Blackwood CD cabinet

[Rocker]

I mentioned this cabinet in another thread, http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=13548 on biscuit reinforced mitre joints, which were used to join the sides to the top.

The drawers were made using a drawer lock bit. The drawer sides are 12 mm hoop pine. (Note that a drawer lock bit will not work properly if the drawer sides are thinner than about 10 mm). I had to glue up narrower stock, because I couldn't get wide enough material for the drawer sides.

I used three different crosscut sleds in making the cabinet, a single runner one for cutting the mitres on the sides and top, a regular one for cutting the drawer and web-frame parts to length, and a wide-kerfed one for cutting the dadoes in the cabinet sides, the drawer sides, and in the drawer dividers, using a dado set.

The drawer knobs are probably rather too big, but I don't have a lathe to turn my own and these were the smallest I could find in Bunnings.

The cabinet holds 340 CDs.

Rocker

[DPB]

Absolutely smashing, Rocker!

Like I said in my PM to you, I've fallen in love with Blackwood. What a spectaculair species!

:)

[ryanarcher]

Wow!
do you have 340 cd's?!!

The mitred frame looks really good. it stands out more than I thought it would. I guess because it's unusual. Great Job!
-Ryan

[KBnLink]

I'm building one at the moment (actually a prototype out of pine first!)
Yours makes my plans look outstandingly average :(
I will use the base of yours as a model for mine, though, as I was struggling how to fit a fascia to the front base without any external joinery.
What is blackwood like to work with? The problem with building a prototype out of pine is working with pine - it splinters when I look at it.

[Rocker]

Ryan,
The cabinet is for my niece who has 200 CDs at present, and I thought I would build in a bit of redundancy.

I was very happy with how the mitred joints worked out. They were much quicker and easier to make than dovetails, and, with urea formaldehyde glue, and biscuit reinforcement, they have plenty of strength. But you need a biscuit joiner like the Porter Cable, whose fence tilts at 135°, to cut the biscuit slots effectively.

Rocker

[Rocker]

Kbn,

I just glued the base fascia between the sides and put a couple of screws through the drawer divider underneath the bottom drawer to hold it in position.

Blackwood is not too bad to work with. It tends to burn and tear out when routed, if you are not careful. But I like the look of the timber - it looks just as good as American walnut IMO.

Rocker

[Tasman]

Great work Rocker i like the way you have used the multi colour timber as well,i have milled some logs just like that and have a stack of it drying,it has a multi colour range in it and i think it looks spectacular......we will soon have heaps of blackwood from a salvage operation so if you want some let me know what sizes you want before we mill it...... :D .........Again a great job well done.........

Reguards Tasman.

[Peter36]

A very nice cabinet Rocker and the mitred corners came out well . IMHO dovetailed corners would not have suited the piece . What finish did you use , as it has brought out the character of the blackwood really well and also is that some of Tasmans blackwood ?

Peter

[Rocker]

Thanks for kind comments. The finish is gloss polyurethane; the first two coats were thinned about 30% with mineral turps to allow the finish to penetrate the wood.

Tasman,

I am afraid the freight from Tasmania would be a killer for the small quantity of blackwood that I am likely to use - I am only a hobbyist. But I am sure the Victorian forum members will be interested in your stock.

Rocker

[snappperhead]

the mitre is fine without biscuits. maybe if you are worried about the glue up you could use them. forget web clamp and cumbersome jigs, tape is fine.

[Rocker]

Snapperhead,

You may be right that biscuits are not essential; but there doesn't seem to be any down-side in using them, and they do give the assurance that the joint definitely will not move while the glue is setting. They also help to align the joint properly, in case the side or top has a tendency to warp. I would be happy to do without them when glueing a small box, but I would be wary of relying solely on tape with a larger cabinet like this one. Also, the biscuits must add some mechanical strength to the mitre joint, which would otherwise be relying entirely on the glue's ability to adhere to end-grain on the mitre faces.

Rocker

[jow104]

To Rocker from John.

Your craftmanship and output of furniture projects is still leaving me with envy.

I would like to suggest that your pictures would look even better if you changed over to using the hyperlink.

I have found a free and worthwhile host which you might like to peruse.

http://photobucket.com

They give free hosting upto 25mb and a massive 250mb for a very small charge.

Anyway have a happy and productive new year.

[jow104]

A picture sample using the photobucket link

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v330/devonwoody/snow1.jpg">

[Rocker]

John,

Thanks; I already have a number of photos stored on the Yahoo site. I am afraid any deficiencies in my photos are down to my rather obsolete digital camera and my lack of photographic expertise. But I think the pics gave an adequate idea of what my cabinet is like.

Rocker

[snappperhead]

no doubt they help for the glue ups but they add no mechanical extra, the mitre is the weakest of all joints. having said that, with modern glue and with your use of biscuits its very sound, especally for a cd cabinet. nevertheless, i never bother with biscuits - just prime the end grain of both surfaces and tape them and check the diagonals of the carcass. i have never had a problem with one i have done yet.

[silentC]

no doubt they help for the glue ups but they add no mechanical extra, the mitre is the weakest of all joints.
If a mitre is the weakest of all joints, why would you say that a biscuit adds no strength? I would say it adds plenty of strength. As would a spline or a key or any of the myriad of other ways people reinforce mitre joints. If they add no strength, why would anyone bother?

You are relying completely on the strength of the glue if you use no other joinery in a mitre. That might be OK for mass produced stuff not designed to last but if I was making something to give to someone else, I would feel better about it if I reinforced the joint in some way. At least a biscuit or a spline provides some long grain to long grain gluing.

[Harry72]

The answer is to use a lock mitre bit... once you've wasted 20' of wood trying to get the settings right!
Make a test peice that you can set the height by(need one for every different thickness wood you use...).

[silentC]

Trouble with them, apart from the setup, is you can see the profile of the bit on the exposed ends of the mitre. Splines and biscuits are hidden away.

[MajorPanic]

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif Bloody Stunning, Rocker!! http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif

Your niece is a lucky girl to receive a beautiful set of drawers like that ;) :D

[snappperhead]

biscuits add no strength in a mitre, all they do is aid the glue up.

[silentC]

You can just keep repeating that like a broken record if you like but perhaps you can enlighten us as to your reasoning? I suppose you have made them with and without and then tested them with some kind of stressing apparatus?

[silentC]

"A miter joint that's held together only by glue is weak. By using glued-in blocks, keys, splines, or biscuits, you can improve the strength of a mitre joint considerably."

Gary Rogowski "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery" p.106

"Biscuits placed across a miter joint do a good job of adding strength and are not visible [by comparison to a splined mitre]."

ibid p.112

[HappyHammer]

So what you trying to say SC :D

[silentC]

That sometimes it's better to admit you were wrong, open your eyes and ears, and learn something. I should know, I'm wrong at least half of the time that I'm not right ;)

[Rocker]

An article on this cabinet is now published in the current issue (#124) of the Australian Woodworker.

Rocker

[bitingmidge]

Congratulations yet again!

Cheers,

P:D

[Corunetes]

Absolutely smashing, Rocker!

Like I said in my PM to you, I've fallen in love with Blackwood. What a spectaculair species!

:)


I'm with you............... Blackwood is a luverly looking timber. What's it like to work with?

[Rocker]

Corunetes,

Blackwood is rather prone to burning and tear-out when being routed, but its often spectacular grain can produce a stunning end result. The cabinet described in this thread and in the article was made from boards that showed a very strong change of colour, depending on the angle from which they were viewed. I am no physicist, but I suppose this is some sort of diffraction effect.

Rocker

[Rocker]

An article on this cabinet is now available online at http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgdcspjt_73t87tht

Rocker

[gazaly]

Onya Rocker :)

[ciscokid]

That's simply beautiful, Rocker! :o I love it. Your work is very good, but then you probably already knew that. :wink: What's next?

[Claw Hama]

Rocker, I can't believe I haven't noticed your thread before this, great looking unit mate. Blackwood always looks so good too, I think the knobs look sweet, not too big at all.