This piece is the second half of a commission to build a sideboard and a small end table. The veneer for this piece all came from one amazing (and rare) plank of curly teak. (The cabinet was actually designed and built around that board).
The sideboard’s little (although technically older) brother, Little Squam, was built as a sort of prototype to work out many of the construction details. The posts and rails are solid teak, and the panels are shop-sawn veneer over Baltic Birch plywood.
The four drawers are dovetailed (by hand, always), and the hinges are shop-made from brass bar stock. The interior of the cabinet is finished with polished and waxed Alaskan Yellow cedar. The exterior is oiled and waxed.
The dovetails of the central drawers are "socketed," meaning they are deeper than the thickness of the drawer sides. This way, the divider between the two drawers can remain hidden. Port-holes in the back of the cabinet allow for unobtrusive wiring. Custom hardware was necessary to keep the reveals even on all four doors, and to make sure the hinges on the outer doors had enough "throw" to open past the legs.
The hope was to build a piece that wouldn't become obsolete as soon as the equipment it housed did.
