An Everyday Cabinet

Straightforward construction methods

for building a case with doors and drawers
B Y S C O T T G I B S O N

66 FINE WOODWORKING
 A Leg with Flare
1 square = 1⁄2 in.
1 1⁄4 in.

Leg,
1 1⁄4 in.
square

Start flare
3 1⁄2 in. from Chamfer
bottom. inside
corners.

Story stick aids leg layout. To ensure consistent leg form, shape a single template to trace the
layout of all four leg blanks. The same template can be used for marking out the mortises.

3
1 1⁄4 in. ⁄4 in.

W
hen I set up an office and be-
gan working at home, I vowed
to be careful with what little
space I had. But before long I was awash in
all of the junk any office accumulates—
pencils, notebooks, phone books—and not Cut all but the curve.
Mark the fence to indi-
enough storage room. Part of the solution
cate how far to cut, then
was this small, shallow cabinet, which cut to that line and shut
tucks beneath a window without blocking off the saw. Take care to
the view. Its two drawers offer useful stor- hold the stock tightly
age, and the lower compartment is unob- against the fence until
structed by a center door divider. the blade has stopped.
I wanted to build the cabinet quickly and
with a minimum of materials. The sides
and back are frame and panel with frame
stiles biscuited to the legs. That makes for a
sturdy carcase that is easy to put together.
With the exception of the drawers, the rest
of the joinery is mortise and tenon.
The bottom of a table or cabinet leg can
be hard to get right. This cabinet is boxy to
start with, and I thought a straight leg
would be too plain. In Wallace Nutting’s
Furniture Treasury (Macmillan Publishing
Co., 1933), I found drawings of several legs
that meet the floor in a graceful curve. The
Finish on the bandsaw.
one I liked the most was a tall clock foot
Cutting from the bottom
with Hepplewhite origins. of the leg, finish the
The cabinet’s design is adaptable. It sweep of the foot on the
would be easy to alter the height of the bandsaw.

Photos, except where noted: Timothy Sams; facing page: Michael Pekovich NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 67
 drawers or even the overall dimensions of
Front-Leg Joinery the cabinet without changing its look very
much. Figured veneer door panels or
drawer fronts would give the piece a much
Drawer-rail mortise, more formal feel. In the end, I kept the
3
⁄8 in. wide by 5⁄8 in.
high by 3⁄4 in. deep design simple.

Drawer-rail mortise, A template helps with the legs

3
⁄8 in. wide by 7⁄8 in. It’s easier to lay out and shape a template
high by 3⁄4 in. deep
than it is to measure and duplicate the
same pattern on four separate legs. I used
Mark and cut mortises. For consistency, mark scrap pine for this template, marking the
the mortise locations directly from the story stick sweep of the foot with a French curve and
(above). A dedicated mortising machine makes noting the locations of mortises for the
quick work of cutting all 12 mortises (below). front frame pieces. These legs curve in on-
ly one plane, away from the case sides.
The tip of the foot extends about 3⁄4 in. be-
yond the side of the cabinet, so there real-
27 1⁄2 in.
ly isn’t much waste in cutting the legs from
22 in.
solid wood. Most of the cutting can be
done on a tablesaw by running the leg
blank through the blade until the kerf just
Bottom-rail
mortise, 3⁄8 in. reaches the start of the curve. Mark the ex-
wide by 1 in. tent of the blade’s reach on the fence be-
high by 3⁄4 in. fore you start so that you know how far to
deep
go before turning off the saw. A bandsaw
will finish the cuts, and a rasp, file and
scraper quickly remove the saw marks.
A tapered chamfer helps the leg look
thinner and more delicate as it reaches the
floor. It begins just where the curve starts
outward and widens as it nears the floor,
5 1⁄2 in. making the leg look less bulky at the bot-
tom. This is very simple to do with a spoke-
shave. If the wood wants to tear going
around the bend, use a file. But try to stay

Biscuit-join the leg and stile. It’s helpful to place the stock and ma- Glue up the leg and stile. To ensure a tight bond along the entire glue-
chine on a flat surface (like the MDF pictured) for square cuts. The MDF line, glue and clamp the leg to the stile before setting the frame and
also acts as a riser, allowing you to lay the leg flat, with the foot hanging panel into place.
off the end and out of the way.

68 FINE WOODWORKING
away from sandpaper as much as possible
because it rounds over the edges. Side-Panel Construction
The only thing left on the legs are the
Leg
mortises for the front frame pieces. These Top rail, 3⁄4 in. thick
are located so that the frame pieces (and by 1 1⁄2 in. wide by
11 in. long,
doors) can be set back from the front of the including tenons
leg by 1⁄4 in. This dimension is important.
Depending on where the hinge pivots, too Stile, 3⁄4 in.
much of a setback will prevent the doors thick by
from opening very far. It’s a good idea to 1 1⁄2 in.
wide by Prefinish the
have the hinges in hand before you start. 22 7⁄8 in. rabbets to
The front frame pieces extend to the long make final
back edge of the leg, making for a clean finishing
easier.
corner inside the cabinet (that will be help-
ful later). Now is a good time to cut the Stiles are
mortises for the knife hinges and to plunge biscuited to
a groove in the back of the bottom drawer the legs
before panel
rail with a biscuit joiner for the intermedi- is inserted.
ate drawer support (both operations will Panel, 1⁄2 in.
be very difficult to do later). Also, the da- thick by 13 in.
wide by 19 3⁄8 in.
does or dovetailed mortises for the center long, including
drawer divider can be made now. rabbets

Making and fitting

the frame and bottom
Haunched tenon,
These frame pieces are made of 3⁄4-in.-thick 1
⁄4 in. thick by 3 in.
material with a groove for the panel 1⁄4 in. wide by 1 in. long
wide and 1⁄2 in. deep. A single panel is on
each side, and two panels are on the back. Leg Gap for seasonal Bottom rail, 3⁄4 in.
Stile
movement, 1⁄8 in. thick by 3 in. wide
After milling up the parts, I set up an ad- by 11 in. long,
justable dado to cut all of the grooves in including tenons
the center of each stile and rail. Before run-
ning off all of the pieces, I tinkered with the
width of the cut to make sure it would
match the width of my mortising chisel. I
Panel
wanted to make sure the 1-in.-deep mortis- Setback, 1⁄4 in.
Reveal, 1⁄8 in.

Attach the rails. Once the leg-and-stile as- Drop the panel in place. Gibson prefin- Complete the side. Finish by attaching the other
sembly has dried, insert the bottom and top ished the rabbets on the panel so that he stile and leg, which have been biscuited. Glue and
rails of the frame and panel. wouldn’t have to squeeze finish into the clamp horizontally.
small gap between the frame and the panel.

Drawings: Bob La Pointe NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 69

 Case Construction Tenons, 1 1⁄4 in. Top
long; haunches,
3
Breadboard ends, ⁄4 in. long
3
⁄4 in. thick by 2 1⁄2 in.
wide by 16 7⁄8 in. long

Back panels, 1⁄2 in.

thick by 12 3⁄4 in.
wide by 18 1⁄2 in. long
Stiles are biscuited to Back rail, 3⁄4 in. thick Kickers are slotted
sides before glue-up. by 1 1⁄2 in. wide by for metal clips that
23 1⁄2 in. long attach top.
Drawer
Drawer runners stop
are attached to
Door panels, 1⁄2 in.
the stiles.
thick by 8 5⁄16 in. wide
Side blocking, by 19 3⁄8 in. long
1
⁄4 in. thick by
2 in. wide by Top rails, 3⁄4 in.
10 7⁄8 in. long thick by 1 7⁄16 in.
wide by 8 5⁄16 in.
long

Bullet
catch

Trim strips,
1
Drawer rails, ⁄4 in. thick,
7
⁄8 in. thick secure the
bottom.
Stiles, 3⁄4 in.
Bottom, 3⁄4 in. thick, Bottom rails, thick by 1 7⁄16 in.
is rabbeted on the 3
⁄4 in. thick by wide 15 1⁄4 in.
bottom and notched 2 11⁄16 in. wide by
Ledgers, 1⁄2 in. long
at the corners. 8 5⁄16 in. long
thick by 3⁄4 in. wide
by 12 1⁄2 in. long, Bottom rail,
support the 1 in. thick
bottom.

35 in.
25 in. 16 7⁄8 in.

Bottom,
1
⁄2 in. thick

22 7⁄8 in.
28 1⁄4 in.
Sides
and back,
1
⁄2 in. thick
Front,
3
DOVETAILED DRAWERS ⁄4 in.
The bottom panel slides in from the rear thick
and is secured with a screw at the back. 14 1⁄2 in.

70 FINE WOODWORKING
 Assemble the
Important Note back frame and
panel. Lay one
side facedown on
risers and attach
the back. It helps
to do a complete
dry run before glu-
ing up the back-
panel assembly.

Install knife hinges before glue-up.

Knife hinges must be installed before
the carcase has been assembled. See
Master Class (p. 108) for techniques
on installing knife hinges.

es aligned with the sidewalls of the groove

as closely as possible.
After years of cutting mortises with a
plunge router, I recently bought a mortis-
ing machine, which is faster and less prone
to error. I cut tenons with a homemade jig
on the tablesaw.
It would seem logical to glue up the
frame-and-panel assemblies now, but
that’s not a good idea. The panel stiles are
attached to the legs with #20 biscuits, and
the full length of the stile should be
clamped to the leg while the glue dries.
That’s not possible if the frame-and-panel
assemblies are put together first. So start by
gluing just the stiles to the legs, and then
add the rails and panels to complete the
carcase when those assemblies have dried.
The cabinet’s solid-wood bottom goes in
after the carcase has been assembled. It
needs to move with seasonal changes in
humidity. I glued and screwed ledgers
around the inside perimeter of the cabinet,
rabbeted the bottom panel and set it inside.
Only the front edge is glued. It forms the
doorstop. The back edge of the bottom can
move to its heart’s content. To keep it firm-
ly in place and to hide the seam between
bottom and cabinet, I attached 1⁄4-in.-thick
strips of wood to the inside rails with an 18-
gauge pneumatic brad nailer. They trap the
tongue on the edge of the bottom panel Complete the case. It is easiest to finish
and keep it in place, and the nail heads are the assembly with the case on its side
(left). To ensure an equal reveal around
so small they’re hard to see.
the panel, shim the opening and hold the
In gluing up the carcase, the assembly door in place with masking tape (above)
should be as close to square as you can get until the carcase dries.
it. An out-of-square carcase makes fitting

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 71
 the bottom a real pain in the neck (don’t
Case-Bottom ask how I know) and makes it much hard-
er to fit the drawers correctly.
Installation
Adding the drawer guides and drawers
It may defy common sense, but a drawer
that fits loosely in its opening will bind as
it’s opened and closed. To get a drawer to
work well, it must fit its opening very
closely, and the opening must be square.
Drawer guides and runners can be any
kind of wood. Even pine will give you
Ledgers hold up the bot- decades of service before it wears out.
tom. After the carcase glue Drawer runners on the sides of the cabi-
has dried, ledgers are
net are screwed directly to the panel stiles.
screwed into the back and
sides to provide solid support Then add blocking with the inside face ex-
for the bottom panel. actly even with the edge of the leg that
forms the drawer opening. At the center of
the cabinet, the drawer supports are a little
more complicated. Add a center runner
wide enough to handle both drawers. This
is where that biscuited slot comes in
handy: The front of the runner is biscuited
and then eased into the cabinet. The back
of the runner is dadoed into a ledger that
runs along the back of the cabinet. A verti-
cal divider, the same width as the drawer
divider in the frame, completes the open-
ing. The last components are the kickers,
which prevent the drawers from tipping
too much as they are opened. These are
slotted to accommodate metal clips that at-
tach the top to the cabinet.
The best explanation of drawer fitting
I’ve read comes from Alan Peters, the Eng-
lish cabinetmaker (see FWW #125, pp. 72-
78). I like the way hand-cut dovetails look,
but the drawers could be made in any one
of several ways: dovetailed with a router or
assembled with biscuits or a tongue-and-
groove joint. The key is choosing a sturdy
joint, making sure the parts fit precisely
Rabbeted lip rests on
ledgers. Fit the bottom so and ending up with a square drawer box.
that it’s snug at the front, but Drawer bottoms should be oriented so that
leave room at the back to al- they move seasonally front to back, not
low for seasonal movement. side to side, as Peters suggests.
These drawer sides are made of quarter-
sawn white oak, which is very stable di-
mensionally, and they are a bit thinner than
the drawer front. The white oak may not
make a big difference, but it can’t hurt.
Secure the bottom with
trim strips. The front edge is Adding the doors and top
glued to the front rail and
These are very simple frame-and-panel
acts as a doorstop. To keep
doors. Because knife hinges are used, they
the bottom in place and to
cover the expansion gap, must fit the opening very closely (for more
tack additional strips into on knife-hinge installation, see Master
place on the sides and back. Class, p. 108). I don’t allow any extra when

72 FINE WOODWORKING
cutting the door stiles to length—they
should be exactly the same height as the Drawer-Guide Installation
opening minus the two washers on the
hinges. For width, it’s a good idea to allow
a little extra material, 1⁄8 in. or so, and plane
the doors to fit after they’ve been made.
There’s no solution to doors that are too
narrow other than making new ones.
The front edge of the cabinet bottom
forms the only doorstop. At the top of the
opening, Brusso bullet catches hold the
top of the doors in place. I insert the part
containing the spring-loaded ball into the
cabinet frame, and the catch into the top of
the door. When assembled this way, the
ball will wear a tiny groove in the top of
Not quite a sliding dovetail. The Fit the center runner. For ease of assembly, the back
the door stile, but no one will see it unless drawer divider is joined with a dovetail is rabbeted and drops into a notch in the ledger. The
the door is open. If the ball goes in the only half the thickness of the rail so front is biscuited into place.
door, it will wear a groove in the cabinet that rail strength is not compromised.
frame that will be visible all of the time. Al-
though these catches are beautifully made,
they are a little fussy to put in because you
really have only one chance to get it right.
I check the layout several times before
drilling the holes, and then I epoxy the
pieces in place and hope for the best.
Breadboard ends give a tabletop a fin-
ished look. The overhangs are a personal
choice, but I think between 4 in. and 5 in. is
about right on the ends, and about 1 in. on
front and back. This keeps the top from
getting too wide, while adding a horizontal
dimension that prevents the cabinet from
looking squat. Attach the di-
vider. Before
Choosing a finish and hardware screwing the di-
Everyone has a favorite finish. Chris vider into place,
mark its location
Becksvoort and others who routinely work
using a square.
in cherry like an oil finish because it brings Then fit to the
out the wonderful color of the wood. I like lines.
a harder finish. After trying just about
everything, I now spray either nitrocellu-
lose lacquer or blond shellac. Both have a
pleasant amber color and terrific clarity,
and they offer very good protection to the
wood. Also, they don’t dry out over time
and can be repaired or recoated. Still, I start
with a thin coat of a polymerizing oil, such
as Watco, to bring out the rich color of the
cherry. I don’t think cherry needs stain.
Like finish, hardware is a personal call. To
my eye, good iron hardware looks just
right on cherry. I was lucky that my son,
Ben, is skilled in the forge. He designed
and made the drop pulls.

Runner fits flush with rail. Screwed in for Tack in the side blocking. Finish the interior
Scott Gibson, a former editor at The Taunton strength, the runner lines up with the back of the drawer-guide installation by attaching
Press, is a freelance writer. guide and the front rail. the side blocking.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 73