A Print Cabinet

I haven’t been too active photography-wise this past month. I had a long session in the darkroom in March but this ran its course and as I have learned I need to move to other activities to refresh the creative urges. As usual for me the genesis of my next project was complex,

Last year I built a set of shelves I called my cascade shelves. The first Covid lockdown was in effect and I ordered some plywood for the project. It had to be delivered as the stores were closed. Delivery costs a lot so I bought a bunch of extra finish plywood thinking I would find a use for it and spread out the delivery charge. 

Well I hate the plywood. The veneer is thin and brittle and makes an unforgiving material. So a bunch hung out in my garage until last September. Around that time I started ruminating on another woodworking project. I also really struggle with what to do with my prints when they are not framed and hung on the wall. They often sit in random piles and this lead me to think about a print cabinet. 

The design I came up with is based on 1) this largest prints I make (16 x 20 inches) and 2) how much plywood I had. Eventually I thought up a design for a cabinet that is about 4 foot high (1200mm) by 23" (590mm); wide enough to accept drawers that can hold 16x20 inch prints. The drawers I decided to make 48mm high with 50mm (2 inch) intervals. This resulted in 21 drawers. This number of drawers was where the project became ambitious. Typical to my ethic the whole project uses no fasteners for the joinery.

The next question is liable to be what happened between September and April?  Well I built the carcass, dovetailing in the top to the sides and fitting a center divider and bottom divider with dadoes, along with a 4mm think back panel. I even cut a lot of the drawer fronts, backs and sides. Then fall photography season hit and I found myself busy up until sometime in December. Then the weather got cold and I really could not face a cold garage and the prospect of making so many drawers.

So this month with warmer weather I finally ran out of excuses and started to regain some enthusiasm for the project. The drawer sides and back are 44mm high 12 mm thick plywood. The front is also 12mm thick but the height is 48mm with a 4 mm rebate to accommodate the 4mm thick plywood bottom. This rebate hides the plywood bottom when viewed from the front. The sides, front and back are are all butted joints with only glue to hold them. Corner clamps make sure these joints are square. Once these are dried I then glue the sheet of plywood to the bottom then cut the bottom plywood flush when the glue is dry. 

I route 12 mm slots 7mm deep in the sides of the drawers. These slots fit over drawer guides I glue to to the inside of the carcass at 50mm intervals. 

One problem with a project hiatus like I had with this one was that I had forgotten some details of what I planned to build. I do not work from drawings just what I dream up and keep in my head. I finished gluing the guides for 20 drawers and found there was room for one more! I assumed I had forgotten the number of drawers was 21 not 20. Alas it wasn’t until I had built the 21st drawer I recalled that I had intended a double depth bottom drawer.

Once all the drawers were made and fitted I proceeded to trim with oak the top to cover the dovetails (plywood dovetails don’t look so great!) I also made some edge trim for the front of the plywood using more oak. This came out nice as I had some quarter sawn sections with nice rays prominent. Next I sanded and waxed all the exposed wood. The top with a plywood sheet I stained to darken it and used polyurethane as flat surfaces inevitably invite drinks and consequently the risk of water damage. I also waxed the drawer fronts. 

The next conundrum was drawer pulls. I planned 2 pull per drawer so 42 total. Initially I considered using 120 film spool ends. This would give it a photography theme and I certainly have enough. I experimented with how to attach them but fortunately I changed my mind and fabricated pulls out of wood. I routed a quarter round from a strip of oak then ripped it to good dimensions. I then cut 1 inch (25mm) lengths from this strip and carved, sanded and drilled to get some simple pulls. A simple jig allowed me to make the holes in the drawer fronts consistent and I screwed the pulls to the fronts. I finished by waxing the pulls as well. The appearance is good from the outside. Closer inspection of the drawers when open reveal the more functional material of plywood. I considered painting and lining each drawer but I could not face the prospect doing this 21 times. I settled on a nice outward appearance as being sufficient. 

The Finished Product

Inside showing drawer guides

Drawer and pull detail