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Cabinets - Natural Birdseye Maple
& Honduran Mahogany - Tung Oil based finish
This it the first piece of what will be an entire custom kitchen cabinet
project. All of the visible face frames, side panels and toe kicks are being
made from Honduran mahogany. All the drawer front and cabinet door panels of birdseye maple.
The drawer boxes are of solid tiger stripe maple.
This particular base unit will be positioned by
itself between two major appliances. Therefore, the sides are not exposed to
view and are made of the same less expensive yet durable materials used in
many such applications at the Smithsonian Institute.
In this unit, as will be the case with all of
the drawer style base units, the drawers are also of solid maple (hard
maple). All of the drawers are mounted with 100 lb rated, full extension
drawer guides for full access and maximum durability.
In this photograph only a single drawer handle
is attached. This is a temporary handle. All of the drawers and doors will
have custom made ebony handles. This choice will unify the cabinets with the
black granite countertops planned for the space. Hinge hardware, etc. will
also compliment the granite countertops.
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The
lifecycle chronology of the project is illustrated and described below. Click on any of the
small images to open a full size
view in a separate viewing window.
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Full, front left
quarter view of the base cabinet. The unit will be placed between the
kitchen range and refrigerator. Therefore, lesser expensive materials were
used to make the cabinet case, which will not be visible when installed. |
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All of the drawers
are constructed of solid maple (hard maple) and suspended on full extension
guides. Each guide is rated at 100 lbs (200 lbs per drawer). |
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This straight on
view begins to show the exquisite figure of the birds eye maple drawer
fronts. The warmth of the finish will give the space an inviting feeling.
The contrasting woods will keep the space light and alive in character. |
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This close up view
shows the profile of the drawer face edges. The fine grain of the mahogany
and maple is visible. The birds eye figuration of the maple is a bit more
visible in this view as well. |
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The tung oil finish
brings out the natural color and gorgeous grain of the mahogany. The birds
eye figuration of the maple is quite clear in this image. |
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Another view of the
upper left corner of the unit. The subtle beauty of the mahogany is revealed
by the finish, yet the mahogany does not overwhelm the key feature of the
birds eye maple. |
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This is a view of
the lower drawer, extended almost all the way out. This sides of this large
drawer are made of tiger stripe maple. One wants to open the drawer just to
see the marvelous grain of the maple. |
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Another view of the
lower drawer. The beautiful birds eye maple is very evident in this image,
along with the shadow lines on the edges of the drawer face, giving depth
and interest to the cabinetry. |
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A close up view of
the face frame of the cabinet between two of the middle drawers. The joinery
is very tight. This face frame uses lap joints rather than pocket screw
joinery. Mahogany can corrode screws. |
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Another view of the
bottom drawer with the tiger stripe maple sides. The tight joinery between
the stiles and rails of the face frame can also be seen. |
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The light makes the
tiger stripe maple shimmer as the drawer is pulled open. |
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Another view of the
edge profile of the drawer faces, the tiger stripe maple, and the tight lap
joints of the mahogany face frame. |
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