I recently finished this cabinet and wanted to post some pictures. It is made of black walnut and maple (birds eye and curly), with a bit of East Indian rosewood used for the decorative beads.

The design started from a sketch, and I worked on it in CAD and then moved to full-scale drawings. I spent a lot of time working out the details, such as the top panels of crotch walnut that flank the single drawer, the mother of pearl inlay, the fixed stile to the left of the door. I also spent a fair amount of time on the curved legs – designing curves that were subtle, yet graceful. After many iterations on paper, I made a full size leg template which allowed for further refinement, and doubled as a pattern for shaping the legs later on.

To achieve the curves in the legs, I heated the bottom portion of the legs with steam then bent them over a form, a process called steam bending. After a week or more of drying, I shaped the legs to the template, starting with the bandsaw to rough out the shape, then refining with hand planes and spokeshaves.