FINE Woodworking Photos: Anissa Kapsales
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64 FINE WOODWORKING Photos: Anissa Kapsales COPYRIGHT 2018 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted. • Fine Woodworking #270 - Sep/Oct 2018 Architectural Wall Cabinet Traditional joinery is the foundation for this fresh twist on a period design BY NANCY R. HILLER his simple hanging cabinet topped side next to the first and transfer the lines. with a roof is inspired by the work Mark the ends of the mortises with the same Tof 19th-century Scottish architect gauge settings you used for the tenons, then Bruce Talbert (1838–1881). Talbert may not score the fibers between the end marks, be widely known on our side of the Atlan- knifing along the shelf thickness lines; these tic today, but in his own time and place, he knife lines will guide your chisel. Drill out was an acclaimed Victorian Gothic Revival most of the waste, starting on one side and architect and designer. I have long been going about halfway through, then turning intrigued by one of his architecture wall the piece over to drill out the remainder. cabinets, a small piece of case furniture Clean up the edges with a chisel. with an elaborate roof. Talbert’s cabinet is ornate, with inlay, Constructing a cornice fretwork, and gilding. I wanted to make The cornices are joined to the cabinet a cabinet that drew on the architectural sides with sliding dovetails cut on the rout- character of the roof and its Tudor-esque er table. Start with cornice blanks a little shoulders without being so ornate that it oversize in width and length, and rout a would look out of place in a simple con- stopped dovetail socket down the middle. temporary room. Not to mention that I Now adjust the router table’s fence to wanted something I could make in several cut the dovetail keys at the top edge of days, rather than several weeks or months. each cabinet side; the dovetail should be Adding wallpaper to the back of the open centered in the side’s thickness and run all upper section adds a decorative element the way from the front of the side to the to my version. back. Check the fit: It’s better to leave it a little on the tight side and clean up with a Dovetails are first chisel than to have it be loose. Construction begins with the main section Now, rip the shelf so that its back edge of the case. The bottom-to-side joints are will align with the rabbets in the case sides. dovetailed. I cut the dovetails by hand, re- The rabbets will be 5⁄16 in. deep. You can moving the waste with a coping saw and rout them after assembling the case. Glue chisels. After transferring the tail markings the case together. onto each end of the bottom, I sawed the pins, then cut out most of the waste with with the same cutting-gauge setting you Add the face frame a coping saw and cleaned up with chisels. used for the dovetails. Then use the gauge While the case is in clamps, make the face to mark out the tenons. frame with mortise-and-tenon joints. First Add the joinery for the fixed shelf Cut the shoulders of the tenons on the mark the positions of the mortises, then The fixed shelf is joined to the sides with tablesaw, staying just shy of the gauged cut them. With the same fence setting, cut through-tenons. Although the shelf will be line indicating the cabinet side thickness. an open-ended mortise 1⁄2 in. deep at the trimmed eventually to make way for the Then remove the waste with a coping saw top of each face frame side; this will hold back, leave it full depth for now so that and clean up with a chisel. the spline for the fascia. Now set up the you can use the same gauge settings for Next, mark the top and bottom edges of tablesaw using a dado blade to cut the the mortises and tenons. the shelf position in pencil on one of the tenons to fit. Cut the shoulders back by Lay out the tenons on the shelf. Start by sides, then use a square to transfer these hand. For me, it’s quicker and easier to do marking the thickness of the cabinet sides lines around all four faces. Lay the other it by hand than setting up the saw. Glue Drawing, this page: John Tetreault SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 65 COPYRIGHT 2018 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted. • Fine Woodworking #270 - Sep/Oct 2018 3 Fixed shelf, ⁄4 in. 15 16 ARCHITECTURAL thick by 8 ⁄ wide Splines, 3 1 Roof, ⁄4 in. thick by 16 in. long ⁄16 in. thick WALL CABINET by 11 in. wide by 3 9 ⁄4 in. long Wallpapered back, 1 ⁄4-in.-thick plywood 3 Fascia, ⁄4 in. thick 13 16 5 by 8 ⁄ in. wide by Back top rail, ⁄16 in. thick by 1 1 13 in. long 2 ⁄4 in. wide by 11 ⁄4 in. long 1 5 Groove, ⁄2 in. deep Spline, ⁄16 in. thick 1 by ⁄8 in. wide 3 Keyhole Face-frame rail, ⁄4 in. 1 fastener thick by 1 ⁄2 in. wide 1 by 14 ⁄2 in. long 3 3 5 Cornice, ⁄4 in. Trim, ⁄4 in. thick by 14 ⁄8 in. 3 3 thick by 3 ⁄16 in. wide by ⁄4 in. long wide by 11 in. 3 long Top rail, ⁄4 in. thick by 2 in. wide by Stile, 1 3 10 ⁄2 in. long Back center ⁄4 in. thick by 5 1 stile, ⁄16 in. thick 2 ⁄4 in. wide by 1 by 2 in. wide by 2 Panel, 17 ⁄ in. long 5 15 in. long ⁄8 in. thick 5 Back stile, ⁄16 in. thick by 2 in. wide Back panel, 1 3 by 20 ⁄4 in. long ⁄16 in. thick 3 Rabbet, ⁄8 in. deep 5 Floating tenons, by ⁄16 in. wide 1 ⁄8 in. thick by 31 5 ⁄32 in. long, with Back bottom rail, ⁄16 in. thick 1 grain running by 3 in. wide by 11 ⁄4 in. long parallel to rails Tenon, 3 3 4 Bottom, ⁄4 in. thick ⁄ in. long 3 1 Face-frame stile, Side, ⁄4 in. thick by 9 ⁄4 in. wide by 3 1 1 ⁄4 in. thick by 1 ⁄2 in. by 9 ⁄4 in. wide 16 in. long 1 Face-frame 5 wide by 27 ⁄4 in. long 3 by 27 ⁄8 in. long bottom, ⁄4 in. thick by 2 in. wide 1 11 in. by 14 ⁄2 in. long 45° 3 Eastlake-style pull, 3 ⁄16 in. (houseofantiquehardware 3 4 in. Bottom rail, ⁄4 in. .com; $12, item no. Tenon, 3 thick by 2 ⁄4 in. wide R-08BM-1259-ABH). 1 in. long 1 by 10 ⁄2 in. long 1 1 ⁄2 in. 35 in. 7 ⁄8 in. 3 7 3 7 7 ⁄4 in. 1 ⁄8 in. 1 in. 1 ⁄4 in. 1 in. 1 ⁄8 in. ⁄8 in. TENON LAYOUT 21 in. 5 8 3 ⁄ in. ⁄4 in. 3 1 1 1 3 5 16 in. 10 in. 1 ⁄8 in. 1 ⁄2 in. 1 ⁄2 in. 1 ⁄2 in. 1 ⁄8 in. ⁄8 in. FRONT SIDE DOVETAIL LAYOUT 66 FINE WOODWORKING Drawings: Christopher Mills COPYRIGHT 2018 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted. • Fine Woodworking #270 - Sep/Oct 2018 A not-so-basic box Glue the case. The bottom corners are dovetailed, and the shelf has through-tenons. It’s not typical case construction, but it’s quite strong and not difficult to manage. Add the face frame. Hiller first glues up the face frame, then glues and clamps the face frame to the case. The face frame is joined with Sliding dovetail joins cornice to case. mortise-and-tenon Before gluing the case together, cut the joints and slotted dovetail on the top of the sides. Each cornice for splines that will will get a mating slot. link the fascia to it. up the face frame, and then glue the face frame to the case. Lay the cabinet on its face and rout a rabbet in the back edge of the sides and bottom. This will accommodate the frame- and-panel back for the cabinet’s lower sec- tion and the wallpapered plywood back for the upper part. Chop the bottom corners square with a chisel and remove the little portions that remain above and below the fixed shelf. Return to the cornice Set up the router table with an ogee cutter and rout the profile on the outside and front end of each cornice. Slide each cornice into position and mark where it meets the inside top cor- ner of the face-frame stile. Then miter the cornices on their long inside edges. With your tablesaw blade at 45°, set the fence so you rip the miter where your mark is. Fascia supports the roof Cut the fascia blank to width. Now use a mortise gauge to transfer the position of the spline slot from each face-frame stile to the fascia blank. On the tablesaw, cut a groove for the splines coinciding with these lines. Now mark and cut the top of the fascia to accept the roof. I made my first cut, a 45° SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 67 COPYRIGHT 2018 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.