Solid-Wood Cabinet Construction
Review by Mark Gezella – March 2006
I often find myself drawn to furniture for the most recognized of reasons. Think about what tends to lure you as you surf the web or browse a retail store. What comes to mind? For me, the attraction can be a particular style of period furniture, a unique choice of design, or copious use of fine woods. Often times it's in the details; exacting proportions, impeccable joinery, and exquisite finishes - a veritable definition of fine furniture. But while this domain is hailed as the most noble of product, there is another segment which also deserves merit - a segment borne from a reverence for material. Those objects that stand in stark contrast to others built to please an elite group of consumers, or as ostentatious extensions of the builder. This book brings that segment to the forefront.
Solid-Wood Cabinet Construction portrays furniture as a vehicle to celebrate wood. It does so by intentionally diminishing design in order to emphasize beauty of material. The Author states in his Forward that subjects in this book share a common theme; they're all built from solid wood - no veneers, no particle-board, just genuine material used in a bona-fide application. Wood is the primary reason for construction, sometimes ahead of necessity for the piece. And little, if any finish is used to eliminate risk of blurring or distorting the grain once assembled.
Not only does the author succeed in delivering a compelling case for this approach, he supports his stance with 70 different examples! All consistently share the same traits. Most prominent being a straight-forward approach to construction, and an infusion of bold grain in select geometric orientations. I found one of the most intriguing assemblies to be panels comprised of end-grain squares, positioned within larger squares which projected a striking circular design. And almost everything about the furniture selected in this book is natural, including wooden mechanicals such as drawer glides, hinges, locks, and knobs. Attraction comes from unexpected treatments, such as scalloped embellishments and sandblasted reveals. Other surprising treatments are canted panel inserts intentionally opposed to each other that engender a rhythmical effect. Though incongruous as isolated sections, the finished product imparts a surprisingly harmonious feel.
Conservative design not withstanding, most thrilling of all is the selection of wood. Almost every example contains local, rather mundane species usually relegated as secondary wood in furniture construction. A few that come to mind are Spruce, Fir, and Yellow Pine. But just when you think you've adjusted to his propensity towards the unexpected, Mr. Karg blind-sides you by presenting basic pieces created from "statelier" woods such as oak, beech, and cherry. Outrageous! I should mention too, that this book was first published in German as Massivholzmobel: Konstruktions und Ausfuhrungsbeispiel. It was "Americanized" by the Taunton Press a bit later. So, local wood selection was first considered relative to a Germanic locale.
Ultimately, what makes these pieces such a success is the exposure of grain. This is portrayed time and again with pictures of thick flitches and slow-grown parts with extraordinary growth-rings. But ring patterns aren't spectacular like you would see in burls or curly woods. Instead, near straight-grain is used to emphasize a linear design concept. This can be rendered singularly, or at times superimposed on rectilinear parts to emphasize the intent. To solve technical issues of wood movement, simple measures are used such as battens and splines. Oftentimes these are made conspicuous with embellishments such as chip carved leaves or flowers. Additionally, joinery is expertly done with box joints, dovetails, and mortise & tenons. The tenons often project through a mortise, again to exploit the beauty of the grain.
All illustrations are in black and white, but I find this most appropriate given the content. In retrospect, this was probably the perfect choice, as color may have detracted from the general tone of the book. All in all, this is wonderful stuff. It's a refreshing approach to craft that yields versatile furniture for everyday use or as a focal point for a room. I hope you find his concepts as innovative as I did. This book will be available for check-out at the next general membership meeting.