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[benchmench]

80% made by 'bot, 20% by tablesaw.
It is so much easier to make these with the 'bot.
Doors are MDF, made in Partworks along with arched face frame rail. Vertical moldings made with Forney Fluter, cabinet interiors are black melamine PB made with Cabinet Parts Pro (Thanks Ryan!). Bottom middle section rolls out on castors for wire access.
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[br928]

Very nice Dan.

Is the face all MDF or is there some hardwood?

What technique did you use for the finish?

[benchmench]

Most everything is mahogany plywood on the outside with mahogany solids for vertical moldings, face frame and shelf edging. Crown and base boards are poplar moldings. Doors are the only MDF.

Finish is Old Masters Red Mahagony penetrating stain with a black glaze. General Finishes clear Poly for the lacquer. It is water-based, dries fast and leaves a great finish at 70 degrees or above.

[jhicks]

Nice work Dan. Its truly amazing what can happen with a good design, good use of tools, and a quality finish.
Even the MDF and Poplar parts fit seamlessly.
Nice finishing
Bot ON !

[wberminio]

Very nice details.
I like the pull out detail for the components.

What species of mahogany did you use?
I know that Honduras is getting more difficult to come by.

Keep up the great work!


Erminio

[myxpykalix]

absolutely beautiful. I wish i had the talent and patience to create beautiful pieces like that.

[benchmench]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Coming from this community, it really means a lot.

You are right Erminio, the really good stuff is getting hard to find and expensive when you do. Honduran ply is around $95 USD a sheet in Southern Calif. This is Phillipine at 1/3 the cost. There is much more flexibility with materials under a dark stain and glaze than you would have with a lighter color such as Maple.

[loriny]

The doors are unbelievable. From the pictue who would guess they are MDF. Good Work. Pieces like that inspire me to learn every trick I can for my machine.
Lorin

[butch]

Dan
That is really nice work. I am working on a Murphy bed with two book cases. Wish I would have seen your design in MDF as I may have went that direction rather than plywood with oak stiles and rails.
Thanks for posting.

[thewoodcrafter]

Looks really good Dan.
Was this for profit or for yourself?

[benchmench]

Thanks Roger, this was a paying job. Client budget didn't allow for hardwood doors or top dollar materials - all too common these days. He liked the design and drawings and I had some samples of the materials and doors from another job. He liked these enough to go ahead with the project.

[don62]

Dan,
first - a beautiful project! second - finishing has always been my short suit, so just how did you get mdf doors to look like mahogany wood? or am i missing something here!
don

[audiodemon]

great job .. you'd never know from the photos there's mdf in that thar cabinet..

[benchmench]

Thanks Don,
It is a multi-layered process with too much detail to go into here, but it is similar to the process of painting MDF. See posts for painting MDF by Danny Ray and others. I use additional steps to add "faux grain" and glaze.

Finishing books and articles by Bob Flexner and others can describe the "faux grain" techniques used.

[danny]

Wow, That is amazing. Two thumbs up

[don62]

Dan,
thanks - will read the post and give mdf finishing a try - again - great job
don

[benchmench]

Now that Shopbot has the link with eCabinets software, I wanted to mention this project was originally conceived in eCabinets with renderings (which sold the project) and rapidly produced dimensioned drawings for client approval. If the eCabinets link were available at the time, most of the project could have gone straight to nesting and CNC machining.
1949