The absolute squareness and straightness of each of the one-hundred-twenty-eight tambour staves was the most critical part of this build.  To maximize stability, the staves are made of shop-acclimated quarter-sawn wood (poplar) sealed with de-waxed shellac.  To further minimize the potential for any moisture induced movement of the staves, a non water-based rubber cement was used to adhere the staves to a canvas backing  to make the fabric-hinged door assembly.  (The rubber cement was applied to the canvas, not the staves).  Next, to ensure the door assembly ran smoothly in its track, I made a mock-up of the depth, width, and radius of the intended grooved track and the mating stave tenons of a test-door panel.  (In the final build, the stave’s top and bottom tenons are 5/8” wide, 1/4” thick, and 3/8” high with the tracked corner radii of  ~1.75”).  Once dialed-in, the grooved tracks and the mating tenons of the final door assemblies were sanded up to a 400 grit paper and waxed to enable a smooth, unencumbered sliding motion.  With this done, the rest of the build was blue skies and sunshine!

Launch Gallery