Bruce Bull, Black Hill, VIC

Open Door
Red cedar, Huon pine, cedar
Dimensions: 300 h x 210 w x 210mm d

Concept:
Being a joiner, I wanted to create a box that incorporates aspects of my daily work. Making a box with a four panel door seemed like a good idea, as it would be a miniature version of the real thing.
Materials:
The red cedar (external box, drawer fronts, runners) and Huon pine (door) were purchased at the 2007 Melbourne Working With Wood show. The cedar (drawer sides and back) for the drawer sides and backs were off cuts from a box frame double hung window that I had made several months earlier. The ply (drawer bottoms) was from a set of drawers from a local 1930s house. The brass knobs and lock were from www.boxmakersbrassware.com.au.
Method of Construction:
The box was dovetailed together using radial dovetails. The concept being that the sides of the tails radiate inwards to a point a certain distance from the edge of the board. The templates for these were obtained from www.blocklayer.com/woodjoints. The back of the box was rebated all around so that it would fit into pre-cut dadoes on the top, bottom and sides of the box and thus be flush with these. There were also dadoes cut into the sides of the box internally to accept two long thin pieces which were to act as door stops. There were also small pieces that were cut to act as drawer runners. These were glued and nailed to the internal sides of the box prior to fitting together. The bottom of the box had its front edged shaped to match the profile of a door sill.
The door was made with haunched mortise and tenons, using a traditional four-panel design. The tenons were glued and wedged. The stiles and rails were grooved to allow the panels to fit in. The lock is a full mortise lock. All mortises were hand drilled, then cleaned up with chisels.
The drawers were blind dovetailed at the front with the back being rebated and fitted into grooves on the sides. The sides and front also had grooves cut along the bottom to allow the drawer bottom to be slid in.
Glue and Finish:
I used Titebond III to glue everything together. Each individual piece was sanded down to 320 grit. The outer box and drawers with Ubeaut Traditional Cedar Wax, while the door had Ubeaut Traditional Wax.
Apart from dimensioning the timber with machines, the rest of the project was done using hand tools.

Photos: Bruce Bull