500 Cabinets

Last year three of my furniture pieces were published in a book entitled: “500 Cabinets: A Showcase of Design & Craftsmanship”.

It was an incredible honour to be showcased alongside so many of the world’s finest furniture designers and makers.

Juried by John Grew Sheridan, “500 cabinets” showcases the art and craft of fine furniture making with examples of contemporary works from 300 different makers.

The Andiroba Cabinet was one of the pieces selected. In the photos below you can see this design sculpted out of Mottled Tangare, and fitted as a standing humidor.

For those wishing to respect the Cuban embargo, please close your eyes to the Cohibas.

Also featured was the Gentleman’s Valet, which was crafted out of a rare sampling of Curly Birds Eye Maple, and inlaid with Makore and Ebony.

Using a technique similar to the Andiroba, the outer case is made as 2 seamless half shells that hinge/pivot open to reveal the interior.

The inside of the valet contains 7 drawers plus a pair of doors for storage at the bottom.

The upper drawer has individual compartments to receive wrist watches and cuff links.

Slots for fountain pens are located in the center tray.

The third cabinet accepted for publication was a piece called Digitaria/Blue Star.

This multi-angular design was inspired by the Wally 118 superyacht, with its geometry being highlighted by the subtle contrast between the polished stainless steel base and the satin black lacquer cabinetry.

In the isometric view the 3-dimensionality of the design is more apparent.

The interior of Digitaria/Blue star is crafted from natural maple plywood. The 4 drawers are dovetailed solid maple, and pop open using Blumotion slides and Blum’s pneumatic touch latch system.

This detail view of the upper corner shows how the angles of the multiple surfaces intersect.

The top is bevel back painted glass, set into a recess.

Andiroba Humidor

Posted in Uncategorized with tags Andiroba Humidor, cabinet-maker, cabinetmaker, custom made furniture, humidor, Spanish cedar, Toronto, Wiggers Custom Furniture Ltd. on May 27, 2011 by johnwiggers

Welcome to my first WordPress blog post.

I’ll use this opportunity to introduce one of my more unusual custom furniture pieces: the Andiroba Humidor.

The design of this piece came about in the late 1990s as I contemplated humidor ideas that were inherently different from the conventional box designs then prevalent in the marketplace.

The humidor as shown was sculpted from a wood called Block Mottled Tangare, with the exterior made as two interlocking half shells that pivot/swing open to reveal the cabinet interior.

The cabinet interior features adjustable wood shelves for box storage, a louvered double wall backpanel for air circulation, a concealed central humidification system, and 7 individually sculpted drawers for storage of individual cigars.

Note the undulating shapes on each of the individual drawer faces. Although the drawer boxes were crafted from Spanish Cedar the drawer faces were made of Block Mottled Tangare to match the cabinet exterior.