Corner Cupboard Rev 1

Re: Corner Cupboard Rev 1

GolfSteve in Calgary

I like the look. It is unlikely to be airy with all that wood on the sides forming the necessary structural bits. Glass cabinet door panels and glass shelves will help give an airy feel, but most corner cabinets have heavy dominating structure.

If I had this drawn in AutoCAD so I could easily stretch heights, I would try the following:

1. Make the crown taller.

2. Make the drawers slightly shorter - but this height is related to #1 - so if the crown is taller, the drawers might look perfectly fine as they are.

3. Move the pulls on the upper cabinet doors down to the bottom 1/3 of the door. I might try placing them the same distance above the drawer centerline as the bottom cabinet door pulls are located below the cabinet drawer centerline.

4. The lower cabinet doors upper rails should be a bit taller.

5. The bottom rail under the cabinet door is a structural element and looks too thin at the apex. It doesn't look strong enough to give the impression it is strong even if doesn't have to be any stronger.

6. Although it will significantly reduce storage capacity, a narrower cabinet will look taller and lighter.

The design of this piece seems a bit lighter to me without going to an all glass version: http://www.antiquesandcollectables.com.au/ad2967/corner-cabinet/ I find it interesting that it has a very thin crown, but the frieze and bead below the crown make it look right without being too heavy. Compared to your design, the base is much shorter, the top is much taller, and the width is reduced. The transition to the corner is also done differently to give it a lighter feel and eliminate some of the boards at the corner that give the top a heavy look.

If you really want a drawer, I wonder how putting the drawer behind the lower cabinet door would look?

reply

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Thank you for the time you took to study the design and reply. Appreciated.

1. Make the crown taller. agree

2. Make the drawers slightly shorter - but this height is related to #1 - so if the crown is taller, the drawers might look perfectly fine as they are.

3. Move the pulls on the upper cabinet doors down to the bottom 1/3 of the door. ...I just stuck someone on the door to indicate it was a door. agree

4. The lower cabinet doors upper rails should be a bit taller....I need to mock up a door to get tis just right.

5. The bottom rail under the cabinet door is a structural element and looks too thin at the apex. Agree

6. Although it will significantly reduce storage capacity, a narrower cabinet will look taller and lighter. agree but storage a premium.

The design of this piece seems a bit lighter to me without going to an all glass version: the piece in PIC is gorgeous. the price tag is a bargain.

Re: Corner Cupboard Rev 1

David Yoho

First off, I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to design. I like your drawing but I see one main thing that gets my attention. I think the lower section needs to be shorter or the upper needs to be taller. Not by a lot but I'm sure you'll get all these elements worked out to your satisfaction. I do like the arches the way they're drawn.

Re: Corner Cupboard Rev 1

Don Stephan

Recently I read an article in Pop Woodworking that suggested all elements should be designed as whole number multiples of each other, presumable one unit for vertical and another for horizontal. The vertical scales were shown beside the drawing.

Just for example purposes (might be an ugly design) the height of the base might be 1 unit, the door 4 units, the drawer two units, and so on. A line of molding might be 1/2 or even 1/4 unit, and so on.

In my mind, that wouldn't automatically make a design attractive without playing with height of the different elements, but I think the article suggests many attractive furniture designs can be broken down this way. I've never tried it.

Check the chat room

Ellis Walentine

Bill, I posted some comments in the chat room. My idea was to have real-time chats on some sort of schedule, where people could post their design ideas or photos of works in progress for feedback from others in the room. It would be more in the vein of a conversation, with instant dialog and opportunities to drill deeper into the issues.

I am not deleting chat conversations (and I'm not sure if they will automatically archive themselves after some set time), so things we talk about and post there will remain on the chat screen for others to add to. I'm encouraged that it is possible to upload higher resolution photos there than here in our ancient messageboards. There are other capabilities as well, like live video and audio. As my schedule permits, I'll be looking into some of these things as well.

Ellis

The first thing that catches my eye,

Keith Newton

Is those arches with a bit of flat in the middle. I would try a really long flat ellipse, then split the arch across the top pair of doors, but not the bottom pair, just leave those top rails straight.

I think I might add at least one inch to thecabinet side width, so the shelves have a bit more than just a point of support. I don’t recall if they are glass, but if they are, you’ll need to thicken the back for some sort of support back in the middle.

As for the trim, back when I was young and starting out, someone in your thread below mentioned “The Chippendale Directory”, which I added to my library so I could study the curves and proportions that were a lot nicer than what I could buy from my suppliers or make with the stock router and shaper cutters at the time, so I was glad when I finally got my first shaper large enough to grind my own bevel edge knives to make my own personal details.

Well that warm fuzzy feeling wore off pretty quickly when I realized how expensive the knife stock was back then, plus the time it took to hand grind on my crude equipment made it cost prohibitive back then.

Over the years I’ve managed to pick up quite a bit of knife stock and other blades, which I hardly ever use. Some time along the way, working with some of my architect clients the concept of “less is more” finally sunk in. I learned that my clients didn’t have any feelings one way or another about the sweet curves of any particular trim detail, and that the bastardized stock patterns sold at all the lumber yards was fine with them,,,,,,, well sorta. What I finally realized was that what really worked for ME, whether they realized it or not, was that I found leaving out the curvy details, but keep all the steps and changing levels which read the same as the old trim, as far as highlights and shadows, achieved a more contemporary look.

Aside from some special cutters that I ground for panel or base molding where I have lots to run for a room or two, I can knock out a pretty decent crown of any size with just one cutter on the table saw, and not take a lot of time doing it.

I’ve got to go now, but can gather up some leftover scraps that I send you some pics of later.

Re: Corner Cupboard Rev 1

Barry Irby

You could make it appear taller by making it narrower. To recapture the lost space you could make it project further into the room.

I think the drawer and horizontal rail should be more shallow. If you make the cabinet deeper, the drawer could be wider.

The arch at the bottom is more pronounced than the ones on the doors. The rail part of the bottom arch appears too delicate. How about making the doors individually asymmetrical and give them the same arch that is at the bottom.

failure

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

"Is those arches with a bit of flat in the middle. I would try a really long flat ellipse, then split the arch across the top pair of doors,"

I don't understand. Are you saying to make the sum of the top doors an ellipse, divided left and right half of the ellipse between the door tops? If so, I have struggled with this concept all afternoon with no success. For a reasonable height of the ellipse used to achieve this result this height is spread across too many feet and the curve is so flat it seems straight, except at the ends. The idea sounds worthy of evaluation but I could not make it work. Or I don't understand.

Re: Corner Cupboard Rev 1

Joe Grittani

Bill -

I would find it helpful in critiquing your design if you could give us the overall dimensions you're

designing for or the space restrictions you're designing to. I agree with David (father down the string) that the top section height should be proportionally increased to that of the bottom.

I have an antique corner cupboard that I think has pretty good proportions, although it may be that I'm just used to it. The upper doors each have eight glass panes, the bottoms single panels and there is no drawer. The overall height is 87 1/2". There is a piece of trim 2" wide at the waist, from 33 1/2" to 35 1/2" from the floor, and from the trim to the cornice top is 52". I can send a photo if you'd like. If I was re-designing it and wanted to add a drawer I think I'd make it about 4" deep and put the bottom of the rail or drawer blade at the 33 1/2' above the floor where the waist trim starts now.

As regards an earlier question you asked about the joint used between the flat front stile and the 45 degree board attached to it, mine and many others I've seen are face nailed into the shelf edges and filled and there's no visible sign of any additional glue blocks or additional support. It appears that the two boards are cut and planed to mate tightly together and there's probably glue between them. Also, the vertical front pieces of the cupboard are 3 1/2" wide and the door stiles 3".

I hope this helps. I'm sure you'll do a great job on this just like you always do.

Cheers,

Joe Grittani in cold and snowy Dayton, Ohio

dimensions

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

40" total projected width, 78" height. As shown the drawer top is 34" fom the floor. It is being lowered in REV2 as we speak.

The angle of the photograph of the print makes the top look a bit shorter than on paper. I can't scan anything as big as the drawing 1/4" scale.

Verticals are more narrow than traditional to lighten up the design.

It does need to fit in a space. 40" width is ideal for the space. Height set by wanting to put stuff on the top of it. Dining area is small and the risk is overpowering the area with this cupboard. Size mock up is being done to confirm overall dimensions.

I would be delighted to be building a traditional piece with coped divided glass and traditional moldings. The myriad of dimension and shape decisions would come more naturally. But that was not the style selected. I am ok with what was chosen and I will try to make it as attractive as I can. You all are helping.

Re: dimensions

Barry Irby

My friend built a pair of classic 13 pane doors with coped moldings. Upon completion he discovered the doors were about an inch too small in both directions. His father and I agonized with him on how to correct the deficit. After about half an hour he smashed the doors to smithereens and threw them into the wood stove, announcing he was turning those SOBs into BTU's!

Measure two or three times and cut once.

Re: Corner Cupboard Rev 1

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

This adds nothing to your thread other than to show another example of a corner cabinet for thought.

This was my mothers, now mine. I think it's poplar. Not teribbly old, not made very well, two pieces; top & bottom.

I always liked this because it is simple.

Nice piece

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

To my eye that is a nice piece, and outstanding example of a "country corner cupboard". And, it clearly illustrates the need for the horizontal elements missing from my REV 1. I would be laying awake nights figuring out what I was going to replace the ugly hinges with. Once replaced this piece would be a perfect.