OK it’s only the upper part of the wall unit. The wife requested some extra storage space and since my sweethart of 20 years never asks for much I decided to get started. The unit now sits on a long counter which acts as the computer desk, eventuelly I’ll replace the wood top and all the pine drawer units with matching cherry cabinets.
panels are bookmatched spalted veneer. The mulls in the doors were a way to make the best use of the boards I had. Both door panels as well as the medicine cabinet panels posted earlier were cut from one board.
Photo of upper unit and a close up of one of the doors.
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Are the stairs inside the cabinet? ;0
What does this situation in my life ask of me?
The only way they would be in there is if they were in an urn.
Thats some wild looking grain. Was it hard to cut?
Thanks for the pictures, nice to see something different for a change.
The spalted wasn't difficult to cut. The biggest surprise was the panels warped like crazy. The panels comprise of spalted face veneer, 1/8 baltic birch core and a maple veneer back for a total thickness of 5/16. Apparently the spalted soaked up more glue than the back veneer and as it cured shrunk at a greater rate causing the panel to bend. I ended up sanding the back veneer off and replacing it with a lesser grade of spalted. Aspen may have worked as well but after all that effort I did't want to do it a third time. Some words were uttered that are not in Websters book. I guess one is never to old to learn something new.
Nice looking cab riverman.
When constructing a pair of maple bookcases (display cabinets, really) in an office I designed and built for a client, I found two sheets of maple plywood at supply shop that had their reverse sides covered with veneer that was not unlike what you've used there. Spalted, but also burled. An unbelievable amount of birdseye. Bookmatched on both sheets, and the two sheets matched each other.
I was thrilled. Here were the supposed waste sides of these two sheets that just happned to be covered with this amazing, exotic veneer.
I thought these two nearly perfectly symmetrical pieces would look amazing as the backs of these cabinets, with their spotlights and knicknack covered glass shelves.
But...I could not get the client to go for it. Oddly enough, since she ordinarily favors the distinctive and exotic. I tried very hard to persuade her, going so far as to finish both sides of the sheets, making them reversible, and fitting the cabinets into their recesses first with the spalted sides out, so she could see the final result.
It looked really good, but she insisted on having just the plain old vanilla maple side facing out.
So I permanently sealed those cases in place with that veneer forever hidden away. I've wished ever since that I had just kept it for myself. I could have figured out some use for it.
Yes and I hear you. Happens quite often. I run into some pretty cool wood at the mills, buy it up and hang on to it for the right client. I have sample parts that I show customers and just cringe whenever they still decide on oak.