NO.

34

NOTES FROM THE SHOP

BEDROOM FURNITURE "

BACHELOR'S CHEST
NIGHT STAND
HEADBOARD

$2.50

Sawdust
Number 34

JuVAug, 1984
Editor

Donald 8. _Ilk.
Oeslgn Olreclo,
Ted Kralicek

Su_pllon
Manager
Sandy J. Baum

S_pbOO AssIslant$

new cabinet, comes new drawers with

Chrt.telMlner
VIcky RoblnlOn
Jockle Stroud

their own problems and design ehaIIenges.

In fact, as I w.. looking back in the past
issuesoflVood,m;th,1 realized that no two

ShlrloyF._

drawers were built the same

Art Dlreclor
KIY Mulder
Tod1nicat IItU5l1al0<8
O ,d Kreyllng
Mike Henry

Ann William.
Diane Starr

Computer Opet'8t1ons
Ken Miner

CIICtltationManage'
Jeff Farris

AdmlnlstrallveAsSlslanl
Cheryl Scott

Building Maintenance
AfChl. Krause
WDODSMITlf

(ISSN 0164-4114) Is

P\IbIisl1ed

March. May. July. Scp_,

November) by WoodsrnI1Il PlJbishIog
Co..2200 GrandA.e., Des Moines,lowa503'2.
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WOOO5Mmt

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8ACKISSUES

awe"'"

A ,.. , at the """'Gnl. 01all back _

on the wrappe< ot .,.. ISSUe. II Ihe WflIIIpe1 is
m"".ng, yw can send to< bookie' des<:ritIing
the "",,'enlS and _
ot .t bad< eeoes.
SAMPLE COPlES

friend who -.f<j bkelo..,. a copy

ofWoodamllh. jusl send Ihename and address.
and ,..'11 send a sample (al no 00$').
If yw have

A. the years go by, I'm

becoming more and more fascinated with

the details of cabinetmaking. In fact, this
fascination has changed my whole approach to some aspects I used to dread.
Building drawers, for example.
Building a drawer is not an easy task. A
drawer hnl! to be strong, it has to fit
certain opening in the cabinet, and it has to
operate ~rnoothly. 'I'lus requires a lot of
planning, and it menns a lot of details have
to be worked out &0 the drawers and the
cabinet work together.
The more eablnets and the more drawers 1 build, lhE' more I've come to realize
that I'm not ju,t building the same basic
drawer over and over again. \Vitb each

"".rstan, Edlto,
Stlve Krohmer

bimonlhly

ABOL'T TIllS ISSUE.

\\~a}.That's

lot of different way8 to build drawers.

Question: So why are you going on and
on about drawe ... ? It sounds like you're
trying to mnke a point. What is it?
If you're gning to build a cabinet with a
drawer in it, YOlL have to plan ahead. Take
the chest of drawers shown in this issue for
example.
Thel,(!'s no way to build this chest without first knowing exactly how the drawers
will be eonstrueted and mounted. Which
means you have to design the chest from

smooth action of the wooden gnid es, AU

that extra work to make wooden guides
quickly melts into pure l!aw.faction. You
Dod and say, "That feels just right."
CHANCt:s. Along with the chest of drawers, we also built n night stand, a wall
mirror and a headboard. These foul' projects represent the. fil'St time we've shown a
group of pieces with the same design and
Intended to 1)0 used "6 " set.

However,

fiM

we

\\'OJ'(!

working on the

design, one thing became clear: There is no

way to please everyone.
The chest of drawers was the first piece
we built. As IIOOn118 it W88 complete, the
s"""stions began. "It's nice but it should
be wider it really needs two small
drawers at the tcp ... it. should have one

or maybe two more 1a.rgc drawers ...

it

should be built out of oak instead of

mahogany.
AU of these are legitimate suggestions.
And any of them could easily be incor-

porated into the chest without

trouble .t all.

much

In fact, that's why we show as many of

details for building each project as we can
- in hopes that you dOIl't follow them. By
that I mean that we Include all the details
about a proj''01 to provide enough information so you call change the design to suit
your needs. Add anolher large drawer. 0r
two small ones,
One change that's easy to make and can
produee
dramatic results is to build tbe..se
the inside out.
The interdependence of the drawers and projects OUt of. different wood. "'e used
mahogany. but think of the difference in
t-he chest involves dozens of details that
have to be worked out. Like a game of appearance if the che.t were built out of
chess, each detail determines the ones that oak, \lith rift sawn pieces for the drawer
follow and have to be planned weU in fronts. Or maple with spatted maple
drawer fronta. Or the headboard had
advance.
"~'TAI. OR WOOl)! Among the details for burled veneer on the center panel.
Feel free to change the design, the
the design of the drawers, one decision was
critical (01' determining the overall ap-- wood, the dimensions. Change it and make
it your Own,
proach fOI'building the chest.
~I01'E TAI,K. With this Issue we decided
I wanted to build drawers without using
any hardware. No drawer pulls, No metal to increase the Tnlklng Shop section 80 we
guide system. This decision was based on a could Include more comments from readers
little quirk that most woodworkers haver if and expand the question-and-answer
given cholee they'll figure out a way to format.
If you have R comment 0" question,
usc wood ruther t.han metal - no matter
how much more work it involves,
please feel free to send it In. We're anxious
to hear from you, and we hope this exTrue, by avoiding metal hardware
there's a little extra work and a lot more change information and ideas wiD benefit
planning. But it makes the whole project all or us.
an interesting design challenge ... and
SEW FACES.Ola"" Starr has joined us to
"help open, sort and process the volume of
eert2inly more interesting to build.
The res ult I. a chest with drawers that
mail we reeeive each day. She "i1l8lso be
are a pure pleasure to open. As you open working on the other end: """king and
each drawer, your finger-tips fit comfort- seoding out the ord ers for back issues.
ably in the coves on the bottom edge of the
NEXT""'L'SC. The September/October
drawer front. Then as the drawer slides issue of WoocUlllith (No. 36) wUI be mailed
open, you immediately feel the silky during the week of September 24, 1984.
WOOOSMITH

I~1

I All

I..~

T_i~s & Technigu_e_s__

__

A NEW TWIST
In Woo~",itll No. 33, you complained
about the problems of loading paper in
palm sanders. Thel..,'s a simple trick that
will alleviale about 99% of the problem,
and all you need is an ordinary pencil.
After cutting ~he p~per 1:0 sise, lay the
paper abrasive side down. Then lay the
pencil on one of the edges t,hat will he
clamped in the sander, and roll the edge of
the sandpaper around the pencil.
When the paper is released, it will
spring back with a nice semi-clreular upward curve on the edge. Then cu.1 the
opposite edge of the sandpaper,
To load the sandpaper, sirnply raise the
clamp spring and insert the first curved
edgeofthe papel' Smooth the paper across

First, clamp a piece of scrap stock to the

table of the drill press, and drill a hole

that's exactly the same diameter as the

outside diameter of the dowel. r drill this
hole about t"'othirds the way through the
thickness of the block.

The advantage to this system is thauthe

screen in no way effects the air flow from
the fan, yet it prevents large debris from
faDing intg the router. I'veused my router
this way (or 1~ years, and have had no
problems.

Steve.. Jotmeon.
Des Moi" ss, Iowa
SCRAP WOOD CORNER CLAMPS
Not too long ago, I had to make a large
number of Lazy Susan shelves. Everything went together just fine until I realized I was Producing a mountain of cut-off
corners that were taking Over my shop. I
haled the thought of feeding.all tliose cut
off. into my wood heatel; so I decided to

kElP SCRAPCLAMPEO'10 146lf

come up '\.lith some "'ay to use the scraps.

'J:hen keeping the block clamped to <he
mill press table, remove the bit fJ'om the
chuck and insert the dowel in tile hole. By
keeping the block clamped in it. origi","

position, the (IriU press chuck is automatically centered over the sbot!. dowel.
Drilling a hole that's pe!'fectll' centered
on the end of the dowel simply requires
cfiucking the correct size drill bit in the
drill .press, and drilling the dowel.

Patrick IVqr'!el'
S8condidQ, Cali/omio.
the pad and you'll find the othel' edge
cw'lrng around the pad, pojnting directl~
where the clamp will open. RaiS<l:theclamp
and push ill the edge. Then tjghten the
paper across the pad, and release the
clamp.

FIBERGLASS SCREEN

I'd like to sbare an idea Ihave for the Scars

al

routers. In }l'ooM",;I" No.

and other
issues, you've mentioned that debris falliog into the Scars router may have been
one of the causes.for the fan blades breakSam",,/ FiaUwuYlY ing off, and damaging the motor.
S1Jbury,Massac"use{u
I roo Own 8 Seal -s tJ), H.P. router that's
mounted
upside down on a muter table.
A HOT TIP
But before I mounted it on the routerLread the alticl e. in IVooMmiU.No. 88 On
sharpening tools with a sllltional'Y disk and
helt sand .... This does work well, but ...
Please tell your readars to be sure that
all the Sllwdustis removed from the sander
before it's used to sharpen tools. The metal
sparks from thegrinding action can start
the sawdust on fire.

J.. R. ,Hack'''Oerry

II')fou'd like to share a woodworking tJpwi-lhother

DRILLING DOWELS

WOOlDSMITH

PetTy lio,IiO>1
Wal/wila, NotIJ. Dakota
SIND IN YOUR IDEAS

Sa.genou"" Petl1lsylw7tia

n lVoodenti~h No. 33, )'OU showed a

method of marking the center point on the
end of long dowels that works' well. For
short dowels, r use slightly diffetent
melbod that not.nly finds center; but also
assures the hole is drilled parallel with the
sides of the dowel.

Fina,ly, r came on the idea of combining

t],e corner Cllk>ffs with two Ccl.amps to
form a corner clamp. 'l'h~ corner clamps
can he used to squa .., up case work, or to
just clamp together the corners on a mitered (11Ime.
To make the clamps, I glued .two of the
%"thick corner cut -orfs tegethel' to produce
a I\1t" thick bracket, Then T !;>oredtwo
holliS for the C-e,lamj) pads, and cu~off the
sharp corners on the ends of the bracket,
Fin.ny, the edge~ are trimmed and
sanded so they're smooth and perfectly
square, (lfthe stock used for the I ysusan
is square to begin with, having tc square
the clamps can he eliminated.}

table, I protected the molor with" small

piece of fiberglass SCreen <~at "overed the
air intake diJ~ctly above the fan.
To attach the screen to the moto housing, apply a small amount of super glue
where Ute screen and the motor housing
come in contact with eaeh oth,er.

rea,dGr$of Woodsmlth, send your Idea to:

Wood$IfJim, TIps & teChniques, 2200 Grand
Ave . Des Moines, Iowa 50312.
Wo pay a minlmu", of $10 fot Ups, andSl5 0(
more ror special techniques (that arB aoc&plad
for publication). Please give a complete 8X
planailon of yoor idea. II sketch Is ~eed.~,

send It along: we'll draw a new one.

Bachelor's Chest
CLEAN, CONTEMPORARY FOUR-DRAWER CHEST
This chest of drawers is built
exactly the opposite Of the
way it was d.signed. That
may not make muchsense. but
that's one of the problems you
fa"" wh.n you set out to build
a chest ofdraw.rg- you have
to design the deawe rs Iirs t 3nd
then destgn t he cabinet
around them.
This is O$peeiallytrue Ofthis
chest because we wanted to
build it with draw ers that are
a tittle out of the ordinary.
There's no hardware on the
drawers - no pulls, 110 metal
guides. Instead, these drawers are designed with eoncealed cove as a finger pull.
and a guide system that's
made completely of wood.
In order to make all of this
work, the cabinet hllJ! to tAke
into account the eoved lip (Ie
sign on the drawer fronls, as
well as the method used to
"WUOL the dra wers in the

cabinet, and the final SilA} of

the drawers. In other words,
the cabinet is deslgned to nt
the drawers,
These design considerations
are discussed in more detail in
the article on building drawers
that begins on page 13. OnC<)-----------~
the drawers arc designed and final measurernents are determined (or the cabinet.
lstarted work by building the two side. of
the cabinet.
THE CA8IN(J

51DE5

The sides of Ihe ch.st con.;"t of plywood

panels with hardwood edging on the front
and back edges, see fig. I. The plywood
panels also have a series of Y," groove.
routed on the inside face for the cabinet'.
web frames. ('The.. frames are used to
connect the cabinet sides. and lhey also
SUpport the drawers.)
CLT SIDES. The nrst step is to cut the
plywood panels (A) to size. The length of
these panels i,determined by the spacing
needed for the drawers and the web
frames, This works oul to 32"i1'". (The
details of this measurement are discussed
in the drawer article on page 13.)
As for the width of the plywood panels,
rbey should be IGVl\" wide, However,
rather than cutting the plywood to this
width, I cut it a tittle more than doublewide (3214') so I could rout the groov es for

the web fi-..mesin one pass, see Fig. 2.

This assures the grooves are routed in
the same position on both sides.
aocr GROOI'PS. To rout the grooves,
clampan auxiliary fenee to the plywood
anrl usc a handheld router with a YI'
slraight bit, see Fig. 2.
I started with the top groove. This
groove should be "iI," down from the top
edge of the plywood. see detail in fig. 2.
(Alter Ihis measurement 10 equal the
thickness of the stock for the web frame.)
The position of the next four grooves is
critical because they determine the siU!of
the openings for the drawers.
To preduee the COlTeCt height for the
drawer openings, rout these four grooves
80 they're exactly 7.r apart, measuring
from the top of each groove, see Fig. 1.
AlWr the grooves are routed, rip the
double- wide panel in half and trim it to
form two panels, each 16~'
wide.
RO~'TTONGUES. The next step is to rout
tongues on the front, back, and top edges
of each plywood panel. The tongues on the
front and back edges are used to attach

hardwood edging strips. see Figo. 4 and 6.

The tongue on the top edge is used later to
attach the top panel.
These tongues mU fit into grooves that
are routed in the edging strips. To gouge
the thickness of the tongues, first rout a
groove in 3 test piece with a ~. straight
bit.. Then the tongues are cut on a router
table to fit thi$ groov .
Set up the router table with %"
straight bit to rout V.,,;de rabbets on
both faces of the plywood to produce the
Y.. -long tongues, sec Fig. 3. Adjust the
depth of cut until the thickness of the
tongue fits the groove in the test piece.
IlECORATIVE SIIOULDER.
Aft." the
tongues are cut, 1 added a Yo'-wide shoulder on the front, back, and top edges of'the
plywood to set off the panel in the frame,
WOODSMITH

see Ftgs. 4 and 6. Rout this shoulder Yio"

wide and Vo deep on the outside face of the
plywood panels. see Fig. 3.
THE EDGING STRIPS
Now the 'solid-wood edging strips can be
added to the front and back edges of ~he
plywood sid es. AU of these strips are cut
from 5/4 stock (1110.' thick actual).
BACK &OGlNG. The back edging strips
(C), arc ripped to width so they're just
slightly (~.) wider than the thickness of
the plywood sides, see em ss Section ill
Fig. 1. 1'his extra width provides just

FIGURE:,

DJMINSIONS

..-

l:

GIVI!N

fROtir

EDGING'

@
CAalN(r

SIDE tANEl

If)

BACK EDGJNG

4t4'STOC~
(SE,oriAlt)

?"'"

I 7r

can be planed and sanded down perfectly

flush with the plywood.
Then these strips are ell~to length so
Lhe)'r. equal to the distance fron\ the bottom of the plywood panel to the Shoulder of
the tongue on the top edge, $CO Fig. 1-

'.,
AU GROOVlS

'1~"Wtl)e-, y.~OE-lP

11
7'1'.

It

ROljTGROOI'&.AfOOrthe strips are eut to

size, rout, a Vi" xV,," groove on the edge of
the strip to match the tongue on the back
edge of the plywood panel, see Fig. 1. I
routed this groove on the router table,

,I

".

making sure it was positioned so the extra

by W.dcep rabbet 011 the back edge of the

edging strip for the 14' plywood back. see
Fig. 5. Shop Note: J used a labJe saw
rather than the router ,able to cut this
rabbet-because the saw produces a cleaner
edge along the shoulder of the rabbet.
FROl;T EDClNC. The front edging strip
(B) is ripped J%O wide and cut to tbe same
length as the back-strip, Sec t'ig. ,I. Then a
Y,," x l/.tll' groove is routed on the inside face
to fit the tongue on the front edge of the
plywood panel, see Fig. I.
This groove is positioned exactly the
same distance from the oUl$ide edge as the
groove on the back edging strip. (That is,
.so ihe.edge ie V",' 8bo.Ye the surtace Of the
plywood.) Since this groove is in exactly
We Same position, it call be cut US",g the
Same set-up on the router table.
ASSEMBLY. Finally, glue the e"lling
strips- to the tongJ.les on the plywood. Be
sure the top end of each edging 5t.rip is
6ush with the$oulderoflhe
tongue on the
top edge of the Side, see Figs 4 and 5.

-"

TO lOP 0': GROOVeS

enough material so the surface of the strips

~ ...in width was sticking up above the

oul.id~face of tbe plywood.
R..\BBt.VJ' FOR BACJ:\. Al$o, cut- a o/lt;I!'-\vide

...J ~THIC~NESStOF

sroc~

NO TO~E O~ BorrOM EOQ~~)t,_

-

PO,SlnON GROOvr
SO EDGING IS '/;q"
A60VE PANEl

.L

(8._O,S'!;

'--'T

lONG rONGUES CENTERED

ON THIC1(NBS 01

$l:crlON

I 7"

,I

i,

..

11f~"

CUT 9ACt(

I:OGI,..G

l"['oN ,PANE\.
-'

-rr"""';~,..,..,..,..,...,-:~

''';1''

THIC~flt

.J..

-r

'T ~'I- "r'-"

o"."-

FfOUJI 3

--

%0"" STRAlGHT

an

1//' 110v:.e YONGUE CE:NttiREO ON Pl..yWOOO

ij' WID!:.

V~OEl'
.- REUlE'

vr.~.
IlAB8Er
[0'
PLYWOOD

8ACK_

1/..... WIDE,
"
, DEep REUlif

cur lIeUEF ON TOP

AND SIDE EOGES ONlY
WOOOSMlTH

flGUIlE 6

.'J

TOP PANEL

'cur It.~a 1,'," JONGUI$

CfNllJlIO ON STOCX--.".

:.

.,.

I'"._~ ~

to.P: PANfl
19J:f~Yl_t:W

~Hn

tf-.._" __ '

' _.

._=_"_~_L_=_=

=__

l--

,....

. '-"-11'STOOPEO
GROOVES
-~

To complete lhe basle cabinet, the sides

are joined together with. top frame and
five web frames.
PLYWOOD PANEL. The first step on the
top frame is to cut the """ plywood panel
(D)tosize. 2914' long by 15"wide. Then eut
rabbets on both raees to form yolong
tongues on aU four edges. Also rout a
Y... -wide, y....-deep shoulder on the out,ide
face o( the plywood. see Detail in Fig. 7.
FR.'-'lE. After .he panel is cut. the four
frame members can be cut to size. Cut the
frontlback rails (El to length SO they're
equal 10 tbe shoulderla-shoulder length of
the panel. see Fig. 6.
The width of these rails should be 1 to.
However. this width may have to be adjusted because you want 10 be sure lhat

1t

~;=~~=:f=:=:===;;~=;~~==~~~~~~=:==;~=:f~:
I
"'t~t':,~~.~rON
~
r
1~\"

l&-'.__.J

.f:\.OWJ'),.o,:1l

&ACKRAil CROSS SIC[ION

, .. C.lt RAll __

A,ll CROOV'S

'I." II V.

UtI.
AI $.Of MN It

9.

19Ln1W ClOSS StcnOH

WEB FRAMES
WI"UJa

To complete the ~inel.

five web t'ramco
are built to connect the cabinet sides. In

fltONllAl1

"\. - ft'l'WOOO" I

_NT

llAac

fOGlNG

(OGING

,
LtNGTN Of WE' 'IAMI
RAlI.$ EQUAlS INSIO(
OlM(NStQHS Of

order to determine the size or the~

frames. dry-clamp the completed top
frame to the cabinet sides.
mE RAJl.S.Nov.', measure the distance
between the cabinet sides (this sbould be
aoW') to find the length o( the frontJbaek

rails (G. H. and

10 'lNO SflU' U'N'GtH MEASURECAIlNfTT

Stor 10 BACXII:AIItt. SYIUACl WlDTHOf
tArLS, ADO ''1
TONGUES

m'I"

CAaINY

10.

-+41

(301,;,-)

MIDDll WEe. flAM!

Ill' ItABID

tbe total
wben
these
width
railsofare
thisanaebed
top a"""mbly
to lhei. panel,
equal
to the width of the cabinet. side~ .
As for the stiles (F) for the top (ramc,
they're cut H" wide and M long as the
cabinet sides are wide (17'Y').
GROO\'f;S.Next. grooves are cut in the
frame members to match Ihe tongues on
the plywood panel. On the ti'Ontiback rnil~
(E), rout a Y" groove on the edge of both
pieces SO tho (ace of the rail~ i. slightly
above (~") the surface of the panel, see
details in ~'ig. 7.
On the stiles (FI, the groove has to be
stopped W' (rom both ends of the stile to
prevent it from showing. see F'ig. 6. I
routed this stopped groove on the router
table, making a plunge cuL to .ta.i the
groove and lifting the stile off the bit to end
the cut.
Then I routed an identical y,. "toPlled
groove on the bottom edgeofthe stiles, see
cress Section in Fig. 7. This groove is for
attaching the top frame to the cabinet
sides, see Fig. 8.
BE\tL EDGE. After the grooves are cut,
glue all four frame members to the top
panel. Then rip a '1'." \\;de. 45 bevel on the
front edge of the top frame, see Fig. 7.

see Fig. 8. The

width o(
the..<erails varies with each frame: the rails
(G) on the top frame are "!'if wide (see Fig.
9), the rails (H) on Lhe middle three frames
are 1'1'''' wide (see Fig. 10), and the rails (I)
on the bottom frnme arc 2.y." wide (see
Fig. 11).
mE STILES. To find the length (0" the
stiles (J), you have to do n little math:
I),

WOODSMITH

~~

,,)1'

t__

Measure tbe distance between tbe front

edgillg))iece(BJ and toherabbet on the back
---edging 'piece (this should be. 160/.). then
subtract the thickness of the fl'ontiback
rails l'o/, ... + '0/,," = lW), and adel y," for
the two \Io"-longstub tenons that \\111 be
cut on the ends of the stiles, see Fig. 8.
This should produce a final length of loY./'
fol' the slile&(J). The width of all the stiles
(J) is 1%'.
GROO"SFO"I',""~L. After the rail. and
stiles are cut to size, a groove is cue on the
inside edge of each piece for the plywood
panel. The groove in all the stiles (J) is
centered on the edge of each piece and
wide enough to match the thickness of the
plywood panels.
TOPWED rRA.IIE. the groove in the front!
back rails (0) of the top frame is also
centered on the thickness of the rail- the
same as the stiles.
b However, the. procedure for cutting the I.-t'll , __ .grooves on the other ftantes varies because of the width of the rails.
~nOOL WEO FRAltF-S.~'he frontJback
l-ails (I:IJon tire three middle web frames
are 1%"wide, see Pig. 10. This extra width
means the groove can't be centered. In..
'Stead} it's po.~itioned the same distance
from the bottom edge as the groove on the
stiles, see detail in ~ig. 10.

,-

30'h

7.. %;;;:.".

-_

-%

FIGURl9

: ...

TOP WEB"flAME

tOe Y'E~
.(.:". V<: lONGUE
ON OVTSIDf EDGE

DETAil

"""-;OltNEi

,"

THill! MIDDLEf.!AMES

~'-""'"r_-.:.'(:...:...
...:.yw.:.o:...o:.:o.,

'I."

1/." TONGUE

..-- flfS IN GROOVE

,..r

ON SiDE p~Nn

To cut these grooves, set the fence on

the saw using the groove in the. stile as a
guide. Make the JiI'St pass, and then acijust
the fence to widen the groove to match the
thickness of the pll~vood panel: and make a

second pass to finish the groove.

UO'M'OMW86 FRAME. On the bottom web
frame, the extra-wide rails (1) also ... ve as
a kiekboard for the cabinet. The groove in
these rails is a little bit Ilipky to cut..
To locate the position of the groove, I
used. rail from one ofthe middlef ra mes as
a guide, see Fig. 12. Line up the top edges
"fbOth pieces, and mark the location of the
groove on the bottom rail (1). Then cut the
groove using the mark as a guide.
srus TEi'lONS. ,After all the ll''OOves are
cut, stub tenons ore cut On the ends o(bhe
stiles (J) to fit the grooves in the rails. Thi.
is $inmly a matter of cutting two rabbets
on the ends of the stiles to produce the stub
tanon, see details in Figs. 9, 10, and 11.
iOXCUEQNSTlLE$. Next, cuta rabbet on
the outside edge of all the stiles (JJ to
produce a tongue that, fit. the grooves in
the sides of the cabinet,
NOTCH. Finally, cut a y." x 10/" notcb on
the front rail of th~ three middle frames
and the bottom frame, see Fig. 13. This
notch is u!;<ldto attach the drawer guides.
,ISSEMOt..Y. When all the work is complete on the frame members; dry-clamp
them logethel' and measure the inside
opening to determine the size of the plywood panet no. Finally, glue and clamp
the web frames together with the plywood
panels in place.
WOODSMITH

80JTOM

we

FRAME

'"

r- --,

'5'1."

Q)

~'i"I
I.. ' WI.'. '~. OfE'

GE"""O'ON .AIl (S"

, 131~

NOTCH DEtAil

FIGURE 1:1

~fJit~ED
ON~~__~____
FRONT RAil
7

OlAWt'R GUIDI CU' TO "T ,.twEeN

111,11.$

THE DRAWER GUIDE SYSTEM

NYLON

DRAWER

GUOE...._

'f!

-_

y,.

SIIOf''''l
flONT JAll

..~~>:-~--~--~--~---------

lONGUE

mSGlOOVIlN
CAIINll cee "'Nil

'

IL..-IL......::;;:::~..:.;J!---lr.:.j
~:CWA

~ ,'"-.--

~ ~ SU""TO'

'
I

'4"

\-CAatNn

....

"'(WOOD IOnoM

fltOHT RAIL ON IOllOM

TOP STIli

When the web frame. arc complete, the

next step is to attach the drawer guides
(P), see Fig. 14. Cut the four drawer
guides wide enough so the top edge of the
guide is
above the front rails, see Fig.
15. Then trim them 10 length so they butt
against the back rail, and extend to the
front edge of the front rail, see Fig. 1'1.
Next, eut a rabbet on the front end orlh.
guides so it overlaps the notch in the front
rail, see Fig. 14. Also. chamfer the top
edges or the guides slightly to reduce binding. Then glue the guides 10 the plywood
panel of the web frame .. theire centered
on <he length of the rails.
nRAWl!RGLlDES. The last step before the
cabinet is glued together is to drill ",'
holes for the nylon drawer glides on the
lower four web frames. These holes are
1W' from each end of the front rail, see
Fig. 16.
ASS~"OLY. At tbis point, I glued the
cabinet side. together with all five web
frames in place keeping the i'ramC8 til(hl
against the front moldings on the cabinet
sides. Then J glued the IOJl panel in pl ae'C.

~U.
Wli

'.AMES

-'T'

---e-

FRONT RAIL
flGURl17

lOP PA,N(l

THE DRAWERS
At last, we arrive at the whole point of
building this chest: the drawer s, Tbe
drawers are designed with concealed

cove on the. drawer front, see J,lig. 19.

Although this makes the druwer ()'()nts

interesting Irom a design And ccnstrnctlon

standpoint, it also makes the drny,le.'S
-sligh(ly more complicated to build.

WI.

n.A,M(

snu

OIA.wtl

(WID(

00"""
-fIAMIIIA-lt

W(I

CAIIINEl $101' PANEL

We decided to put atl of the detail. Onthe

construction ofthesedrn\\lers
in 3 sepnl'atc
article on page J3. But bnsically the drawers arc constructed (I:; follows.
SLOES AJoIOBACK. The first 6tel) is to cut
the ~'-thick drawer sides (N) and back
(~O to width so they're ~. narrower than
the height of the opening between the web
frame s.
DRAWERFRO~TI. The drawer front.. (Ll
are cut "'.. wider than the height of the
drswer opening 10allow for the overlap on
the web frames. and Ior the lit" cove on the
bottom edge. see Fig. J9.
JOfJo1ER'. To join these drawe rs , I
wanted 10 use half-bUnd dovetail . When
making several d:ra\\'ers like this. il'a casier and certainly !aster 10 11.<e router and
dovetail Ji.<ture 10 cut these joints.
This decision is one of the major reasons
why the cabinet bas 10 be designed IU'Otlnd

the drawers, There are only certain

drawer sizes that have the proper .p.,clog
Iorrouted dovetails, and SO the cabinet had
10 be designed with this in mind. (Thill i.
discussed in more detail on page 13.)
CIl'I' TH& JOh''T$. Nonnally. joining the

sides of a drawer using a router fixture i.8

relatively easy. But when the drawer front
extends both above and below the drawer

WOODSMITII

~I

sides, it require some special techniques.

I....
u "
Luckily,the overlapoflhe drawer fronts
can be produced by simply cutting the
drawer (ront wider than nonnal and using
a small shirn in the dov.uti) fIXture. For
more infonnalion on thig technique. see
PSIl. 13.
cove, Once the eerner joinery is complete, a VIt" eove is CUton the bottom inside
edge ofthe drawer front to provide.a finger
pull for opening the drawers, see Fig. 19.
Then a %. chamfer is CUIon the top edge to
provide enough room for easy access to the
nnge,' "ull on the next highe,' drawer. Finally, rout an V." chamfer on the bottom
I'
edge and both ends of the drawer front.
OftA\,'t;r( 1JO'M'O~1.Next, a groove is cut
along the bottom edge ofeach piece for the
~/
drawer bottom (0). Position this groove
Y/' from the bottom of the drawer sides.
see Fig. 19.
A..~t;)lHLY.After these grooves are eut,
dry-assemble the drawer and take measurement. ror lhe 'I" plywood bonom. Cut
the boltom to siu and then glue the
'""U..
;.;~)I ':" ,.. ,,- ,...
..
drawer together wilh the bottom in place.
DRAwg" GUIDES. To eomplere the
drawer guide system, cut the drawer runners (Q) to .iUl. see Fig. 20. Then rout a
., " elIAtANCE'
groove down the center of the runner so
it's just sli~htly wider than the width oftbe
drawer guide, nnd glue the runner to the
drawer bottom so it's centered on the
!L~\'(,'l-C~_OW_t<;IL9Jj
ItLc.8~!~"l
width of thc drawer; see Fig. 20.
r (t)
6'1i"
FINISHING TOUCHfS

"

.~
J

---

",-(".M"....__~

~
1-1

.I-

:;.

(ij)

;- ..... <Ptl:

O.OOY ......
o~COYf

OM

IO"OMOf
DtAwt. SlotS

'-::::

,,=;.

~5

i
I

One or lhe last steps on the cabinet is to

soften the cdges by routing an v.i' chamfer
00 all of thc exposed edges, except the
back ed~e of the eabinet sides.
I finished the chest with three coats of
Den interior woodIlnish. sanding between
each eoat with 400 grit \Vet-or-Dry
sandpsper.

-,

e-

-I

",

DRAWIR GUIDI:

Wle "'MI

'09N'='AI::._'_-1

OR!W'It.@Ut::!NI!Om!!

",.~CLf AHCI!

IF- ~,~_
J V~h-l

'H1f

j-

WI.'''''''

~'-:'.' ...

.(

NYlON

o
.UHN'.

1_.u...

Guo.

MATERIALS LIST

CUTTING DIAGRAM

IOnOM YllW

...

..,- ,-

1(0 PlYWOOD

B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
I
M
N

,
0
Q

y. ply '6V.x 32'1.

Side Frt. Ed"lng' (2) IV,. x l'I. 32IY,.
Sid. Bk. EdgloS' (2) I'll," ~ . 32'V'6
Top Ponel (1)
0/.. Rly IS x 19V.
Top Roll. (FrtlBkl (2) 'Vie )( It,r. - 2,80/.
Top Sfll (Sid ) (2) IV,e. 10/'.- 170/..
lop Web " Roll. (2) 't. X I"JA. - 30y:.
Mid W.b f, Rolls (6) '+1 '''' - :JOy,
'1'1'1 W.b F, RoU. (2) 'V'6. 2'% - 3Ov"
W.b f' Sri'.. (10)
I~,
1'h. - 15Y"
W.b f, Pon,t, (5'
'I.
to fit
Oto~r FI'Ot'I
I. (..)
't.x 7 - 2'%
OfOw., lock, (4)
Y, x 6% - 28%
0t0w1H SI." CI)
6'1i - 15
Otaw.r Bo'tom. (4) 'It pty - cvt to fit
Ol'O'fW'trGvlcMt (4)
I~. 'hide - c:ut to fit
Drew.,
(4) %x "h-cutfofj,
Cobin.r lode: (1)
V.. ply - (\It to fit

4r 91,.'

SId. 'on.l. (1,

'/~ PU'WOOO

........

~
l-4 "VWOOO

,.y - (\I'

',,)1

.","n,,..

[tOM' *~cnc17~.pt'z"
i

0.1,'".7'

7''" C2 ao"IOSl

*a~**at'

t:]

AlA

~
~

0 (0

I...,:.";,,r,...;':':';' :r~rz-,;'-",'-j.. ,-,~'"~,

0- _

Uj""'?l.

WOODSMITli

Headboard
A HEAD ABOVE THE REST
By the tim. ~Jinished building ~he chest of
drawers and the night stand shown in this
issue, I no long.". had a choice - J had to
build a headboard to match, The headboard shown here.is designed to fit a queen

size bed. But. it's very easy to alter the

dimensions to fit any mattress size.
THE ~A5IC FRAME

Building thj. headboard is really just a

matter of'bullding a very ',rgofr.methat's,
joined ,,1tl1 mortise and tenon joints. To
St.rt construction, 1 CUt the uprights (A)
and the top (B) and middle (C) rails to size
from 8f~ stock (1"'" -thick stock).
UI'IIICU'I'S.'rhe uprights (A) are cut 311<"
wide and 4J V."long, see Fig. 1. The ten~h
of the uprights actually determines the
overall height crtheheadboaed in
relation U. the mattress. [f the
headboard is built wi t.h
41y.'long uprights <as shown),
the bottom e!!ge of t,he middle rail
(C) wjll' be 23" off the floor.
This is the light height for a
maLtress that's 24" off the fioorthat is, SQ the lop of the mauress
Is JH above the bottom edge of the
headboard.
Note: This 24" measurement
was taken to the tOPof a standard

mattress and box- spring com..

binatjon on ~Imetal frame with
casters.) If Ihe height of the mattress is more 01' lass than 24". alter the

to.the length necessary to put the UPrights

len~ of the uprights accordingly.

TOPRAJL,The next step is to cut she to))
rail (B) to size. First. lip the rail 10/." wide
from 8/4 stock, As for the length.of'the rail,
it depends on the width of the frame that
supports the mattress and box springs.
Check the mounting holes in the frame
to determine exactly where you want, the
uprights positioned. Then cut the top rail

in the tight position 011 fh~ bed Irame.

MIDDLE RAfL, The middle rail (C) is
ripped to a width of 2%", Then to determine the length of this rail, take.the final
length of the top rail ~B), subtract- the
width of both uprights (314' each, 01' a ootal
of 6~') and add 1~ for the two ~Iong
tenons on the ends of the middle rail, see
Fig. I,

JOIN.ER.),After't1be uprights and rails are

Out to size, they're joined together with
mortise and tenon joints. (A complete,
step ..by..step explanation of how 'to cut. a

mortise and tenon joint is given in Wood..

.",iti! No. 26.)
Basically, 311this involves is boring a

or

series'o~%' holes centered OIl the width

the stock and ;y,' deep, see Fig. A. Then
clean up che cheeks of the mortise with a

tllM
L~NGTHOF

lENa.;:'
WllH

MUlTiPlE
PASSES

<,

ClEAN SlO~ OF
MOlTIS! WITH CHISEL

[0
,

USE SAME FENCE

SffilNG TO TltiM
lfNG;tH Of TENON

chisel, leaving the ends in the haIfround

shape, see Figs. 2 and 3.

Tt'::-.:O:-':S...Uter l:he mortises

are

URI

CUll

l1a~'~::::::::::::::::::::~~
,.

'II".longtenons are cut on the uprights and

th~ middle rail. '1'0cut the tenons. 8(lt the
fence of the table saw'll" from the outside
of the blade, see Fig. B.

,_8:

AOIUSl lfNGTH Of
TOP RAIL TO f.lT MATTlttSS -S11E'

Tor RAIL

All. StOCK I"'," THICI(

Th~n use a pteee of SCral)to set the

hci~ht of the blade. Make passes ovei both

f.ces ofthe workpiece. and grndu8Uy....iRe
the blade until the thickness of the tenon
5ts snugly In the mortise.
Follow the same procedure to cut the
sboulders orthe tenon (see Fig. C)so it fits
the length ohhe mortise. Then use a file to
round over the corners to lit the rounded
ends of the mortises.

~::::::~ -

ss

.,, v:

51' ,.

--\--~,

''0

SUPPORT RAILS

lfG

~I

Next. grooves are routed 011 the in"ide

edge of the lop and middle ,"ils. These
grooves are [01' the panel suppert rails (D),

we ~'Ig.4.
The groove on the top rail must be

stopped S' ftom both ends .0 it dOC1!n't

show on the edges of the headboard. I cut
this stopped groove on the router table.
Set the fence YO from the inside edge of
a
straight bit, Then mark the slart and
stop points on the edge of the rail. Now,
plunge the rail on the bit to start the cut,
and lilt it off the bit. to stop it.
The groove on the middle rail is 'cut With
the $nme setup on the router table, I)ul
thi. time, lhe groove doesn't have to be
stopped, see r'ig. 4.
5VI'POII1""Au.s. After the grooves 31'.
<lit, the support rail" (I) are <lit 2Y.. wide
and to rough length, (They're trimmed to
linallength latee)
cur TOSG~es.Then a tongue is cut on
one edge of the supper; rails. To make the
tonJtUe&,CUtrabbets on both f_8 of lhe
rail., leaving a tongue that fits snugly in
the groove.

UPil:/OWl OfNIENSIQNS GIVEN Afti roR 2.4 HIGH MATTReSS

FIGURE.

GURf 3

2_

!!!!!!.
lOWD uG
MOtIT'S(

""" ~",
"NON
<-l....r-1I

V"

CHAMFER THE EDGES

1"0complete the top rail (B), cut a 45mitel'

on both ends, see Fig. 4. Then berore "8,

~!-

"'i
..

",

_t_

"

.-,
I

%"

Mlfll DtNL

~t

l~~"
-'-

1_'---1
RAil

MATERIALS LIST

,.

Top Roll (1)

1.... 3'/ .. - 4.';'

r
60

"'1Od). Roil (1)

$"'ppott Roils (2)

1... 2~ - 55
IY't x 2'1. _ S3'h

Trim Cop (2)

Plywood Ponel (1)

uti' JC V. - 53th
y, Jt 13 53'1t

U.... hl> (2)

CUnlNG
11,.'." '"

'\Ie -

DIAGRAM

NOTEl GItOOV(

t""

TOI' Wl

STOP'S , ..... OM 1O'r'H (HDS

V,"

I'''' 14"

t... 6'1.- . 611'

~""'~"""";;;~
WOOOSMITH

SIJPPOIt IAA

II

sembling the pieees for the basic frame,

the edges of the lop mil (B), the middle ''3i1

_-

HOURI.5

---

(e) and the uprights (A) are chamfered. [

FIGURE 6
00 Nor CHAMSI.
nilS lOG&:

did this on the router table, setting the

height of a 45 chamfer bit to eut a V.-"ide
chamfer.
All ofthe edges and comers of'these tour
pieces are chamfered ... "lith three exceptions. The inside top comer ot the uprights is not chamfered, see fig. 6. And
both the top and bottom comers of the
middle rail are not chamfered, see Fig. 5.

~-

DONO'

;~,..

-c

"--)

CHAMR.'/

ASSEMBLE THE FRAME

After the edge. are chamfered, the up-

rights eon be glued and clamped to the top

rail and the middle rail. to fonn the baste
headboard feame.
err SUPPORT RAILS. When the trame
assembly is dry, measure the opening between the uprigh'" and eut, the support
rails (0) to fmal length to fit .nugly belween the uprights. Then they can be
glued and clamped into the groove. in the
top and middle rails, S(,,, Fig. 7.

c.tO$$ 5fCTION

'I"
,,..

LL

t.'."

THE PANEL

Now the 'Y," plywood panel con be eut to

size. This panel is ripped to a width of 13"
and cut to length 80 it fits tight between
the uprights,
TRIM CAl'S. To cove,' the exposed edge.
ot the panel, Iadded solid-wood trlm caps.
To mount these caps, Ii.'l!! rou; ",.bbots on
both taces of the panel to produce V... K 110'
tongues on the top and bottom edgell ot the
panel, sec Fig. 8.

,....CUT fANEl TO FIT 8ETWEEN UP_IOH'S

".

13'A"

Rip the trim caps to a width oro/,,", and to

length to match the length of the panel.

Then cut a groove down the center ot the
trim cap to fit the tongue on the panel,

CUT SUPPORT WLS

TO

FINAL SUPS

When the panel is complete, mount it to

thc support. rails by drimng pilot hole.
through the back of the rails, and t1tre"ing
it in place with No. 8 K 1y." Fh sere w s,
>lOI:!<'TtSG HOLES. Before applying the
finish. locate and predrill holes tor the y."
bolts used 10mount the upright~ to the bed
frame.
FL'1'$IIL"G. Finally, 1 fmi8hsanded .11
surfaces otthe headboard, being CarefIJIto
not round over the crisp edges of the chamfers. Then J applied three coats of Den
interior finish, eanding between eeats
with 320grit Welo-or-Orysundp.per.

12

U",IGHTS.

AND GlUE 1'0 TO'

ANO BonONl .... ,LS

CfliUlf'ER TRIi\t CAP. No," the trim Cl\pS

eon be glued and damped to the edges of

the panel. Then use the chamfer bit to rout
a 45 ehamfer on the iJl$ide edges of the
trim caps, see fig. 9.
ThL. chamfer should be po..itioned ... it
leaves a Ilo"-wide shoulder next to the
joint tine between the cap and the panel.
(It'. best here to sneak up on this cut to
make sure you don't cut too deep and expose the plywood'. inner eere.)

srr 11TW6lN

fIOUt(

AJ1I.CH
MoNti ftlM CAP
WITH TONGUf

AND GtOOvE

WOOOSMITli

Building Drawers
THE DETAILS FOR DRAWER CONSTRUCTION
'rhe drawers used on the chest and the
night stand shown in this issue are 1Ilittie
out of the ordinary; We wanted to keep the
design clean and simple ... yet we also
wa nted to build drawers that ...ere interesting from. woodworking standpoint.
To make them interesting. we decided to
have absolulely clean drawer fronts-not
even any drawer pulls. Instead, the lower
edge of the drawer front has a concealed
CO\'t

I"YU"
CHAW'Ea
fO' fOG!

:~

,e

DRAWER CONSTRUCTION
JU far as the construction of these drawers
is concerned. I built them using 414 mahogany for the drawer fronts and ~"~yca",ore
for the sldes and backs.
USing two different wood. like this is
common practice. The drawer rront Is
made with the same wood used for the "est
of the cabinet (mahogany in this ens. of the
projcoUl in this issue). Then the sides and
back are made of inexpensive stock. (We
usually use ~" sycamore or poplar for the
ides and bJICk because tbese "'()()ds are
downril!ht cheap around bere. and they're
also easy to work with.)
DEIGnTOF OPE:''l.\'G.To build the drawers for the chest, I started with the side.
and back. The first step here i. to rip 1'.'
stock to width so i~
fits the height of Ihe
opening In the eabinet. 'That.sounds simple
enough, bllt the most 'important thing
about building drawers is the plannlngthat
precedes this measurement.
Tho height of the opening should aetually be determined when the cabinet i. in
the de,iln' and planniog SIB!!".
The .hest of drawers is designed with
oponings that are 61" high, which ae-

\VOODSMITH

[J-':
Ifi
'It~
COVE

,- =,
,OR~WIR fRONI OVlRLAt'S RAil

'r ?r"~' ..

'i.., CLEARANCE

~
~
~

----~

-----

NYlON GUOf

counts ror drawer sideo thaL are 6y,," high

and Kl- for clearance. These are not arbiIn\fj'

":~
f

.'.

Ir."

-----...
----

',!

'(

' ..... CUAtAHCf

['~

which is used to open tile drawer,

This feature had to be taken into consideration for the design of Ihe cabinet as
well as the d:.. wer; The drawer f''O''t hils 10
extend down fa,' enough to allow room fo,
the cove, see Fig. I. At the same time, the
cabinet has to be designed so rnere's
enough clearance to allow you to get your
finlters Into the eoved lip.
JU this de.ign took shape, what we were
really dOing was designing the chest
around the drawers. Or more precisely,
desiln'ing the openings in the chest for
specific drawers.
After all the design considerations were
worked out, there was still the practical
mauer or building the drawers. This Involved two basic decisions: 1) the construction (joinery) that would be used fo,'
the drawers, and 2) the method used to
mount them in tbe cabinet (the guide
sy!lU!m).

dimensions.

I)OVETAILSPACING.The 614" height for'

the drawer sides produces propel' spacing

for the dovetail jOitlt when it'fi cut. \vith a

router and dovetail jig. rl'hi~"proper spaelng" means that tho dovetail. are evenly

want to avoid.)
CUTSlUE TO WIUTII.HopefUlly the cabinet h as been built ,L< planned -with openings 61" high. If it is, rip the stock for the
drawer sides and backs to a width of 6~.
If the opening is larger or smaller than
planned, the drawers can still be made, but

the dovetails won't have tbe proper spac-

spaced on the drawer side "ith a halfpin on

the top edge and a half pin on the bottom
edge, as shown in fig. I.

ing. And, because of the way the dovetail

jig works, the dovetail 00 the bottom edit.
will be affected the most. It may be only
Shop Note: The smallest width for a partially cut, and thus it "ill look a litlle
drawer side when the dovetailjig is used is odd and will be 8 Iitlle weak. but the draw.
I~". FT'Omhere the "idth of the sides can ers will hold together.
increase in increments of~. and sl.iUhave
CtlTSII)ElITO I_.~SGTII.Aile the drawer
proper spacing for the routed dovetails. sides are cuI to width, they can be cut to
One of these incrementa 1S6Y"If, Another is length. This is basically a "C"t to fit" oper4YA" - the dimension used ror the drawer ation. ThlltlR, thedrawer sides must be cut,
to length .0 the 3s.~enlliled drawer fits the
in the night stand.
CL&,IltANCE.Also included in Lhe height. depth ofihe cabhwt. .. wuh a little clenrof the drawer opening is n clearance of ~". ance between the back of the drawer and
This. allows Yl~'for clearance between the the back of the cabinet.
top edge of the drawer and the web frame
To do this, first meas ure the depth ofthe
above it. plus VOl" for the head of the nylon cabinet. Then subtract the thickness or the
gUde that the bottom edge of the drawer
drawer front ('V,.') and drawer back (~"')
side rides on, see .-'ig. 1.
add on th~ length of the dovetails (they
These two allowances demonstrate the overlap on the fronL and back total of
importance of planning ahead - you have ~"), and finally .ubtNICI Lbe amount of
to know how the drawer is going to be built clearance needed at the back (usually
a"d how It's to be mounted. Bx using a ;4'" is sufficlent). Then cut the-drawer sides
nylon glide, you have to plan ahead for the to length.
Cl7l'IJACK "I,,() 1~f.N(;.'PII,Next, the drawer
YlCt' space that it requires. So, we're dealing with rather sma]] lQlcrnnces for the back can be cut to length. This is relatively

cabinet openings.
[r there's much more than Y1~" clearance
above the drawer, it "ill tend to drop down
too much when it's opened. (You know the
feeling when you open a drawer and the
front drops - there'. that sudden fear and
quick move to catch it, That.'s what )'OU

easy to determine.' on the drawers in the

chest and night stand beeause the length of
the back is equal to the length of the
drawer's front.
The length of the front is determined by
measuring the width of the cabinet opening and subtracting an amount ror clear-

13

anee. Some people allow as muCh as ~" on

each side (or a wtal of Yt'") for clearance. I
think this is too much and makes for a
sloppy drawer. I usually make !he wtal
clearance no more than y,,- (or Yt.... on
each side).
CL'T fRO~"'TO WIDTH. The only thing len
is to eut the drawer front to width (height).
.,,\g shown in f'ig. 1, the drawer front overhips tho web frames above and below it.
Measure the opening between these

Irames nnd add

overlap for the top web
frame, and n total of ~" for Ute bottom
frame (this I.Yo" for the overlap and \1:" for

Basically, w set up tho cut for the back

and side, mount the drawer back on top of

the jig and the drawer side on the front on
lbe jig, see Fig. 5. Then rout the dovetails
in the normaJ ".ay.
When the routing is complete on the
drawers for the chest, there should be
seven dovetaits centered on the drawer
side with a half-pin on the top and bottom
edge. So far, so good.
JOINT fOR fRONT

~N

the cove).
"tAnK

FOlt ASSt:bllll ..Y. when all tl\e

pieces rOl'the drawers are cut to final size,

it helps to mark them to keep thing<

straight - especially when the joints are

going to be routed on dovetail jig.
BasicaUy, you have W mark both ends of
each piece to indicate which drawer it's for
and whieh joint on that drawer it is. One
system te use is to mark each piece as
shown in Fig. 2.
The .. marluo should be on the faee that
will be on the inside or the drawee; because
this is the fa,.. that will be visible when the
pieee is placed on the dovetail jig.
JOIN SIDES AND BACK

\Vhen 1111the pieces are cut to size and

marked, the next step is to join these
pieces to [Ol"lll the drawers, Start by routing the dovetail. to join the back with the
two side . (This i. ~he cosiest joint to cut.)

As mentioned above, 1 planned to use a

router and a dovctailjigto cut thesejoints.
(A complete explanation of how to set. it up
and use dovetail jig is covered in a detailed nrtiele in Wood.milh No. 22.)

Normally, Ihe joil1t that joins the drawer

front and the side. would be no big deal
either, But. rOJ' th(!se drawers, the side has
W be olTset to 011ow for the ')'i,"lip on the
top edge of the drawer front. (This is VOl"
for Lhe clearance and
for the overlap of
the web f.1I.10e,refer to t'ig. 1.) Also. the
dOVetailShave to .wp before getting to the
bouom edj(e of the drawer front to allow
Vo" for the 110"cleeranee and the W" cove.
Seuing up the dovetail jig tc cut this
ofrset joint. presents some challenges.
\Vbat I wound up doing was cutting !he
jO'int in t \\'0 ~teps.
The first step is to clamp tbe drawer
front on the topside oftbejig in the normal
manner (with the inside race up and the LOp
edge of the drawer against the pia). However, W create the 'y,,' lip on the top edge of
the drawer Iront, the drawerside isjogged

V,

OVCJ'

with a o/a,," shim, sec Fig. 6.

Now the dovclllils enn be routed ...

until you ge~ to the last pin. Stop before
"rounding the corner" t-o complete the last

pin. \Vha\t you

'VUJlt

to do here is complete

the last dovet.ail without making another

socket in the drawer front. This wiu leave
room for the eove on the bottom edge of the
drawer front.

The only problem is that the last dovetail

has W be completed. 'lb do this, replace the
drawer front with a piece of scrap wood,
and continue routing. see Fig. 7. (The
scrap wood will help to prevent chip-cut on
the drawer side as the last dovetail is
routed.)
ROL'TCO\1-!. When these joints are complete, the \" cove can be routed on tbe
bottom edge .fthe drawer fronts. [did this
on II router table.
Then I chamfered the top edge at 45'.
This allows a IIltie oxtrn space to get your
fingers int.o the cove to open the drawer,
Before Msembling the drawer, I also
rounded over the lop edges of the drawer

sides with a l'i!"l"O\lnd..oveJ bit. This is not

8 neeessarv step, but, it.tIoOftens the edges of
the sides, and il just looks nicer when you
open the drawer.
MOUNTING THE 80noM

The last step in making the drawer is toeut

the gt"OO\'c,W mount the drawer bottom;
Again, this n!quire" planning ahead. The
gt"OO'-es should be positioned so 1) they
don't create a gap that', visible on the
outside ofthc drawer, and 2) so the drawer
botwm is high enough to leave room forth.
runner that's part. of the guide system.
For these drawers, I positioned the
groove so it's W' from the botlom edge of
the drawer Ride. see I'-'ig. 4. 'rhis. unfortunat<Jly, createaa 8mall gIIP on the back
joint, sec fig. 4.
This was bound to happen on the
drawers because of the orrset pattern of
the dovetail joints. It can be prevented by
cutting a stopped groove on the drawer
beck. but I decided I could live with a small
gIIP on the baek joint.

.,

....

-e

NUMa IHDK:AnS
WMKHDI~WfR

OAClC

..

COVIiR ~

LeRttR I,..OICAftsICM COINER

~!.
1

.,.

J
fIGU~E6

14

WOODSMITH

OR.-l\\tHR UQ'M'()~I.Al)

for the drawer

bot-

terns, 1 made then, out. of Vol" hardwood

plywood. The only problem here I. ~ha(
hardwood plywood is .hnos~ never a full
Yo. thick, it's almcet always a little on the

~hyside, This means. the gIOO\'e (or the

drawer bottom has to be: custom cut,
Cl'TCROOV&. I cullhe groove on a table

saw, sneaking up on the width of the CUI,

until it matched the .ctual thickness of the
plywood.
This. usually takes two passes with a
M..thick saw blade. (I use a Freud LM 12M
carbide-tipped
rip blade to cut these
greoves, Thi. blade has teeth th8~ are

ground v...rith a nat top ...~thiehproduces

fl.lrbottomed

II:

groove.)

!te,. the grooves

are CUI, the drawer bottom itself can be cut
to size. To get the final dimensions of the
bottom, dry-clamp the drawer together
and measure rbe i""ide ,,;dth and depth.
Then add the depth of the grooves to both
CUT DRAWER U01TOM. A

dimensions.
I usually cullhe drawer bottom SOit has
a good tight fit in the g,'Oove. This way the
bottom will help square up the drawer M
the pieces are clamped to~ther.
GUIDI SYSTEM
When the drawers are complete, the last
step is to mowlt them in lhe cabinet. Of
course you want \(I mount them 8<! Lhey
operate smoothly "" they're opened lind
closed. This means having a guide system.
And once again, it means planning nhead.
Thecbestofdrnwers
is designed toh"ve
web frames with extra-high front rails between the drawers. These Irames not onl)'
hold the cabinet together, they also provide an anchoring I)oint fot the drawer
guide system.
CUIO&SI'ST~.". The system we chose for
the chest and the night stand ronsist' of.
guide bar that's mounted tothe web fnune.
Then riding on top of this guide is a runner
that's attached to the bottom of the
drawer.
MOUN:r TUH GUIOB OAR. Since both of
these pieces are subject to a good deal of

hoies for the se glides are very difficult to

drill after the cabinet Is asaembled. This
means the hole. for the glide. have 10 be
drilled befor the cabinet is ... embled.
Which again, means planning ahead.
Option: If you don't want to use nylon
glid es , an option is to drill
holes and use
a %- dowel. Just cut the dowel se it sticks
up Yo.. bove the rail,

.-

cor GUll).:

ISAI(.

New back

lc)

the guide

bar. 1b make it, rip a piece of maple to

width so when il's turned on edge it sticks
up enough sc it'. exactly level "ith the top
of the nylon glides.
Then cut a notch on the front end of the
guide bar to fit over the notch in the web
frame rail. The shoulder of thi$ notch
should Jit ""Ullly 811ainst the back side of
the r ail, and the back end should be snug
against the back rail.
CIIAI"'~R EI)(lS. To complete the guide
bar I usually chamfer the edge . If there's
going to be a problem with the fit of the
runner and the guide bar, iI's going to be
where the square edge of the guide bar
meet. the h\'~ldeeomer of the groove on
the runnel', 'Ill eliminate any problems in
situations tike this, ( "knock orr' the edges
SO nothing can hang up.
)IOL~"
Tile Gt:IOE 8..>\R. No\\' the guide
bar can be mounted to the web frame.
Apply glue to the bottom edge of the bar.
and place It 011 the web frame '0 it's
centered in the notch in the r!lil, see ~'ig. S.
Then clamp the guide bar in plnce with
~Iamps
on the front and bark. As the
clamps are ti)thtened, make sure the guide
bar is exactly square with the front rail.
Although this bar can be screwed to the

web frame, I think gtuing and clamping is a

better procedure. DUling the I"'OC.'S of
driUing Jlilo~ holes and driving in the
se r ews, the bar is bound to I:!lip out of
square. So I think it's better to just apply
glue and clamp it in place.
nu: Rlr.<SER. The other half of the guide
system is the runner, In thi$ case the runFIGUI!

nCI'It" Simply a piece of maple with a groove

down the center.
The runner should be about Y:t' wider

than the guide bar to allow a V'" on each

side of the greove, (Once again, this ,,;dth

Vias

planned (or when the not-th

'\'35

cut in

the front runner.)

When the groove is cut in the runner, the
width of the groove should allow for n
smooth tit over the guide bar - just wide
enough J;O it lito over the bal' e.sily, but not
sloppy.
The depth of the greove should be such

that \,'hen the bottom o( the groove is

riding on the top of the guide bar, the sides
of the drawer are riding on the glides.
~'OUSTTIl~ RUNNEIt.Alter the !(TOOve
is
cut, the only problem is how to mount. the
runner to the bottom of the drawer; Th do
this, cut the runner to length so it has a
very tight fit between the front and back of
th. drawer.

Then push it in place on the drawer

bottom and moun; the drawer in the cabinet. 'ro pOSition the runner, push the
drawer nil the way into the cabinet until
the drawer D'Ontis in full contact with the

raiJs, (This will ensure the drawer is not

rocked out of pcsition.) Ab;o, adjust the
drawer front from side to side until tbe
clearance at both ends of the drawer front
is the same.
Now, earefully pull the drawer out and
mark the pusition of the runner, Apply glue
and place n weight (a brick will work) on
the runner [0 clamp it to the bottom.
DAA" EMSTOP.That eemplet es the guide
system. There's only one lest detail to
complete the drawer. To ,top the drawer
from b<:ing pulled out too far (and falUnll
out of (he cabinet) mount n smell turnbuckte catch on the inRide face of the
drawer back, see Fig. 8.
Then apply wax to the runner and the
guide, and you've completed a V01)' handsome, ~moothdrawer lh8t'~ a jO)' to open
and close.

ust:

'I." STOCK F-OR

SIDES AND 8ACK

friction and wear, I made them OUt of

maple. Maple Is very hard, resists wear,

and witb time will beeome burnisbed to a

ver~fsmooth. a1most stipper~' surface

(which is ideal for drawer guides).
To make the guide bar, tip a piece of
maple to width so when it's turned on edge
It sticks IIp enough 80 it's exactlY level with
the nylon glide at the ends ofthe front rail,
see Fig. 8. However, this is another matter
of planning ahead.
S\'LOS CLIO&S.

510

GlUl GUIDol UJt

IOWU_

Before YOIl can really CUI

the guide bar to final size, the nylon glides

have to be mounted on the top edge of the
web frame rail.
I used nylon glides to prevent wear and
tear on the front rail of the web fram .
However, beenu"" of their position, the
\VOODSM.lTH

'I
THtcK

'"
~L

~. CHAMf[. ON

~aonoM(DG'
AND (NOS

.$ClEW INTO otAW'J

lACK

0" ,

15

N_jght Stand

___

A BEDSIDECOMPANION
If you plan to build the chest of
eventually want LO build a night
stand to go with it. But that's not
such a bad deal, at least Irom a
woodworking standpoint.
111 fact, you may want to build the
night stand first- it makes an excellent warm-up project fOJ'the chest of
drawers. It has all the design features o( the chest, but in a smaller
scale.
The basic cabinet is built exactly
the !;ODIe
way as the chest, except it
has only t\VO web frames (one above
and one below the drawers). And of

course, there's om}' one drawer to

build which makes things a 10L

easier.
THE CABINET SIDES

To build this night stand, r started

with the side frames, which consistof a plywood panel. with edging
strips on the front and back edges.
'PANEL. First, cut t\VO :y.'1'" plywood
panels (A) to size: 140/8" wide by 23t.
edge. and '0/,6' fOI' the thickness of the
long. Then to attach the web frames and stock forthe web frame. The nexLgroove
bottom shelf, thnee grooves are cut across should be located so itstop edge is exactly
the inside face on both plywood panels.
6%' down from the top edge of the top
ROUTGROOVES. To cut these grooves, I groove. This allows the proper spacing
used the router table. Set up the router between the grooves (or the drawer.
table to rout y." x y"," grooves across each
The top of the third groove (fQrtbe boteabinet.sid .
tom shell) is located 2%" from the bottom
The top groove is posibioned lY16" down edgeofthepanei. AJ'tIirroutingthe bottom
(rom t he top edge or the plywood panel. groove, you also need a short vertical
This allows for the V.f-Iongtongue on Wp groove for the kickboard. fro cut this
MATERIALS LIST
Dimensions.: 24"'" lC2lPW - 16*0
Slde Pernel. (2)
'I..ply 14'1. lC23'/1"
Si~.
Fft. Edgings (2) 11/1.. lC 1. - 22'''1.
Side Bk. Edgings (~) 11/1 .. 'X :V.. _ 22'1~
Top Ponel (1)
'/ .. p1'113% x ,17'/..
TOp Roils (fl't/Bk) (2)
11/... X 1%-16%
Top Stiles (SId") (2) lV, .. x 1'1.- 16
Top W.b fr Roil. (2)
10/,.. x '0/,... laY;
Mid Web Fr Roll, (:2) '0/,... IV. - t81.4
Web Ft Stilet (4)
', ..x 1-0/'.. - 130/ ...
1/.. pty 13V. .. lC161/ ..
Web Fr Pono'* (2)
o/.. pty 14.x 19
Blm Shelf Pone' (1)
Btm Shelf Edgin9J'~2) IV,.. ~ 1 - eut to fit
Kicltbootd (1)
'0/,.. x2'h- 19
Otower Front (l)
"/, .. lC S'/4 - 16'1.
Drawe, 80ck (1)
I/l: lit 40/. - 1M'.
Orower Sld@'s(2)
Ihx4%-13~
II.. pfy - (Ul 10 fit
Drowo' Bottom (1)
DfQwef Guide (1)
,)/, .. thfck - (out to fit
Drewet Runner (1)
V.. .JI: l1h - wt to fil
Cos.e Bo(k (,1)
'/.. ply - (ul to fit

CUnlNG

ev.roll

A
8
G
0
E

F
G

II

J
K
l
M
N

0
P
Q

S
T

16

I clamped a fence LO the

plywood and used a hand-held
router.
'l'\)l'i.CIlES. After the grooves are
cut, Y.o'-longtongues are em, on t~e
front, back, and top edges of the
plywood panels. Sinee these tongues
will have .to fit v.."-wide grooves
touted in the edging strips, Irouted
a groove in a test piece w gauge the
thicklless of ~he tongues.
Then to cut the tongues, I used a
%' bit in the router table, see Steps
1 and 2 in ~'ig. I. Set the renee to cut
a Yl-wideorabbeton both faces ofthe
plywood. A<ijust.the depth of cut
until the resulting tongue flts the
groove in the test piece.
snoucean aELuIF. ')'o,set the
panel otT in (ts frame, r routed
V,,'-wide by W'-deep shoulder ne".
to the tongue, see Ste.p 3 in Fig. 1.
This shoulder produees a small gap
between the edging and the plywood, and makes a nice border
around the panel.
eocixo STRII'S. 1'0 complete the cabinet's sides, edging strips are attached to
the Croneand back edges of the plywood
panel. The first Step is to cut these-edging
ships to size.
FRO)';T StRIP. The front strips (B) are
ripped from a pieee of 514 stock so they're
10/" wide. 'l'h<m cut these pieces to length
SO they're equal to the distance from the
bottom of the cabinet side to the shoulder
of the tongue on the top edge, see Fig. 1.
groove,

drawers shown on page 4', you'll

DIAGRAM

"8~

1 V, .. x 7'1.'- _

B
F

WOOOSMlTH

The back edging strips (C)

.J.., also ripped from a piece of 5/4 stock So
they, ... as wide lIS the thickness of I he
plywood panel, sec Cross Section in t'lg. 1.
Then they're eut to the same length 'IS the
front edgings.
GROOI'ES 1:<.,.RII'S. All four of these
strips are joined to the plywood panel by
routing y,," x ~ .. grooves. On the front
strips (B), the grooves are cut on the 10/.1'
wider.co (see CnlSlI Section in Fig, I), and
positioned so the outside edge is Ouoh with
the surface of the panel.
The back edging strip (C) bas a 1'.. x 1'..
groo\'eeentered on theedgeofth triIJ. It
also has a y.-deep rabbet on the inside
back edge for the plywood back.
BACK STRIPS,

RGUU I

(A8Jt:!Ef 510(~

THICKNESS 011 ~

4I4STOC,(
1---1411"'---1

s..

AU GaOOVts

.~ T

.)

r- 4U. TONGUES '.

l,
CEHTtlED ON SfOCIC

.1"111
t~

Aflel' the grooves Are cut, the fl'ont. And

back strips are glued to the panels, Oush
with the shoulder of the tongue on the top
edges.

-i

NO lOHGU, ON,
BOTTOM 1001

~1'~.

--r '..'"

'

fOKE

I ,I
2311.... 1'2""."

'l'rWOOO PANel

1' ....-

~!OssSEgtON

\I." SfRAJGHT 8'f

-; --'"
'(Net

-'.'" SllAIOH' ell

_L

3
f(NCf

THE TOP FRAME AND PANEL

The frame and panel for the top of the
cabinet consists of a plywOO<ipanel with
edging strips on nil foul' sides.
TII~ PANEL, The firs~step is to cut the
plywood panel (0) to si.e $0 it's 13Y, wide
and 17V, long.

Then, as on the side panels, rout

y.wide rabbets on both race. of the I",nel

to produce Y.longtonguesthis time on
all four edges, Also, cut the y,,.wide,
V,"deep shoulder next to the Longue to
produce the Yo." ,'eUef between the Illlllel
and the edging, see Fig. 2.
RAlLS. To make the frame., rip the fron"
baekr.Uls(E) from!)1 stOck so they're I'J{,"ide. (Note: This width may have to be
altered to make sure the top assembly Is
the same width 8S the side Irame.] Then
Irim the "ails to length to match the
sheulder-to-ahoulder
length of the ply
wood panel, see Fig, 2,
STU.ES.The stiles (I') for the tOp are tIIso
ripped 1'J{,wide from a piece of 514stock.
Then Ihey're cut to length to equal the
width of the .abinet sides.
GIlOOv&S IN IIAI!.S, To attach the rails
(E) to the plywood panel, l'Out litx v,"
groove on the tnstde edge of each piece, see
Step 1 in Fig. 2, Position these grooves so
the faces of tbe rails are O""h with the faee
of the plywood panel.
GROOI'ES L" STII.'!S. The grooves in the
~tile8 (F) have to be stopped so they don't
show through. These grooves are stopped
W' from both end. of the stile, see ~'ig. 2.
Before gluing the stiles to the panel I
rouled a second Y" x 1'." stopped groove on
the bouom face of the stile. This groove is
used w attaeh the IGp frame to the side
frame. see Detail in Fig. 2.
ASSEMSLY, Finally, the rails and stiles
can be glued to tho plywood l)IInel. "hen
..fter the framo is assembled,
cut a
V.wide bevel on the front of the Irarnc,
see Cross Section in Fig. 2.
\VOODSMITH

liUlf
RGUll1

tOP fRA.M.f -'NO P/l.N6

VIEWFItO~aonoM

r-~--;;,:=="",.....--,
I..,.

r!:--'-i PlYWOOO",..
fANEl

,W

v.- .. If."
fHROUO"

O'OOVES
ON MIlS

<D

TO'I'

snll
\

cur

<D
ST,"

'"AME

USf SAME $UnNG

TO ROUT SKONQ
OItOOV( ON snus

ro;

.LJ

Yo

.....,

GROOVES

IN

.OUT ';/'I '.'.-ceoovs

ON (OCf OF SlOt

.'"

13Y~

'I." TONGUES

C!'9~SSlCnOH

t_... ;'ooHI ,.,@--_ .. oJ

-f" CHAM'ER
ON flONT
RAIL
Sll!,f VIEWClOSS SECJIQtf

@
fRONT RAil
~

'~ONl VIEW ClOSS S'Cr.lO~

I~'

t-

I\.~

-"--~

STl~

. ClW<ft1t

ON RONI'tAll.l
(i:l
",ONT
IOOINO

'IYWOOD
SIDE PANEL

(A)

17

fIGURE J

@1t.1~

<D

ST"'

CD

"

t,....

..

THE WEB fRAMES

'~
:I

YWOOO

0.00'1'

,.'1.-

(IHtlllO

ON fHICKN1SS Of

CUT TENON

StOCK.' - OlEl,

to fIT ptTWOOO

II THICKNESS

GOOVE

Of "YWOOO

AU~.OOVI$'.~ Of"

aNt'.,O ONsroc

IIAIUT t ... v..lONGU YO fir

GIOOYf IN CA~HfTSIDES
CVl AAJ,l~ to m &IWEfN CAtiNO $tDE$
RGUaE

~
~,... PlYWOOO
-.,!.,

MOtE FOR

~y"ONGUDE

<,

GROOVE t,.." OfEP

THICKNESS

,/

<Till

Stilt

Q)

IJ""

MAlt

'H
AU ClOOYES 1... ol(P.
((NlIRIO ON STOCk

:t''''..!''

~t~6~:

/R.InT.. tlilW1ilN
' "'ON'fl>O.
RAILS'0

'" NOTCH GUIDE to FIT FRONTRAIL

CUT WIDTH Of
... GUIDE ~."
AIOVE RAJl

GUIDE

,
~~~rIS

Il,- NOTOt:

LO

I
".-

l-

"~,, 1;
-1.~

--1

oaooVE$

CfHfU.fO

ON

0..

(."NO

FIOHT lAll

CJtOSnn""

SIOIS

cut

rc '"

anwuH lACk

f~NG ON CAIIWET$1-01'5,

L. =ccc.

...
,.."

'C

~iJI....
toN'GUS

rlUt\ TONGUES AT
COtN'lS

Tom

lAC.

L
,

aonOM$NElf rA.Nti.

-.,.-9---,I,

(i)'RON'

t'

18

"I.

0';wo~~0;D~~1

<D

~_~Dt.EW(e. FRAMJ

After the side Irames and the top frame arc

Itf
complete, the two web frames and the '"
bottom shelf can 00 built.
\VEO tR.UtES.The two web frames are
almost identical. The overall dimensions
and the length of the Individual pieces are
the same, the only difference is the width
of the frontlback rails (G and H).
BAns. To get the length of the rails ror
the web frames, dry-damp the top frame
to the sides of the cabinet. Then measure
the distance between the side fram es to
get the length of the rail, (G and H). This
should 00 I8~-. refer 10 Fig. 3.
Although the length of the rnils on both
frame>; is the same, the width is dilTerent.
On the top frame the rails (G) are ripped
wide (see Fig. 3), and the rails (H) on
the middle frame are ripped IV.wide, see
Fig. 4.
STILes. The stiles (I) on both web frame.
are the same size. To find the lenj!th oflhe
stiles, first measure Irom lhe front.
moldiog on the cabinet side to the rabbet in
the back molding. Then subtract the thickness of the front and back rails ('V.' +
'0/",,), and add a v," for the """.Iong stub
tenons on Ihe ends of the stile . The unal
measurement should be 130/,..', A. for the
width, the stile. are .11 10/.' wide.
cnoovss. To join the raUs and sutes,
fu'St cut. groove on the inside edge of each
piece to match the thickness (If the ply
wood panel, see the Details in Figs. and
4. Then cut stub tenon. on the end. of tho
stiles to match the groove in tho ralls. Also
cut a rabbet on tho outside edge of the
stiles to form a v... tongue to fit the groove
in the cabinet sides.
NO'I'CII. Before the middle frame is n..
sembled. eut 10/.1' wide, ""- deep nOleh
centered on the front mil fo,' the drawer
guide. see Fig. 6. Then drill. V,, hole 114Jrom each end of the front rail for the nylon
glides, Fig. 5.
ASSE>18LY. Dry- as semble the fram
and take measurements ror lhe 14- ply
wood panels. Cut the panels to fit, .n<l then
glue the web trames together.
DRAWER CCIDE. After the web frame.
are assembled. rip a drawer guide ...ide
enough so it'. v.." higher than the front rail
on the middle web frame, see ~'ig. 5 and 6.
Then rabbet the front end at the guide to fit
over the n<>tclt in the frout rail. Glue it to
the web frame $0 it's eentered on the width
of the frame.

THE BOTTOM SHElf

The bottom shelf conslsts or plywood

panel with edging strips on the front and
back edges,
CuT 1'&~EL TOSlZE, To build this shelf,
first eut, t,he plywood panel (K) to length 60
it's V,"longer than the inside width ofthe
cabinet. (The extra
is for the 11.'

V,

WOODSMITH

tongueij on both ends of the shelf.) 'I'hen

cut the 'helHo width '0 it's W "ider than
me distance between the front and back
moklings on the cabinet sides. see
7.
(Again. the extra 111" is for the tongu on
the front and back edge s. )
TO.NGl'f,s.After the ply, ...ood is cut, rout
rabbets on aU (our edges to form v."
umgue$ that tit the grooves in the cabinet
sides. see Cross Section in Fig. 7. Next,
trim the tongues on the front and rear
rome", SO they fit around the moldings on
the cabinet sides, see Detail in fig. 7.
KlCKBOARD. The last step before the
cabinet i$ assembled i. to cut a kickboard
2*'" wide, and
longer than the inside
".dth of the cabinet. '1'hen cut rabbets on
both ends ofthe kickboard to form tongues
that tit the grooves in the cabinet sides, see
Detail in Fig. 8.
ASSEAIIILY. To assemble the cabinet.
glue the side frames, both web frames, the
bottom shelf', and the kiokboard together.
When the glue is dry. attach the top frame.
lIOLDINGS. Finally. cut the front and
back edging strips (L) (or the bottom shelf.
Rip both pieces 1" wide and long enough
to fit between the cabinet sides. Then cut,
'I.' x K.. grooves positioned so the top edge
oCthe molding will be Ilush with the face of
the panel. see
Section in Fig. 7.

.'g.

V." CHAMfER
faON'lOGE,
ONlY

OIAWER GlID(._

*'"

(iii
lOTTOM SHtF-

eros.

THE DRAWER

Thedrawer 'orllle night stand is similar to

those on the chest: the drawer front hIlSa
concealed rove on the boltom edge. (Note:
What foilo".. is an abbreviated deseription
ROO
of how the drawer is buil1.. A detailed explanation is given on page 13.)
CUTPJ>;Ct;S.The tirSt step in building the
drawer is to cut the drawer sides (P) and
bad< (0) l!." narrower than tbe opening.
and to the lengths shown in Fig. 9. Then
cut the drawer front (N) i(.' wider than the
1
height of the drawer opening.
To join the pieces for the drawer, J US<l(1
a dovetail router fixture to rout the half
blind dovetails on all four corners. (See
page 13 for detailed lnstruetions.)
When the corner joiner)' is completed,
cut a 45" bevel on the top edge 011 the
drawer rront. Then rout a ~ .. cove on the
bottom inside edge to provide a finger pull
for the drawer. see Fig. 9. The last OLeP is
to cut the drawer bottom to fit, and to glue
the drawer together.
RUNNEII. '1'0 complete the drawer guide
system, cut a lY:!-, wide drawer runner
,...
ith a groove down the center that fits
over the drawer guide on the web (nme,
see Fig. 10. Then glue the runner centered
on the drawer bottom,
F~~ISJlINCSTEPS. To complete the night
stand, 1 routed an v,,' chamfer on all the
outside edges on the cabinet and drawer
front. AlWr chrunfering Ihe edges. I applied three coats of Den. Interior finish,
sanding between coats.

\VOODSMITH

<D

RADl!lffENDS OF !'tICkOOAIC
10 fOAM ,,...- 'Ii' TONGUES
TO FITSIDEGRoovlS

FlOHr MOLDiNG
ON IOl10M SHRf

\.

...

-~.

GROOVE FOR

j ..~ ')

OR~WERBOTTOM
'''1 flOM
M

IOJTOM lOGl

.,
D4AMftli
COV<

.....,..
,WIt
......

'.'t
1-

(i)

ItUNNEIt

19

Wall

or

FOR A SHARP IMAGE

drawers, it'" pretty much standard procedure to build a mirror
to go with it. Usually this is simply" matter of building a frame
and then having the mil.,..,r cut to
size 80 it enn he mounted in the
back. Not so with tho mirror
shown "I,ight.
The frame i~
designed to match
the style of the chest of drawers
and the headboard. But instead of
building the frame first, the mir-

R.\.HltET, \Vhen the frame is as-

Shop Note: I usu.lly cut rabbets on n table $IIw to prevent tbe

should.,. from chlpping out, But
since the rabbet, for the plywood
back 11Mto be Slopped on both

ends of the rails. it's much easier

Sinee there are ouch close telersnees between the frame and
the mirror. thi. reverse proeedure eliminate. uny chance of
the milTOr not fitting the frame.
THE fRAME

20

,,0/..

hand held router, sec Cross Sec..

lion in Pig. 5.

ror is eut to Kiz.c and then the

frame i. built to fit around it.

I had the mirror cut to size

(2[1V.. x 26'0/0.") at a local
glass store. Anc" it was cut. I
went to work on the frame. The
fra me is simply foul' piec of 6f4
stock thnt nrejolned with mortise
and tenon joints.
CUTP,f:CY.S. The flrtlt step is to
cut the frame pieees to size. The
stile. are ripped 1"''- wide, and
30," longer than the length of the
mirror (thi hould be 30V,").
Then the top and bottom rails are
ripped IV.' wide. and a total of ------3Vo." longer than the width of the mirror.
Note: This 3V,. extra length accounts for
the width of the two stiles (1%' each) plus a
total of Vi,,- (or expansion space between
the edge of the mirror and the edge of the
stile.
llORT'Sf:S. Aner the pieces are cut to
size, the next step is to cut the mortises in
the raila, The mortlsee are %' wide by 1110'
long nnd centered Oil the edge of the ,.ail.s,
sec Fig. I. AINo, they're only v.," deep to
allow for the miteron the ends of the rails,
refer to Detail in ~'ig. I.
Th cui the mortises, I used a %" bit in a
drill pre , drillillg overlapping holes to
remove the waot e. (This is the same
method used to cut the mortises on the
headboard. IiC<! page 10.)
TF.SOSS. Next. tenons are cut on the
ends of the ~til"" to fit the mortises. I cut
the tenens on a table saw using a doublecut method that automatically centers the
tenon on the thickn ess of the stock. (See
lVood$milh No. 00 for a more complete
step-by-step artiele on cutting slot mortise

sembled, a 'wide rabbet is

",utt~1 on the inside back edge for
the \4' plywood buck. Th rout this
rabbet, I lise"
rabbet bit in a

and tenon joinl8.)

>tI11lR CORSf:R:;. After the mortise and
tenon joints are cut, the ends on both rails
are mitered al_ISIO Cut a o/,t'wide miter on
the outside corners of both rails. see Detail
in Fig. I.
C"'lIFF.1I ':I)(:I;S. Th soften the edges on
the frame, the front edges of the rails and
stil es are chllmfcred. (I did this on a router
table with n 45' chamfering bit.) On the
rails. rout the fl'oni edges and the corner
under the mitcl"(!tlend, sec Fig. 2.
On the stilcs. rout all the front edges.
Then I all'O wanted to chamfer the outside
eorner; I<CC F'ig. 3. ,'he problem is that the
tenon on the end of the stiles i. right in the
way of the pilot on the chamfer bit. So a
littl. different procedure has to bo U!1Cdto
chamfer the ends of the stiles,
In.stead of w<ing the V,' chamfer bit. I
U!1Cdasharpchi""lloshaveofl'theoorne,..
to match the chamfered edges tbat were
cut with the router bit, gee Fig. 3.
After the edge. of the frame have been
chamfered.
the frame can be glued

to rout with. hand held rollter.

The only problem with using
router to cut the rabbet is that
the shoulder lit the bottom of the
cut u'ually chips out-and
this is
the shoukler that will show on the
front of the frame.
Th get a clean cut while roll'
ring, IICtthe depth of cut equal to
the thickness of the plywood
back. Then make. light scoring
I"'" 011 tho inside edge moving
the router In counter-eloekwise
directioll. which is the opposite
direction you'rOS\II)Poscd to rout,
see Fig. 4.
By routing in the "wrong" direetion, the rotation of the bit
tends to push illlClfaway from the
piece. So you really have to eoncentrale to keep the bit in contact
with edge along the entire length
of the piece. This method produces a very
smooth cut on the bottom 5houlder.
After the initial scoring pass, move the
router in the normal eleekwise direct.ion to
complete the rabbet. Then use a sharp
chisel to square up the round corners ofthe
rabbet, see !'ig. 6.
CIJTUACK. Now the yt plywood back CO"
be cut to fit in the rabbet on the baekotthe
frame. 'l'hen glue It In place.
THE HOLDING STRIPS
Th mount the mirror to this fi'8lne, two
holding snips are used to grip the top and
bottom edges of the mirror. These strips
are, in turn, screwed to the plywood back.
see Fig. 6.
HOLOINC srnu-s, The fll"Ststep is to cut
the holding .trips to siee. Rip the strips
rom a piece of ,,.... $tock so they're )16"
wide. and %thick. Then eut them about I"
longer than the in.ide dimensions of the
fi'ame. (They're trimmed to final length
later.)
cer GROO\.;. Th attach the strips to the
WOODSMITH.

mirror; cut a groove the same thickness as

t:

,\

:7

l(

'I

l-

'RAIL

TENON; DETAIL

,;"

"I

r-f''''~-4t.._ v~..
.J....,-o
'I.-If
'II

Y,.~

3!1.."ONG"

1"'~--""""snlE

v..
MORTISE. w DEI:"
CENTERED ON STOCK
RGUn 3
FRONf'VIEW

--

/-

1-... -"'
r-

EDGES W,\H ROUTER

~'O~
~
.1 " -?/

8EfO~EASSEl4IHl'

ir--

~HAMFEft fACE $10

00 NOT CHANSEIl
BACK EDGES

CHAMl'EjilIOG$

~-~~IJ

V
v)

CHAMfER fNDS
"-I
WITHCHISUSTO-~
::}

MA)'CH SIDES

... -~ I __...ST1LE

I - r-

"
OI:P1H EQUAl.$
/

NOTE:! SCORE EDGE

BEfORE ROUTING RAIIMT

JH(CKNESS OF
1/.- P'lYWOOD

(\._

"
--.".,1-

._!T---._-

y." RA.8BEl'
64T WlTH '1 lOT

'-_~_--:

SQUARE UP ROUNOeO
L1if IV aOUIER
<~
. WITH CHISEl

--:><:::::Ac::ORNEiS

'='

~ ~,....
CROSS SterlON

__

j'rrTj"""""""h_

MQIT1$EANO

THAN WIDTH OF MIRROR

fRAME 8ACk SlOt! UP

ROUT COUNTtR
CLOCkWISE TO
SCORE ~OGE
OF RA88ET

25'",,"_

(cu.""'

~\SSt;'IO[..Y,New, to mount the mirror

and the strips.in theframe, cut-the holding

strjp.~to length to fit snugly between the
stiles on the. mirror frame.
Thep slide the strips over the edges of
the mil1-or and position it in 'the, frame so
theWs equal spacing between the holding
strips and the top and bottom rails.
Mark this position andremove the strips
from the mirror, Then clamp the strips
alone to the plywood, and drill pilot holes
through the plywood back for #6 x W'
woodscrews, see }"ig. 6.
FINISH. Before mounting the mirro); !
applied three coals of Deft interior finish
to .the frame and the holding strips.
Now the mirror can be installed. I placed
a couplepieces of cardboard in betw n the
mirror- and the plywood back to support
the center of the mirror. 'Then the holding
strips can be screwed in place to hold the
mirror in the frame.

-,

IGU,. '.

the mirror (l{,') down the edge of the

~trips, see Fig. 6. (Most carbide-tipped
saw blades cue kerfs exactly 14' wide.) Cue
this kerf V,' deep and centered on the edge
of the strip, see Step 2 in Fig. 6.
CItA-'IFEN ~J)GES. Aft"r the groove is
cut, tne fl'ontedges ofthe strips are chamfered. Rout a *oN-widechamfer on t.he top
edge.ofthe strip. see Step 3 in Fig. 6. Then
l-out small !4'-wide chamfer on the bottom
edge, see Step 4.in Fig. 6.

r-W--

II

~~"HOLDING -STRIP OEJAll

T
__

.~

'l

J .

V.j,CHAMFEJt~
I

_I

1~
"T

v."

_LL-_-'

CHAMFEa
eOTTOM EOGE

ROUT CLOC.KWISE
TOCOMPtqE'
CUnlNG lA&$ET

'I.~PLYWOOD BACK

,1
(~

..:....-----;

,
,

i~,Y

<1

II"

,"

.J!;1l"I."

y.-

~o ARoeOARO
lAYERS Of

:;
HOl.OlNG STRIP

v,'

~v~ 'fi"

It:

MIRJI:OR

~/

WOODSMITH

21

u_a_lk_i_ng ShOI!

___

AN OPEN FORUM FOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

ning across the face of lumber are either
sticker stains or sticksr- marks. Both conI readyoltrltlticlt in WoodsmithNo. 98 on 'dilions occur during' ~he drying process,
palmsand6>1l.and w01l/<J,lik.to mQ.k.afew and at-e caused by the narrow pieees of
comments. TIw mosl disappointing U~ing lumber (stickers) that are used to separate
aoollt you,. article is that you s!>y 1191hinlj the layers of boards as they dry_
A]vhough stickers allow free air movea/><ndhow U'" sa"ders Salld Q.lIdIMs is a
dis-service to 1/(nt,. readers.
ment tht-oughou~the stack of lumber durThe Porter-Cable Ims a jlexibw ,.Ilbber ing air and kiln ,hoying,they can also create
coupling that allow8 tI", SQ.nd!)rto go ;n a some unique problems.
,y... rand<nn orbit tllt,t netl''''Telleats itself,
"jlli.h -results ill Q.swirl frtJe finish. Tile
Imbl<nn wilk my M!rii<l is that it uses a
PALM SANDERS REVISITED

steel pin, ~()hich t.:teaJe$ (l, ci'l"CUlq.r ))lOti01t

and res'utis i'l Sl.i,'/ mltrks tl14t a,,'~

noticeable t:iftp tl", fill is" is applied.
Ne<trly eV6rg pro.fes$ionat refinish." in
)ft:1I a,ea. 14868 the A1"er.ica't-b~llJt PorterCable #.330. Mltybe for an cmcteur tke
Makita migilt work out. but why ,wt spend.
$15.00 extra "nd gel pro[essiotl .. 1 resuUs?
Lynn Keiter
Ta",.pa, Florida

II,,,,,,?

22

STILL TOO FAT

$0"''' time ago, I

b&ugl<t a Freud 8" ad-

jl<slabledtldo Made. To daw, 1'1Ie"sed the

tool e"cl"~~v~ly on my It' Crafum"1/.

radial It]'m S<l10. c. this sCl~ it peifOl'l8
,coli. gi1)i'1fla 8mootl>,cut and "'''''18 witlt
tiftle vib''lJti01l..
TI", of)J".,night, I ,.'lUlrc-,'eading WOOdsmith ~ck 'issues nd came """""s Y01l"
discussioll in: Woodsmifh No. Ilt about the

new 8" adjl18tabl. dtldo jroin Preud. TIre

discussion was ab&ut lun it wOllld.wt fit
80metable saw8. Accordi1lg to yo",' com"''''U8, f'reluJ IIMre-milled Ow sides of the
"',.. 8" (uull) 80 thaI th.y ,.-itt tit on ally

ST'Cltgn MARKS.Stickel' marks appear

as narrow bands (usually about 1"in width)

In the tests we. conducted in our shop, we across the race of a board that are tighter
found no distinguishable difference in the than the rest of the ~iece.
qualjty of the finish produced by either the
A'Slumber dries, it's normal for the exMakita or bhe Porter-Cable palm sanders. posed suefaee of the boards to darken
The only time any of lite palm sanders slightly as it reacts \loth the OXYglOn
in the
we reviewed produced visible s\virl marks air (oxidation).
were when we used co~rse grit sandpape;
Stick~. marks occur when the contact
'Vben we switched to medium or fine grit between th~ sticker and the board is tight
sandpaper, there were never any visible enough to prevent oxidation from occurswirl marks using any of the sanders,
ringon the.area where the sticker and the
lumber meet. This causes the area covered
THE GHOSTS OF STICKERS PAST
by the sticker to appear lighter than the
R eeeIlt1y, I cam. across a p.-obltl .. I've rest of the board, slmply because it hasn't
"_, se",. before. 1'1wproblem. 1<1"S that darkened by oxidation.
there ",ere verg light lines ~bout I" wide,
STIGKflR ST,\INS. Sticker stains are just
11",1 'I'CI" across i'I<'widil/. of P.y h'mber. what their name implies - stains caused
TllMelilleJj occurred .. ery three feet 01"0 by the stickers. Unlike sticker marks,
sticker stains can be any colo, that's
alollll UteI."gtl, of II", I"",b""
liried to sand th.lilles out, outitgot 10 da.,I1
than the surrounding wood.
the point w/,ere J cqollid-have bWI ~hangSticker stains can 'be the result of sevi'lfi th_ thickness t>f U,. lli6C'" if I'd COn- moal(Iifferent conditiollS, One COlldit.ionis
tinued. W~"'I./inalty applied, finis", \\'hen moisture is trapped between the
ihe li"es "'ere "lOre appo,r<mt Ula" 1 !tad st;ckerand the bOaJ'd,creating a favorable
allticipaled.
environment for molds that st.in the
Do ym, blOW wlwl U,..6 lines a-re, m' wood. This tyP'I of stain olmn Il"netta!es
cqltatcaus68/1,,,,,,,arUl wllllt CQ.'~
8.do". 10 de.~ into the boatxl.
Ilreu,mt
Sticker stains may also be caused bl'
stickers that are web or partiallY decayed,
'rlto",a. PhiPlIS or by dark colo.-ed stickers whose color
Chicago, I1li/lis leaches into U'e board.
blose stickel' slains and stick~r marks
To find out What these lines were, w~ de- a.-eremoved when rough lumooris planed.
cided to talk to Jim Ward, technologist But there's often a l(ghost" image that
wilh the Forest PrOducts Labol:atory in "emains affer the board is planed, and
~ladjsoD!\Viseonsiu,
they're usually quite noticeable a(ler a firtAccording to Jim 'Vard, the lines run- ish is applied.

II,.

The only way to eliminate Ihe problem of

sticker stains and sticker marks is to avoid
them [rom the start. Carefully inspec~
each piece of surfaced lumber, and lookfor
the faint bands that run across the width of
the board.

tabt. sm.
Thil! is.~'t~e t,ue., ka.

011. of the
fle". ",,-milled 8" dado blades and, it wil/.
not fit $o:jely Ofl'tty 10" Crcifl.sman talil.
sa... T}", salO SllO,1t 6xl."ch f)I1'OUghII,.

dado blade only Jar enough to allow 0,,,,

fldtl 0" U,. arbor "ut.
I do,,'( l/tin" Uwobbl~dtl blade, 01' allY
blade. is s<i/. to operate tI,is way.
Willi"". Vaslter

Gibralter, MicMg(1II

When we ran the segment in lVoods",itl,

No. 23 about the Feeud adiuetable dado
blades, the problem ha,1 just been discovered. According to li'l-eud, 'Ihey had
started tomill down the sides ofthe 8"dado
so It would fit any table saw.
Although they did miUthe sides of the
dado to reduce the tbickness of bhe body,
it's still toolhiek to fiL on some table saws.
When we tried to mount it on both our
Sears and Rockwell 10" table saws, we
couldn't rotate the nut more than aboul
one-and-a-half turns around the arbor.
We agree with Mr. Vashet that the
l.\'reud8' dado blade is .line for radial arm
",,"'s. ,But for use on t,heSears and Rockwell 10"table saws, it's our opinion thaethe
8' dado blade can't !Ie secured well enough
to the arbor to be operated safely_
SOAKING OILFILLED IV'oGS

agrte

t(}itJi ,.11: LatL1'eJt'$ COtJl-1)t6)lt.$

(\Voodsmith No. 9~)on. properly stOlinll

~"d dispasi'"g of oillvarllish-soaked rags
in.closed COlltai".''3/tlled wit" ";,,ltl, But,
1J~y que$tior' is JtoW CO'" 1(16 iXO)uwl'ue?
WOODSMITl-I

Although we still highly recommend the

After all, good Icipill9 rags are 110 longer When we were researehing the article on
routers
in
IVood.",;th
No.
31,
we
decided
Starrett
rule (if you can track it down). the
int~".il"',
tsptCially if they',.. dU]JO$ed
to limit the price range of the routers to best alternative we've found is the rule
of after
e.
1/1 und~r'tand spontaneou com~ under $200. \Ve (elt there lutd to be a limit Garrett Wade is carrying. To order the
bZ-l,tiot, rom:ctlf/, r.xposure to air is re- somewhere. and this price range would rule . heck the new 1980 Catalog. or conquirtdJor igrfiiion. \t'ith Ihi.;'t "lind. nty include all but a few of the heaviest indus- tact Garrett Wade. 161 Ave. of the AmerqtU'.stion ;.: Can 11't .o/ely store. OUT oil- trial models. We also decided to use full icas, New York. New York 10013. Telefilled rag. ill a clued contai'lm"filled ilk suggested retail price because it was the phone: 1-800221-2942. (Note: Lee Valley
mi,wral.pirit. (",Meil tlimi,14Ie6 all bUl a only way to make f.ir comparison.'.
in Canada is also carrying the 12"' rule. For
As
for
plunge
reuters,
we
exclude
them
information, contact Lee Valley, 2680
very smal! a"tou"t 0/air), 80 thattlle.y ca1l
from our first review because there simply Queensview Dr., Ottawa, Ont. K2B 8J9.)
be wrllflg Ol(t atui u8f'd agai'l later?
wasn't room to review t helr ijpeciaJ eharacROUTERS
Rob.. t West,-a teristics in the same Hrticle with the stanHol/illY Meadvw., Illinois dard routers, We nre planning to do a 1 ogre. th.t th. Scars idea for ch."ging
follow-up article on plunge reuters (Maid bils 011iU IlCl" J'014tCl'is see,ingly a. good
Because of the potential problems associ- ta, Ryobi, and the new Black and Decker) one. Unfortu"ately,
actllal part Ihat
in an upcoming issue.
ated with both spontaneous combustion
"locks" CIte '''aft alter tl!~ ,o"te, has
stopped.i8 mad. of all i'iferior allog. This
and the use of mineral spirtts, we decided
ALMOST AN INCH
to call Mr. Lau re n (Executive Director of
partjroctl,red
O,l })ll! roilier '''fn1dering tire
the Coating Research Group) to gel his Recently we received a letter from a tOla111teChaliiJt1U for tho ~lg;)/gbit, l'$tUS8f
opinion on IIOalcingoil-filled rags in a min- reader who had been having problems find- and the shaft now lIpi,,, fYe,Iy.
ing two 12~rules with identical ealeral spirits bath.
Fort'llialeill.
I rtl~to':td the ",0.1
According t.<> Mr. Lauren, soaking rags
ibrations. An"r checking dozens of rules ru.ctivnitlg par( ~fo~ it compltltly broke
in a closed container filled witb mineral
against each other at loeal hardware
apar( .. "ding a 'hard of metal into the
spirits will prevent spontaneous com- store. he finally found two that actually rolder', motor and poI.ibly de.troying it.
I nOIerue a tiro wrench .y.tnn - vise grip!
bustion from taking place because of the
matched.
lack of oxygen in the eontainez He also
We had the same problems in our shop to hold the .haft atld th~ choop stamped
mentioned that the same general condi- until we purchased a 12 rule manu- stul leretlcil to 1003"" tilt <ollt! IIIIt.
tions exist when oil-filled rags are sub- factured by the L.S. Sta rre u Co. This rule
merged in water until they can be thro\\'I)
is designed to meet engineering standards.
Robor( Balcom
away. Agsln, the key to preventing spon- and like nll SIJIITCtt tools, it has been a
Rensselaer, Now York
taneous combusuon {,'Om occurring is the benchmark for excellence for years,
lack of oxygen.
We've had the Slime problem with one of
Although this p.aetice will prevent
our Sears t'oulcl"s, and it's agg"R\!Rting to
spontaneous combustion, ?'(t, Lauren eausay the least. It's probtems like this I,hat
tioned that It may e.eate more problems
make \IS recommend b\l)ring an in(lustnal
that it cures. The biggest problem is that
quality router if lit nil possible.
when the rags are wrung out and reused,
- Industrial routers are built with heavier
they're still saturated with a very flamduty parts, and they"1I last much longer
mable solvent. And when combined with
than home use v.... Ions. And they're really
the remaining problem of spontaneous
no more expensive in the long run, if you
0'"
combusUon (From the finish still in the
take into con.ideration ha"ing to replace a
rags). this poses double threat..
horne version afler it goes bad.
->," "I>
It's Mr. Lauren's opinion (and ours). that
SAMPLE LUMBER KITS
'
the potential hazards of reusing old rags
that have been soaked in mineral spirits
The IZ' Starrett rule Is square at both
In the March 198" i ue of 1V0rid of
are too great to jusLir.,' saving a few dollars
ends, which makes it exceptionally handy
lVood -. pubUeation of the International
on the cost of rags,
for all sorts of measuring tasks. (It's the
Wood Collectors Society (I \YCS) - we
only rule I would usc to set the lip fence On found something being orrered thai we
ONLY A ffW DOLLARS MORE
a table saw.) The cAlibrnlions are etched
oeeasionaUy have requests for. , . sample
1 jU$t fitlisited rlJadillg your article on onto a high-<Iuality, satin finis steel, and wood kit6.
Each kit contains 29 dirrerent species
router a"d yo"r TeCO)tltJI.e1Idatimus. U,I, are very easy to read. Evon my tjred old
eyes
can
ensily
read
the
V"H
scale.
(Each
(common
nauve lind fOI~ig)\ weeds), labels
forl;ww.tely, 1feet tha! yet" made", ,n;stake
edge
has

dlfle,en~
scale:
*<H,
Yi....
y",'.
and
in(ol1naiion
on thoir properties and
ill CIWOSl,iQ to reveiul onl11 th-ose 1'OUt.ers
V"H.)
eharacteristics. Each mple is Murfacedon
U,aL 'VCrt! ""dcr $!.!()(), ""d itl exclttdulg
Unfortunately, Shorrelt rule$ are hard
L\\'O sides, 811(1is Va" x 3" x 6" (\vhith is the
plll11gC rol'l8r8.
to
eOmeby,
."d
expensive
(prices
range
up
standard
size for wood collectors).
Under theae param.ters, bollt thl<Mato
$20
for
the
#OO<lR12"ruleweuse).
None
The
srunple
wood kit ... t. $li;.OIJ, which
kita and tlte Ryobi plunge routers 100,.. IIot
includes postage. To order, or for mo...
reuielt't'd. 'hey're boIha<wablefor utwer of the wood-working catalogs carry it inrormation, contact: BI1.1ce T. J."onle5S,
but it can usually be found at en$ineering
$-ZOIJ
fro", local dUc01mt.r3.
supply
stores.
P.O. Box 46, Chaumont, NY 13622.
1 hat ... u8td manytypt3 ofr,mterl orer
\Vodid
come.....,..
a
less
expensi'e
rule
1V0rld of lVood is published for members
thtyror3a,uI havt ... n the probl6lll$ a....
of lhe International
Wood Collectors
eiat.d Kith bit changing a1ld depth ad that appears to be a good substitllte.
jm ...",,,. I nOle hat'" a .Ifakila plunge Garrett \Vade has decided t.<> carry a 12"" Society. ifyou would like more information
(stock
on how t.<> join the "VCS and become a
router gIld h4a,~found it a drtat'lW ttSt. rule in their 1985 catalog
139NOS.01) lha.-s .lmOK! identical t.<> tbe subseriber to World of Wood. contact the
Bruce Forness at the
Richard Herwg Starrett rule in .ccuracy and clarity, yet Secret.ary-~urer
ifs only $9.95.
address allOye.
EXf/er, Nelo Halpshire

"''''''II ...

I".

.....

WOODSMITII

'"

23

Sources
This page ig usually reserved for Sources
- a ligting of the hardware and supplies
used on the projects shown in the issue.
But this time we used only one piece of
hardware: the nylon glides that provide a
1:x:aring surface under the drawers.
Nylon glides (also called stem bumpers)
can be purchased Irem the Woodworkers'
Storo cat!llog, 21801 Industrial Bivd.,
Rogers, MN 6S:~7~.
Cat. No. OS503, 67e
fOI' 10 glides.
SHOP NOTES

Although hardware was not a problem

wit h an)' of the I)rojects. there were some

inte-resting challenges f-rom a woodworking standpoint. we thought we "vould

use this $P= to talk about the techniques
used to

solve some
CunlNG

of these problems.
TENONS

One of the problems I had was cutting

tenons on the ends of the pieces for the

headboard (see page 10). This is usually
just :1 malteT or making sure the tenon is
cut to the right si,.., so it fits the mortise.
But on the piece. for the headboard, I
.';111 inlo what might. be considered a mechanienl problem. Both of the pieces t.hat
have tenons (the ul)lights and middle rail)
are long and rather heavy which makes
them vcry nwkward to work with.
The length of these pieces makes it very
difficult to use a typical tenon-cutting jig.
(The pieces have to stand on end in thisjig.
and because they're so long the), tend to
"'ag around when the jig is moved to make
the eut.)
.
IlIlItead, I laid th. workpieees nat on the

table 1l4\\' an(1 made multiple passes to

(orm the tenon. However, even this
method presents a problem.
Because of their length and weight. the
workpieces tend to twist 01" pivot off the
mitergnuge. To solve this problem, it helps
to attach n long fence to the miter gauge to
sUPJ)OI'l Lhto workpiece for its en lire

lens.,tth,lice druwlng.
Then t he tenons can be cut by holding
the workpiece firmly against, the fence

night stand, and the headboard. 1 mentioned using hru-dwood plywood to build
the projects.
Tbar's not entirel,)' accurate. \Vhen we
originally deSigned these I,rojecls, we Intended to build them out of oak. then at the
last minute, we decided to usc Honduras
Mahogany instead.
The only problem is that Honduras lilahogany is not available tIS plywood. So,
what we had to do \vfiS rnakc ow' 0\\11\
"pl)'\\'OO(I"ut\ing flexible veneer and highdensity particle board.
Flexible veneer is Jlot your ordinary veneer. This sturr is incredible. It's only V,,"
thick (which makes it vcry Oexible) and it
comes in book-matched sheets that are
mounted to a thin paper backing.
1b mount Oe.ible veneer. fIrSt cut the
particle
board to rough .i ze (abou; I"
After it's cut to rough length. mark the
final length on one edge. Then. with the larger than needed in both dlmensieas).
table saw turned off. place the pl)"\,-oOO Then cut the Oexible veneer to 6t the paragainst the fenee, push it up to the blade, title board. (Tbi. veneer can easily be cut
and line up the mnrk with one tootb on tbe wilh a scissers.)
The ,.. commended procedure to mount
blade.
When the cut i8 lined up. clamr' stop (he veneer is to bru~h ccntact cement 011
block to the fence at the other end oi the the I>a,title board and the veneer, This can
plywood, 'l'hen as the plywood is fed lie. bit of. mess. We'''e found this task is
through tho blade, gontly push it so it:s much easier with. palnt roller,
tight against tho step.
I buy Ihe eh~"pe.t short-nal> paint '-oller
I
can
find ro spread I he contact cement.
This p"e~su"e altai"at the stop block
The
roller
puis down a thin even coot. and
produce. II stcndy hold on the workpiece so
the blade cannot force it out oftine. (Some- yet iI'S cheap enough so Ihal when I'm
times the rotation of lhe blade pulls or done Iju;;t throw it 8way.
IltO!>l.()N
AtlIlR"11 E. Another method for
pushes the workpiece out
1ine.)
mounting flexible veneer ~ to use a relaCLAMPING LONG PIECES
tively new product: hOlmelt glue sheets.
adhesive
The headboard see med to present more These arc lilcrall~1sheets
rban il~
share
problems. I ran into mounted to a peel..,rr paper backing. (It's
another problem during the gluing and the same type of adhe.. ive found on the
back of iron-on edging tape.)
elamplng stage. In order to clamp the
1b use this odhe.he. cut it to the same
middle rail between the two uprights, you
size as the flexible veneer. placed in on
particle board. and pitll'<l the veneer on
top. Then use 1I hou hold lron to heat the
adhesive to the melting point, and ,-oil the
veneer down nR adhesive CO('II~.
A 8',2' shcet of this hotmell adhesive
I
in an opening in the frame.
1b make this eur, I used the following
procedure. ~'irsl, I cut the plywood to
rough length - about I" longer than
needed. Here lignin I used the fence on the
miter gauge to 'help guide the plywood.

or

costs

311(1

making mUltiple pa ss es over the blade. (A

complete description of this method for

cuttin~ n mortise and tenon is given in

Wood.mit" No. 26.)
CUnlNG

PLYWOOD TO LENGTH

I used thi" same fence to help cut the piece

of plywood u.seod on the headboard. The
problem with cutting this plywood piece to
final ~iu>li actually t,,o(old. First il':; a
long nnd \\'j<lt pit!ce that's difficull to
handle. And to make matten; worse, it has
to be eut to \'Cr)' CIOl;C
tolerances to fit tight

24

or

or

need a very long clamp. Lacking a clamp

long enough. I used two shorter etamps.
interloeking
them to get the length
n~'t3.ry.
PLIANT WOOD VENEER

I have a snlall con(ettsion to make.

Throughout the articles on tbe ehest. the

82.59,

\vhieh nll\y seonl a IittJe ex...

pensive. But 1've found that. ill some eases

(particularly on small tll-ojects) it's less
costly ihnn contact cement,
You can cut hot-melt sheets to t he exact
size you need SO there'~ almost no waste.
With contact cement, I usually buy. can.
use part of it, and the regt gees to waste
siUing around for months before the next
project.
SOliRCES. The hot-melt glue sheets (as "..
well as a I.riety of nexible "enoers) are
available (rom Bob Morgan Woodworking
Supplies, 1123 Bardstown Road, Louis
,;lIc, K'l' 40"20-1.Phone (602) 456-2545.
WOODS~UTH