The Turntable Cabinet is Finished!

Actually it’s been done for weeks but I’m finally getting around to editing the photos and blogging about it.  Honestly, I needed a break from it after working on it for weeks but I recently was at the owner’s home for some more work and I was able to visit it again and take some photos of it.  I always like seeing my furniture being enjoyed and used.

In its home.

This is it with the lid up to access the turntable and the doors positioned in the center to expose the speakers which are behind removable cloth panels.

When I opened it to photograph the interior they had Kind of Blue on the turntable.  Nice.

David Johnson – Sidecar Furniture

Turntable Cabinet – Veneering

An illustrator friend of mine once commented that an artist’s style is developed by experimentation and then discovering what he or she likes to do. One process I enjoy is veneering. By cutting my own veneers I am able to maximize a nice board by resawing it into veneers. Also the stability of a veneered panel opens up some design and construction opportunities that would not be possible with solid wood.

While veneering requires many steps it is pretty basic. First get your bandsaw running nicely and cut thin slices from the board. I cut my veneers at 3/32”

Next prepare the core material that the veneers will be glued to. In the case for this cabinet, a 1/4” FSC Baltic plywood with walnut glued to the edges. This walnut banding makes the veneered panels appear as solid wood. The panel needs to be veneered on both sides so it will be even and stay flat. At school this was called the sandwich.

Next the sandwich is glued up. For small scale panels like this I do the glue up on the bench with cauls lined with cork.

After the panels are out of the press they are cleaned up, cut to size, and I cut grooves in the side for the frame that holds them in the door frame. Here is what one of my doors look like in parts.

Isn’t veneering cool?