Warwick Wright, Rozelle, NSW

Zetna
desk cabinet
Rock maple, masur birch veneer, wenge and Laminex. The drawer sides are quartersawn eucalypt.
1316 h x 615 w x 340 mm d

Zetna is a cabinet which incorporates an extending tambour desktop supported by extendable timber runners. It has one large drawer and four smaller drawers. Two LED lights turn on automatically when the doors are opened providing a well-lit interior. When closed, the cabinet provides an elegant and unobtrusive piece of furniture featuring masur birch door panels with wenge inlays and base. There is no hint of what lies within.

Materials
Allwood Timbers at Nowra NSW supplied the rock maple. I spent hours inspecting every board in the rack before making a choice of selected boards. The wenge came from Anagote at Marrickville NSW. They graciously cut out the centre of a 400 x 50mm board and sold me the quartersawn section. After searching for masur birch veneer, I was delighted to find some at Briggs Veneers. I was told that the few remaining pieces were the only ones available in Australia. The cross-banded pattern provides an interesting alternative to conventional grain orientation. Laminex provides an attractive contrast to yet more timber as well as providing a hardwearing and easily cleanable surface (eg on the desktop).

Joinery
After my initial reluctance to use a Domino, I relented and bought one last year. The mortiser is now rarely used. I still prefer to make very small joints by drilling out the mortises and paring with a chisel. Alternatively I use bamboo dowels for example in the small drawers above the desk which have then been finished with contrasting plugs. The drawer under the desktop features hand cut dovetails.

Glue
Epoxy has been used where there is a potential for creep (eg door frames) or a long open time is necessary. Otherwise I use yellow glue.

Finish
The rock maple is finished with four coats of Feast Watson Proof Seal to minimise the yellowing effect of the subsequent oil. The cabinet was then finished with twp coats of Intergrain, a tung oil based furniture finish followed by Feast Watson Fine Buffing Oil.

Concept
The Zetna desk cabinet was inspired by writing desks owned by women of previous generations. My grandmother and my mother each had one. The small cabinets had fold down fronts which opened to a horizontal position to serve as a desk.
When the front is lowered, supports for the desktop protrude from the cabinet. The inside of the desk had pigeonholes and shelves for storage of all sort of useful records and bits and pieces. As a child I was fascinated with ‘Mum’s desk’—probably because money and other interesting things would mysteriously appear from within.
The idea of a concealed desk unit (which could be closed to hide a messy interior) appealed to me. However the piece would have to be contemporary without the fold down front. I wanted the exterior to be stylish yet discreet with the interior to offer the fascination I found in the older desks.
The solution was to use a tambour desk top—or at least the back part of the top—which would fold away at the back. As it eventuated, the tambour turns back under the desktop. The cavity in between the closed tambour is filled with a drawer. The most challenging part of the mechanism was designing and making the fully extendable timber runners to support the extended desktop.
Use of colours and patterns are an important part of my work. I have chosen to use black Laminex in the interior to complement the light colour of the rock maple and dark chocolate colour of the wenge.

Photos: Greg Piper