448 8
drawer fronts.
The stiles for the hinges were cut and put in place, and the
doors were assembled without glue so that all of the cutting
for the hinge mortises could be done conveniently. Once I was
satisfied with the fit of the doors, I marked where the right
door overlaps the left, took everything apart and then glued
the hinge stiles in place.
Drawer Runners
The drawers are rather wide, so I decided to use wood runners
to guide them in and out without the bottoms of the drawer
box sides rubbing on the web frames or the front rails of the
cabinet. At the front of the cabinet, the runners fi t loosely in
mortises in the stiles beside the drawers. At the back, the run-
ner is held to the back leg with a screw. This method allows
minor adjustments to be sure that the runner is square to the
face of the cabinet.
After securing the runners, I used a plunge router with a
fence attached to cut the grooves in the sides of the drawer
boxes. Squaring the ends of the grooves with a chisel and
some test fi tting allowed me to fi t the drawer fronts precisely.
I rubbed a pencil on the edges of the runners and moved the
drawers in and out several times. This marked any high spots
With the blade height and fence settings
adjusted, cut two grooves in the back of the
thicker leg parts.After the grooves are cut, the saw is again tilted
to 45º and the waste is removed. Leave about(^1) ⁄4" of f lat on t h e e d g e t o r id e again s t t h e r o u t e r
table fence.
The 45º bevel bit is set to intersect the corner of
the groove and the edge of the workpiece. The
goal is to create the bevel without reducing the
width on the face of the piece.
After making some test cuts and fi ne tuning the
router table setup, the edges are beveled. The
block behind the featherboard holds it away
f r om t h e f e n ce , s o i t is p u s hin g d ow n on t h e n ar-
row fl at left between the two bevels.
After all the parts are milled, I assemble the cor-
ners and hold them together with packing tape.
All but the last corner is taped before gluing. I
then fl ip the taped parts over, put glue on the
edges, then fold the parts back together, taping
the last corner.
The completed legs have a small rectangular hol-
low in the center, and show quartersawn fi gure
on all f o u r sid e s. T his is a s t ab le as s e m b l y, r e la -
t i v e l y quic k t o make an d e as y t o as s e m b le.
Feather-
board
7
8
9
10 11 12
together and apply the clamps.
Not Done Yet
Usually, getting the carcase assembled means that the end is
in sight, but this cabinet contains several details that require
additional work. Much of the interest of this design comes
from the varying setbacks of the faces of the parts, particularly
those on the front elevation.
The side panels are set back^3 ⁄ 8 " from the face of the legs,
and the arched rail below it is^1 ⁄ 8 " thicker. On the front of the
cabinet, the rails are back^1 ⁄ 4 " from the legs. At the top of the
cabinet, filler strips were glued on so the back of the crown
moulding would be flush with the outside edges of the legs.
The lower front rail and the stiles for the door hinges are
(^1) ⁄ 16 " back from the rails, as are the vertical pieces beside the
drawers.
The hinge stiles allow the doors to swing clear of the legs,
and this detail is seen in many pieces of Arts & Crafts furni-
ture. The doors and drawer fronts are^1 ⁄ 16 " back from the front
edge of the stiles. On the doors this offset is accomplished
when locating the hinges. The placement of the stopped
groove in the side of the drawer boxes locates the face of the
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