BEDroom cabinet
annabella knebel

I wanted to design and construct a timber cabinet for my family’s home. The piece will replace an aged set of white drawers in my room and I am using the timber to warm up the space. I have a particular interest in the timber industry and hope to secure a job in this sector. 

I decided to build a small cabinet as I wanted to focus on the detail and the finish. 
Creating a smaller project also gave me the opportunity to use a variety of joints to add to the complexity of the project.

After marking my timber, I docked it to length using the School’s drop saw. 

I experimented with the joinery of my door frame pieces using the sliding router table as well as the hand-held router. 

I used mitred butt joints to build my exterior carcase and used a stained piece of timber for the trench to join the two carcase pieces together. I used a piece of hoop pine with a dark stain to add to the mitred butt joint, this piece ran along the length of the join to create visual interest.

Prior to gluing and camping, I performed dry assemblies to ensure that my pieces fitted together correctly. Once I had confirmed all the pieces fittted together, I glued and clamped using standard PVA and sash clamps as well as quick action clamps. Unfortunately, the clamps did not apply enough pressure down the length of my piece resulting in a few gaps. I had to reassemble the piece and change the joinery to a rebate with dovetail nails.

I used a table saw to dock excess length from the timber and ensure a square finish, and a thicknesser to create flush panels. I used a router to construct an area for the plywood back to sit so that it was flush with the original carcase. 

Due to the lack of available rattan, I created a finish of a similar appearance by laser cutting a piece of plywood.

After installing the drawers, I sanded everything down and applied putty to cover marks and scratches. To finish off the project I applied a layer of wax and then buffed it to achieve the desired finish. 

Overall, I am happy with my project. I stuck to the original design as much as possible while allowing for modifications where necessary. I am very glad that the skills learned in my Industrial Technology classes allowed me to create something of which I am very proud.