Cabinet

I designed and built a wall-mounted tambour cabinet for a second-year furniture project.

The assignment was to design and fabricate a cabinet no larger than 10 cubic feet.

This cabinet can be wall-mounted in the dining room, office, or above a TV in the family room (which is where I have installed it). It can store and display ceramics or stoneware, books, figurines, liquor, glassware, tea paraphernalia, and other collectibles.

I wanted to make extra-wide slats because I was inspired by a photo of a tambour cabinet with wide slats. And I felt it would be the only feature that distinguished my tambour cabinet from other tambour cabinets with the typical slat widths. Typically, the bend of a tambour door is left exposed. So why are there front panels covering the bends on my cabinet? When I was a kid, the first time I saw a tambour door open, it was like a magic trick - wondering where the door disappeared to. So I’m trying to keep that mystery by concealing the bend. Also, because my slats are so wide, I don’t think an exposed bend would look as nice compared to a tambour with narrow slats (which would create a smoother bend).

I put door stops in the back so that the handles would stop 3/4” from the front panels, to allow for finger space. I designed the tongues on the slats to travel a bend with a radius as small as possible. The outside bevels allow it to go around a 3-inch radius. The gap in the middle plus the inside bevels prevent the extra-wide slats from coming outwards when they travel along the bend. It’s like when a tractor trailer makes a turn: they have to go wide, otherwise they hit the curb. 

The cabinet is made out of solid red oak, solid maple, and finished with plant-based wax-oils. It measures 60" wide, 15" tall, and 13" deep.

The images below show some parts of the process.

Iterative sketches.
Digital model made in Fusion 360.
1:4 scale model.
Finish samples.
Full-size cardboard mock-up.
Full-size mock-up of tambour door track.
Testing shape of tongue.
Making test door slats out of maple.
Testing door slats.
Test slats finished and taped together.
Glued-up MDF slats on canvas to measure back-bend.
Made a jig for cutting outside bevels of tongues.
Made a jig for chiseling inside bevels of tongues.
Gluing-up case panels.
Made a jig for routing tambour tracks into panels.
Exploring different ways to get desired finish.
Gluing-up test door.
Routing grooves to house back panel.
Dry-fit before cutting biscuits.
Cut biscuit slots.
Dry-fit after cutting biscuits.
Pre-drill and test-fit false back panel.
After staining and burnishing slats, cut tongues.
Four coats of clear gloss wax-oil.
Wax-oil finish on panels.
Cabinet cleats.
Case glue-up.
Tambour door slats in the glue-up jig.
Pre-drilled holes for door handles.
Test-fit door handles.
Door stops with cork padding.
What my doors would look like without front panels.
Glue-up of outer gables.
Back view of cabinet. Wall cleat mounted in gallery.
Designed to be flush with adjacent wall.
Consistent reveals, top and bottom.