

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Then I freehanded the lines for the curve in the other direction (which is not as deep)...

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An almost-finished leg (one side still needs sanding)

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Then I clamped them to the side of my case just to see how it was looking before heading out of the shop for dinner. This is a bit of an exciting moment:

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Total building time so far: 28 hours
 
#71 ·
The Tedious Part... (Lots of Photos)

The following photos represent several days of building. This definitely feels like the SLOW part in the middle of the project. But by the end of today I felt like I was over the hump.

The "Stretchers"

There is something indescribably beautiful about a heavy chunk of lumber before it gets milled. Here is the piece I will use for what I call the "stretchers" that run from side to side along the bottom edges of the cabinet.

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Crosscut

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Rip

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Joint

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Plane

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Stop to enjoy the view outside my shop



Mark

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Tenons

These pieces will be mortised into the mahogany legs. I cut the tenons on my radial arm saw. This is the quickest and easiest way I know to cut tenons. Almost no set up time at all. A stop block on one side makes the length of each tenon the same and the cuts are made freehand until I hit the stop. Then I break out the waste chips with my thumb and slide the tenon back and forth under the spinning blade (up to the stop each time) and it skims the surface until its smooth and flat.

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Dados and Rabbets

Next I cut the various rabbets and Dadoes that will receive the drawer fronts, the plywood bottom of the cabinet and the back panel.

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Mortises

Laying out the mortises in the legs which will receive the stretchers:

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I hog out most of the waste with a forstner bit.

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Then finish off with a mortise chisel:

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There is no shame in adding a veneer to the face of a loose-fitting tenon…

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...perfect

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The four legs and stretchers joined (no glue yet)

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Back Panel

The back panel is solid 1/4" thick Jatoba that was cut from the same slab that the top and sides were originally cut from. On this piece its important to me that even the back is as beautiful as the rest of the cabinet.

I carefully used my biscuit jointer to slot the thin stock:

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The back panel joined and glued:

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Isn't Jatoba gorgeous?

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Here is another one of those "stretchers." This one is actually glued and screwed to the underside of the cabinet TOP in the back of the cabinet. It will receive the top of the back panel and strengthen the top against sagging. In this photo the cabinet is upside-down on my bench:

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Then I put slots on the inside-edges of my legs to receive the sides of the back panel:

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And here is the resulting joint:

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This photo is out of order (it shows part of the back panel before it was glued up) ...but it shows how the back panel goes in the slots:

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Since the back is solid wood it will be a floating panel. These rubber "space balls" sit in the slots above and below the panel and hold it tightly in place but allow it to move over time.

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"Space balls" in the slot:

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The MASSIVE glue up

These dowels align the sides with the legs:

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The dry fit:

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And finally, the glue-up. This turned out to be a BEAR of a glue-up job. I had a hell of a time getting everything together, aligned and clamped in time for it to set.

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Total building time so far: 48 hours
 
#86 ·
Finished Assembling the Case

Preparing for Assembly

These are the short "stretchers" that go along the sides.

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The rabbet on the inside is for the plywood bottom to rest on.

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Now, up to this point grain orientation on every piece of the case construction is "correct" in relationship to its self. These stretchers on the bottom of the side pieces are the first members that could potentially CONSTRICT seasonal movement of the side pieces.

If I permanently attach these pieces at both ends, the sides will push apart the legs when they expand, and split or pull apart from the legs when they contract.

So to account for this…

  • Glue, dowels and one screw at the front end of the stretcher where it attaches to the front leg
  • No glue along the length of the stretcher where it rests along the side piece
  • Horizontal dowels attach the rear of the stretcher to the back leg by friction only (no glue)
  • There is a small gap between the rear of the stretcher and the back leg to allow for movement
  • At the front end of the stretcher there is NO gap

Aligning the dowels:

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The gap (remember, this will be at the bottom rear of the cabinet so you will never notice it)

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Attaching the front legs and stretcher

More dowels will attach the front legs:

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After pressing the legs against the dowel aligners and drilling I drilled the holes into the legs. One of the dowels serves a dual purpose… it pins the tenon of the stretcher. How cool is that?

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The "pinned tenon" goin' in:

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Rad.

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Assembly

And it all goes together:

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These 3/4" X 3/4" strips will strengthen the top so it is rigid enough for a heavy TV. They act like I-beams. They are glued and screwed to the underside of the top.

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And the case is pretty much finished!

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Total Building Time So Far: 53 hours
 
#101 ·
The Guts

I've gotten a lot done since the last blog but there wasn't much to show for it so I waited until now to post. But the first thing I did was flip it over and plane and sand the dovetails to smooth them out. Here is the finished case joinery:

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Detail of the leg joinery and dovetails:

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THE GUTS

So this isn't particularly the exciting part to build (or watch being built) but here it is anyway. The inside of the cabinetry such as the shelves as well as the partition between the drawers and doors, is made of 3/4" mahogany plywood.

This piece will be the bottom floor of the case:

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These holes are cut into the floor for wires to come through. They will get plugs later.

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In this photo the plywood pieces are fitted but not attached.

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PARTITION FRONT JOINERY

Each exposed plywood edge will have a solid front. Here is the joinery for those pieces. This part was cut by hand with a chisel:

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This is the joinery between the horizontal piece (front edge of the shelf) and the vertical partition. I cut it on the radial arm saw:

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Here it is on the other side where it meets the leg… you can see why I chose this joint, because it matches the joint between the top and leg above.

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Finished joint (not glued yet)

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ASSEMBLY

I can't exactly drive screws through the top of the cabinet, so this is how the partition will be attached to the underside of the top:

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I cut a curved piece out of the back of the top shelf to allow for air movement and wires to pass through for the electronics (DVD player, stereo, etc.)

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Glue up:

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The next phase will be a lot more exciting I promise! Next time I will be building and installing the door and drawer fronts.

As a teaser, here is the lumber for the front of the cabinet… beautiful figured Jatoba. I plan to allow the grain to run continuously all the way from left to right across the cabinet doors and drawers.

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Total Building Time So Far: 63 hours
 
#117 ·
Getting to the good part

Today was Christmas.

The hardware arrived. Including Blum "Blumotion" drawer slides and Blum Euro hinges. Also vents for the electronics and shelf pins.

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The Middle Shelf

I made a quick jig for drilling the shelf pin holes.

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The middle shelf in place:

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The 5th leg

I decided to add a fifth leg in the back to support the weight of a large TV added to the already massive 6-foot long cabinet. It will not be attached to the floating back panel.

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The vent

I glued the leg in place and while I waited I cut the hole for the vent. This will allow the heat from the electronics to escape.

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The vent in place:

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The back of the cabinet is done and ready to flip back onto all fives:

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Detail of the 5th leg:

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The 5th leg where it attaches at the top of the cabinet:

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The Cabinet Doors

Here is the gorgeous Jatoba stalk for the fronts of the cabinet:

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The grain will run continuously across the front of the cabinet from left to right through the drawer fronts and doors.

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The stock has been arranged and cut as it will be divided on the face of the cabinet:

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Once I had the pieces cut for the cabinet doors I joined them with a biscuit jointer:

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Glue-up:

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And finally I have doors! I didn't have time to do the final fitting and install the hinges but At least I was able to see them in place before I left for dinner.

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Total Building Time So Far: 70 hours
 
#134 ·
Custom Hardware

The Doors

Last time I glued up the door fronts:

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I spent some time fitting the doors with a plane:

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And then I passed them through the drum sander to flatten them:

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This little marking jig came with the hinge drill bit I bought:

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Drilling the holes for the hinges:

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Aligning the hinges:

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The Skinny Door

I've been going back and forth on whether or not to cover the space where the DVD player shelf is. I finally decided it needed a cover of some kind. The original plan was a drawer but I abandoned that because it was too wide. This was the solution.

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The flip-down door will stay closed until you need to use the DVD player, etc.

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These were the only hinges that would work since the drawer is inset and needs to hang flush with the shelf:

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Custom Hardware

I searched the internet and local hardware stores and couldn't find hardware I liked. I wanted something modern and simple and sleek. So then I thought I would try to make it myself. We have a place called "Rowe Machinery" in town that sells used machinist equipment and industrial supplies.

I was going to buy a piece of aluminum stock and cut it into drawer pulls. But I started talking to the owner of the business and one thing led to another until we had an agreement that I would pay him to machine them for me. We both agreed that it would be best to keep the aluminum shavings out of my woodshop and off of my carbide blades and router bits.

So I made him some drawings and a few days later this is the result:

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Showing three of the same pulls from three different angles… The aluminum was fed through the mill with a fast feed rate to intentionally leave mill marks on the surface. A radiused finger groove was milled into the bottom of the pulls and screw holes were tapped in to the back.

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Custom hardware installed:

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Total Building Time So Far: 78 hours
 
#147 ·
Installing the Drawers

I worked a 12-hour day in the shop today! I just had to finish getting those drawers in.

Building the Drawer Boxes

This is the 1/2" Beech for the drawer sides:

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I chopped it up and then machined the dovetails on my router table:

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Dovetails done:

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Assembling the drawer boxes:

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Glue up

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Installing the drawer boxes

It took me a while to figure out how to install the Blum hardware.

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But it looked good when It was in:

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And then the drawers went in:

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The Blum "Blumotion" drawer slides are pretty slick. They are the kind that slow down as they close.

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The Drawer Fronts

I am gluing up the drawer fronts so that the grain (as well as the seems between the boards) will line up with the grain that goes across the two doors.

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And finally the drawer fronts are in place and I installed the drawer pulls.

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Since only part of the cabinet has been sanded it looked like different kinds of wood so I wet it down with water for the photos. It still looks a little blotchy but you can see the grain nicely.

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I still have a TON of work to do. I know it looks like its almost done, but now that I know everything fits, I actually have to take it all apart to sand every part, do some fine-tuning here and there, and finish it.

Man, I am going to sleep GOOD tonight.

Total building time so far: 90 hours.
 
#158 ·
Final touches and off to the FINISHING BOOTH !!!

Its been a while since I have updated this blog, but I have been working on the Credenza off and on. The problem is that there is not much to show for the work I have been doing on it lately. It hasn't changed in appearance much since the last post. This is mostly because of all the sanding I've had to do. Hours and hours and HOURS of sanding. I've also spent days on all the final fitting, adjusting, aligning, and fussing with all of the parts and hardware to make sure it is actually ready for the finishing booth.

I decided a while back that I was not going to hand finish this piece. I will get it professionally finished. This decision is in part because I found the right finishing guy. But it is also just HUGE and I'd rather pay someone else to spray it than spend the next hundred years french polishing it myself.

Some of the following photos are in my old shop, before I moved into the new shop. Then I didn't work on it for a while since I got sidetracked by the Freestanding Cabinet. And now, since I have to move again, I made the decision to get this thing DONE so it doesn't go back to my tiny old shop.

Here are a few more photos that I snapped over the last few months:

Running the doors and drawer fronts through my Ryobi thickness sander at my old shop:

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Many many many many many many many hours of hand sanding:

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I cut a slot down the end-grain side of each door and drawer front:

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These battens will be laminated into those slots to reinforce the solid panels and stabilize them to prevent warping:

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Here the battens are getting glued in place on the table saw, since it is a perfectly flat surface. Shims are used to slightly hyper-extend the opposing high corners in the hopes that when it "relaxes" it will be flat.

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The battens glued up:

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And here they are trimmed:

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Oh look, more sanding. Every outer surface of this Credenza has been polished to 600 grit. You can see your reflection in the figured Jatoba when it is done. A new trick I learned: after you sand to 220 grit with the random orbit sander, cut a circular piece of 600 grit paper a little bigger than the 220 disk. If your sander is connected to a vac hose, the suction plus the friction of the 220 disk will hold your 600 grit disk in place. It is surprising how well it works. So you can use your random orbit sander with any sandpaper you want!

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I broke my big toe nail… nothing a little epoxy won't fix. Luckily this was on the back side of a rear foot. I didn't take an "after" photo but once it was sanded you could barely notice it.

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I love this next photo… the Credenza on the lift. Man, what a luxury. It really made it easy for all the tedious fitting of hardware.

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A did add a second vent for cross-ventilation (for the electronics) but I still need to order it.

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Finally, when everything is trimmed and fits perfectly, it is disassembled and all of the hardware is removed in preparation for the finish shop.

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Then It gets loaded up in my truck…

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And off it goes!


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My friend Don (who I have been sharing the shop space with) has helped me immensely over the past three weeks to complete this project while we still have our shop. THANKS A TON DON. Believe it or not, the above photos represent about 56 hours between the two of us.

Total building time so far: 146 hours.
 
#173 ·
Assembly and done!

Here is the final photo to wrap up this blog:

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My finishing guy let me do the final assembly in his shop so I wouldn't have to move it twice. Then I took it directly to my friends photo studio where I did the photography. From there my dad helped me move it up to his house where it will stay for a few months until I have a big enough living room to keep it in.

Total building time so far: Just over 150 hours

And here it is!

 
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