You Can Bank On It

I completed the bank top for my type cabinet tonight and brought it home from work. I still have to apply a finish to it which I'll start in a day or two. Normally I use orange shellac for anything I make that I want to match older furniture because that was the usual finish used. My Tracy cabinet is no different. But because in this case the bank is not just a separate piece of furniture but will be part of the old cabinet I will likely stain the bank first so that when I apply the shellac it will more closely match the patina of the base. I'm going to make some tests on scrap pieces before I decide.

The old cabinet is made out of ash and since we didn't have any at work, or any white oak that I liked and which would have been something of a match, I used some hickory which we did have. The grain is very similar and the darker color in some of the boards will aid in matching it to the older base.

I debated with myself over exactly what type of bank I wanted. One with the upper part elevated above the lower and taller so as to support a full-sized case or like the one I finally decided upon. I chose this style because I wanted a reasonably deep lower surface that would accept 3/4 cases which are often deeper than full-sized. Also, I know it will be extremely unlikely that I will ever need to have a separate upper case font above and a lower case font below. More useful will be to have a lead and slug case and perhaps a quad and space case on the upper level. This type was also less time consuming to build, a not altogether irrelevant consideration.

I made the lips at the front edges of the upper and lower levels 1/2" tall so case handles would clear and so they wouldn't interfere when I tie up a form on a galley. I will likely attach a small strip of wood to the lower right corner as a galley stop.

Once the finish is on I'll post another photo though it will probably be just as poor as this one. Hopefully I'll be buying a new camera in the next couple months.