Maybe our most challenging project to date. I was asked by a family friend to make two bespoke cabinet doors for her kitchen.

The idea was to have something inspired by a wooden cabinet she already owned.

I had never tried to make a raised panel door, I guess that is not really the style of furniture I prefer, yet it was a very interesting project because it allowed me to improve my expertise on this sort of decorated style.

We chose larch because of its reddish color, and I decided to have the pieces planed down to size at the lumber yard, that way I could concentrate on the joinery and decoration. I had to build a special jig for cutting the angle on the raised panels (maybe we will make a video of how to build one) and the rest of the decorations and mouldings were made on the router table.

It was also a nice opportunity to try out the lathe, which until now I had only used for making dowels. I’m still learning, but I like very much how the door handles came out.

For the finish I was very pleased with the effect obtained using a transparent wood preservative coating, a water based gel that leaves a very smooth surface without adding too much glossiness.

The music tracks Falling Down, Middle Passage and Wandering by Ryan Little
are Licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0
Attribution/Share alike license