# Thorsen House Cabinet



## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Project Overview*

Hello everybody! </drnick>

This is my opening post on Lumberjocks with a new project which I have seen done several times previously. I can squarely lay the blame for this one on Joe McGlynn, whose own derivation of the Thorsen House dining room cabinet planted the seed for my own attempt. I'm aiming to document my thought processes and decision-making through this blog, so hopefully it should bring something new to the table other than snapshots of work in progress. As of writing the project is only in the 2D CAD stage, collating measurements and working on basic proportioning. If anything this is the most important stage in a Greene & Greene derived project, otherwise the finished piece lacks harmony within itself and in the place it is situated.

I understand that plans for a Thorsen House style cabinet exist, reproductions by Dale Barnard and classes by William Ng teaching a similar idea. They all seem well and good to me, however the do lack some important details. It is these - in my opinion - that separate the original piece from otherwise "basic exercises in casework with fancy dressing". Whilst my own interpretation of the cabinet will also be removed from the original in a few areas, I do want to concentrate on incorporating the additional layer of fine detail which is otherwise commonly missing.

I'm currently finishing up the final year of a woodworking degree here in Finland whilst ramping up my own commercial workshop. The work will be done at the school itself, so that will go some way as to explaining the ridiculous tool and operation choices. My material of choice is locally-sourced Birch on the basis that Mahogany is both expensive and not a sustainable choice. Additionally, the lighter tones of Birch lift a room in your typical Finnish house better than darker woods like Mahoganies, Walnuts and heavily-stained Oak.

I'm sure that I have glossed over several points or dwelt upon some too much. I'm looking forward to this and subsequent projects being opened to discussion with the membership, so I'll cap this post off and move on to the design brief….


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## JoeMcGlynn (Dec 16, 2011)

EläväPuu said:


> *Project Overview*
> 
> Hello everybody! </drnick>
> 
> ...


I'm eager to see your version develop! Dale's design captures the spirit of the actual piece. but when I went to visit the Thorsen house while making the cabinet I was struck by several things. First, the scale of the stiles and rails, and mullions/muntins is much finer on the original. They are narrower all around. The other was the fit of the doors into the case. They are insert, but the edge of the door and the opening are stepped so the notch together. There are some pictures and video clips from a video clip tour of the Throsen house that show some of this on by blog.

http://mcglynnonmaking.com/tag/thorsen-house-cabinet/

I also put the final version of the plans I drew up on my blog this morning-I put these together to help me build it, and there should be enough for someone else to follow along, but they don't explain every detail of the process to make the parts or assemble the pieces.

https://mcglynnonmaking.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/cabinetass2.pdf

Have fun building!


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

EläväPuu said:


> *Project Overview*
> 
> Hello everybody! </drnick>
> 
> ...


Hei Joe (that one will get old quickly),

Firstly, thanks! I have to agree and disagree somewhat about Dale's version.
(I wrote about this in my second blog post, which I was actually writing when I noted this comment come in with an email notifier. Nice timing!)

Dale has definitely got the ideas down and his work is fantastic. He loves the work and the style. You can't knock that. I think however that he misses - or elects to miss - some of the finer details that don't immediately catch most people's eye. Perhaps because Dale works over a larger canvas, the focal point differs or perhaps making an entire kitchen's worth of cupboards means the details are obviated as a practical working decision? His cabinet - from which your own was based - is towards the realm of more standard box cabinetry work. Bear with me on this one. His looks like all of the parts are somewhat "less married". Like you could reach in and simply lift off the top, carcass and skirt the same as you would lift books off a pile.

The original blends the pieces together more. For example, the light recessed bead across the top of the doors implies connection to the top as three levels, locking it in with the carcass and dropping back another dimension. The same applies with the skirt, with the front portion cut halfway in from what the finger joint implies (look underneath!) and again a beading detail. Everything is merged together visually to form a composite whole rather than the "stack of books". The number of steps top-down and front-inwards is greater, plus they cross over each other, compounding the effect of bringing the otherwise separate parts into a whole.

This might be a bit of mad word salad here, but that's what happens when you pore over a Greene & Greene piece and decide you're staring at noodles….!

- Carl


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Preliminary CAD plan and design specifics*

I spent 3-4 hours this weekend poring over photos and videos of the original piece in situ. This is one of the appealing pleasures of Greene & Greene work and definitely one that feeds into my natural tendency for puzzles and rocket scientistism.










Overall, the dimensions are not too far removed from the original which is fantastic in terms of not having to re-calculate proportioning to keep everything in check. The area the cabinet will be fitted within is 1640mm (64-1/2") wide which is perfect.

Without wanting to be overly critical of Dale Barnard and William Ng's interpretation of the Thorsen House cabinet, I do have to say that I find several key aspects missing. Unfortunately these are the ones that tend to lend a piece that vital essentia of Greene & Greene. Cloud lifts, Ebony plugs, etc. are one thing (two if you like) but the real magic is in the things not immediately obvious or those that quietly add their contribution without the show and tell.

Firstly, the doors piston-fit into bevelled and stepped framing which I presume is responsible for the "anti-slam" feature which was cringe-worthily demonstrated in the ThisIsCarpentry video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFP4bIPrqy8). This extends out into a simple delicate beading framing all three of the doors. Quite importantly, the corniced top steps through five levels before opening out into the interior of the cabinet! This definitely complicates things somewhat, however I don't think Charles and Henry used the same definition of "simple" as ordinary fallible mortals like we.










The glass work is a challenge all of itself. Whilst I am happy to subcontract that problem out to my wife, I still have the task of making the fine muntins and the even finer internal glazing beadwork. These look as though they were made to be as fine as was practical, which is going to be a fine line to work towards….more than likely I will mill these onto a thick "mother" piece of stock using the pin router before thickness sanding the backing off. We'll look at that one later.

It is undecided as to whether I will fit the "door frame to door frame" horizontal wall mount. Certainly, the two protruding brackets will be an inclusion.

Note; as I am writing this, I just got an email telling me I have a post from Joe McGlynn saying these exact same things. 

The CAD plan is what it says on the tin; preliminary. Like Joe, I'll be transferring this one over to Solidworks to produce a modelled reference item and design sheets for the workshop. Sounds like the next job….


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## Bigrock (Apr 16, 2010)

EläväPuu said:


> *Preliminary CAD plan and design specifics*
> 
> I spent 3-4 hours this weekend poring over photos and videos of the original piece in situ. This is one of the appealing pleasures of Greene & Greene work and definitely one that feeds into my natural tendency for puzzles and rocket scientistism.
> 
> ...


Hi:
Very interesting. I enjoyed your thoughts. I looked at two or three of the videos. 
Thank you for sharing it was very good


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Basic Component Appraisal*

Things have started to fit into place, if you forgive the awful phrasing. Specifically, I have been identifying exactly which parts of the original cabinet correspond to either fundamental components ("top", "muntin", "skirt", "side", "base", etc.) or parts built upon those fundamental pieces such as door frame moulding. A lot of this was done by careful examination of the relatively limited materials available and basic sense checking; for example you would not hack away 50% of a ridiculously-large piece of stock just to achieve a small bead! Whilst I cannot claim to be reproducing the Thorsen cabinet with a huge degree of accuracy, I do believe that by concentrating on the details that an excellent distillation can be achieved.

The most obvious example here would be the crown moulding (sorry, my terminology may be incorrect - do correct me in the comments), which seems to be two immediately-visible steps above the cabinet's body and one single step forming the basis for the single beading above the doors. As discussed previously, it is my opinion that this helps to allay the "stack of books" effect by locking in the otherwise-separate top to the main body of the cabinet itself. The soft and organic nature of the Thorsen cabinet seems to stem from the removal of overly-obvious transitions from one part to the next, especially in how the whole unit is an integral part of the wall from the pantry to the hallway door frames. It is relatively simple to treat the top as a separate piece, however referring back to the ThisIsCarpentry video on YouTube (



) at 0:56 it is fairly easy to see that the top fits right into the cabinet with five distinct levels! Whilst being a complex set of steps to cut across the entire top, it does provide answers to a few basic constructional questions.

Similar to the top, the sides and vertical dividers each contain their own door mouldings and external bead which increases material bulk considerably. Unless I have missed this, I do not see the cabinet's opening back out behind any of the mouldings other than below the doors. Suddenly I am starting to consider the sheer weight of this piece; it might well be that I have to include the upper and lower dado rails as part of the design since I do not have the luxury of insetting this into a wall! A current estimate for dividers - including the various mouldings - is surprisingly thick with the cabinet sides weighing in similarly-larger than they immediately appear. The top itself consists of five levels. My current model uses a 12mm top level, 4mm first relief, 3mm bead, 6mm outer door stop, 1mm back-bevelled door recess and a 4mm rear door stop. The back bevel is currently at its bare minimum (actually, 0,96mm) to achieve a secure piston fit. Likely this will be increased for "visual acknowledgement" of the bevels presence.










Outside of these two primary parts for the cabinet, the rest is relatively straightforward! The finger-jointed skirt serves to hide the lower part of the carcass and hence the transitions between the horizontal and vertical parts. The lower base board appears to be recessed under the skirt by a few mm. The only remaining question is the moulding around the base of the doors. Does this extend right to the base? I suspect that it does. This would make the entire skirt a separate non-functional property of the cabinet. What can be seen is that the rear half of the front skirt is cut away to accommodate the lower moulding and from underneath the base can be seen extending into this same cutaway. This simplifies matters somewhat as the skirt can be more or less forgotten about until the cabinet is completed!

I'm feeling quite satisfied with my analysis of how the cabinet is/was built. It seems a pragmatic way of turning what is otherwise a standard box into a piece with several levels of detail. The weight of the piece - both structurally and gravitationally - ties in beautifully with the nautical theme of the Thorsen House. The dining room on the whole bears passing resemblance to an officer's mess aboard a lavish wooden beam sailing ship. Shame that this observation was made before I noted it myself. Curses! Functionally the cabinet is strong and well-built; certainly the sort of build you would expect for a lockable display despite the weak point of the glass itself!

Okay, so enough of my musings. I hope this has opened up some interesting points and ideas for further discussion. If anybody has additional information they'd like to bring to the table (no, that's another project….) then you are warmly encouraged.

- Carl

_PS. Apologies for the lack of photos. I have many stashed, however I seem to have lost the sources; I don't feel comfortable re-posting them without appropriate accreditation.


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

EläväPuu said:


> *Basic Component Appraisal*
> 
> Things have started to fit into place, if you forgive the awful phrasing. Specifically, I have been identifying exactly which parts of the original cabinet correspond to either fundamental components ("top", "muntin", "skirt", "side", "base", etc.) or parts built upon those fundamental pieces such as door frame moulding. A lot of this was done by careful examination of the relatively limited materials available and basic sense checking; for example you would not hack away 50% of a ridiculously-large piece of stock just to achieve a small bead! Whilst I cannot claim to be reproducing the Thorsen cabinet with a huge degree of accuracy, I do believe that by concentrating on the details that an excellent distillation can be achieved.
> 
> ...


No one can ever say that the Greene's were skimpy with materials!

One possible solution for the weight could be a french cleat.


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

EläväPuu said:


> *Basic Component Appraisal*
> 
> Things have started to fit into place, if you forgive the awful phrasing. Specifically, I have been identifying exactly which parts of the original cabinet correspond to either fundamental components ("top", "muntin", "skirt", "side", "base", etc.) or parts built upon those fundamental pieces such as door frame moulding. A lot of this was done by careful examination of the relatively limited materials available and basic sense checking; for example you would not hack away 50% of a ridiculously-large piece of stock just to achieve a small bead! Whilst I cannot claim to be reproducing the Thorsen cabinet with a huge degree of accuracy, I do believe that by concentrating on the details that an excellent distillation can be achieved.
> 
> ...


Thanks Steve - French cleats are definitely on the cards. More than likely we'll also add in a dado rail to the room specifically for the support assist from underneath the cabinet. Initial hang from the French cleats and then positioning the dado, perhaps.

The old world wood the Greenes/Halls had access to was astounding in comparison to the modern day. Our mental conception of the size of those old monsters just doesn't exist any more! It's amazing enough to see a huge plainsawn slab near the heart these days, such as the broad slabs at George Nakashima's old stores. Even then, the magnitude of truly old trees dwarfs anything we see these days. Lumberjacks must have been something else back then.


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Joinery Considerations*

Today I was a little ill and took the time to do the numbers and futz around between my initial CAD plan and the Solidworks model. At this point - if it was not immediately apparent during the CAD work - I usually start rattling out the differences between the on-paper plan (although no paper has been harmed as of yet) and the working methods I'll use to produce the end product. This is usually an ongoing process from the initial inception of a product anyway, however by the time you come to modelling or prototyping this is something that has to be addressed.

I spent a couple of hours going over in my mind as to whether I should lighten the pure bulk of the cabinet dividers by making a few lengths of profile on the spindle moulder (or table saw, table router, etc.) or to maintain this aspect from the original. I decided to stick with the latter for no reason other than, "I can". My access to materials of appropriate dimension is not a huge factor and I like the solidity. Gaining a finger's width of cabinet space is neither here nor there. The compromise between the two would be to drop the rear door stop on the verticals only. This is somewhat tempting and I can't say that I won't change my mind later on. Perhaps examination of visual weight from the Solidworks modelling will put this one to bed.

Normally it would not be too difficult to arrange an alternating set of dado grooves across the various steps of the top, fitting into corresponding steps across the top of the dividers and sides. A basic bit of carcass work. The complications are in the front face of the dividers - which sit proud of the doors and surrounding door bead - plus the back bevel inside the door surround. Whilst the work making these fit is not too onerous, deciding upon which combination of cuts to make (and how) is.

Primarily I use a combination of both powered and manual tools for my work. Whilst I do not possess all of the hand tools I would like to (who does?), I do have the availability of some relatively high-end machinery such as a Martin T74. Specifically, I envisaged cutting a series of dado cuts across the underside of the top and opening one of these out by slightly to create mating back bevels. Nothing overly amazing once precise measurements and working procedures are in my head; it saves me a lot of bumbling around the shop later anyhow.










I decided to go with what is most practical. Two intersecting channels are cut through the top front to back. This component is far larger than the dividers, and it is prudent to keep working procedures simpler. Anything more demanding can be carried out on the smaller dividers without as much stress.

The first dado is deep and narrow run through the beading line. The second is wider and only cuts through the rear door stop. Two through-cut channels, one stopped cut and a little chisel work will create the back bevel. This is more than enough strength for this joint to function well, and has enough simplicity to be quick and repeatable. The same strategy applies to the sides, however I suspect it would be best practice to create additional strength in the joint by introducing either a shallow/long mortice and tenon or simple dowelling.

This is where the model sits as of writing:










I'll keep updating this as thoughts and ideas come to me. I have a few mirrors and a Morris chair to finish up in the shop at the moment and who knows what else in December….!

- Carl


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Finalising the carcasswork*

Hi everyone - this post is more of a basic check-in than a large amount of progress. The build date on this project is still not set purely because I have other projects of higher priority. Specifically, I have a Gamble House dining room table and chairs to build. So anyway. This project will be pushed along through the design process whilst that one is playing out with perhaps a degree of crossover on when it will happen. Perhaps spring 2015?

Based on my observations of the original piece, I'm fairly happy that what I have distilled so far is a good facsimile within the constraints I placed upon it. The essential Greene & Greene touches such as multiple levels of relief caused me a fair amount of calculator-mashing in order to figure out where to place the stepped dados and which pieces would be most appropriate to do certain operations on. There's plenty of opportunity to make one's work harder than it needs to be here….

A quick rendering of the cabinet as it stands:










The carcass itself is relatively simple.










The top consists of one large board with the previously-mentioned stepped dados. Due to the bulk of this piece, everything was kept simple enabling it to be produced almost exclusively on a table saw. Even the top edge of the angled internal door frame step (second from lowest). Three 8mm x 10mm slots at the rear allow for solid wood backing boards to be securely fitted.










The central dividing walls are also relatively simple. Again, table saw work. The exception here being the mating face for the angled door recess. Likely I will break out a palm router for the straight portion and a chisel for the remainder.










The three front faces located directly under the doors. These bits WILL be fun to cut. Again, nothing a table saw and good patience cannot handle. The ends will be shaped first on a table router so any blowout will be soaked up by the grain-aligned work.










The vertical dividers and sides can quite happily be fitted into shallow dados in the base board, subsequently covered by the lower skirting. Interestingly, it appears that the front portion of the lower skirt is partially cut away so that it fits more snugly into the main body of the cabinet. The thickness of the piece itself is evidenced by the size of the finger in the join. It is equally feasible that the entire lower portion of the door frames and front skirt are the same piece of wood. Closeup shots of the seam certainly make this a compelling possibility. For the purposes of my own construction, this is a detail I think I can happily not lose any sleep over.










Time to start some work on the doors!

PS. An interesting observation of the original which occurred to me is a detail hiding in plain sight. The far outer internal vertical faces of the cabinets are either veneered or formed from two pieces of wood. This would make sense since the cabinet is half recessed into the wall. It doesn't affect my design, but I thought it worth making note of ;-)


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*hammering out the bugs*

I trust everybody is full of mince pies and good single malts? Good.

Progress on the cabinet design has been excellent, with only a few minor issues here and there. One specific one which I'll outline is about the door design. First of all, a quick rendering of the more-or-less finished design.










The eagle-eyed amongst you will note that I made the central door marginally too wide, causing the door to over-run into one of the dividers. Oops! That still hasn't been fixed since I'd rather consider how best to fix it first. Constraints on the dimensioning of the entire piece for where it will exist in our home have meant that the central door is already of different height-width dimensions to the original. I can easily soak up the discrepancy through the two outer doors or the central door alone. Ideally I think I should suck up the height, but that's a far larger job. Again, a little patience in what to do will produce the best decision here.

The main point which I discovered today is about hinge placement. Quite simply, the frame of the doors is not and cannot be symmetrical. The lip around the front of the doors prevents a sensible locating point for the hinges. My first thought was that obviating the lip and angled faces on the hinge stile would be the simplest method of making this happen. Being me, I couldn't quite bring myself to commit the change without further examination of the original. Part of my personal remit for this piece is to stick to the details, and if not at least understand what any why those details were there in the first place. This is one of those!

The answer (and a certain degree of mental closure) came to me in an image posted on Joe McGlynn's blog on his Thorsen cabinet build. Whilst this detail does not appear in his cabinet, the image is particularly enlightening. The inner face of the hinge stile is clearly wider than that of the lock stile. It is more than likely simply square. I decided to reward myself with a quick dram of Ardbeg 10yo whilst I re-jigged my game plan.










This simple detail which I missed at first (by a lack of consideration) alters a couple of key aspects of the design, and in fact simplifies it a little. Always a welcome thing! The outer walls of the cabinet originally needed a less-than-straightforward mating face for the internally angled part of the door frame. Since the hinges for the outer doors are fitted to the outer walls, both of these piece become far simpler to construct.

Okay! I don't have much more to bring to the table today I'm afraid. I promise to check in with anything and everything, and I genuinely would appreciate some constructive criticism as to whether I am on the right track here, or whether I have totally missed something fundamental. In the meantime, have a great new year and be excellent to each other.


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Putting it to the wood!*

Hi everyone! I've been somewhat out of radio contact due to pressing work for my degree and working on a business startup….

Between then (when was the last post?) and now, the entire piece was constructed in Solidworks, had the bugs refined out (mostly avoiding work overcomplication and basic logistics), ripped apart and reconstructed. Very little has changed from the original dimensions and layout. The recipient of the largest changes were the doors in terms of the muntin/mullion dimensions (thanks for the advice on their slender weight Joe!) and glass mounting.

Finished design:



















The material chosen for the cabinet is locally-sourced downy Birch. Whilst not going to the lengths of George Nakashima, I do like to pay tribute to the wood by not sterilising and removing it from being a natural living product. A bit of heartwood, a sound knot or inclusion here and there gives interest and maintains life in the workpiece. This is all done bearing in mind the effects of seasonal movement on wood near the heart of course. The plugs around the piece will be Ebony or possibly Pao Ferro. The intended finish is wax, specifically Liberon "Black Bison" wax in Dark Oak. I'll go into more detail about how I work with the wax at some later point. I am leaning more towards Pao Ferro on the basis that the original seemed to use Macassar Ebony (or some other similar-looking dense wood), plus the interest in the colour variations lends more the the finished product. This is the same finish as the majority of pieces dotted around our home:










The first component out of the gate was the top. This consists of five discrete levels. The outer two form the pronounced cornicing whilst the next three produce the framing for the doors. A double dado cuts across these last three steps for the cabinet dividing walls. Mostly this was carried out on the table saw and spindle moulder with the cornices done with a hand router due to the large extension being too much for the moulder.










The outer walls were particularly forgiving in comparison to the inner equivalents. Both of these have hinges attached, and hence no internal frame angle. The two inner dividers required much fine creeping up on the final sizes to make everything fit neatly. The dry fit showed a good mate that a lick of paper will perfect.










A similar cautious approach to ensuring good mating was required of the lower carcase facings, despite these mostly being obscured by the outer skirt. The rear walls of the cabinet consist of 10mm veneer-faced plywood glued and air-nailed secure into a recess cut around the top, walls/dividers and base. At this point, the entire carcase has been domino'ed, glued; the whole nine yards.










The next step is the important one; to kick myself for not having drilled the holes for shelf mounting brackets….from here all work will be sandpaper and file to break edges and blend corners where required. Once we're up to 240 grit, the next job will be installing the skirt and lower brackets….


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Progressing....*

Not a huge amount to add today I'm afraid. The main carcase of the cabinet has had its medium sanding completed (up to 240 grit) and the first guide layer of wax added.

I'm genuinely not sure whether this is a valid or efficient method of using wax (it certainly uses up a lot of it) however it produces far superior results than those from the instructions or other methods I've picked up. My waxing procedure is to start early. Once all the glueup and sanding that alters form is completed, I rub in wet wax (tin warmed in hot water till it liquifies) with gloved fingers, and follow that up with a rub down with 0000 steel wool to burnish the surface and get wax into areas my fingers just can't manage. The wax is cleaned off sooner rather than later since this is not a finishing layer, and drier wax is a lot more graft to remove.

My rationale is that this initial waxing highlights any problem areas, such as blotching (common with Birch), scratches that I missed, end grain that hasn't had sufficient attention, stray glue marks, raised furry grain or other issues. The penetrating nature of the wax as a liquid (I should probably buy the liquid version to start out with) helps to sink deeper into the grain and fill out any pores. I then go over any significant faults with more 240 and generally rub back the whole waxed surface to 320. The paper clogs up quite readily as you would expect, but the final surface becomes velvety smooth and even for subsequent wax applications with 0000/00000 wool. By this point Birch starts to glow after the wax is buffed out and the wood surface burnished up.

The chatoyance in wilder areas of the wood become especially beautiful.










At close of play today….

First door completed (short of Ebony plugs, glazing, hinges and catches). Lighter spots on the left outer side of the cabinet are spot fixes for light scratches (probably debris on the work surface). Although not fully attached, the skirt is now sitting in the correct position with the carcase elevated on a piece of plywood thicknessed to the 8mm offset required.










Muntin work. The overall weight of the finest horizontal muntin is 11mm (~7/16") and the single lower muntin 15mm (~19/32"). Very tricky but satisfying assembly work.










I'm happy with the fit of the door. Each angled rebate was taken to and from the spindle moulder several times to ensure a snug fit. Loose enough so the door doesn't sit with friction but tight enough that air will (in theory) cushion an accidental slam.


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## Iguana (Jun 22, 2011)

EläväPuu said:


> *Progressing....*
> 
> Not a huge amount to add today I'm afraid. The main carcase of the cabinet has had its medium sanding completed (up to 240 grit) and the first guide layer of wax added.
> 
> ...


Elävä, if that's just the initial application of wax, I really want to see the final result. Care to elaborate on the overall was finishing process? Or do we have to wait as you complete the build?


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

EläväPuu said:


> *Progressing....*
> 
> Not a huge amount to add today I'm afraid. The main carcase of the cabinet has had its medium sanding completed (up to 240 grit) and the first guide layer of wax added.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your warm feedback Mark! Your telephone table is one project that stuck in my mind quite specifically, especially your brave use of Potassium Dichromate (it looks closer to the truth and more descriptively evil when written out as "K₂Cr₂O₇") and the Sketchup/photo comparison. I more or less did the same thing to show the cabinet in situ.










The adventures we'll be having with mounting to stud locations is grist for another time I think. Certainly, the cabinet will better suit a larger home when we decide to move from this conveniently-inexpensive location!

I'll make a subsequent blog post as typing this out has become another verbose wall of text….

- Carl

PS. "Eläväpuu" is more or less "Living Wood" in Finnish language


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*A little more on finishing....*

This blog entry was inspired by Mark Kornell's query about my approach to waxing. I'm no expert on wax finishing and would never represent myself as such. I enjoy the learning and improvement process, and that is where I take the most reward from working with wood. Wax is a simple and easy to maintain finish which seems to live and age gracefully with the workpiece rather than trapping it in time. Furniture and guitars (my other problem) live with us as companions, picking up experience and character.

My methods are distilled from a mix of what I've picked up from others and feedback from testing, experimenting, building off previous results and establishing personal working processes from circumstance. They're by no means perfect, however despite any glaring flaws or inefficiencies they seem to get me to an end result which I am happy with. It works harmoniously with the piece and maintains simplicity. Input on these methods is always useful, and sharing is of course caring.

I perhaps created a little confusion in the previous post over how an initial wax application looks. The surface photo was a finished item; our living room side table (the "two day table"!). That is also Birch, albeit a mix of wild (as opposed to "tame" or "domestic"?) and highly flamed stock.










The wax I consistently go back to (Liberon Black Bison paste wax) is a dye wax which is relatively forgiving, or at least it seems more workable and predictable than some other products I've encountered (Briwax being one). Having tried out most of the colour range, the "Dark Oak" seems to compliment Birch nicely. It results in a finish that is dark without blowing out the wood's natural appearance, and is warm enough to soften a room naturally. I can't comment on how Maple reacts since I just haven't tried it yet. The "Antique Pine" is also fantastic for the satin semi-raw look that oils don't quite seem to achieve.

To cut it short, first application of this dark wax looks like hell on Birch and especially so on figured pieces. So much so, it could be dissuading for most as the workpiece looks irretrievably wronged. I severely dislike compliments on the workpiece whilst it is in this stage, much like a car painter would be irritated by compliments on paint before the orange peel is addressed!

Guidance suggests that new and/or dry wood needs two layers, which is an understatement. Two is definitely a minimum, with three-four over a period of weeks being a transformative difference.

In my opinion, this is the time to get it right going forward. The first layer is taken to the wood with ~000 wool thick. Not so much so that it is wasteful, but wet enough that the layer isn't thin and insipid. Soaked toast, not scraped. Wet enough that the heat of your fingers through the gloves (the solvents in this wax really irritate my skin so I go two layer in case one breaks) remelts the wax and you can wipe excess around like melted butter. After this layer has been massaged in and becomes matte quickly, I wipe it off and buff excess clear before it can truly set up.

The annoying blotchiness and contrast between end/rising/falling grain dye takeup on Birch always benefits from elbow grease. The first layer thrown on and worked into the surface shows these problem areas readily. End grain is always a regular culprit for inconsistent colour from insufficient sanding, followed up by minute scratches and material inconsistencies that otherwise evade initial inspection. The piece is taken back to sanding with 240grit (rarely 180 if I really dropped the ball) primarily to fix revealed issues and then an overall flatting with 320grit. The paper loads up like crazy, and lots of the wax is taken off the immediate surface. This feels more akin to grain filling on a guitar body, which is probably where I brought this process from.

(Whilst I do appreciate a film finish over a beautifully-textured piece of wood, my waxing with Birch is done with the intention of creating a consistent warm glowing surface that your fingers want to glide over. The most consistent thing people have commented on is how much they want to touch the things I make, which I think should be encouraged. The tactile interaction with natural materials is soothing and adds a harmonious element.)

Birch has a very tight and more or less closed pore structure. Nonetheless, the surface still has pores which the wax and fine dust from sanding combine to fill up. At least, that is the intention and what seems to happen. It is difficult to tell and perhaps irrelevant since the objective is achieved, especially with areas presenting off the flat. I refuse to let any sanding machines near the piece. This is all intensive hand-sanding since it needs 100% observation rather than a casual approach. Everything is inspected and dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It soaks up time, but pays itself back later.

By this point the surface has a very light cast from the initial waxing with pores significantly darker and filled out. Problem areas like blotching, furry grain from anywhere that had been wetted (glue cleanup for example) or physical defects like scratches (especially cross-grain near seams and details) are fixed. The same process as the initial guide coat is followed to soak the surfaces, again massaging in the wax with gloved fingers. The difference is that I will now use the rags from the previous waxing (now fairly useless for actually removing wax) to clear excess wax from an area, and then burnish fresh wax into that area with 00000 steel wool. The "dirty" cloths fail to lift all of the excess wax, leaving enough to keep the surface working. A fair amount of pressure is used with the steel wool to help burnish the wood itself with fresh wax as the lubricant. These areas are then massaged with a little wax from my fingers before moving on through the piece. This is extremely messy and tiring work. If at any point I am unhappy with how the finish is developing, I will consider going back to the sanding stage.

Depending on the size of the piece, where I started is more or less ready to clean and buff out by the time the entire piece is through. From here it is many many clean cloths (plus many clean gloves) buffing up the dried wax to a semi-gloss finish. A week later I'll burnish in another layer of wax with 00000 wool and buff out again. It is this third application that does the trick. By this point any chatoyance and flecking off the quarter will glow. The wood should not be dry and dead-looking. Contrast between the parts of the wood that take up dye from the wax and those that do not should be far lower, with a natural softer look to the wood. Some pieces refuse to comply fully, but on the whole being consistent around the workpiece doesn't allow these to stand out as faults, but as "integrated variance".










Controversially, I think the Maple Gamble House bedroom furniture looks a little sub-par for G&G. It's just my opinion and never having seen them in person I perhaps have less basis for judgement. They do look blotchier and less refined than pieces around the rest of the home:
http://dpg.lib.berkeley.edu/webdb/ggva/search?project=&sort=project&keyword=table&pageno=3&id=GGUSC-Gamble-DA-019
http://dpg.lib.berkeley.edu/webdb/ggva/search?project=&sort=project&keyword=table&pageno=3&id=GGUSC-Gamble-DA-018A

Certainly, my approach with dark wax to Birch produces similar results off the first application (the one from hell) whilst continued working brings it to a level that satisfies me.

I'd love input from the experienced finishers here on Lumberjocks. My methods are by no means perfect and refinement of one's techniques and rationale are essential to being a developing woodworker.

Cheers!

- Carl


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*First cabinet door...."J'adore/j'ai a door"*

Apologies for mangling French irretrievably there just to force out a pun….










The doors presented a few logistical challenges. Surprisingly, the internal rebate angles were the least of these. The largest challenge was in the form of how best to clamp the main outer frame whilst gluing. The frame comprises morticed hinge and lock stiles with two tenoned upper/lower rails.









(the mortice and tenon sizes increased in height which the drawing does not indicate)

Prior to any shaping the door is checked in the recess for basic fit. I want a good tight-ish fit that pops in without pressure, but not so sloppy that large gaps exist. I was asked as to whether the frame would "slump" under the weight of gravity from the glass. Quite possibly it will in a normal window or a door, however unless the cabinet doors are left open regularly, this is not an issue. The dry fit demonstrated an excellent fit with the mating surfaces joining cleanly. No massive amount of clamping required. Simply enough, the cabinet was laid back and the glued and heavily-taped frame laid into the recess. A couple of quick clamps provided a little pressure to keep the seams tight whilst a plywood board with weight added kept the door flat to the frame. Wonderfully low-tech but highly effective! Attention to getting the joinery clean and tight when dry does far more work than trying to "fix it in the clamps".

The frame was passed through the drum sander to achieve a uniform thickness (unfortunately, this adds cross-grain scratches) before taking the frame to the spindle moulder for shaping into the frame. A rebate cutter set to 8° made short work of the internal angle. Several passes were made both for the reasons of cleanliness (end grain, tearout) and creeping up on the final fit. The finished frame places confidently as it is required.

The muntins required a degree of patience and thinking. The main vertical muntin is the only one milled from a single solid piece of Birch. All of the muntins have a "T" profile with some very fine dimensions; apart from the vertical muntin, all are too fine to safely and efficiently carry out using routers, table saws, etc.

The fine muntins are instead made up from a facing and a rear glazing divider. In spite of the glazing itself having significant weight, the fine horizontal muntins bear little to none of this. The vertical muntin is the only part other than the outer frame lending structure. The largest panels bear onto the lower rail, hinge/lock stiles and weightier vertical muntin whilst the rest only require the most minimal of support.

The decision to "go light" with the muntin weighting has no bearing on the structural aspect of the door. As Joe McGlynn pointed out to me, the muntins in the original are surprisingly light themselves. Partially this does not surprise me….more Greene & Greene showboating….?

After a brief break I'll be heading onto the central and remaining doors plus shelves. Beyond this, the rest of the work is purely finish and fit. Dependant on requirement, the cabinet may end up with a full surround similar to the original. The destined location is not the strongest wall in the house and short of ripping down and rebuilding will need creative work to safely mount this monster!

For the glasswork, we are hoping to locate some more vintage-looking drawn glass rather than the modern overly-sterile flat equivalent…..


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Reworking the muntins*

Relatively slow progress this week as I'm juggling many things. I was unhappy with the weighting of the first set of muntins, plus I made a simple error. Nothing amazing, but it was enough to convince me to pull the muntins and start afresh. Incidentally, the muntins were surprisingly strong in situ. One never gets much opportunity to test joinery to destruction in a real-world setting so it's reassuring to know how much integrity exists within the work we do.

In addition to this, I made the executive decision to remake the horizontal muntins using a couple of quick router jigs. Whereas previously the structural glazing dividers were added to a facing, these are solid wood. Most of the rounding over was carried out by hand using files and paper. Surprisingly satisfying and far more akin to the originals than what comes off a router.










The second and third doors are completed save for the Ebony plugs. Tomorrow I'll be finishing the first door.


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## JoeMcGlynn (Dec 16, 2011)

EläväPuu said:


> *Reworking the muntins*
> 
> Relatively slow progress this week as I'm juggling many things. I was unhappy with the weighting of the first set of muntins, plus I made a simple error. Nothing amazing, but it was enough to convince me to pull the muntins and start afresh. Incidentally, the muntins were surprisingly strong in situ. One never gets much opportunity to test joinery to destruction in a real-world setting so it's reassuring to know how much integrity exists within the work we do.
> 
> ...


This look great! I want to build one… Did you make it full depth like the original, to be recessed into the wall?


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

EläväPuu said:


> *Reworking the muntins*
> 
> Relatively slow progress this week as I'm juggling many things. I was unhappy with the weighting of the first set of muntins, plus I made a simple error. Nothing amazing, but it was enough to convince me to pull the muntins and start afresh. Incidentally, the muntins were surprisingly strong in situ. One never gets much opportunity to test joinery to destruction in a real-world setting so it's reassuring to know how much integrity exists within the work we do.
> 
> ...


I'm quite pleased with how it looks too! I'd imagine it would be very different in a Mahogany or Sapele. The Birch needs a lot of hand work to bring out in wax. There's still a good way to go yet despite the early coats.

I didn't go the full depth, no. Perhaps in a future cabinet, but not for this one. I'll forward you the Solidworks files if you can stand working in Metric!


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## HillbillyShooter (Feb 15, 2012)

EläväPuu said:


> *Reworking the muntins*
> 
> Relatively slow progress this week as I'm juggling many things. I was unhappy with the weighting of the first set of muntins, plus I made a simple error. Nothing amazing, but it was enough to convince me to pull the muntins and start afresh. Incidentally, the muntins were surprisingly strong in situ. One never gets much opportunity to test joinery to destruction in a real-world setting so it's reassuring to know how much integrity exists within the work we do.
> 
> ...


This looks fabulous! I like the maple and have seen where maple was used for kitchen cabinets in at least one G&G home.


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

EläväPuu said:


> *Reworking the muntins*
> 
> Relatively slow progress this week as I'm juggling many things. I was unhappy with the weighting of the first set of muntins, plus I made a simple error. Nothing amazing, but it was enough to convince me to pull the muntins and start afresh. Incidentally, the muntins were surprisingly strong in situ. One never gets much opportunity to test joinery to destruction in a real-world setting so it's reassuring to know how much integrity exists within the work we do.
> 
> ...


Thanks! I'm actually using locally-sourced Birch. It's broadly similar to Maples and can have the same blotching problems. The Downy Birch I used here feels a little fluffier than woods in the Acer family. Perhaps a little more like Sycamore from what I remember. The pieces made from Maple in one of the Gamble house's bedrooms suffered from a lot of this blotching which in my opinion made the pieces look too rustic and unrefined. It really takes a lot of hard work to get past this issue and bring out the glow in the wood.

Not seen kitchen cabinets in Maple yet. Are they from the originals?


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*A little on Ebony plugs....*

This Thorsen House cabinet repro is probably the third large-scale Greene & Greene project I've worked on in addition to numerous smaller lighting items. Common to the lot of them are *masses *of Ebony splines and plugs.

Lots of information exists on people's own ideas of how to pillow, round, shape, soften and relieve simple square plugs. Probably the most common that I've come across is William Ng's tactic of chucking up a squared and thicknessed stick and pillowing the end grain with a series of papers over soft pads. It works nicely and moreover is convenient when faced with a million plugs around a project. Therein the problem lies I think - the compromise of convenience.
(you can argue now that I find problems where none exist if you want)

A project using many small plugs looks fine with this method, especially suspended lighting where the observer is kept at a distance from the piece. The problem that I perceive is when you examine them close up, or when the plugs are especially large. End grain - even in Ebony - does not have the same texture and appearance that the quarter and flat have. The end-grain method is certainly extremely convenient as you can happily sit at the bandsaw (sorry, pullsaw advocates!) with a small box, bunch of sticks, jig, set of papers and a drill, running off a couple hundred plugs in an hour. The method has its place, there's no denying that.










This particular photo of the original cabinet is what got me thinking. Examination of the plug reveals a variance in the colouration, not entirely dissimilar to striping in Macassar Ebony or just a piece of less-than-jet material. Photos of other plugs around the piece lend much credence to the originals not using end grain facing. Whilst it's a bit late for me to consider using Macassar Ebony for my own plugs (EIR or Pao Ferro were options), I did make the choice early on to do the hard work of cutting each plug to reveal the side grain. Doing so reveals the beautiful streaking found in the "B grade" boards I selected. Polishing up a test plug to a mirror shine with compound demonstrated a highly-attractive look which the endgrain can't match; a deep glassy appearance where the non-black "imperfections" seem to sit under the surface, not entirely unlike a piece of jet!

My plan after finishing the entire project is to go over each and every plug with a polishing wheel in a Dremel pen extension. The waxing process reduces the lustre of the plugs in situ somewhat. I plan on cutting a "shield" from pieces of an aluminium soda can which sit over the plugs, protecting the surrounding finish. A quick dash over the plug with a little compound will restore them to natural depth of shine.

All in all, the difference between endgrain and non-endgrain plugs? Not much in reality. A jet-black piece of Gabon Ebony polished on the endgrain will look 95% similar to the other faces. This is when convenience and proven methods like William's are the best choice. Chasing that extra 5% is just futile in those circumstances. Using a non-black Ebony, a Rosewood or any other characterful wood that polishes up well deserves consideration between convenience and appearance.

A large plug or spline definitely benefits from the beautiful face of the wood being on show. Don't spoil it by just showing the butt.


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Making headway on the glass work....*

It's been a while since I've updated with progress, so here's a minor update. The last couple of weeks have been spent finessing the cabinet with tons of sanding and re-waxing. Everything is going wonderfully on that side of things as long as we ignore the tired aching hands! The last couple of weekends have been spent doing the Tiffany-type glasswork.

We chose a Verrerie de Saint-Just clear textured glass (which we believe is now discontinued) complimented by a relatively simple Spectrum wispy smoked glass. Normally we don't like Spectrum on the basis of it being too regular and obviously machine-made. We refer Youghiogheny for lighting, Uroboros for textures, etc. It just so turned out that this particular model was ideal for this application, as long as we avoided purchasing parts of the sheet with heavy linear streaking.










Our approach to the foiling was to run a pair of 1/4" black-backed lines overlapping in the centre of the edges. This allows plenty of excess foil to be cut back by hand to produce more complex line work. The black backing tends to stick to the glass after you cut it back which cleans off with a little alcohol. After defining the front lining, the same is carefully transferred to the back so neither side has obvious "overruns" visible through the glass.










The lead lines themselves are immensely heavy. As heavy as the foil will support without the solder bursting out onto the glass. The texturing technique is about the only secret I'll keep to myself! After patinating the lead, the texture was highlighted by buffing it out with steel wool and beeswax.

The completed glazing panels are held in place with a series of 5mm x 6mm Birch glazing bars pinned into place. Because of the fine nature of the glazing bars, the pin locations were pre-drilled with a 1mm drill bit to prevent splitting.


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## CharlieK (Jan 6, 2008)

EläväPuu said:


> *Making headway on the glass work....*
> 
> It's been a while since I've updated with progress, so here's a minor update. The last couple of weeks have been spent finessing the cabinet with tons of sanding and re-waxing. Everything is going wonderfully on that side of things as long as we ignore the tired aching hands! The last couple of weekends have been spent doing the Tiffany-type glasswork.
> 
> ...


Beautiful. What more is there to say. Very nice work!


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

EläväPuu said:


> *Making headway on the glass work....*
> 
> It's been a while since I've updated with progress, so here's a minor update. The last couple of weeks have been spent finessing the cabinet with tons of sanding and re-waxing. Everything is going wonderfully on that side of things as long as we ignore the tired aching hands! The last couple of weekends have been spent doing the Tiffany-type glasswork.
> 
> ...


Thanks Charlie, I genuinely appreciate that! It's gratifying that despite our relative inexperience, the work is receiving positive commentary. Perhaps whilst we're working on the next panels, I'll take a few photos of the process itself to feed this back into the public circle.

- Carl


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

*Complete! (in a manner of speaking)*

The cabinet is in situ! We spent a few hours prepping and mounting the cabinet using four of these superlative products from Whitechapel Ltd: http://www.whitechapel-ltd.com/product//274BF4.html
Generally designed for bed construction, they easily have more than enough strength in terms of shear resistance and weight bearing. Amazing things. I recommend them and Whitechapel highly.

So, the cabinet is complete save for the ongoing glass panel work. The world seemed to have gone through some sort of global 1/4" black-backed copper foil crisis the last month, so this has been delayed….

Previous Solidworks simulation:









...pretty similar!



























The lead line texturing was entirely experimental. Our lines were created using two lines of 1/4" foil overlapped on the safe ground edge to create a significant face on the glass. This was cut back and shaped by hand (painstaking) to create more organic movement and constant change in weight. The line was replicated on the back of the glass so as not to make either prominently visible from the other side. Lines were loaded with as much solder as the foil could support and textured using a technique which we figured would work (it did) but had never seen described before. Maybe our first husband and wife trade secret! After black patination, the lines are burnished with steel wool, given a light coat of beeswax and buffed.

I'll endeavour to post a final closing blog entry and then take this entire piece over to being a "Project" entry.

Cheers!
- Carl


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

EläväPuu said:


> *Complete! (in a manner of speaking)*
> 
> The cabinet is in situ! We spent a few hours prepping and mounting the cabinet using four of these superlative products from Whitechapel Ltd: http://www.whitechapel-ltd.com/product//274BF4.html
> Generally designed for bed construction, they easily have more than enough strength in terms of shear resistance and weight bearing. Amazing things. I recommend them and Whitechapel highly.
> ...


It sure looks nice on the wall. All the hours of careful work are evident in this lovely piece.


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## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

EläväPuu said:


> *Complete! (in a manner of speaking)*
> 
> The cabinet is in situ! We spent a few hours prepping and mounting the cabinet using four of these superlative products from Whitechapel Ltd: http://www.whitechapel-ltd.com/product//274BF4.html
> Generally designed for bed construction, they easily have more than enough strength in terms of shear resistance and weight bearing. Amazing things. I recommend them and Whitechapel highly.
> ...


Thank you, and yes….it was a pleasure to finally have that positive reinforcement of having her mounted.
It irks me that I can't complete the internal glazing bar work with wax until the rest of the leadwork has been done! Six panels to go….


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

EläväPuu said:


> *Complete! (in a manner of speaking)*
> 
> The cabinet is in situ! We spent a few hours prepping and mounting the cabinet using four of these superlative products from Whitechapel Ltd: http://www.whitechapel-ltd.com/product//274BF4.html
> Generally designed for bed construction, they easily have more than enough strength in terms of shear resistance and weight bearing. Amazing things. I recommend them and Whitechapel highly.
> ...


Extremely well done and beautiful too.


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