Graham Sands: sideboard revisited

Words and photos: Graham Sands

This sideboard has three compartments instead of four in the Waterfall sideboard I showed how to make in issue 108, making it a more standard size at 1800mm wide. The top was cut from the centre of two joined 2700 x 21mm lengths, then mitred to the sides so the grain waterfalls as previously.

I always have loved teak, especially in mid-century furniture. Not having made anything with it, I was keen to give it a try. This time, rather than veneering the doors, a suitable size teak board was selected for its figure, re-sawn and then sized down to 6mm to reduce weight before bookmatching. Three door panels were symmetrically positioned on the grain pattern, then separated.

For the door sides, the edges were mitred so the grain continues without interruption from door to door across the face of the cabinet. Vertical braces behind each door edge are screw fixed to allow for seasonal movement, and house rollers and guides run in recessed tracks. The doors only require a slight finger touch of the ebony grip to slide.

The six drawer fronts are custom teak veneered plywood and have solid 1.5mm edging all round, with the corners mitred. The fronts have an almost full width concave finger pull rebated behind the bottom edge. The drawer bottoms and backs are the same plywood. A modern side/runner system allows the drawers to fully extend for access and effortless operation regardless the content’s weight.

The central space with shelf has rear access for power. The sideboard divisions and shelf are plywood with solid edge strips. The base frame is teak and this time the legs are mitred.

To keep the weight down and avoid movement and warping, I had a sheet of 16mm plywood especially teak veneered for the drawers, divisions and shelf. The hardware for the drawers is Blum Legrabox and Hettich Slideline Plus for the doors.

Teak is very oily – after sanding it slowly oils itself, you can feel it which is quite amazing. Opting for a natural finish, it made sense to use good old teak oil, easy!

Read Graham Sands' article on making his Waterfall veneered cabinet here. Learn more about Graham here.