My students agreed that my first design wasn’t very good. I had to go back to my sketch pad. In one of those late-night aha moments, I had an idea. Of course, most people would write it down, not taking the chance that by morning the stroke of genius might be forever lost. I didn’t, and it was gone. Fortunately though, not for long. Two days after the insight, it came back to me, and I busily started sketching again.
I was pretty sure I got what I wanted this time. The subtle curves, the uplifting sense of lightness, the Asian feel, which permeates a lot of my work. This was going to be it. The front of the cabinet would be flat, except for the door and drawer handles. The drawer would be the central part of the semi-circular shape at the top. It would protrude from the cabinet front about 3/4 inch. A rabbet on its lower edge would provide a means to open the drawer. It was time for a scale drawing.
After tweaking angles and proportions a bit, I was very pleased with the drawing. The mockup showed that I was on the right track, and I was very pleased with the result. Everyone who has seen it agrees, including the most important person, my customer (wife).
I originally had the bottom edge of the bottom stretcher straight, but it was too static. I didn’t want to overdo it and distract from the rest of the piece, so I added a very gentle arc. Also note that under the doors, you don’t see the front of the shelf sticking out. I wanted the front of the cabinet very clean and uncluttered, so the bottom shelf will butt up against the back of the stretcher.
Astute readers may wonder how I’m going to hinge doors with an out-of-plumb hinge line. My plan is to use knife hinges, a favorite of mine, and mount them so they are plumb. In other words, the top hinges will be at the upper, outer corner of each door, and the bottom hinges will be inboard such that they are vertically aligned with the upper hinges. Yes, that means the door will swing an arc into the cabinet, but it won’t be much.
Other issues I’ll be looking at:
- How to attach the inside shelf and web frame (below the drawer)
- What will the back look like and how will I attach it
- What happens behind the fixed curved portion on either side of the drawer
- How will I use the beautiful air-dried walnut panel I have stashed away for a project such as this
