Sideboard Design

Will the doors fold all the way down? It may be awkward to reach into the cabinets if the doors protrude out…

-- ....next big purchase is wood for the next project, Mark

On the piece that inspired my design the front doesn’t fold all the way down. The front panel on that piece is about the same size as the lower one on mine.

-- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

That seems like a long piece not to have any center support, especially if all the silver ware will be stuffed into the center of the piece. Might get some sagging there. Will the fold outs be able to support any weight? You know how things go, “Oh I will just put it here for a minute and then slide it back in when I get the other thing over here.”

-- Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Silverware? What? Are you kidding? WE just keep the plastic stuff we get from KFC and McDonalds. :D

I know what you mean about the unsupported length but as drawn, it’s not really that long. Considering the top is 2” thick anyway. The unit that inspired this is available in up to nearly 10’ long. I’m thinking that the back would be structural and would help to support the center case. I’m figuring it would be a bit like a bed in that respect.

As far as the supports go, the original has what looks like gas shocks at each end to support the fold down front.

-- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

The shocks are there so the panel opens slowly. Small children can get hurt if they pull down on the panel too fast.

Dave,

The drawing looks nice, you are obviously outside of the Golden Ratio here, but I think that is a part of the point. If you are going to use the back to provide the support over the 8’ 2” length of this beastie, what type of joinery are you going to utilize to connect the bottom shelf to the back? What I read is that you are expecting the top to be load bearing also. I would still be afraid that over time the center will want ot pull down. This will cause major head/heart ache with the drawers in the center. If you could create an arch about 10-12” back from the front, running the length of the cabinet that my help, but I am unsure of how that would look.

With a depth of 20” add the door pulled down you will have to reach ~30” to get to the back of the cabinet. I am 5’9” tall, my arms are about 1/3 my height so my reach is ~33” how tall is your wife and how long are her arms? I know that you will not need to get to the back completly but it is something that you should consider.

With those cavets it conceptully looks like a great piece.

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

“The shocks are there so the panel opens slowly. Small children can get hurt if they pull down on the panel too fast.”

Certainly. But they are limited in their travel and would also support the panel, too.

sIKE, good coments. I have some ideas but need to explore them a bit.

FWIW, the bottom panel is 15” high. With it folded down, it’ll be about 24” to the back panel. The shelves in our pantry are that deep and reaching to the back is no problem. Remembering that what you want is back there can be a problem but reaching it once you know it’s there isn’t.

-- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

I should finish my coffee in the morning before I start doing math. Sheesh! Forget what I said above. Yes, the reach thing will be something to consider. I suppose I’ll mock something up to see how that is.

I’m thinking of embedding a couple of steel rail in the underside of the top and the bottom of the case. The ones on the bottom might extend a bit below the bottom of the cabinet but I don’t want them to come down too far. Since the piece will need to be glued up, I suppose several of the pieces could be made thicker than the rest.

Here are a couple more drawings. I designed a compoanion piece to go along with it. I still think I won’t use spruce as in the original but I picked up the material for SketchUp last night so I used it.

-- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

DaveR,

Great Design! This will be a beautiful piece(s) when done. Funny when I was reading I thought of same thing to route out the underside of the bottom panel and embed alum c-channel but I don’t think it necessary. Keep in mind that the gable ends of the mid section also help keep the bottom from deflecting. I work for a major wood furniture manufacturer that does high end office furniture and your design is not unlike the contruction of a wall mounted overhead. Those can span well over 96” wide with out any support and that is with 1” material. Your back is critical in making the piece solid though. I would use 3/4”thick stock and create a dado along the back panel for the bottom to seed into. Also love the idea of the gas hinges for the drop front! This is going to be awesome Man!

-- Brian, Folsom, CA http://www.brianfullerdesigns.com

Silverware? What? Are you kidding? WE just keep the plastic stuff we get from KFC and McDonalds. :D

AAAAAAHHHHHH luxury.lol Alistair oh! and please tell me what package you used to do thjse computer designs I am most impressed .Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Thank you Brian. I hope the boss agrees with you.

Alistair, my sincere apologies. I was trying to be snooty when I mentioned our plastic ware from fast food joints. :) LOL

Those are all drawn in SketchUp. I’m not smart enough to learn anything else. ;)

-- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?