Finally completed the curio cabinet, 36"W X 15" D X 109" T. Sides, doors & back are glass (mirror panels on left side) - 15 glass panels in all.
Bought a 680 Lum 30" W LED light and installed it behind the upper's split-rail (seperating the very top 20" tall section) and completed it with a dimmer switch installed in the lower cabinet. It will light both the cabinet's interior and the behind-the-wall void (see below). That's why the back is glass too.
I got to use the Sommerfeld's Glass Panel Door Set and rubber gaskets - both a first for me. And also a first and more important, was designing and milling curved panels and rails. The glass guys I used, and have before (D&D Glass, Hampstead), had difficulty cutting the small radii returns in each of the panels' 4 corners - didn't think of that while designing the rails! I wanted as wide a rail as possible for the rigidity of the tall panel frames (77") using 2-1/2"W styles (1-3/4" in corners before glue-up - see last pic) and the tall main doors (16" X 58"). I didn't want the racking & twisting of use stressing the joints - especially with glass panels, or infring on the cabinet's purpose - veiwing into & through the cabinet. The back being glass added difficulty to engineering. The customer discovered an old brick fireplace/chimmney, original to the old three-generation home during an extensive remodel, and didn't want it covered up. So he and his wife decided to keep a 30"W opening in the wall - floor to ceiling - and place a custom made cabinet, with as much glass as possible, as a window to their treasure. This design was my solution.
This was a major project for me in a few ways; design issues, new processes, and the time it took to build - 120 hrs minus R&D, some "re-do's" (I make no mistakes in my shop :)), and other misc chores that go along with something new.
All bottom door rails are 4"W (at joints) reducing to 3". Mid rails are also 4"W (at joints), but tappering along top & bottom to 2"W to maximize view and transparency. And at least as important, was to maintain a light, airy and delicate feel to this huge piece.
The curio is not quite as shinny as the pics show (see former post with my shellac problems - Thx for the help!). I made them worse by playing with the pics before processing. [NOTE: The crown is just sitting on top (joint is blocked/gluded). It will absorb the 1/4" variance in the ceiling line by fitting around the 1" wide mounting strip below it.]
The biggest portion of the top is ply. When placed on top, the upper section covers all but 3" along the front and 2" on the right side. I used a sliding dovetail - also a first - to account for wood movement (discussed in another post) and as shown in another post under Finishing - a problem I encountered using shellac.
These door pulls are hand made - each a little different - in Italy (purchased from Van Dykes) and have the smallest screws I've ever used to hold the plate's top & bottom. I had to use my eyeglass screwdriver set to screw them in!
The cabinet is face-down. I didn't want to see the gasket from the inside, so I profiled the back rails/styles accordingly. LET IT BE KNOWN... I'm using my favorite filler knife (a flexible 3/4" Kitchen Spatula in a former life ) to "tuck" the gasket tounge into the 3/8" deep groove. It wasn't easy (maybe there's a tool for this???), but I practiced first on the back and mirrored side to get the hang of it before doing the doors and the cabinet's inside-right where I cut miters on each of the corners. It worked out OK. (The gasket material easily conformed to the sharp curves.)
More gaskets. Note on the mirror backs I didn't bother to miter the corners. These were the first attemps at the process so I could get the hang of it. I had ordered 3-25' rolls of the rubber gasket material, and had to order one more roll for ONE DOOR'S LOWER PANEL to finish. Go figure!
Note the tall door's mid-rail and shelf ledge to support the glass. This way, light will be telegraphed from the light above. The front ledge (left side in the pic) is rabbited to conseal the glass edge when the doors are opened. No need for that on the back where the glass will just sit on top of the ledge along its length.
A view of the LED fixture to light the cabinet and void behind the wall. It is an "under cabinet light" designed for kitchen uppers. Above it sits another glass shelf as the one below it and hopefully, it will have sufficient ambient light to light the 18" Tall section above it. Also seen here is the narrow 1-3/4"W rail (mentioned earlier) which was glued and pocket screwed to the 2-1/2" rail (forming the corner) that can be seen from the outside. It worked out that the gasket slot and pocket screw hole did not interfere with each other. Not shown, is the gasket slot breaking through the perimeter of the 135mm holes bored for the Blum pocket hinges. The gasket tongues bottomed-out against the cups, so I had to cut the tongues a bit so the gaskets would seat against the shoulder of the grooves.
This was a fun project and I'm already thinking about the next one, a Maple Workstation - desk with file drawers/doors, flanked by 7' bookcases complete with a puck-lit floating bridge.
Thx for looking.