I was in the San Diego Zoo gift shop and was really impressed with these shelves / cabinets.
http://204.210.16.137/photos/photo.php?apa_album_ID=48&apa_photo_ID=1114&apa_page=1
The cabinets and shelves are made from plywood that is not edge banded. The quality of the plywood is such that it has practically no internal voids and actually looks very nice with the edges exposed. You can see the detail of the edging a little better by clicking on the picture which will send you the full resolution version (the full res image is approx 1.6mb!).
Also notice the curved cabinet doors. I don’t see a problem cutting the curved flat shelves but the curved cabinet doors look difficult. Does anyone know a manufacturer that sells prefabricated doors like this? It would be nice if the same source sells matching flat stock.
Also – does anyone know where the metal pillars that connect the shelves together can be purchased?
Bayside-
Replies
Couldn't get your pics to load so was unable to see the construction. However, the plywood sounds like a baltic birch or similar void free plywood. The doors could be make using a bendable plywood over a frame. Too hard to guess but don't be intimidated by the curved doors. Search the various supplies such as Woodcraft or Woodworkers Supply Every thing that seems complicated is really only alot of small individual steps brought together. Search and learn all you can and then build...
Like Old Hippie, I couldn't get the pic to load. But, it sounds like Apple Ply, which isn't supposed to have any internal voids. I've worked with it some and I agree that it's a nice look. You could replicate the look by using the bendable ply as mentioned. But, it's pretty hard to get a really smooth looking continuous curve with it. Bendable ply (I've always heard it referred to as either "wiggle wood" or "bender board") also has uneven thicknesses of the veneer plies that it's made of. Apple Ply is usually composed of uniform veneers except for the paint grade outside skins. So... the look would be a bit different if you made your own curved doors with bendable ply.
I don't know whether they have the doors or not... probably do, though. But, most woodworking magazines contain ads from several companies that specialize in odd shaped plywood... columns, rectangular tubing, you name it. I believe they all use heat and pressure to shape the ply into all these unusual shapes and configurations. A couple weeks ago I put a clear finish on half a dozen round plywood tubes made by one of these outfits which had a nice Maple skin on the outside. They were legs for some desk contraption.
You probably could get both curved and flat stock with matching veneer from one of these outfits. But, I'm guessing that it might be a bit on the spendy side to do so. If it were me, I'd think about just buying some veneer that you like and plan on applying it on whatever substraits you buy. The main reason why I'd consider that is because it is very likely that the company selling you the curved ply is gonna charge more for the matching flat stock than you'd pay at your local lumber dealer for a comparable product. Of course the cost of buying veneer and applying it over the curved and flat ply might add up to about the same cost too. I dunno. But, I'd think it worth at least looking into.
Regards,
Kevin
Thanks for the advice. Sorry about the picture - I think it is working now - I had to make a change to my firewall.
Take care,
Chris
Bending ply, matching veneer face; piece of cake. You should warn people, though, that they will be opening a 2.1 meg page.
Scott
Contact Roberts Plywood for the curved panels http://www.getwood.com I'll look for the other two places that sell curved panels, alzhiemers setting in. Oh just remembered Shapes Unlimited and ..............
Dave Koury
You will get better response if you lower the resolution on the posted photo. I have DSL and it took about 3 minutes to download (2.1mb). Dial up connections won't have a chance.
Nice units but what has anything on them have to do with the Zoo?
I know - most of the stuff at the zoo gift shop has nothing to do with the zoo-! I like their giftshop though. The San Diego zoo is really amazing.
Chris
Back when I didn't know any better, I had very good luck making a computer desk with curved plywood panels using three layers of 1/8" birch plywood laminated with yellow glue. I made a male and female bending mold out of particle board - they're still out in the barn because they weigh a TON!. I used plywood with figure, repeated on each panel, and it looked great even though it was never intended to be show veneer.
The molds were made from about 20 layers of particle board shaped with a router and a pattern and glued together. I used thin foam between the laminates and the molds to spread the pressure. It took three of us to put the male mold into the female with the laminates in between! Note that I subtracted the thickness of the finished laminated panels from the female mold to make the male mold.
No, they haven't procreated and there are not little particle board molds running around the barn!
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