Having an “artistic” freeze. Three choices for cabinet panels with a little “cool” factor. Candidate “A” is Frank Lloyd Wright “inspired.” Candidate “B” is Frank Lloyd Wright - the real deal. Process for either would be to mask, carve, seal, spray, remove mask for the kitchen (white cabinets); or, for the laundry room (cherry cabinets) condition and tone to begin and add boiled linseed oil and catalyzed lacquer after mask is removed.
Candidate “C” is Greene and Greene, an exact copy of the cloud lift windows in the Gamble House in Pasadena. The voids behind the mullions would be seedy or rain glass, or maybe subtly colored/textured glass. I would only consider these for the kitchen uppers. For any of the candidates I can go full overlay or full inset. Never cared much for partial overlay - kinda like partial pregnancy. The stock for the kitchen doors is maple. By the way, the white melamine for the test pieces is the new MDF for this sort of thing until the lumber market calms down. $35 per sheet for Melamine and $60 per sheet for MDF.
I’ve thought about this so much my brain is broken and though the choice matters a great deal, at this moment I either am incapable of making a decision or I have come (at the moment) to not give a rip. It is “Go time” for this portion of the work - gotta poop or get off the pot. Any Thoughts?! Anyone care/dare to be creative? Other resources?
If you like this sort of styling you might like the artwork of John Pedder https://www.johnapedder.com/. He was a chippy but now hand carves creations as an artist.
I won’t suggest a styles (that’s personal taste - I would find any of them too busy especially a combo with a or b & c). However, I can recommend that you go full overlay. Insets show nicks and scratches on the edges of the frame fairly easily as you use the cabinets - especially ones with things like pots & pans in them. Worse if you have kids Also, remember, you’ll have to clean the engraves from kitchen dust & grease buildup. Lots of lacquer & shallow engraves would be best for easier wipe-downs (which might also argue for C with the lowers just having the lines engraved & the uppers with the cutouts for glass).
Thank you for introducing me to John Pedder. His “Small Mercies” woodcut book seems like it will be beautiful to have around. “Fatherhood” whispers and then thunders that special connection. I can feel the emotion in the father and the wonderment in the child. Simple at the surface and, while fully taking it in, teeming with meaning below.
Yes. Regarding inset vs. full overlay, I agree. There is a tradeoff. Inset is period correct, and while the inset frame edges are vulnerable while open and fully protected while closed, the full overlay makes them vulnerable on top and bottom all the time. They also present a top edge surface to collect dust etc. The appearance of full overlay, while “sleeker,” is not period correct. On the other hand, I am not building a museum. My decision making solenoid is damaged from over use.
On the engraves, I wonder how they might look with epoxy infills rather than paint. That would create a flush surface and help with routine cleaning. For the cherry in the laundry, maybe a ruby or oxblood red for a subtle appearance or black for a clear and unmistakable impression. For the kitchen, perhaps epoxy in the color of the gray countertops or a much lighter shade of the same gray to “whisper” the theme.
I had not thought of the engraved silhouette of “C” for the lowers to go with the mullion and glass version for the uppers. This is an interesting idea - I will let it near the damaged solenoid and see what happens. There is no downside to any of this - it is a blessing to have the choices to make.
Has anyone used Oramask with poured/colored epoxy (the stuff used for river tables)? Does it hold up well enough to keep any epoxy from creeping up between the engraved edge of the Oramask and the workpiece?
Ok, opinions here. I think B is a little busy to be repeated over and over in a row of cabinets. I would make nice stained glass. I think A would look good if you thinned down the lines a bit. Maybe V-carve it and inlay a contrasting wood? C would look nice as a wooden frame with (stained) glass for the center. Personally, I like C with leaded lines between the glass pieces.
Thank you, Woody. For the kitchen, C is my first thought. Are you thinking cut the glass the same shape as the openings, wrap and solder lead came around this pieces, and then inset them in recesses at the back of each door? Or are you thinking the surround plus additional designs within each opening? My stained glass skills are intermediate - not advanced. Don’t care much for foil - partial to lead came.
Super ideas. They would be striking that way and much easier to keep clean (your wife will appreciate that). It will take a bit longer because of the epoxy fill time, but if you 're going to the trouble to do all the work for custom cabinets, you’ll value the result longer than you’ll value the time saved in doing just an engrave.
BTW, I was making the same call for the cabinets in our new kitchen which is why I had already thought of the inset vs overlay question. We’re going full overlay because they maintain their look better over time. It takes very little in the way of a nick or gouge on the edge of the frames for inset doors to look like crap and they stay looking like that. It seems harder to bang up (on the kitchen side) the edges of overlay doors possibly because they’re out of the line of banging when they’re open and when they’re closed they’re protected by the counter overhang - we’ve had both and are going overlay again.
My thought was more along your first idea. A frame with a single cut glass panel with canes. I see the glass as clear but not fully transparent. You could add some color here and there for variety and accents.
The book is great. What i like are the stories he adds about each piece. I also thought that a much cleaner job could be done with a cnc (of course) but he (and many) do like are the ‘makers’/‘making’ marks.
I’m new here (this is actually my very first reply ever). Give me “B” and “A” on alternating cabs. The circles all get stained glass, alternating the 3 primary colors, red, yellow, blue. These kind of designs are what has made me get into cnc work. Good luck, I’m sure you have already begun this project, but I just had to say something. Be sure and update this post with what you finished with, if you can.
Also, remember, you’ll have to clean the engraves from kitchen dust & grease buildup. Lots of lacquer & shallow engraves would be best for easier wipe-downs (which might also argue for C with the lowers just having the lines engraved & the uppers with the cutouts for glass).