Sandal Woods - Fine Woodworking & Cabinetry

The Bookcase Challenge is now official!

Lumberjocks, in partnership with Popular Woodworking, have given us this brand-new challenge: Design a bookcase we could build in our shop, win, and get published in Popular Woodworking Magazine!

From Martin’s announcement at Lumberjocks (also click on this link to learn other details about the Challenge, and Challenge Rules):

“This time it’s all about the bookcases. Everyone needs them. Are you ready to design a bookcase that catches the eyes of Popular Woodworking’s editors, establishes you as a paid and published author and presents your design to thousands of fellow woodworkers? I’ll bet you are.”

And in Glen Huey’s own words at the Popular Woodworking blog entry about this Challenge:

“The winning original design will be published in Popular Woodworking magazine. We’re talking a full-out article, not just photos of the best design shown in a gallery. You’ll become a published contributing author – a fully paid contributing author – with your own byline.”

If I can do it, YOU can do it, too. So, go to Lumberjocks and, if not yet a member, sign up, and make your entry to the Challenge as a blog entry.

You can view my entry, the first entry made in this competition, by clicking here. Let me know what you think of my simple barrister bookcase design, by leaving a Comment.

In an earlier post I showed a cabinet I “built” using eCabinet Systems software, to match the design of an existing Krenov cabinet.

In this episode I show the changes I have made to the same cabinet, to adapt the design to something my client has in mind. Other than editing the video to remove long pauses, I show the modifications to the cabinet to:

On purpose, I left in the video mistakes I made while using the software. Let me know if you catch them . I left these in to show how easy it is to recover from a mistake - it is easy to forget specific steps if one has not used the software for some time.

To keep things moving and to keep you from getting (too) bored, I sped up the video by a factor of 3. I also did not narrate the video, to prevent additional boredom. Instead, I used sub-titles to describe what was happening.

I am interested in your experience designing and building furniture, cabinets, etc. You might wonder, WHY? I would love to learn your experiences on HOW you visualize a project prior to start building it.

The WHY, for me: I have to be able visualize a piece before I start building a project. I must visualize first, before determining if the project is something I want to do. This was the main reason for modeling the Krenov cabinet a short while back - before proceeding with my own design.Computer models make this visualization process much simpler than a simple sketch, as I can try several variations, until a model results in something I want to build, not something I build simply because I have to. And, if the project is for a client, the computer model and rendition also helps the client “see” the finished piece ahead of time; many cabinetmakers state that it is the rendered image that sold the design and, ultimately, a particular job.

The short video above demonstrates several points, using glazed upper cabinets:

1. Are glazed doors suitable?

2. Is cabinet lighting something that will enhance the cabinet, and show off the contents?

3. Would multiple lights be better, or a single light source in each cabinet?

4. Are glazed doors with one or two mullions better for the job at hand?

5. If the client (or if my wife) wants glazed cabinets, should I make them in-house, or order them online?

6. Is it possible to not only look at the model, but also look at the door details?

7. So on, and so on…

Hopefully, this model demonstrates that it IS possible to use computer-generated models to illustrate details, to help us make decisions in final design, or to make our spouse (Ultimate Client!) happy before the project is ever built.

One advantage of a good computer-based cabinet design program is its ability to provide cut lists, which provide dimensions for each piece of wood, and from which individual cabinets and components are built to size. For example, for an entertainment center I designed, I wanted to learn the requirements of building glazed doors in-house, vs. buying them pre-made, ready to finish. From the design “sketch” I built the following door prototype, using poplar. This prototype is similar to the doors illustrated in the video above.

This exercise proved to me that I should build the doors in-house; an added benefit derived was last-minute “adjustments”, to allow for variations from the original design:

I find computer models invaluable to design cabinets, entertainment centers, and just about anything I make. I would love to hear how YOU go about your concepts, designs, etc.

—— Al