Ever since I started Insanity 2, I’ve been thinking about cabinets. It seemed to me that cabinets meant for displaying things more often than not accumulated so many things that they ended up looking messy.
I realized that the problem was that too much horizontal surface was available. My solution was to provide only enough space for one item. I sketched a few designs before I figured out that I could make the cabinet from a single line.
I first made a model, Wireframe Cabinet Mini using scraps of maple I had laying around. This version was only two feet tall and I used bridle joints at all the corners. I don’t remember why I decided to twist the post, but I liked the effect.
After building Wireframe Cabinet Mini, I realized that there were many other paths that the line symbolizing the cabinet frame could have taken to arrive at the centre. I returned to my sketchbook and drew as many as I could.
This is the other path I liked that gave the cabinet frame a closed feel, which I wanted. (I may build some frames that are more open at a later date.) I decided to try mitres with blind splines. (While I was happy with the look of the bridle joints and mitre joints, I would like to try splined mitres next time.)
The object of interest rests on the centre cradle and is framed by the cabinet members.
The frame looks different from every angle.
The post is rather curvy and twisted indeed.
This piece is for sale. Learn more about it on the product page.
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Sculptural Woodwork by Chris Wong 
Hi Chris,
I’m not much of a fan of this type of woodworking, but this one intrigues me. I keep thinking about it and how it would look with a shelf and maybe a few rounded corners…..
Hi Ralph,
I also see many possibilities to expand on this concept. Some of the other uses for the cabinet could be to house an electric or oil lamp, candle, or wireless speaker. Making a more curved form would be really fun and challenging, too.
Chris
Chris, the paths your synapses take continues to amaze me. You have something truly beautiful in a unique (of course) form. It allows a small intimate item to take center stage, yet keep it in proper scale. I hope you get orders from a bunch of museums, because it’s a brilliant way to display an individual museum grade item, adding to the whole without overpowering. I really like the angular punctuation at the base. It appears “grounded”. Also like the linearity of it, where your brain must follow it to the reward at its end. Imagine what fun you could have if you had a pair or trio of collectibles? “Cabinets” that are intertwined and of contrasting form,tone and/or textures.
Hi Jeremy,
As much as I like this particular design, I’m excited about all the possible variations. I think that it has a lot of potential. I’m not sure if I’m thinking the same thing as you were when you wrote about intertwined cabinets, but I like the idea!
Chris
Conceptually, I’m thinking linear cabinets that could be arranged individually, or nested together for added effect or storage.
Hey Chris, I really love this idea as it not only displays your single piece beautifully, too me it also has the wonderful element of a classical Greek Labyrinth. On the other hand, while it fulfills your requirement for taking away the accumulated clutter, it still takes up excessive space as a whole unit. At this point, I am thinking about display cabinets for a fair number of high end tools. A setup like this one would actually cost me a tremendous amount of room yet I love the end result with the single piece highlighted. Frustrated in West Chester. :o)