Flat Screen TV Cabinet

 After over a month of working on this "beast", I finally wrapped it up today. The finish alone took a week to apply and get to what I think, is a pretty realistic looking primitive finish. I made this piece for a client to house a large 55" flat screen and the components that go with it.  It's made in two pieces, the wood is poplar and and has bi-folding upper doors.

                                               
With the doors open you can see how much room is saved by the bi-fold doors. The doors are over 25" wide and would take up a lot of room when swung open if made into a full door. The color on the interior is a mixture of Butternut Squash, Black, Cream, with a touch of Mustard. Once the mixture is applied it looks horrible, not something you want happening on such a large piece. When the paint dried it gave a dirty brownish, black color that "resembles" old wood left to age. The results I am fairly happy with although I will continue trying different variations till I get the inside to look like the grungy brown, black color you see on most primitive interior cabinets.

This shows a close up of the door joinery. I used through mortise and tenons and put riven pins on a diagonal. This piece has fairly heavy doors and I wanted there to be no issue with sag. This method should help keep it as square as possible.

The color chosen, was a 3 color milk paint finish, or as I call it, my "Time Worn Finish". Black was the first coat, then a mixture of Butternut Squash, Yellow Ochre and Black to get the "pumkin'y brown" color you see, followed by a turquoise and white mixture. I put on one coat of oil/varnish to give some protection but not do away with the "dry paint" look and feel. I did the aging with scrapers, sandpaper, and a ton of elbow grease. It's not everyones preference, but for the primitive antique'r, it gives you a way to have a large flat screen TV in a cabinet that fits the TV, and still get a worn primitive look, kind of a 17th century meets the 21st century, cabinet.  It can be made out of any wood for a more formal look if needed.

The finshed cabinet in it's home.  

Shaker Table w/ Company Boards

Earlier this year I had made a set of 8 Windsors for a customer and they then asked me to make them a table. They needed something that would fit the everyday space they had but during holidays they needed it to become larger. My suggestion was company boards. Company boards are just that, boards you put on the table when company comes over. Unlike table leaves, company boards go on the end of the table eliminating the crack always in the center of the table.

They wanted a shaker style table with simple turned legs and no frills. This is the table I made for them. Pretty much a shaker inspired table, made out of cherry, and plain and simple.

The only drawback to company boards are they have to be stored when not in use. They are 36" long and 18" wide making them hard to store on the underside of the table. A closet would be my choice. 

For making extra room for "Company" they work great. They slide in through notches in the aprons and gravity takes over once inserted all the way in.

This table can go from 60" long for 6 people, up to 96" long for 8 . Makes a wonderful way to add more chairs around the Turkey dinner. Plus with a normal leaf table,  you always have the crack in the center of the table and the grain usually goes across the table, not an attractive look in my mind.

Rabbeted glass door with an offset mortise and tenon

    

I thought I would show how I go about making a glass door for my cabinets pieces. Instead of using a cope and stick router bit set, I opt for a better (in my opinion) offset mortise and tenon joint. It takes a bit of time to figure out at first but it really isn't difficult and makes a super strong door. When working with glass I want all the strength I can get. I have done it with the router version before and it works fine but I have also broken the the joint by accidentally dropping it on the floor. Granted the profile on those bits give a nice look, but to me they also look like kitchen cabinet doors made in a factory. With a mortised joint it is pretty much going to look like furniture. If you put a square peg through it, I don't ever see it coming apart and it will set the door in a more furniture realm than kitchen cabinets.