James Dixon, Secret Compartment Table (TABLES, CHAIRS & DESKS 2023)

Video tour:

https://youtu.be/fMoFWUxObV0

Table with a Secret Drawer. This stunning table is made from Australian Red Cedar with Huon Pine inlay crisscrossing in parallel on the drawer front. The Huon Pine inlay extends to the sides of the table for balance and also runs up the outer corner of each leg. Cutting the rebate in the corner of the leg for the inlay was quite tricky and a single use sled was used to complete this task. The drawer front inlay is raised 1.5mm and rounded over to give the front texture and accentuate the inlay. Each end was custom fitted to the piece it butted into. This meant numbering all 30 pieces then gluing them in a specific order to make it all work. I always wanted to include a secret compartment in a piece of furniture and this table has a hidden drawer. The hidden drawer is released by pressing the bottom right diamond on the drawer front. I spent hours lying awake at night designing the secret latch mechanism which was the hardest part, but it worked out and the spring loaded concealed drawer is a great feature. The video shows how four inlay pieces were only glued on one side to allow for a cedar diamond section to be removed. This section became the hidden release button for the secret drawer. There is a full build YouTube video of the table build and another on the secret drawer including the custom made brass release mechanism. Both available on my One Handed Maker channel. All up around 120 hours of challenging design and build resulting in a fantastic heirloom conversation piece.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.