Compliments of Fine Woodworking 38 FINE WOODWORK in G The Versatile Huntboard This sideboard variation is just as comfortable in a hallway or a living room BY GARRETT HACK he huntboard is a wonderful furni- beyond the one I design for. This piece where they needed refining. After all, vi- ture form, a relaxed country cousin would be at home serving as a desk or a sual strength is just as important as actual T to the more formal and high-style display table in a foyer or hallway. strength. Once I completed the mock-up, sideboard. It’s essentially a tall serving The focus of my design is the three cen- I used it to lay out and cut the real legs, table, with drawers and doors for storage tral drawers, with flanking doors adding a as well as to lay out the cuff banding and of dinnerware. I’ve long admired the form, sense of balance. The case itself is deep mortises. Cut the legs on the bandsaw and so for this year’s annual auction of the New and tall, and is engineered to withstand refine the shape with handplanes. Hampshire Furniture Masters, I decided to the weight of a collection of flatware and After cutting all of the mortises and the design and build a cherry huntboard. dinnerware. It’s also designed to withstand primary taper in the legs, install the cuff Typically, when designing furniture, my seasonal wood movement. banding. Although you can make your first thoughts are about form, proportion, own custom banding (see FWW #166, shape, and detail. But versatility also can Shape the legs and add the banding pp. 116-120), ready-made banding is avail- be an influence, especially for speculative In designing the legs of the huntboard, I able (www.vandykes.com, www.woodcraft work. I want potential bidders to see what used a full-size mock-up to help me gauge .com, and www.rockler.com). Cut the they need—a sideboard in this case—but I also think my work could have many lives Start with the legs The foot of each leg is highlighted with a cuff-banding inlay and Upper a secondary taper 1 portion that give the piece a tapers from light, elegant appear- the base of the apron ance. After cutting to the cuff. the primary tapers on the bandsaw, miter and glue in the cuff- banding sections (1). Cut the secondary taper on all four 2 sides, staying well clear of the cuff. Secondary taper begins Refine the taper with just below a handplane. Make the cuff. guide marks just be- low the cuff (2) and ASSEMBLY NOTE at the toe of the foot, and plane until both The huntboard glue-up is complex. It’s easiest to start marks are gone (3). by assembling the side aprons and the legs. But glue only the front legs in place at this stage—you’ll need 3 to remove the rear legs for a later step (see p. 42). www.FineWoodworking.com NO vembe R/ Decembe R 2 0 0 6 39 Stylish huntboard For a calm appearance, the primary wood is quartersawn cherry. To add interest and contrast, the door panels are flame birch, with African-blackwood pulls and Gabon-ebony beading. Panel tenon, 3⁄8 in. thick by 1⁄4 in. long Shelf, 5⁄8 in. thick by Top and bottom rear 9 in. wide, sits in 1⁄4-in.-deep groove. rails, 13⁄16 in. thick Partitions connect to by 31⁄8 in. wide the bottom board with sliding dovetails, 5⁄8 in. wide by 5⁄16 in. long. Back panel, 13⁄16 in. thick by 71⁄4 in. wide Stiles, 7⁄8 in. Splines, thick by 1 3⁄16 in. thick Dividers, ⁄2 in. 11⁄16 in. wide by 1⁄2 in. thick by 2 in. wide wide, float Bottom board, in their Front rail white pine, (see detail on grooves. 7 ⁄8 in. thick facing page) Partitions, Side panels, 3 3 Legs, 39 ⁄16 in. ⁄4 in. thick Wedge 13⁄16 in. thick long, taper from 1 by 7 ⁄4 in. 17⁄16 in. at top to Tenon, 3 wide Top and bottom 9⁄16 in. at bottom. ⁄8 in. thick by 1⁄2 in. long side rails, 13⁄16 in. thick by 31⁄8 in. Rail tenons, Bead, wide 3⁄8 in. thick Top kicker, 1 3⁄16 in. by 1 in. ⁄2 in. thick by dia. long 11⁄8 in. wide Side Stile panel Guide, 1 Spline ⁄4 in. thick by 13⁄16 in. wide Groove Tenon, 1 for bottom Bottom ⁄4 in. thick Runner, 3 board, side rail by ⁄16 in. Bottom 1⁄2 in. thick by long, fits 1⁄4 in. deep board 11⁄8 in. wide into divider. by 5⁄8 in. wide Divider Tenon, 3⁄8 in. thick 5 Tongue, ⁄8 in. by 3⁄4 in. thick by 1⁄4 in. long long, fits BOTTOM SIDE RAIL into stile. CASE INTERIOR 40 FINE WOODWORK in G Photos: Thomas McKenna Stretcher, 1⁄2 in. thick FITTING by 27⁄16 in. wide by 451⁄8 in. long A CRITICAL JOINT 1 Bottom board ⁄8 in. The front stretcher is rabbetted and dove- tailed to the legs and Front rail side aprons to help sta- bilize the case against Bead, racking forces. Begin by 3 Spline, ⁄16 in. 3⁄16 in. dia. marking the shoulders thick by 1⁄2 in. of the rabbet with the wide case dry-assembled FRONT RAIL (top). Cut the stepped rabbet using a backsaw and chisels, then saw the dovetails (center). Bottom, 5⁄16 in. thick, is beveled around the edges Set the stretcher in and screwed to the back. place and scribe for the dovetail housings in the leg and apron (bottom). Drawer fronts, 5⁄8 in. thick, with 1⁄8-in.-dia. bead on Sides, top and bottom edges 3⁄8 in. thick 1 52 ⁄2 in. 181⁄4 in. 46 in. 157⁄8 in. 3 in. 31⁄8 in. 3 1 3 ⁄8 in. 12 ⁄8 in. 5 11 ⁄8 in. 71⁄4 in. 41⁄4 in. 31⁄8 in. 40 in. 13⁄8 in. 13 in. 21⁄4 in. 111⁄2 in. 18 in. Taper begins 133⁄4 in. from Cuff, 5 431⁄8 in. top of leg. ⁄8 in. wide FineWoodworking.com 7⁄8 in. sq. In a video tour, Hack explores the construction and 41⁄2 in. design considerations of his huntboard. Plus: an audio slide show of cutting tapered sliding dovetails. 9⁄16 in. sq. Drawings: Bob La Pointe NO vembe R/ Decembe R 2 0 0 6 41 Glue up the case in stages Attach the front rail to the bottom. Glue Glue the drawer stiles and dividers to the Slide in the interior partitions from the the spline into the bottom board, then add front rail. Assemble the stiles and dividers, back. Glue will help the tapered pins slide. the front rail. Be sure all of the joinery lines then fit them into the front rail as a unit. Clamp the partitions, then let the glue dry up before clamping. before going any further. Attach the case to the rear assembly. After gluing the front legs and side aprons to the case, slide the shelf into position, and drop the carcase into place. 42 FINE WOODWORK in G dadoes that house the banding using ei- ther a router or hand tools (for more on this process, see FWW #180, p. 106). Each section of banding is mitered using a 45° guide block and chisel; the block also is used to miter the door beading (see top right photo, p. 45). After the banding is glued in place, level the sections with a block plane, then plane a tapered toe from the cuff to the floor (see photos, p. 39). Assemble the side and rear aprons One of the most challenging aspects of this design is planning for the inevitable seasonal movement of the 131⁄2-in.-wide aprons. Cherry boards that wide will move significantly, increasing the potential for cracking the case, opening a gap where they meet the top, and pinching a drawer or a door. A simple and attractive solution is to make each apron in three parts: a top and bottom rail and a center panel, joined with cherry splines but no glue. The tenons of the rails are glued into the legs, while the stub ten- ons of the panel float in their mortises. As a decorative element, and to disguise small gaps that will open during the dry win- ter months, I cut beads in the center panel where it meets the rails (see bottom side rail detail, p. 40). The most accurate way to cut the tenons and shoulders on the three parts of each apron is to dry-assemble them with the splines and cut them all at once, hold- Add the top stretcher and kickers ing the pieces together with masking tape. Clean up the shoulders with a shoulder With the case upright on the floor, install the stretcher. This is tricky because plane, then take apart the assembly and you have to glue in the kickers for the top 1 trim the center panel tenons down to ⁄4 in. drawer at the same time. The stiles of long. Now, cut the miters and haunches in the drawer frame are tenoned into the the longer tenons of the rails. Finally, cut stretcher. Drive wedges into the tenons, then a groove in the bottom rail to accept the screw the stretcher to the interior partitions.