Cabinet Curves

 
Rachel’s cabinet was fun to build in part because I used a technique that is new to me.

Like most furniture makers, when faced with a design for a cabinet including curved sides, I would have fabricated stiff sides that provide structural strength when joined to the front and back of the cabinet.  

 
 In this case I approached the construction more like an airplane builder or a boat builder.  This approach is described in Fine Woodworking, by Judson Beaumont, a Canadian designer/maker of intriguing, whimsical furniture. 

The front and the back of Rachel’s cabinet were shaped in two steps.  First I made a template with nicely finished edges from 1/4“plywood. Then I rough cut the front and the back from a good grade of plywood. 

 

I applied the template to the rough cut pieces and, using a router with a form following bit, made the front and back into exact replicas of the template

 


















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 The front and back were initially joined together with the struts that carry the drawer guides.  These joints were made with floating tenons (Festool Dominoes) and provide ample strength for holding the cabinet together.

The next step was to add closely spaced ribs following the curved edges of the cabinet. 

 


A thin skin of bending plywood was clamped, glued and nailed to the edges of the cabinet and the ribs. 

When the glue dried the carcase of the cabinet beautifully followed the planned contour and had wonderful structural integrity and strength.