Tansu Inspired Case

Very beautiful. I really like the use of the metal brackets on the face.
Fantastic that it was composed entirely of scrap wood.
Great job!!!

-- Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and love.

Great design Dorje.

-- W1ngnu7

Wow, it’s really beautiful. Well done.

And great photographs as well!

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

That turned out fantastic, Dorje! Great design and details!

The hardware is also very nice.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

great result…love the design and the fact that you pulled it together with so many different woods…

i like the black metal…accentuates the overall feel…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...SING WITH ME: "Sum...sum...sum...summ...summ...summ...summertime..."

This came out beautifully, Dorje. It really looks nice with the hardware finally on. Great interpretation and execution. It was interesting to see the process. Thanks for blogging it in such great detail. Congratulations on completing it.

-- Dust collectors suck.

That’s a really nice set of drawers. The hardware sets the whole design off really well. The blog is excellent – many thanks for sharing it with us, and well done.

Finally!!! I have been wondering where you were on this. I see that you changed your mind about the drawer hardware. Good. This looks better than finger pulls, (in my humble opinion of course). This is well designed and executed project. I especially like the hardware and miter keys. They add a lot of visual interest to the case.

Well done.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Dorje I agree with all of the above comments. Your project came out very nice. Good design and execution.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Dorje;

Don’t you have anything better to do than show up the rest of us? LOL

The is gorgeous! I love it.

Another example of no such thing as a quick and easy project!

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

That is one stunning case. Wonderfully executed design and details. Great job.

-- Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.

Great Job Dorje,

Great mix of metal and wood, then the different woods look great as well. Very nice.

-- Jim Hallada, Newport News, VA, soon to be Chesterfield, VA

Really nice…I love the look. Perfect blend of tones.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Dorje ! you have the best looking scrap material I have ever seen. Beautiful grain balance and orientation, crisp

-- I made a cool back scratcher !!

Looks great Dorje, I was wondering where you were with this too. So what’s going to go in it?

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

I love it!

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I love it. The mix of “scrap woods” as you call them blend perfectly in a very functional Tansu case. The traditional case is made from Pawlonia to be lightweight, but the choice of cedar, pine and fir meet that objective nicely too. Guess all you’ve got to decide now is where is it going to go?

-- SteveL

Great use of leftovers…the piece speaks volume in style and craftmanships…Blkcherry

Dorje, you amaze me, to turn out something so delicate. My hats off to you Sir. Well done. mike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

I just want to say amen to all the above. Stunningly beautiful. That straight grain fir is perfect, gives it a soft elegance. I can just about smell the pine. I really like this, thanks for sharing it. This makes me want to box up all my scraps and send them to you.

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever... - Keats

Love it!

-- Paul, Texas

That is just fantastic. I really like it. Good job.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Beautiful “Northwestern Woods” suite. This really came off nicely. What will be it’s final resting place, shop or home?

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Beautiful job of design and construction.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I waaaant it! <vbg>
Nice job Dorje!

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Thanks for the comments and support! Truly appreciated!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Nice design and beautiful case. Thank you for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Looks great, Dorje, congratulations on finishing a(nother) fine piece!

-- Robb

This is exactly what I need for my shop – just the size for the space I have in mind. Very very nicely done.

-- The opposite of war isn't peace. It's creation. -- Wood T's: http://www.printfection.com/snbcreative

Great job, Dorje. I love the proportions and the hardware looks really nice. Your work is very inspiring.

-- Joe, Indiana, http://www.crookedshack.com

Nice work Dorje. I really like the proportions. Looks like a study in joinery.

thanks for posting.

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

Beautiful! The use of pine for the back panel is very appropriate for the tansu.

-- Thuan

Thanks all!

Thuan – the back is the vg fir…I should’ve said where the different woods were used from the get go…

Everything you can see is the cedar, with the exception of the fir back. Poplar was used for interior drawer divders and upper drawer bottoms. Pine was used for the lower drawer bottoms.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Truly a beautiful project.

-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford.

beautiful and clean.

-- making sawdust....

Favorited. Nice work D.

-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

A simple and clean design can be hard to pull off, but you have done it with this Tansu style case. The hardware really makes this piece. Love it.

-- Mike - "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." (Scott Adams)

Dorje – I had a double post somehow. I must have submitted one by accident when editing. I’m always hitting the finger pad with my palm. whoops.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Dorje, I’ve been meaning to stop here and post some Kudos since I got the notice of the posting. This came out spectacular!

Are the the keys on the miters trimmed on the inside of the case at all? It may just be an optical illusion. (I’ll go back through your blog.)

I’m even more inspired to do some of these! I have an idea to do a series of them that can be set in varying arrangements on the side of our stairs up to our loft in the condo. I need to research Tansu a little more too I suppose. Again, nice execution and use of scraps!

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Question answered. The third pic was throwing me off. I forgot about the rabbet in the back for the panel. Sure does look nice for scraps.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Thanks Jeff Jeff Jeff- funny to see your mug shot three times in a row! I’m guilty of my share of double posts!

I definitely want to do more in this style in the future – but bigger hardwood cases!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Dorje, very nice job. I really like this one. Just something about it. Sure would make a great tool chest.

-- Davesfunwoodworking

Dorje,

I had not seen the completion of this until now. Excellent job on this. I really love the design of this piece. Any sources of inspiration for a set of Tansu box-on-box? There’s a spot in our house that’s begging for something like that.

Well done!

-- Mark, Webster New York, Visit my website at http://thecraftsmanspath.com

“SWEET” very nice!

Mark – sources of inspiration for me have primarily been looking at old cases in shops, on the web, and in books…

BUT, If I’m reading your question right – you may want to check out the following:

http://www.finewoodstudio.com/cabinets.htm

http://www.sodergrenfurniture.com/collection/index.html

http://www.mckinnonfurniture.com/tansu/menu.htm

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Dorje,

This is a beautiful piece man! I love tansu chests but have never made one. I love the fact that you used all scrap wood to do this. Your craftsmanship is stellar.

-- bfd, Folsom, CA

Dorje; A beautiful case. A nice job.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Phenomenal. Great looking piece; very authentic. The grain characteristics on the top/sides looks like some of the Japanese originals you see in books and on the web. Great eye for detail…

-- Jarrod, Eagle Nest, NM

I missed the post somehow. Well done. I love the natural look and the hardware. Now you just need to make a few different styles and get to stacking.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

Thanks guys -

Jarrod – Thanks for your comment – I had known that I wanted to build a little tansu, and when I had that cedar board left over from work on the house last summer, it screamed tansu…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA