Next in my “Snipe” suite of office furniture is my filing cabinet. The brief was that this was to have drawers to hold paperwork, and one of them was to be big enough to hold A4 ring binders. It was to be the partner to my “Snipe” corner desk and forthcoming “Snipe” sideboard, and the design elements of the corner desk would be continued and developed further.
The cabinet was a box carcass with solid sides, top and base. Long mitres along each edge were given three walnut splines to provide additional strength and a contrasting decorative element. The whole cabinet sits on a plinth which is also mitred and has walnut splines. The rails on the front face which separate the drawers are joined to the sides of the carcass using pairs of walnut dowels.
A heavy chamfer to the front edges of the carcass gives a frame to the three drawer fronts. The three drawer fronts use a relatively straight grain which is a nice counterpoint to the crazy grain used elsewhere in the cabinet and drawers. The solid ash drawers are dovetailed boxes and slide on soft-close runners appropriate to office furniture. The handles for the drawers are circular segments cut-out from the drawer faces and the front edge of the drawer box.
I had been a little worried about how the handle cut-outs would appear: were they going to look too big, were they going to be comfortable? In the end, I am very happy with both their function and how their dark voids provide shape and form to the front aspect of the cabinet.
Dimensions are approx. 760 mm high x 480 mm deep x 540 mm wide. The size of the front of the lowest drawer is 320 mm high, the drawer box front is 290 mm high, and the internal drawer height from the drawer base is 268 mm – enough for an A4 ring binder on its long edge.
