Veneer layout opinions please

[stev]

All,

I have been working with a client to design a TV cabinet, after agreeing the design I have realised I've made a big mistake. While merrily drawing a quarter matched door in sketchup the realisation didn't dawn till it was too late that quarter matching only works with squares, these doors are taller than they are wide so the angle of the joint lines is not 45 degrees, it is a different angle either side of the joint therefore the grain cannot be made to followround the joints. If I make the joints 45 degrees there will be 2 different sized veneer pieces to make up the panel so again the match fails.

What do you think about this? Would it look really clunky if the grain does not flow smoothly around the panel?

It is a real dilemma, as I am generally very happy with the design but I don't want it to be let down by an issue like this.

I'd be interested to know your opinions.

 

[jasonB]

I'd have the top and bottom leaves going to a point and the two side ones with a short straight vertical joint.

J

 

[stev]

Jason, thankyou for your input.

If I understand you correctly you are suggesting this layout (I have included the centre detail panel in the sketch)

This was one of my ideas too and I thought I had it nailed but when you try to create this layout you find that you can match grain on 3 joints but the 4th one will end up misaligned, this is due to the use of 2 longer pieces at the sides rather than 4 triangles. The classic quarter match is achieved by layering up 4 consecutive leaves, cutting the joint lines simultaneously and then opening up a bookmatch in two different directions. That is not possible if you have different lengths of component. The 2 adjacent sides of a joint will come from different parts of the veneer leaf so there is no hope of the grain matching.

A solution that would work is this

or this

These both allow the classic quarter match to be made up and then split with the horizontal band in contrasting material or the same material with the grain at 90 degrees. But I think both may be a little fussy.

 

[AndyT]

Assuming the TV sits on top of the cabinet, and the inside is for DVD player, discs, cable box etc - how important are the internal dimensions of the cupboard, and how big is the difference? Could it still work if the doors were made square, reducing the height? You'd need to make a deeper plinth - which might not even show much if it's set well back - or put it all on legs.

Also, is the real veneer as stripy as the sketchup? If not, the mismatch with rectangular panels wouldn't look too bad.

 

[barkwindjammer]

Maybe not with all the ebony stringing and less cluttered to look at and make, what about this lay-out?

 

[stev]

Thank you chaps.

I have thought about making the doors square but a great deal of time has gone into deciding on proportions so I don't think changing the shape will go down well but it is worth considering.

The veneer is to be quarter cut macassar ebony so quite a bold stripe figure with strong contrast between the colours.

One thing I had considered is using a thick ebony string on the joint lines to seperate the two neighbouring veneer panels and given there is black in the macassar it should look reasonably subtle.

I need to do a more realistic sketchup to see what it looks like.

 

[stev]

Right, here is the latest sketchup with a bit more care taken to get a realistic appearance of the Macassar.

The left one shows the original plan with its mismatched joints.

The right one shows a line of 3.4mm Ebony string punctuating each joint. I like this as the ebony breaks the flow, seperating the neighbouring pieces and hopefully avoiding the suggestion that I tried and failed to make the grain flow round the joint. I also think it really draws the eye in to the 'light at the end of the tunnel' made by the steel inlay. Or does anyone feel the illusion is of the door lunging out at you? This would be a tad disconcerting four times over along the base of the TV while you try to relax!!! :shock: