(Mr) Jan Reksten, Small display cabinet on tall legs (CHESTS, CABINETS, SHELVING 2021)

The brief from the client was for a small floor-standing display cabinet on tall legs with the following features: glass front and sides; one adjustable glass shelf. The height of the entire piece is 1500mm and the display cabinet component is 522mm wide, 486mm high and 346mm deep. The piece was made between July and October 2020. The materials used are figured Tasmanian myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii), Tasmanian myrtle veneered 10mm MDF (for rear panel only), glass, polished brass screws (for fixing buttons) and pins (to fix beading in glass panels), brass shelf supports and sleeves, Brusso brass butt hinges. One of the challenges with this piece was to fix the framing of the glass side panels to the top and base plates of the cabinet in such a way as to allow for wood movement in the plates. I solved this situation, at the same time creating a design feature, by not gluing the joinery between the rails and stiles of the side panels and leaving a 2mm expansion gap between the rails and stiles to allow the tenons to move freely to and fro in the mortises. The rigidity in the structure is instead achieved by gluing the rails half way along their length into the top and bottom plates with a single small Domino tenon. The stiles are glued to the top and bottom plates using mortise and tenon joinery. The backing plate of the cabinet is glued along all of its four edges into grooves in the rear stiles and top and bottom plates lending further strength to the construction. The 2mm expansion gap is also continued a design feature into the doors at the front of the cabinet. In the case of the doors however I simply incorporated a shallow 2mm wide groove between the rails and stiles of the doors where the joinery is otherwise glued. Other design features include: arched rails (and internal beading) in the doors and side panels as well as arching in the structure in the leg assembly that supports the cabinet; Through-tenons in the cabinet support at the front and rear of the leg assembly; Splayed feet at the base of the legs; Hand-carved and shaped door handles; 45 degree sloped cornice in top plate.

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