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A rare fail

sunnybob

sunnybob

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Dont misunderstand, I often fail with my woodworking projects, and they go unseen and unremembered to the neighbours firewood pile, but this project is the first time I knew one was failing, quite early on, but persevered anyway, purely because I was doing lots of things I hadnt done before, and when it was finally finished, I realised it still failed.

So, as the forum index describes the projects page, here is my best wood butchery. :lol:

It started with some olive. I book matched four slices of the same branch, then decided to see if I could do a rail and stile raised panel door. Yes, a limited success. I used bubinga.
But then I needed a box to hang the doors to, so I made two side panels, again raised panel, but had no more olive so I used rippled beech. I dowelled them to the top and bottom mahogany planks, the back is ply. The interior has necklace hooks and watch shelves of bubinga, the ring box is a lift out bubinga tray foam filled and covered with green baize.

'Er indoors woudnt even give it sideboard room (and I dont blame her), so its in a wardrobe now until I can find a female goth to foist it onto. 8-)

21F4AFB7-90D0-45BA-834C-BF12207ADBA3.jpeg


IMG_3366 (2).JPG
 
Sorry, no idea why the forum has turned the first pic is sideways, both were taken at the same time with the same canon DSLR camera and are fine on my laptop. :eusa-think:
 
Dave, I can get it delivered to southern england in august for a good price :eusa-pray: :eusa-whistle:
 
OK..........remove the hinges and the litle packing blocks and replace with something like these:

hinges.jpg

Then add a small plinth to the bottom. Not much, just something which makes the bottom look different from the top. The quirky raised panels aren't a big problem. They're not classic, but there's no harm in that. The wood looks fine, the internals look fine. Just an hour or two of fine tuning and that is a prefectly decent piece of furniture.
 
Mike, the hinges were the last of many parts of the build that fought me. I ordered 4 antique style hinges and picked them up when I got to England at the end of february. When I got them back and tried to fit them, three fell apart. They were admittedly cheap, but were so thin they were not fit for purpose.
As there is no supplier here for small box making hardware I had to use what I could get. Very boring, very ugly.
The spacers were another fail. Even though I started with 2 doors and built the cabinet to fit, when push came to shove, they didnt. It was either add the fillets, or make a fold over lip to cover the large gap between the doors.

A truly awful build process, I can honestly say I have never completed a "thing" with so many pitfalls along the way, and I was glad to actually finish it and lock it in a cupboard, but I'm strong enough to admit to my styling disasters and am working through the emotional wreckage :eusa-doh: :lol:
 
The point of the hinges I suggested is that they off-set the doors from the carcase, so the little packers would be unnecessary.
 
Unfortunately, I stuck those packers on while waiting for the hinges. The project is in a cupboard now, so out of sight out of mind for the time being.
My next UK visitor isnt till august, so I might think later in the year about sourcing more, because I agree, those plain flat brass hinges are the truly awful icing on an awful cake. :eusa-violin: 8-)
 
I think you are being too hard on yourself, Bob. I've seen this from other woodworkers and been guilty of it myself - along the journey of making a piece, you've spent more time and attention on the things that have gone than you have on the good things. As soon as you show it to someone, you start listing the faults.

But show it to a non-woodworker and keep quiet, and I reckon they will see - and like - the strong grain pattern and the nice symmetry of the doors. They will see (or take for granted) that the joints are all tight and that the cabinet is straight and square where it needs to be. Will they think the hinges are odd? Only if they have spent as long as we have thinking about hinges - and most ordinary people don't do that.

It makes a strong impression and some people will love it for that. Any quirkiness is either enjoyed or goes unnoticed.
 
Andy, kind words, and completely true. I get quite a few people ask me for boxes, and when I start to explain the different wood types and colours they can choose from I can see their eyes glaze over. The average customer of mine just "wants a box". :eusa-hand:

Take comfort in the fact that I know exactly the standard of my work and dont take myself seriously over my hobby. :eusa-hand: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Its ok in itself, but neither I nor the missus want it on our sideboard (which is a first) :eusa-naughty:
Someone will like it, I will get it out of the cupboard and take it to the next christmas night market and advertise it at 50% off. :eusa-whistle: :lol:
 
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