Wood match for 1/4 sawn sycamore?

Hmmmm...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA


>Got a pic of the sycamore? It might help us, well me anyway...

Re: Wood match for 1/4 sawn sycamore?

William Duffield, on the Cohansey


>You don't mention whether your case is frameless, or if framed, whether your doors are full inset, half overlay or full overlay. These design considerations make a difference, a big difference.

In any case, I'll ask, Why not use the sycamore for the door frames [and face frames], and find something complementary for the less visible sides, and the most probably unseen top and bottom?

How about more sycamore...

Dave Thompson


>Maybe more work than you want, but you could turn some of your QS sycamore into veneer to do the sides of the cabinet, and then use the rest (solid) for the door frame. If you don't feel like turning into veneer, you could pick some up on e-bay. Both veneer and solid can be found there now.

Another idea, might be to use the qs sycamore on the sides, and use a secondary wood (?maple?) for the less visible top and bottom. That way you can save it for the door.

enjoy,

Dave

Re: Wood match for 1/4 sawn sycamore?

Gary Miller


>Case will be thru dovetails, door can be either inset or full overlay. If I overlay the door, the suggestions on top and bottom w/ another wood--would not be visable. Could then use the best figure on the sides and door frame.

Thanks

Gary

Re: How about more sycamore...

Gary Miller


>Good ideas. Thanks. Yes I could buy more qs sycamore---but I have so much wood...surely I can find a match!! Stubborn I guess.

Gary

Re: How about more sycamore...

William Duffield, on the Cohansey


>In that case, I would first consider using beech or maple for the less conspicuous surfaces. Color and texture will be similar, and the figure is usually so subdued that it will not fight with the very distinctive figure of the QS Sycamore.

BTW, I'm partial to full inset doors. I don't know whether I strongly prefer them because the look better or because, if done well, they better show off your woodworking skills.

Re: Wood match for 1/4 sawn sycamore?

Clay C in Miami


>With a glass-door cabinet 24x36" that's 6" deep, your back is gonna be every bit as visible as your door frame. If you do the door frame in the QS sycamore, could you also do the back in it? What are the plans for the back - frame and panel(s)?

In the cabinet below, I originally made a bookmatched QS sycamore panel for the door - the Honduran mahogany picked up the darker part of the QS sycamore's grain reasonably accurately. So, if you want to try that as a complementary wood, it has the advantage also of being 'calm' enough not to fight with the figure in the sycamore.

Clay

Re: Wood match for 1/4 sawn sycamore?

Gary Miller


>Fine looking cabinet!

I am thinking about doing a mirror back to pick up all the light I can, and to better display the small jade carvings and potterry that this cabinet will contain. I just finished a large solid walnut display cabinet for the larger pottery pieces and included a walnut back, since the pieces are lighter in color. (Fully inset glass/walnut doors--William)

Looks good w/ the walnut back, for such a large case--I thought a mirror back would look a bit cheesy?

Design is as much fun as making the piece.

Thanks

Gary

Re: Wood match for 1/4 sawn sycamore?

Clay C in Miami


>Well,

Mirror back v. wood back makes SUCH a difference in the overall look of the piece, I'd want the client to make that call. If it's for smalls (roughly at or below baseball-size), you could also consider doing 2-level shelves (S-shaped in cross-section, sorta like _|-), which would pretty much double the usable (visible) display area for each one - and of course the underside of each will give a place for lights if desired. (I wouldn't do both undershelf lights and a mirror back, though, unless this piece is gonna sit on the floor.)

I'm probably biased, but I think that a great back for a big, shallow display case would be a 'ladder' frame-and-panels such that each panel centers on the back of each separate shelf space. Doesn't allow much flexibility in shelf placement, though, and is of course much, much more work.

Clay