Customer Showcase: Phil Lyon
Phil Lyon Cabinet Maker
Our latest showcase comes from Phil Lyon, a retired Policeman but also a City and Guilds trained Cabinet maker. He has been making furniture for the last 25yrs having trained at Manchester College getting his qualifications over a 4 year evening course.
Phil has now decided that he would like to create a business with which he makes boxes. As can be seen in the pictures below, here at the Hub, we believe Phil will have no problem whatsoever achieving this goal. We asked Phil how the project went and he replied:
"The design was down to my friend who was specific in what he wanted and sizes. He wanted a traditional looking box with a drawer. It’s strange but I’ve never done a box with a drawer before and it took a bit of head scratching, but in the end was straight forward."
"The box measures 500 x 300 x 300 and the drawer is 65mm deep. He wanted to store paperwork and some specific items; hence the size and he wanted his initials carving. The box is dovetailed throughout and has an internal panel that acts as the box base and as a locator for two drawer runners. Underneath the drawer is the box bottom. I had to cut a rebate for the bottom rail under the drawer and due to cutting the drawer front from the box had to pack up the rail with offcuts matching the grain pattern in the rail, this was to make up for the gaps created when sawing the box front."
"For the lid I used burr walnut veneer gluing it to an MDF substrate and glued it into a rebate cut in the box sides. All was glued up and the lid cut off. For banding I used Snakewood and Ebony. Hardware used was Hawthorn hinges and lock and a traditional drawer lock. Piece was sanded to 600 grit and finished with shellac which I padded on, and then finished with wax. Oh sorry drawer is straight forward lap dovetails. My friend loves the piece and I really enjoyed making it."
We wish Phil all the best in the future and hope we can help him along the way providing veneers for this beautiful boxes.