Custom Liquor Cabinet
I was commissioned to design and build a custom liquor cabinet for a law firm that overlooks PetCo Park in downtown San Diego. Working with the customer I design the cabinet to mimic the design elements in his 100 year old desk that was made in India. These designs included the circular patterns, the side trim and the feet. The rest I created from ideas from the customer and functionality he wanted incorporated. This included where he went to school and his favorite TV show.

The final rendering I came up for the customer's approval. Done in Sketchup in about 10 hours of going back and forth on different designs, incorporating the glass storage, mirrors, drawers, humidors, accessory storage, large drawer storage and Spanish Cedar liner for the humidors. Also included the addition of steel bars to keep the bottles in place on the doors, however low enough to allow easy access to the.

This is the wood that would comprise the entire cabinet, minus the back sheet which I use a sheet of 3/4" Baltic Birch for.

The first of many boards to be glued up!

The circle design being machined while playing with some cameras.

Lots of chips, mostly from hand planing the glued up boards as cauls did not do a perfect job.

Machining the long vertical side trim pieces.

Ripping to size the sides of the cabinet.

Cross cuts being made to final dimensions for the sides.

Piecing together the vertical pieces on the backer board.

Drawer slides being test fit.

Test fitting the doors using piano hinges was not as hard as I thought.

Lots of hand planing, card scraper and sanding to smooth things out

These were chosen as they are where the customer went to high school, college and the military branch he served in.

I really like the way the depth comes out with the specific engrave settings I used on my laser.

Staining process started. I tried to make it look weathered.

Installing various pieces including the mirrors.

The shot glass storage area including some space for accessory storage.

The four humidor sections, two up top and two below, all lined with Spanish Cedar I resawed on my bandsaw, then planed and sanded.

The circular pieces came out fantastic and look just like the ones on the customers desk.

Final touches before delivery.

Finally at it's home, overlooking the Padres field, PetCo Park.

We moved it to the adjacent wall to grab some pictures.

Ready to be filled up and used!

A very happy customer!