Category: Japanese sliding shoji door

Shoji Cabinet For The Dalles

Shoji Cabinet For The Dalles

P1060295    Some of my clients become patrons. In this case, Lauretta and her sister Diana hired me a couple years ago to build shoji for their newly remodeled basement and create a bedroom. I blocked off the end of one room with 2 large shoji made of my favorite wood: Superior Grade Alder.
About a year ago, there was some talk between us about adding a cabinet. They had already discussed this with a cabinet maker in The Dalles OR, where they live. he was to make something that would require 2 or maybe 3 Shoji to cover part of it. It was to have some drawers.
As the months went by, we kept in touch about it and it became obvious that their cabinet maker was too busy to even do it let alone collaborate about it.
I was headed off to Peru at the time, and agreed to get together with them upon my return.
By August, I had a design for a cabinet that I would build and incorporate some sliding Shoji for the face.
They gave me the dimensions and wanted it to look similar to the existing Shoji.
I wanted it be like a Tansu but had to really back off of all the detail a Tansu would have. It would greatly increase the cost and amount of time involved.

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In the end, I had to keep refining the design to make it come apart so it could be moved and I had to lighten it up or we would not be able to carry it in the house.
Originally, I wanted this heavy top and bottom. I replaced that idea with a 3/4″ plywood bottom and added a 1-1/2″ piece all around the bottom plywood to make it look thick.
The sides are made similar to the Shoji Koshi-ita panels I had used in their Shoji. The size of the kumiko grid is very similar to the existing Shoji…3″ tall by 10″ wide with 3 rows across. A formula with a very traditional look that I use often.
Lucky I designed this so it would come apart easily as there was a corner in the hallway of the house that made carrying this difficult.
Turned out the room where it was installed was such that the ends are never seen. So including the kumiko grid on the ends was a moot point.

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The clients love their cabinet and were so very nice to me. Lauretta even gave me a nice tip! my kind of client!

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Installing a Closet Door Package with Jambs

Installing a Closet Door Package with Jambs

My client has hired me a few times in the last few yrs. Lately, I cut down his closet doors in a basement room and added my typical hardware setup to good results. In todays bit, I installed shoji in a hall/entry closet.

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The client wanted a “mill-core” type trim detail. This means NO trim and the dry-waller (or sheet-rocker) tapes the jamb directly to the drywall. This was popular with architects wanting a super clean line…NO CASING. Why I’m doing my blog on this job is to point out the custom made jambs on either side of the doors. A “Jamb” is the finish wood that covers the wall stud and drywall edges. 5-P1030952

A typical interior wall is 4-9/16″ thick. This incorporates a 3-1/2″ stud and a layer of drywall on either side of this stud. Using 4-9/16 or even 4-5/8″ wide material will cover the stud and drywall nicely. Any smaller and you have problems with gaps. In this case, we have NO casing. Here is how I made these…I ripped 3/4″ Birch plywood or Alder plywood to 4-9/16″ wide. I used my nice finish blade with 80 teeth for a smooth cut. I milled up 3/4″ x 1-1/2″ solid wood (to match) and glued and nailed these pieces to the edge I will use as the front or leading edge. On the back edge I used 1/4″ x 3/4″ and glued and nailed all pieces to be flush with the edge that goes against the drywall and stud. All sanded flush with 220 grt. The top part of this piece is notched to fit to the header and the valance box pieces  (these are usually 3/4″ x 3-1/8″).

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The 1-1/2″ pieces have the edges rounded over with a 1/8″ round-over bit in the router. If the closet has a light in it, use a valance piece on the front and the back  of the track-box as the light will escape over the doors top and look bad. The bottom track will be trimmed to fit between the jambs.   This can be used with casing. The main reason we did this was if the jamb is NOT installed plumb and very straight against the wall stud. The shoji will not fit nicely and have gaps. The light inside the closet will show in the gaps…looking like it was installed by an amateur.

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The piece on the edge blocks that light some and looks much more elegant and finished.

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