WALNUT CORNER CABINET

A skillfull reproduction from Gottshall's drawings.

SHOP OWNER: Mike Hide

LOCATION: Atlanta, GA

The plan for this corner cabinet comes from Franklin Gottshall's book entitled "Making Antique Furniture Reproductions". I obtained the pattern for the feet from a scan of the plan, which I manipulated in Photoshop so that the foot printed out at the same size as noted in the plan. This allowed the correct reproduction of the contours. The two sections of the feet are splined together as shown in the photo.

The base construction consists of two shelves between the top and bottom sections and attach to the sides with sliding dovetails. A few shots show the base and the dovetail jig I made to produce the dovetails on the shelving.

The upper section consists of glazed doors. Rails, stiles, and the frame were run on the shaper, as were the cresting rails for the arched doors. The rails are mortised into the side frames and the center stile, as are the cresting rail and the lower doorframe rail to the door sides.

I cut the crown molding on the tablesaw as shown, then sanded and scraped. Then the crown was notched and a rabbit cut to accept the half round molding.

Both the top and bottom carcasses have a decorative fluted corner molding. I set up my lathe to produce this in conjunction with a router box, which functioned as a sled base for the trim router.

I cut the lower cabinet doors on the shaper and due to the normal limitations; I had to cut the internal corner details by hand using a sharp chisel.

The hardware is exclusively from Horton Brasses in Cromwell, CT. I have dealt with them for many years because they produce excellent antique reproduction brasses at reasonable prices.

The cabinet was finished with a light brown ML Campbell "Woodsong" stain and their lacquer products. Before the final finish coat, I applied a dark asphaltum stain and wiped it off leaving the dark stain in all the crevices. With the final topcoats of gloss lacquer applied, I rubbed out the whole cabinet with woolwax, steel wool, and water.