Hello All: My next project is a freestanding cabinet with a couple of shelves and a compartment, 12″ wide 17″ tall with two doors. The whole design is “curvy” and the doors are to be curved about 1.5″ out where they meet relative to the hinge side. I was thinking I’d have to “cooper” them but is that the best way to accomplish the curved section? Couldn’t I start out with thicker material and plane it to the desired form? Also how about this: the top will be a rectangle except where it curves out to match the above mentioned doors. If I just cut it to size and shape it will expose end grain on the curved section above the door, will that pose a problem getting a clean edge? Will it require care that it does not suck up finish unevenly?
Thanks for any help, Duke
“… Buy the best and only cry once………
Replies
duke,
By coopering, you mean solid curved doors? No problem with that approach. But if you want frame and panel, you'll need to cut curves from wider stile and rail stock. Ditto the panel, unless it's ply or glass, etc.
With curves, there are several options; kerf cutting, steam bending, "bricklaying", cutting from solid stock, or laminating.
The cut edge at the top will only look different and absorb more finish/stain as you move into diagonal and then end grain.
Duke, are you talking solid door or frame and panel?
Mumda/Jackplane: The doors are to be solid wood, white oak. I have 8/4 & 4/4 boards. Duke"... Buy the best and only cry once.........
If you use solid wood, I'd be concerned about the seasonal movement. I think coopering would be a bit more stable. I (maybe it's just me) also think it'd be difficult to control the final shape and thickness.It really isn't that hard to do, actually kinda fun.
Thanks, Mumda that is really a nice door and a detailed reply. I would rather do more work up-front and have the door be stable and trouble free then take a chance on having to redo it later. I imagine you figure out the total sweep and divide it by the number of "staves" (right word?) to get the angle for each? Looks like a job that needs extra flat and square stock to work out, something I've yet to get real good at. I'm hoping that this will be my first project nice enough to photograph and post.
Thanks again, Duke"... Buy the best and only cry once.........
Today is your lucky day! Attached is the perfect article for you.Enjoy.
Thank you Mumda!!!!"... Buy the best and only cry once.........
Fantastic pic's. Quick question, how did you do the curved rail & stile?Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Here's a better explanation of everything:http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=31468.1
Thanks, very impressive. This is above my skill, but I may give it a try.Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Bones, it's not nearly as difficult as it appears. Just take your time and enjoy it. Make the cabinet after you make the doors in case the door shape changes.And make sure you use plastic resin glue or epoxy for the bent laminations. Regular wood glue will creep.
What can I loose, mistakes can be used for the wiennie rost this summer. I did look back at your original post and have one question. In the picure that showed the stile being cut, you had it on a strip of wood elevating it off the router table I assume to get the angle cut to mate into the rail. How did you determin that strip would get you the right angle, trial and error or some other method. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Trial and error w/crap pieces.
Nice job. looks gerat too.
Thanks.
Dukeone,
You can use a solid wood lamination of the wood you want to use.
Cut yourself 1/4'' thick pieces of the solid wood you want to use, say white oak. Prepare a particle board form that follows the outside curves you want and another that gives you the inside curve that you want. If your final front will be 3/4'' thick, for argument sake, then insure that the form for the inside of the shape takes that thickness into account. Apply your glue of choice to the 1/4'' white oak, place the lot between the cauls you created and close the assembly with clamps. You will see that with the parts being only 1/4'' thick, they take the curve easily and also that you will need to make the assembly long enough to be able to trim the final finished lengths from the glue up (same for the width). The fact that the wood assembly is curved means that the inside radii are smaller than the outside radii, so once the glue is set, you will not have any ''snap back'' from the shape you glued up. Everything will be locked in position.
If you cut the strips consecutively from the same board, and your laminations are tight and re-assembled in the same order and orientation as when you cut them, you will be hard pressed to find the joint lines on the edges.
This is also a great technique for repairing a wooden cross country ski with a broken tip (or tail). It is a lot less messy and more exact than steaming the wood. JL
Edited 1/6/2007 4:03 pm ET by jeanlou
Edited 1/6/2007 4:04 pm ET by jeanlou
Thanks, JeanLou: I'll consider your method but having read Mumda's post I'm leaning toward the angled staves at the moment. Either way, I'm sure, properly done would yield good results and about the same amount of work each in it's own way. I'm leaning away from just shaping solid wood, thinking it might be prone to warping. I'll be starting the project soon, after drawing the details out, I have the basic design on paper.
Thanks, KDM "... Buy the best and only cry once.........
Dukeone,
Whatever method you try you will give you great results. There are many roads to Berkley. Enjoy building your project. JL
If you make the doors first and build the cabinet to fit them you can skip a lot of theoretical stuff and even skip the lay it out full scale on paper and work backwards from there. And you probably won't need any special glueing and clamping jigs - rubber bands and maybe some tape will do it.
http://web.hypersurf.com/~charlie2/CooperedDoors/CooperedDoors0.html
for me, the trickiest part was working out how the doors wood come together.
charlie b
Charlie: Thanks for the tips and I like your website. One nice thing about your way (tape and rubberbands with full size paper layout) is that I can, without glue, see how it looks with out wasting a lot of time and material. Then if I think I'll really need a jig I can build one. I'm a "newbie +" if that makes any sense. Started off with m&t and simple dovetails, they worked but were not as clean and tight as I would like but have been improving steadily. Getting a clean tight fit on the exit side of though m&t's is one thing I've been concentrating on lately. By the way I'm up in Berkeley, neighbor, almost!
Duke"... Buy the best and only cry once.........
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled