Recently I've been working with my brother-in-law, a furniture designer
and fine woodworker, to design some flat files for storing original
comic art. My goal was to develop pieces that were both very functional
for the original art collector as well as so beautifully designed and
built that they would grace any room in the house.
So far my brother-in-law has built 3 maple cabinets for me – 2 for
modern art, and one for large art – and one large art size in cherry
for another collector. If you would like some art storage that would
also be fine furniture and look great anywhere in your house, these
could be for you.
Below I've listed some key features of these flat files. Of course
these are completely custom, so you could use any materials or alter
any design features you want.
If you have questions or would like details on contacting my brother-in-law
to talk about having him build a cabinet for you, just let me know.
I can't really provide useful cost information since costs for custom
furniture vary widely according to the size, features, and materials.
Key Features
- Soft close drawers. If you're not familiar with these, it's a
relatively new design for drawer hardware so that with just a gentle
push the drawer will close slowly, softly and completely every time.
No more banging drawers, partially open drawers, etc. Just give the
drawer a little push and walk away.
- Dovetail joints
- 3/8" plywood drawers. You can fill a drawer with art in mylars
without sagging.
- Extension top on the modern art cabinets. Just slide it
out and you nearly double the working room on the top of the cabinet
- Heavy duty casters so the cabinets can be easily moved (the cabinet
for large art weighs about 200 lbs, completely empty)
- 7 drawers per cabinet
Materials
- Maple cabinets and drawer fronts
- Valcromat countertop
- Mandelli brushed nickel drawer pulls
- Heavy duty Häfele casters
- Soft close slides
Specifications
- Cabinet Height – 38.5 inches
- Cabinet Depth – 31.75 inches
- Cabinet Width
- modern art cabinet - 19.5 inches
- large art cabinet- 24.5 inches
- Modern art cabinet extension – 15 inches
- Inside Drawer Length
- modern art cabinet - 20 inches
- large art cabinet - 26 inches
- Inside Drawer Width
- modern art cabinet - 14.5 inches
- large art cabinet 20 inches
- Inside Drawer Depth – 2 inches
Cherry File Cabinet
The cherry cabinet shares most of the features of
the maple cabinets with a few important differences that
you can see illustrated in the photos:
- Ogee trim around the countertop
- Custom black casters for a hardwood floor
- Polished brass bronze drawer pulls instead of the brushed nickel
