222 2
ered batten across each of the center miter joints and snugged
the clamps. When all the battens were in place, I used bar
clamps to bring the ends of the miters together.
I went over the assembly (grateful for the long open time of
liquid hide glue) and checked each inside corner for square,
and tightened the clamps. I left the door in the clamps over-
night, and the following morning, I scraped off the excess
glue then leveled the surfaces with my block plane.
There Is a Cabinet, Too
The cabinet assembly is simple, especially when compared to
the door; it’s just two sides and an identical top and bottom.
After assembly, a backsplash is added behind and above the
top, and a narrow toe rail is added below the bottom. The
back is a framed panel that fi ts in a rabbet at the back of the
sides. The back panel is fl ush with the bottom edge of the
cabinet bottom, and ends at the midpoint of the top in thick-
ness.
My fi rst step was to cut the rabbets for the back in the
sides. This differentiated the inside from the outside and the
top from the bottom. The horizontal cabinet components join
the sides with a pair of through-tenons at each intersection.
I made a template from^1 ⁄ 2 "-thick birch plywood to keep the
mortises consistent in size and location.
The template locates the mortises and defi nes the shape at
the top and bottom of the cabinet sides. I chose a piece as
wide as the fi nished sides, and long enough to contain the
mortises. To expedite making the template, I ripped some ply-
wood to^1 ⁄ 2 ", the width of the fi nished mortises. I marked the
mortise locations on the template blank, then placed double-
sided tape over the layout lines.
I stuck down the thin plywood strips at the end of the
mortise locations, then placed wider pieces of plywood tight
against the long edges. When all these pieces were in place,
I tapped them with a mallet to set the adhesive on the tape,
then drilled a^7 ⁄ 16 "-diameter hole in each mortise location.
These holes are smaller than the mortise, but larger than the
fl ush-trimming router bit I used to cut out the mortises. After
routing all four mortises with a fl ush-trim bit, I popped off the
thin plywood pieces, then cut and shaped the top and bottom
edges of the template.
I laid out the mortise locations on the outer faces of the
cabinet sides, marking the lines with a knife. The knife lines
can’t be rubbed off and are more precise and easier to see
than pencil lines. More important, these lines are the fi nished
edges of the through-mortises; cutting them fi rst helps to
keep the router from tearing out the edge and provides a
defi nite point to work to.
I didn’t bother to square the corners of the mortises in the
template; the router bit will leave a rounded corner in the cab-
inet side anyway. I like to drill out as much material as possible
before routing, and use the smallest diameter fl ush-trim bit I
can fi nd. Squaring the corners on the real thing looks impos-
sibly diffi cult, but there are a couple tricks that make it easy.
Cutting corners. The router will leave material in the corner, which can be
removed with a chisel. The fi nished edges of the joint have been estab-
lished with the knife and saw.Double duty. This jig guides the bearing on a fl ush-trim router bit, then is
used to guide a chisel to pare into the mitered corners.Use the fence. Saw cuts in the fence of the bench hook guide the saw to
make clean and accurate cuts.Wasting away. The band saw fence is set to leave just a sliver of material as
the tenon cheeks are cut.1 18-27_StickleyMCabinet.indd 22 8 - 27 _StickleyMCabinet.indd 22 3/25/13 9:55 AM 3 / 25 / 13 9 : 55 AM