furnituredesign(a community furniture design blog)

Steve Taylor

This is a design for a buffet, but I think you could adjust the height and make it a sofa table. Believe it or not, I got the inspiration for this piece driving by a Springhill Suites hotel at night.  The architecture featured a red brick construction with concrete columns that divided the length of the building.

Not completely evident in the perspective drawing is that the width of all of the legs taper 2:1. The pattern on the front legs would be routed with a small cove bit. On the side legs, I’m not sure if I want the pattern to be recessed or proud of the leg. I really don’t know what drove me to create the recess in the center of the table, so I could see the table without it. If I kept it, I would blacken that area – probably with a flat paint.

As for materials, I could go two ways.  Originally I thought the table top would be a darker wood, with a medium hued wood for the legs.  Thinking about it again, I could see the table being all knotty pine with wrought iron hardware and straps across the top – like a steamer trunk.

So, this was the concept of a recycling cabinet in my head that finally made it to paper. Then when our host offered to take ideas for sketches for his 365 day journey I submitted this idea to see what a professional would come up with.

Since I drew this I had a couple of thoughts. I’d no longer say to use pocket screws for the garage version. Instead I’d plow a 3/8” groove down the center of the rails/styles and use an MDF panel instead. This means less disruption to your workflow if you build the garage version (which I presume means pine/poplar/MDF and painted) rather than the in-the-house version which would use raised panels and rail/style cutters.

My design here used 30 gallon trash bags in the back for the misc stuff but trash cans would work as well. At least where we recycle you’d be able to reuse the trash bags.

The version (http://the-drawing-boards.blogspot.com/2010/01/no-22-recycling-cabinet-reader-idea.html) that Jamon designed had a feature that I’m thinking about adding - the split top. In mine it’s just an open hole towards the back. You’d probably not go with the split top option if you decided on granite or corian for the top of the cabinet, but for a pure wood incarnation it could work out well.

Sorry about the scale of the side view. Those doors obviously will not close correctly - I’m new to both furniture and sketching, something that should appear obvious :)

So, my original idea for the recycling cabinet. It’s just interesting how different people view the same requirements.

Scott Meek

This is another box concept I’m currently working on. It will require a lot of shaping with rasps, spokeshaves, and planes, which I’m VERY excited about. I had a tough time trying to draw other proportional sketches of this box, so the above sketches really don’t show whats fully in my head.

I had an idea for the corner joints, a splined miter that would show up when the wood is shaped into the gentle curves. Since I couldn’t get it drawn, I just decided to do a test piece:

I am thrilled with how it turned out! Can’t wait to get started on this one. The wood in the test joint is Maple and the spline is Bubinga, as those are what I had in the shop. Not sure what the final box will be made of, but it will have to be something where the grain will be an integral part of the design.

Matt Kenney, bow front cabinet. This is where the cabinet is right now. I have only just begun the inside gallery of drawers, but had to put a finish on the outside so that it could be photographed for and appear in the next issue of Fine Woodworking. The pulls are temporary and won’t be what’s on there in the end. I made the door in a vacuum press. The core is made from bendable plywood (aka, wiggle wood). Everything else is solid lumber. A lot of work left to do, but so far it looks exactly like I saw it in my head back when I did the original 2D drawings.

Matt Kenney, bow front cabinet. This is the drawing I started with. At the time, I knew that the cabinet itself would be made from Madrone, and that I would use Madrone veneer for the doors and drawer fronts. However, I didn’t know that I’d be using Madrone burl veneer. And I had no idea how I would make the doors.

Scott Meek

After being so thrilled with the way my first box turned out, I’ve decided to design and build a few more different styles. I’ve drawn this one a few different ways now, and I’m still not sold on it completely. It may just be my inability to draw, so I might mock one up. At the very least, I’m going to draw it up in Sketchup and see how it looks. I think one of the problems is that the bevel on the top is not wide enough.

I am wanting to use a light colored wood (maybe Holly) and then Ebony for the handles and keys. I really like the look of the keyed miter, the different sized keys somehow compliments the lip on the lid. The thick line towards the top is where the lid starts. A thin veneer of Ebony on the lid and the top of the sides will define the opening. The lid will be hinged.

I’m also very happy with the look of the handles, at least how I imagine them in my head. Not sure if the drawing shows them truly how I’m thinking.

I’m also not sure about the feet. I have them drawn as ebony rods that are the full depth of the box in length. My wife loves them, I like them one time when I look at it and the next time I feel like they don’t fit the style.

Adam King

One of the design challenges I’m bringing into 2010 is the idea of making the large, small. For instance, this sketch is based on larger tansu of several varieties. I took the elements I desired from them and translated them into a smaller delicate table top version. The idea is to see if I can carry the utilitarian aspect of the larger versions into this small interpretation. This would most likely hold very precious possession or items associated with memories.