Shaker Chimney Cupboard - Part 1

 In the Mar/Apr 2013 issue of Fine Woodworking (FWW#232), the cover piece was a Shaker chimney cupboard cabinet built by Mike Pekovich.  Though I hadn't started woodworking at the time, I knew I was close (I had a decade of excuses for not starting - would make for a good blog someday).  I immediately fell in love with this piece.  I must not be alone as there was a video series and DVD that followed.  I really wanted to make it and put this on my mental list as my first dream piece to make.

When I say dream piece, at the time, I didn't have the skills yet to make it.  Some day I would and till then, I could just dream of making it.  In fact, at the time, I couldn't even imagine the order of operations.  In late 2015 (6 years ago), I started woodworking.  Fast forward to 2021 and I now have made this dream piece.  It came out pretty good.  I made it out of cherry.  Since I don't have a bandsaw or planer or jointer, I worked with a local millworks company to provide me with S4S'd "1x12" cherry.  I spent about $1,000 and got twice as much cherry as I needed.  That would allow me to pick the parts for this piece.  Left over wood would get used in another project.  The left over wood will likely become the "15 drawer chest" that Christian Becksvoort has designed (C.H. Becksvoort - Welcome (chbecksvoort.com))  I want to upgrade my shop storage space and Becksvoort piece will be perfect for that.

The wood arrived in Aug 2020.  Though it is kiln dried, I still like it to sit in the shop for a long time before use.  Ideally, 6 months to a year before I need it.  Yes, this is likely overkill.  So be it.  I even get satisfaction of seeing the raw wood just sitting there knowing what it will become.  I started working on it in July 2021 and finished in Sep 2021.  It took 190 hours.

There were many challenges along the way and I learned a lot.  There were a few big boo boos but I managed to fix them.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.  Of course, it could be better.  That comes with time.  I made it as best I can at this point.

For the finish, I kept it simple.  Freshly made garnet shellac on the outside and blond shellac on the inside followed by wax polish.  It is being used in our guest bathroom to hold towels.  In our master bathroom (which gets more humid), we have an inexpensive one that we use to hold towels.  If I even get the bug to make a second one, I will replace the Ikea one.  My wife is happy.  There piece is a transition to larger work I have planned for the home.  All in all life is good.  

The next post will focus on rough cutting stock and dado layouts.