I first made a “Chaffinch” cabinet about 3 years ago, so it was nice to revisit the design and make some alterations for a new bedside cabinet.
What changed? The client wanted an additional three small drawers in place of one of the open shelves. A slide-out tray was requested on which a drink could be placed – and the tray was to be able to slide out on both sides so that the cabinet could be used on either side of a bed. I also changed the construction slightly so that the side and rear panels are no longer load-bearing and instead can be thinner, and this meant that I was able to panel the inside of the top shelf with horizontal grain to flow more with that space. A small hole was added to give access to power for the client’s clock/radio.
What didn’t change? The gorgeous olive ash with it’s amazing flames, ripple and colour contrast between the older heartwood and the younger wood.
The top is made from two wide staves which means that the colour and grain patterns are complementary. The side panels are also made from two staves and have been book-matched with the heartwood in the centre as if it was a slice though the tree.
The tray slides either left or right and has a central stop on the underside to lock it on either side. A magnet in the middle helps to locate the tray when it is pushed into the home position. A small rounded concave dimple at each end of the tray gives a subtle pinch point to help pull out the tray.
I made the drawer walls using single-staves of ash – I found that the ash was sufficiently well seasoned that even being re-sawn it was quite stable. The bases are also solid ash and were the thinner cuts from the re-sawing process. I cut the drawer fronts from one long piece which travels from top left to bottom right. Half-dovetails are used for the drawer construction – in my eyes these are a pleasing joint and they also leg me use walnut pegs to strengthen the joint and as a visual contrasting feature.
I used Osmo White Tint to keep the ash colour as if the ash was unfinished – I often found during construction that I had to do a double-take to check whether I had put finish on pieces!
The dimensions of the cabinet are approximately H 700 x W 600 x D 400 mm.
