Built-In Furniture

[Alvaro Carrasco]

Hello to all readers,

I am currently engaged in a design for a french inspired free standing furniture (see attached), which will have fit between two walls. I will not be buying then modifying the piece of furniture but rather duplicate the style and proportions to fit the given space.

The dimension of the wall niche is 77" long x 37" deep x 8' tall.

The casework is simple enough to make out of prefinished material and wrapping it with face frames and solid wood doors/glass inserts, wrought iron hardware...

The piece of furniture is two-toned with plain sliced material and burl material (of a different species) It's easy enough to make this out of burl veneer.

I have two big questions in regards to the round pilasters and crown molding. I'm currently looking to buy out the custom pilasters by a wood turner but I still not sure how I can scribe the pilasters to the wall? Or should I? Maybe I can keep a slight 1/8" gap and walk away....? The building is metal framed and very level. The walls are mostly true and plumb.

The other question was in regards to the burl crown molding. My options are to (a) source our burl stock and bring it to a custom molding fabricator or veneer the crown molding with burl veneer sheets.....which leads me to ask if anyone has any luck with veneering crown molding???

Any Comments or tips is very welcomed

Bibliotheque.jpg

[Jamie Buxton]

I think you just scribe the posts to the walls. The inner edge of the post will be vertical, and the outside edge of the post will be whatever the wall dictates. If the wall is not vertical, the outside edge of the post is not vertical. That's just how it goes.

Well, if you're obsessive, you could fix the wall. Skim-coat the wall, carefully using a straight edge and a level, and make the wall straight and vertical. You only have to get it perfect for the front couple of inches; the rest of the wall is going to be hidden by the built-in.

I've veneered a concave shape, using a vacuum veneer press. It was pretty uneventful. I've also seen enough antique furniture with veneered concave moldings that it must have been pretty common in better shops. That was likely done by hammer veneering.
Bending burl veneer might be asking for trouble. The stuff can be pretty brittle. You can buy 2-ply burl veneer, where the burl is already glued to "cross-banding" veneer behind it. That might be less risky to bend.

[Jerry Miner]

I think it would be a mistake to mimic that cabinet in a wall-to-wall installation. The pilasters would either become quarter-round, or you would create a "V-groove" at the wall. It would be a nightmare to re-paint the wall or touch-up the finish on the cabinet. The crown would not show the curved return of the original piece. I think the overall effect would be a "cramped" look.

IMHO, you'd be better off leaving 6" or so on either side of a free-standing piece in the niche.

I have veneered crown molding before, but not burl, and not with a curved return. Looks like an interesting challenge. I'd be tempted to make separate plinth blocks for the corners out of solid burl stock--- or something that could be faux-finished to match the burl.

[Wayne Lomman]

Alvaro, after some thought, I believe it would work best to design it so that the pilasters are complete and fitted about 1/8" away from the wall as you indicated. The other options don't seem to look right. Just make sure the wall is finish painted before you install the pilasters. Maybe fit the pilasters so they can be unscrewed for repainting the walls later. Cheers

[andy bessette]

Either settle on 1/4-round pilasters, scribed to the wall, or make a full-size pattern of the opening and fit the pilasters to that pattern such that they fit the opening.

[Alvaro Carrasco]

Thank You for your responses,

The pilasters will be cut 3/4" of a pie above the bun feet. This creates a "shelf" for the entire assembly to rest on. This means the back side of the pilaster will extend 2" into the unfinished side of the cabinet. The pilasters are not only decorative but also hold 1/2 the weight of the cabinet.....which brings me to the next question.......will (2) 4" pilasters have enough strength to hold a cabinet spanding nearly 7' and about 24" deep" along with everything the customer intends to store in it?

The bullnose banding below the crown moulding will be made of a separate piece of solid burl (unless a vacuum can press a paper backed veneer at that tight radius). This banding cannot be an integral part of the crown moulding because ill need to create a "top shelf" in order to clear the 2" projection of the pilasters. The crown will then be brought forth a couple inches from the face of the cabinet.

I've asked joe the woodworker (from joewoodworker.com) about veneering over crown molding. He said he's never had any luck despite many attempts. He was also the one that convinced me to ask in a forum like this one if anyone has accomplished this. I know Jessie claims hes done concave surfaces uneventfully my questions are.....Did you make your own vacuum press or was it commercially bought? What PSI did you use? What type of Adhesive? My bag will be quite large....about 8ft long....will this affect any of the technique used to be uneventful? Below is a drawings of the crown molding and bullnose shelf/banding:
New Doc 2017-02-04_1.jpg

I've decided to leave a gap between the pilasters and wall but attach a filler strip behind the pilaster on the side of the cabinet scribed to the wall. The filler will die at the bottom of the cabinet right above the bun feet, not touching the floor. The intent is to create some sort of furniture/ built-in hybrid with this design. I hope I can pull this off.....Responses are welcomed like always otherwise wish me luck!

[Jerry Miner]

...will (2) 4" pilasters have enough strength ...

The pilasters will carry the load fine. The bigger issue is the span between the pilasters and potential sagging. Since you are doing this as a built-in, I suggest building a toe-kick base, which could be set back several inches in order to "disappear" in the shadows--- would also make cleaning under this cabinet much easier.

What do you plan to do with the crown at the outside corners? follow the curve of the pilasters--as in the original--until you hit the wall, or just run straight across wall-to-wall?

Good luck with this. Hope you will post pics when it's done.