Eric Coates won first prize in our Woodworker of the Year competition with this chest of drawers in edge-laminated ash boards – a fine piece of modern furniture design. Here he describes the background to his woodworking career, and some of the decisions and choices that he faced in designing and building his winning piece
The start of it all
When I took to woodworking seriously after my retirement, I was determined to use…
I made a headboard a few years ago and had always intended to make a matching pair of bedside cabinets. Before I knew it my silver wedding anniversary was approaching, and I thought the long-awaited cabinets would be an ideal way of marking the occasion! The cabinets and headboard share the same basic style, with fielded panels and framing, and are all made from American cherry. Cherry veneered ply was also used for the back panels and drawer…
Building your own kitchen cabinets gives you the ultimate flexibility of a bespoke kitchen design. All the units can fit perfectly, without the use of fill-in panels or wine racks where you least need them. They are reasonably easy to make too; the unit can be screwed together because the outsides of the cabinets can’t normally be seen. The downside of making your own cabinets is that it can be time consuming and then, if you have a lot of…
Modular cabinet construction follows the same, or very similar, steps whatever material is being used. Some jointing methods suit one material more than another; for instance biscuit joints particularly suit MDF, and pocket-hole screws work particularly well with plywood. MFC (melamine-faced chipboard) is probably the most difficult material to joint strongly and so I’ve tried making a few sample joints and testing them…
These shelves are one of a set of three for our dining room. My better half wanted a simple storage solution for our ever increasing collection of books, CDs and DVDs. So I thought it was an ideal opportunity to hone my dovetailing skills.
I’ve used English ash because I have a stockpile of it in the workshop that I’m working through. I opted for dovetails, not just because I need the practice, but for their strength too.…
