| Desmond
Scherman, Brookfield, Qld
Keyhole Cupboard
No 2
New Guinea rosewood, pine, plywood
1520 h x 1030 w x 450mm d
Some years ago
I built two circular chests of drawers
for my grandsons who were both then enthusiastic
about the Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit
characters in those novels had round doors
on their dwellings, and these chests became
known as ‘hobbit cupboards’.
The Keyhole Cupboard I made for my granddaughter
was smaller and lighter. Each of the eleven
drawers is sized and configured differently
to make best use of the timber. There
are also two secret compartments, for
holding diaries and stuff that a little
girl does not want her nosey brothers
to see.
Materials
The chest is built around a 12mm plywood
front and back, held apart by pine drawer
runners and kickers. The whole is then
faced with New Guinea rosewood in this
instance. The drawers are made of 19mm
pine with jig-cut dovetails left unfinished.
The back is 3mm ply chosen to more or
less match the rosewood.
The rosewood is from Lazarides Timber
Agencies in Brisbane, who assure me it
is from legal sources.
Methods, joinery and glue
The carcase is assembled using PVA glue
and screws through the ply front and backs
into the pine runners and kickers. The
face is fixed with flue and screws through
the back of the ply front. The sides are
a series of slats, fixed with pin nails
into the plywood case.
The drawers are 19mm pine boards, sized
for the opening. They are assembled with
jig cut dovetails on all four corners,
with a 3mm ply bottom set into a groove
cut on the tablesaw.
A full-sized template was made of the
front, and the drawer face frames cut
oversize. The drawers were then all ‘tuned’
and the drawer face frames temporarily
fitted to the drawers with screws through
the pull locations. The face frames were
then planed and sanded back to get the
final fit.
Finish
The piece is finished with one coat of
50/50 Feast Watson Satinproof and Feast
Watson Fine Buffing Oil, rubbed on with
400 grit wet and dry sandpaper, with the
excess wiped off. This was followed by
three coats of straight Fine Buffing Oil,
again applied with 400 grit wet and dry
sandpaper and excess wiped off.
Photos: Des Scherman
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