Wall Display Cabinet

[garym]

I'm very new at woodworking and would appreciate any help.

I'm trying to make a wall display cabinet to fit some collectibles that my wife has. My first issue is the size of the cabinet and the size of the styles. It needs to be at least 18" wide and 34" tall and 7" deep. I want it to have glass on three sides and a solid back. Glass doors on the front.

The first question - is there a formula to determine the correct size of a cabinet? The wall it's to be mounted on is only 22" wide.

The second question - based on the size of the cabinet is there a formula to determine the size of the styles or face frame?

Thanks for any help!!

Gary

[thekl0wn]

If it's being mounted to the wall, the biggest key factor is that it will be over 16" wide... The spacing on the studs. With the wall only being 22", this can cause an issue simply because you're going to only have about an inch showing in the corner (assuming it's an inside corner, ~3.5" on an outside), and there will be a stud another 16" on center from that. If you're doing an 18" wide cabinet, you're sure to hit one stud, but I would have a decent strip on top and bottom to mount from. (on the back)

As far as formulas, I'm not sure what you're looking for. In my head, it's a simple layout. What are you planning on using as far as wood goes?

[Terry Mac]

Hey Gary,

Welcome to the forum.

Is this something similar to what you're wanting to build?

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s233/sh20w/cabinet/pic01a.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s233/sh20w/cabinet/pic02a.jpg


This was a glass cabinet that my grandfather and dad built, when my dad was a teenager. Roughly circa 1935. Not sure if your wanting smaller, with more numerous frames. Or larger frames with bigger pieces of glass. Either way, figure the size and number of frames you want with the overall diminsion you want your cabinet. I don't know of any formulas, maybe some of the others might. I would draw it out on a piece of paper, and spend some time with the measurements. Like K says, if its to be mounted to the wall, I would certainly find the studs where you want it to go, and start from there. It could get top heavy quick, depending on what you put in it.

(needs to be dusted doesn't :eek:)

[garym]

Thanks for the replys!!

It sounds like I'm over thinking it, but my concern is keeping the dimensions so it dosn't look to skinny. If I make it 36" high will it look funny if it's only 20" wide.

The second question is how wide should the styles be? From the corner to where the glass starts, and from the top to where the glass starts. Should that be 4", or more? I didn't even think about frames.

Terry, that is exactly what I'm looking for only on a smaller scale.

I'm going to use cherry, maybe birch plywood for the back, or I was thinking of using smaller pieces of cherry for the back.

Thanks again for the help!!

Gary

[Don]

Hey, Gary and welcome to the forum. Some of your questions fall under the heading of style. You asked about the widths of the stile and rails for a glass cabinet and you need to think about what will go with your existing decor, but basically I think we would agree that as the dimensions of these parts grows smaller, the cabinet would be thought of as more contemporary. To me a glass or curio cabinet should be simple with light trim or adornments - the contents taking first billing. With that being said you might find that stiles and rails around an 1-1/2 wide will be about the minimum that will offer enough surface area for assembling good joints without too much fuss. Dimensions this small will take some care and skill, for a new guy maybe around 2" would offer a little more room for error. As the dimensions get smaller, closer tolerances and more precise joinery will need to come into play.

But, the fun part of the question is the proportions and I remember seeing this exact thing many years ago so I looked for it. A search of "Greek Proportions," brings up what I was looking for, what is described as the "Golden Section or Proportion." The text reads, "Throughout history, the ratio for length (to) width of rectangles of 1.6180339887... has been considered the most pleasing to the eye."

This means that if your wall is about 22" wide and bump in a couple of inches and arrive at 20", then the cabinet would need to be about 32" high to be, "most pleasing to the eye." Some might call this a bunch of hooey but I bet that most of the talented guys on the forum would find this relationship prevalent in things they have designed. It just seems about right if you are sketching something by hand.

Anyway, all of that aside. Just about anything goes for display cabinets, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Get a piece of cardboard and draw it out full size with markers and hang it in the space. Don't like it? Draw another till you do.

Good luck and let us know how you progress on the project.

All the best, Don

[garym]

Thanks for the information!!! I'll do as you suggest and I'll keep you posted on how it's going!!

Thanks,
Gary

[thekl0wn]

Don's cardboard example is one of the best ideas! You can keep mocking it up using cardboard, starting off just getting a feel for the whole size, and then cutting strips and hanging them as faux rails to get an idea on the preferred width of each. Heck, after you have the basic idea on the rails for the front, you can even start tapin' together even more, to get an idea on your depth.

After you have everything taped together, throw on some Saran Wrap and claim the cardboard piece as an architectural model. :D