Simplicity comes with a price. The three fold down doors which overlap the edges of the case show not the slightest gap between them when they’re closed – that’s one thing. To get them to open and close past one another with only a whisper in the passing – well, that’s another.
The edges of each compartment have a rosewood tongue around them which fits into a groove that runs around the door. All of that was designed to keep the temperature in each compartment stable! I know much more about wine now.
The solid drawn brass hinges and the “fall down door” supports, I didn’t have to make. The wine racks and door catches, I did. The doors could have had any number of handles and pulls to open them. Their intrusion into the profiles of the cuboid was unacceptable. My solution was a spring-loaded catch.
The thick plate which gets screwed to the door holds the box which has in it the catch arm, which is attached to a cylindrical pivot with a center pin located in the box wall. The catch arm is depressed by a rosewood key. A spring under the catch arm provides the return movement. The key sits unattached in its pocket in the door. Remove it and the case is locked.
The metalworking techniques used to make the catches resides in the craft of silversmithing. The boxes are made of soft brass which can be engraved like silver by muscle power. The brass is cut to size and v-grooves are scored by pulling the engraving tool across it. The workpiece is held firmly, and the engraving tool is guided by a fence. Deciding when the v-groove is deep enough is your call. When all three grooves are made, the sides are folded up and the joints soldered.
The loose key feature proved later on to have some value. Initially, I did spend some time trying to come up with a method of tethering the key in its slot. Didn’t succeed with a solution so I moved on. About eight or ten years later when we were settled into house and career, we had a vibrant social life. You know the sort of thing, house parties, dinners with drinks and cigars. The booze box came into its own. As well, we had two small boys. The removable key was activated the day we found the littler of butt ends of the boys’ adult activities in the garden underneath their bedroom window.