Push to Open

This cabinet is called Push to Open.  It was started with the idea to make a fine cabinet – something I haven’t done since 2010.

I had a few pieces of figured cherry left over from another project and I let their sizes provide an indication of the size of the cabinet.

The front panel was bookmatched for a symmetrical pattern. I chose straight-grained material for the rails and stiles and joined them with tiny floating tenons.

At some point in time while working on the cabinet, I got the idea to make the cabinet so that instead of pulling the door to open it, it had to be pushed. To achieve this, I built the cabinet a little narrower than the door. When I installed the door, I made it overhang the right side, beyond the pivot point of the hinge. Pushing on the right edge of the door swung it open.

Inside the cabinet, I built some dividers using three thin pieces of cherry cross-lapped together. They were friction fit and required no glue for their assembly or installation in the cabinet.

I also included a small drawer in the bottom of the cabinet. I made a small “drawer pull” and chamfered the edges. But true to the name and nature of Push to Open, you couldn’t open the drawer by pulling. Instead, the “drawer pull” was actually a button that, when pushed, prodded the drawer forwards.

Note the wavy, waterfall grain visible on the edge of the cabinet side, which is indicative of the figure on the adjacent face.

Here is what the drawer looked like, opened.

This video shows the operation of Push to Open. (Duration – 0:46)

Check out the product page for more information on the cabinet, including dimensions and purchase details.

Links:

• Curio Cabinet – 2010
• Push to Open product page