Curly yellow birch remains one of my favorite woods to work with aesthetically, however it is very hard to work. It is very dense with a grain that is hard to plane and join. I have found that keeping the edges moist with water while joining reduces chipping. Also while planing, setting the blades on the shallow side, it takes a little longer to get to the desired thickness, but chipping is kept to a minimum.
This cabinet was designed to house a roll-a-way portable bed, along with mattress and bedding.
It was anchored to the wall and as you can see on the third photo the cabinet did not have a floor, making it easier to roll on the tile floor without having to pick it up for storage.
The finish was a sprayed waterproof lacquer, not my favorite to use for it's toxicity while applying and drying, but done at the customers request. I really like to use pure tung oil, it is food safe and natural. More on tung oil later.
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