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I promised my girlfriend that I'd make her a new nightstand some time ago, and yesterday I finally had the time to do it. And it being Valentine's and all it also proved to be a perfect gift :)

Let me show you how I made this curved cabinet...
 
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Step 1: Plans & materials

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The plan is to make a curved cabinet, divided equally into 4 spaces. Two are accessible from the front, and the other two from the side. This way you can have some stuff within reach when you're lying in bed as well.

I made this cabinet 900mm high, because of the standard sizes for MDF that I can easily buy here. You can change all the dimensions to your liking, these are just used as an example.

The curve is consistent, so all the arcs have the same curve and size. If you print out (or draw) 1 part of the arc to scale (4th image below) you can trace all the curved lines onto the wood, by rotating and mirroring the piece.

I made the cabinet from 9mm thick MDF and a thin 0,4mm 'MDF cardboard' (this is how we call it). You can also use a thicker MDF or wood for the main structure, and perhaps a thin, bendable triplex for the curved shape.

Draw the curved shape onto the MDF/wood and mark which pieces you want to cut out.
mrdebos (author) says: Feb 18, 2013. 10:09 AM
For those who are interested, I have just put the 3D model of this design on Google's 3D Warehouse, click here to go there directly!
uvodee says: Feb 16, 2011. 5:34 PM
LOL, 0.4 mm, really?

its 9 mm for the shelves and 4 mm for the side panels
0.4 mm is the thickness of a latex sheet.....
looking for mdf af 0.4 mm would be kinda dangerous.... even if you would go to to gnome office :)

Sincerely,

Jean-PIerre
Federal Way, WA
mrdebos (author) in reply to uvodeeFeb 17, 2011. 3:25 AM
Sorry Jean-Pierre, but it really is 0,4mm for the side panels!

The material is called "MDF cardboard" here so I guess technically it's not really MDF but more like a cardboard with wood fibers or maybe just a brown color, I'm not sure.

I wouldn't try bending 4mm MDF by the way, that's going to be way too difficult to keep in place, even with superglue.

Check the picture. The ruler is in mm. If you can't get this material where you live I would suggest the thinnest MDF you can find, or to use triplex.

Greetings,
Thomas
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zacker in reply to mrdebosSep 14, 2012. 4:35 AM
there is a company here in the states called Anderson International Trading (I believe) do a web search for AITwood.com they sell a product called "Bending Birch plywood panel thats some sort of thin wood with a birch vaneer on one side, you can get it in full 4" x 8" sheets and in your choice of bending directions, you can make a 4 foot tall tube with one and a 8 foot tall tube withthe other option.I used to buy it and make birch drum shells by bending it around a piece of 12" and 10" peice of PVC coupling i had machined down so i could add 4 plys and have the od and id of the shell exactly to that of a 6 ply keller brand maple shell. its good stuff. Here are a couple picks of the molds, and some shells I had made from this Bending Birch. look at the grain! This is a buddy of mines site and he hosted these for me a few years back.

http://wastingwebspace.com/Html%20Pages/ZackersShells.htm
mrdebos (author) in reply to zackerSep 14, 2012. 5:17 AM
That looks really nice, Zacker! Do I understand correctly that it's not actually vaneer? Because that's usually pretty pricey... Even thin triplex I think is quite expensive.
zacker in reply to mrdebosSep 14, 2012. 6:20 AM
its thicker than a vaneer.. its more like a birch vaneer glued to a flexible board that looks like that cheap luan stuff that those inexpensive closet sliding doors are skinned with. its probably about 1/8 of an inch (or 4MM) thick. Nice looking stuf and you can cut it just by scoring it with a sharp razor knife as its hard to run through a table saw cause it wants to curl up.
iminthebathroom in reply to mrdebosFeb 17, 2011. 10:36 AM
Very cool, similar to what they call door skin, a laminate for well, doors... sold in 4x8 sheets. Wonder if other laminates would work as well.
Mr. Potato Head says: Feb 15, 2011. 12:55 PM
Come clean with us. Did you really plan the cabinet to be all curvy, or did you go back and redraw the plans when it turned out that way???
zacker in reply to Mr. Potato HeadSep 14, 2012. 4:27 AM
lol.. nice, when i try to make straight lines, I make curves and stuff, but not like this...lol My stuff tends to look like it got hit by a truck!
mrdebos (author) in reply to Mr. Potato HeadFeb 15, 2011. 1:38 PM
Yes I really did plan it to be all curvy. Somehow I always design stuff to be curved, and then when I'm cutting or sawing the pieces I wonder why I didn't just make it straight and orthogonal...
You should see my room, all the stuff I made myself is curvy.
zacker in reply to mrdebosSep 14, 2012. 4:26 AM
post some more of your work, id love to see what else youve made in curves!!
mrdebos (author) in reply to zackerSep 14, 2012. 5:20 AM
You can see a few more examples on my website: http://www.debosdesign.nl/portfolio/nassaulaan-interior/
zacker says: Sep 14, 2012. 4:25 AM
Been wanting to do this for awhile but never knew what it was called so i couldnt find anyplans. I love it, your my hero for posting this....lol,lol,lol seriously though, thanks for the instructions, you rock!!! Thanks again!
Lyn0104 says: Jun 28, 2012. 10:30 PM
Saw this being sold for $350.00. Well, it was painted in some funky colours.
vputrius says: Feb 3, 2012. 8:33 AM
WoW men. Nice job!
MercuryCrest says: Oct 31, 2011. 11:01 PM
Wonderful! I've been waiting for someone to make an Instructable on curvilinear forms!

Thank you so much for this. Duly favorited. :)
ah-el says: Mar 27, 2011. 4:42 PM
THANK YOU FOR THIS
Fun2Hold says: Mar 11, 2011. 6:26 PM
That looks fantastic! Beyond my skill-level, but written well enough I could follow it!
Frederiek says: Feb 21, 2011. 4:11 AM
Awesome, nice design!
mrdebos (author) says: Feb 20, 2011. 1:08 PM
Thanks a lot for all the positive comments, guys! Really appreciate it!
canemaker49 says: Feb 20, 2011. 11:53 AM
this is creative and very cool. nice job!
Wicken says: Feb 20, 2011. 8:55 AM
This is just lovely. If I left out the drawer, I bet I could make it myself. The drawer seems a little out of my league. I would love a bookshelf like that. :) It would be great mounted sideways on a wall.

Curvy things like that are wonderful because they don't look like they came in flat pack from Ikea.

AustinMiniMan says: Feb 20, 2011. 6:47 AM
I really like that layout of the shelves. At first I thought it was a terrible nightstand at there wasn't a place at bed level, then I saw the side hole. Really clever way to add more storage while still maintaining a place to set your phone/water. Also kind of self-cleaning as you can't see any clutter in it. Toss a little light in there and it'd be perfect. Really well-thought out, kudos.
wingnuts says: Feb 17, 2011. 9:31 AM
I wonder how many disappointed guys will end up here after on Curvy Girlfriend?
Here, allow me to add the word amateur, that should double the hits.
mrdebos (author) in reply to wingnutsFeb 17, 2011. 10:18 AM
lol :)
beanblog says: Feb 17, 2011. 5:22 AM
Looks great!
bertus52x11 says: Feb 15, 2011. 12:43 PM
This is very cool, I like it!
In step 1 you state that you have used 9mm and 0,4 mm MDF. I assume 9mm is for the shelves and 0,4 for the side panels?
mrdebos (author) in reply to bertus52x11Feb 15, 2011. 1:35 PM
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! And yes, you are correct. The 9mm is for the front, back and the shelves. The 0,4mm is for the 2 sides.
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