A Very Special Gun Cabinet

I have the privilege to build a Custom Gun Cabinet for a very special couple I know in Pennsylvania. We won't get into a lot of details of how or why I'm building it, but only that I'm excited about having the chance to design and build it.......and of course deliver it to Pennsylvania when finished.

This blog is more dedicated to Joann, but hope everyone will follow along as I keep you posted on my progress during the building and finishing. First off, let's talk about the design. This is going to be a large cabinet (designed to hold 12 weapons). The base will have two drawers and two doors, the upper section will have glass doors and will hold 12 rifles/shotguns. All the doors and drawers will have locks and I plan on installing lights in the top section.

Quarter Sawn White Oak will be the wood used. All the end panels and doors will be done with Traditional Raised Panels. The drawers will be Solid Maple, Dovetailed, using the Blumotion Soft Close Full Extension Slides.

I made a trip to Gibsonville, NC last week to my favorite lumber store (The Hardwood Store)

to pick up my lumber for this project and lumber for a couple other projects I have on the books.

The great guys @ The Hardwood Store unbanded a brand new bundle of Quarter Sawn White Oak and allowed me to hand pick my order. I found some awesome Oak! (You'll see as I post some pictures).

The first thing I did when I got back was to plane the lumber to 3/4" thickness because I bought it in rough 4/4. I then layed out each piece for the end panels and face frames, selecting each board for the grain selection and color I wanted for each piece.

Now that I have all the pieces layed out, I will cut and glue up the panels for the ends. That's on tomorrows agenda. I'm also working on some Contemporary furniture made in Wenge and Cury Maple, that's headed to Manhatten, NY., so have to divide my time.

I will post some pictures of the Manhatten Project (little play on words) when I finish the Gun Cabinet.