Cabinet making is the practice of utilizing various woodworking skills to create cabinets, shelving and furniture. Woodworking is the process of building making or carving something using Wood. Furniture is the Mass noun for the movable objects which may support the human body (seating furniture and beds, provide storage or hold objects on horizontal
Cabinet making involves techniques such as creating appropriate joints, shelving systems, the use of finishing tools such as routers to create decorative edgings, and so on. Joinery is that part of Woodworking that involves joining together pieces of wood to create furniture structures toys and other items A router is a Woodworking Tool used to rout out (hollow out an area in the face of a piece of Wood.
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History
Before the advent of industrial design cabinet makers were responsible for the conception and the production of any piece of furniture. Industrial design is an Applied art whereby the Aesthetics and Usability of mass-produced products may be improved for marketability and In the last half of the 18th century, cabinet makers such as Thomas Sheraton, Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite also published books of furniture forms. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Thomas Sheraton ( 1751 - October 22 1806) was a furniture designer, one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century Thomas Chippendale ( Otley, near Leeds baptised - November 1779 was a London Cabinet-maker and furniture designer in the mid-Georgian George Hepplewhite (1727? - June 21, 1786) was a cabinet and Chair maker These books were compendiums of their designs and those of other cabinet makers.
With the industrial revolution and the application of steam (through rod and belt devices) and electrical power to cabinet making tools, mass production techniques were gradually applied to nearly all aspects of cabinet making, and the traditional cabinet shop ceased to be the main source of furniture, domestic or commercial. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Mass production (also called flow production, repetitive flow production, series production, or serial production) is the production of In parallel to this evolution there came a growing demand by the rising middle class in most industrialised countries for finely made furniture. The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. This eventually resulted in a growth in the total number of traditional cabinet makers.
The arts and craft movement which started in the United Kingdom in the middle of the 19th century spurred a market for traditional cabinet making, and other craft goods. The Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, and American Aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar A craft is a Skill, especially involving practical arts. It may refer to a Trade or particular art It rapidly spread to the United States and to all the countries in the British empire. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. This movement exemplified the reaction to the eclectic historicism of the Victorian era and to the 'soulless' machine-made production which was starting to become widespread. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities
After World War II woodworking became a popular hobby among the middle classes. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A hobby is a spare-time Recreational pursuit Etymology A Hobby horse is a wooden or Wickerwork toy made to be The more serious and skilled amateurs in this field now turn out pieces of furniture which rival the work of professional cabinet makers. Together, their work now represents but a small percentage of furniture production in any industrial country, but their numbers are vastly greater than those of their counterparts in the 18th century and before.
Types of cabinetry
The fundamental focus of the cabinet maker is the production of cabinetry. Although the cabinet maker may also be required to produce items that would not be recognised as cabinets, the same skills and techniques apply.
A cabinet may be built-in or free-standing. A built-in cabinet is usually custom made for a particular situation and it is fixed into position, on a floor, against a wall, or framed in an opening. For example modern kitchens are examples of built-in cabinetry. Free-standing cabinets are more commonly available as off-the-shelf items and can be moved from place to place if required. Cabinets may be wall hung or suspended from the ceiling.
Cabinets may have a face frame or may be of frameless construction (also known as European or euro-style). A face frame in Cabinet making is the frame fixed to the front of a cabinet carcase which obscures the edges of the carcase and provides the fixing point for doors and other Frameless construction in Cabinetmaking refers to the construction of cabinets using flat panels of Engineered wood — usually Particle board, Plywood Modern cabinetry is often frameless and is typically constructed from man-made sheet materials, such as plywood, chipboard or MDF. Plywood is a type of Engineered board made from thin sheets of Wood, called plies or veneers Medium-density fiberboard ( MDF or MDFB) is an Engineered wood product formed by breaking down Softwood into Wood fibers often in The visible surfaces of these materials are usually clad in a timber veneer, plastic laminate, or other material. They may also be painted.
Cabinet components
Bases
Cabinets which rest on the floor are supported by some sort of a base. This base could be a fully enclosed base (i. e. a plinth), a scrolled based, bracket feet or it could be a set of legs. A plinth is the base of a cabinet in Cabinet making. In Architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a Column, Pedestal
Kitchen cabinets, or any cabinet generally at which a person may stand, usually have a fully enclosed base in which the front edge has been set back 75mm or so to provide room for toes, known as the kick space. A scrolled base is similar to the fully enclosed base but it has areas of the base material removed, often with a decorative pattern, leaving feet on which the cabinet stands. Bracket feet are separate feet, usually attached in each corner and occasionally for larger pieces in the middle of the cabinet.
Compartments
A cabinet usually has at least one compartment. Compartments may be open, as in open shelving; they may be enclosed by one or more doors; or they may contain one or more drawers. Some cabinets contain secret compartments, access to which is generally not obvious.
Modern cabinets employ many more complicated means (relative to a simple shelf) of making browsing lower cabinets more efficient and comfortable. Such means include (names may be heavily colloquialised):
- The lazy susan, a shelf which rotates around a central axis, allowing items stored at the back of the cabinet to be brought to the front by rotating the shelf. A colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech, writing or Paralinguistics. A Lazy Susan is a rotating tray placed on top of a table to aid in moving food on a large table or counter tops These are usually used in corner cabinets, which are larger and deeper and have a greater "dead space" at the back than other cabinets.
Tops
Most cabinets incorporate a top of some sort. In many cases, the top is merely to enclose the compartments within and serves no other purpose - as in a wall hung cupboard for example. In other cabinets, the top also serves as a work surface - a kitchen countertop for example.
See also
External links
References
- Ernest Joyce (1970). A cabinet is usually a box-shaped form either standing alone as a piece of furniture or built into or attached to a wall (such as a Medicine cabinet typically made of wood A list of notable people whose primary occupation is Furniture Design and/or Cabinet making. Woodworking is the process of building making or carving something using Wood. Encyclopedia of Furniture Making. Revised and expanded by Alan Peters (1987). Sterling Publishing. ISBN 0-8069-6440-5 (Original edition), ISBN 0-8069-7142-8 (Paperback)
- John L. Feirer (1988). Cabinetmaking and Millwork, Fifth Edition. Glencoe Publishing Company. ISBN 0-02-675950-0
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