Wall Hanging Small Curio Cabinet

My wife these mice figurines from MA called Wee Forest Folks.  I am happy that they make her happy as it makes an easy gift.  There are lots to choose from so it's a matter of going through them and finding one that somehow captures a special moment in our family and buying it as a gift.  After a decade of a couple a year and they "collection" has grown.

My wife wanted to have something special to store them.  Fine Woodworking Issue #198 (May/Jun 2008) had a Craftsman Wall Cabinet by Ian Ingersoll that looked to be perfect.

I downloaded the plan and made some modifications to meet my wife's needs.  Also, I wanted to use hand tools, have the top and bottom attach to the sides via a housing dado, and one clear glass panel.  I wanted to attach it to the wall using a French cleat.

The woodworking itself was straight forward (part of the appeal) as it reminded me of making the Paul Sellers style clocks.  Just more housing dados.  The door was a new challenge.  I took my time, went slowly, make sure everything was square and used half laps  It came out nice.  There are plenty of flaws throughout.

I used Horton Brasses hinges.  I really liked the quality so I will use hardware moving forward.  

After getting the door square and twist free, the next proudest accomplishment was getting the underside bevel done with my hand plane.  I was able to keep to the lines on all three bevels.  Not that this is all that difficult.  However, for me, it was initially hard to do.  This work showed my skill is getting better.

At the last minute, the wife wanted some rows so I made some simple half width shelves that split the height using butt joints.  Simple and suitable.

I made it out of cherry.  I used garnet shellac that I dissolved up to around a pound and a half cut.  I really like how it came up.  Until I find a better finish, garnet shellac on cherry will be my go to default.  I do want to experiment a bit was well.  Better yet, my wife really likes it.  This was the first time I used a French cleat system for attaching to a wall. I really liked it.  I will use this system more.

This was a good project and I am overall very happy.  Plenty of mistakes but none that diminish my enjoyment of making it or how it looks with my wife's favorite figurines inside them.