WOOD Magazine – October 01, 2019

26 WOOD magazine October 2019

2

Rout the dadoes and rabbets to make a

mirror-image pair of sides (A) [Drawing 1,

Skill Builder above], and drill the shelf-pin

holes. Finish-sand the fixed shelf, top, and

inside face of each side.

3

Glue the sides (A), fixed shelf, and top (B)

[Drawing 2]. Check the assembly for square,

and clamp.

4

Cut the bottom (C) to size and the bot-

tom edging (D, E) about 2" longer than

shown. Rabbet the back end of each end

piece [Drawing 2a]. Miter-cut the edging to fit

around the panel (C), and glue it in place.

Finish-sand the bottom assembly.

5

Cut the face-frame stiles (F) 5" longer

than shown and the rails (G) to the length

shown [Drawing 2]. Trim the stiles to length,

and retain the cutoffs to make the base

fronts (S) later. Mark the pieces to ensure

correct orientation.

6

Pocket-screw and glue the stiles and rails

[Drawing 2], keeping the faces f lush.

7

Glue and clamp the face frame (F/G) to

the A/B assembly, f lush with the sides

and top. After the glue dries, finish-sand the

outside of the carcase.

8

Glue and screw the bottom (C–E) to the

carcase [Drawing 2 and Photo A].

Plywood usually measures less than its nominal
thickness, but router bits hit their stated
size exactly, leading to ill-fitting dadoes
and rabbets. This simple jig gauges
plywood’s exact thickness and guides a
slightly narrower flush-trim router bit to
make an exact plywood-size dado or
rabbet. Note: Drill the bolt holes and
counterbores in the rails before
assembly [drawing right and photos below].
To use the jig, clamp between the rails at each
end a scrap of the plywood that will fit into the
dado or rabbet. Lay out the dado location on the workpiece, and
clamp the jig in place below left. For the top rabbet in the side (A),
index the inside edge of the jig’s narrow rail at the top of the side.
Adjust a top-bearing flush-trim bit (we used a^5 ∕ 8 " bit for the^3 ∕ 4 "
plywood) to the desired cutting depth. Guide the router along one
rail, then back along the other. Repeat both cuts for best results.

Rout just-right plywood dadoes and rabbets

SKILL BUILDER

To watch three shelf-

pin drilling methods,

point your smartphone’s

camera at this code,

or visit woodmagazine

.com/shelfpinmethods

Note: We made the

dado and top rabbet

on each side (A) with

this jig, and cut the

rabbets for the back

panel with a straight

bit and edge guide.

Tip! Plane solid stock for

the trim to the thickness

of the plywood panel

before gluing it on in

order to minimize

sanding.

Square the cleat precisely to the wide rail to ensure an accurate jig. Glue and

screw the joint for maximum durability.

DADO JIG

Cleat

Wide

Narrow rail

rail Wide

rail

Cleat

Stop

Learn about miter-

framing a panel on

page 38.

A

A

Scrap of shelf stock