Woodworker: Geoff Birtles

This cabinet on stand (10-1/4 in. deep by 13 in. wide by 48 in. tall) was Birtles’s first foray into curved joinery, with curves in the dovetailed carcase and in each drawer front. The carcase and legs are wenge, the drawer fronts are fiddleback maple, and the drawer boxes are Huon pine, native to Tasmania. Another challenge for Birtles was using the dark, hard wenge, which required extra care during markup and dulled his planes incredibly fast. He used a French polish on the case and drawer fronts, and finished the outside of the drawer boxes with shellac and wax. The interiors were left unfinished to retain the scent of the pine.