NOTES FROM THE SHOP $3.95 JOINERY: HAN DOVETAILS STEP-BYSTEP PLANS FOR: ENTERTAINMENT CENTER & STATIONERY BOXNo. 81 June, 1992 bos (Supervisor) Mare Nelson, Jeanie ‘TefJanes Joy lohesor, Saraobason, ‘Ani Blasshan mopeittn He el A eres See Re leanne ates Wok, Bax Bitoosned at +0733 7, 60 te scan EDITORS COLUIMN Sawdust I were to say the word dovetail, it ‘would conjure up all sors of mental images ast image onthe Bt Would bethat ofancent Layo iba the chance to go through the Metropolitan Musuem of Artin New Yorks couple of years ago One fy favorite pas. Simestasindyingthe selptre arworand chitectureofaneal Egypt, Greece. atl ome The Met has a hage secon oa 20 slent Egypt. I speat hours wandering Throughie ‘As was looking ata collection of wooden coffins irom ancient Fgypt,youcanimagine the smile that crossed my face when I n0- ticed some were joined with dovetails. ‘There's a tendency to think of dovetails as old. .. the kind of ol that means 1700's or 1800's, Not thousands of years B.C. Granted, the ancient Egyptians used fairly basic'dovetal joinery. But I suppose the process they used to lay out and cut dovetails was aot much difereat than how wwe doi today. Nothing new under the sun. Orsol thought ‘When we beyan workon the article show- ing how to cut dovetails by hand for this issue, I thought the generally aceepied method was pretty close to the way T had done it for years. But leameedacouplenew techniques thistime around. ‘irs, | discovered how valuable a guide fence can be when chopping out the pins and tals along the baseline (page 29) But the most important change came rom Ken Munkel, our Design Director. It hastodowith how the taisarelaid outusing the pins. [had not seen his method before, Dbutitdoes make for amore accurate layout. (Gee Figs. 1,2,3, page 27) For those who realy get into details, the ‘ld method has you cut the pins frst, and thea you hold the ends ofthe pins perpen- Aicularto the board forthe tails toy them ‘out. The problem here is that you're laying ‘outthe tals on the inside ofthe joint “The new method ve're showing has you Jay out the outside ofthe joint. This should yield better results because you're laying: ‘ut and then cutting on the outside ofthe Joint —the part you see. HARDWARE. Of all the tools and gadgets available to woodworkers, hardwareisoniy mildly teresting to me. However, my opin- jon changes quickly when T find a clever piece of hardware that solves a sticky de- Siproblem, "That was the case forthe Entertinment Center inthis issue, The whole ideabehing cabinet with aTVin tisto open the doors ‘and get them out ofthe way so you have an unobstructed view. That requires special hardware “Thehardwarewe chose isoneofavarety cof European style concealed hinges These hinges fer fromtypicalbuthingesintwo important ways, Firs, there's none ofthe hassle of care fully cutting out a hinge mortise. Instead, ‘these hinges mount ina 1¥¥"-dia. hole. Bore the hole, pressin the hinge. Second. cancealed hinges are desianed so youtean adjust the postion ofthe doorin Diecabinetaterits mounted. Byiust tim- ing some adjusting screws you can move the door mand out up and down, let and Fight Itmakeslie alot easier. "There fsa third reason. Thiskind ofhard- ware as aversion that includes a siding track for mounting a door so it can hinge ‘open and slide back inv the cabinet. That proved tobe the perfect solution forthe En- {ertainment Center (gage 15) ‘NEW PACES. Is not easy to teach an old ‘dog new ticks. But that’s the challenge facing my new assistant, Julia Fish. She has ‘agreed wie me get (and say) organized ‘ormiabe task, considering the ples of contusion in myotice Jia is making steady progress, mosily asaresil of her unwavering patience Tm {ratefalshe's here and soon be wonder Ing how lever got along wthoat her help. ‘BERKELEY STORE. The persistent reces- sion bas forced us to close our store in Berkeley, California. For the pest five years, we have enjoyed sering the woodwerker= inthe San Francisco area Michael DeHlaven his chief assistant ‘Lenny Johnson, andallthe guysinthe store ida greatjobafworkingithcusiomento brovide them wih the woodworking (oul. snd supplies they wanted. “The exceptional part oftheir service was the wealth ofinformation they were sble to provide about literally thousands of tools land productsin te store willmiss working with them, And weil ‘tniss all the friends we made through the Berkey sore be No.81A LOOK Contents INSIDE Tips & Techniques Five great tips. 1) Height Gauge. 4 2) Tool Stand. 3) Rateed Panel ig. Plus, two useful Quick Tips. Entertainment Center The hardware for the doors on DY tico cabinet Lats you open the doors and slide them back into the cabinet, beside the TV. Concealed Hinges [fq] These European-style concealed hinges are easy to install — and with just a turn of a sereve, they make it eaay to perfectly position the doors. Shop Notes ff@] 2 Tips for Squaring a Cabinet 2) Routing Recesses for Shelf Pins. 3) Jig for Mortising Miters. 4) Trimming off Edging Strips. Stationery Box This weekend project has tradi- 15) tional hand-cut dovetails. It also features a unique joint for raised panel top. Hand-Cut Dovetails [4] Before you pick up a saw to cut dovetails, you have to start with the correct layout procedure. Dovetail Pins & Tails [26] Step-by-step procedures showing how to lay out, cut, and fit the interlocking parts of a dovetail joint. [Dovetail igs & Tips [| Three jigs and a tip to help you | produce tight-fitting dovetails. Talking Shop Our favorite way to true up an Sources BO) ciurainum oxide grinding wheel Also, an interesting story from a shop teacher about installing hinges. Hardware and. supplies needed for (BU the project in this ise. page 18 Hand-Cut Dovetails page 24 No. 81 WoodsmithFROM FELLOW WOODWORKERS Tips & Techniques HEIGHT GAUGE Wai can you do with a piece fom a broken rule? Fused itto make a gauge for setting the depth of cut of my table saw bladeand router bits. ‘The gauge is made from a block of wood with a bole init Bore a 1"-dia hole through a block of hardwood. Be sure to dnillacross the grain. Nowcuta2highslothrough the middle of the block (and hole) on thetable saw, see Fig 1 made this slot slightly wider than the thickness of my saw blades. (Forappearance, cutoff thetopeomersofthe block) “The second piece needed isa Aowel with the rule attached. To ‘mount the rule, sand a 3'-long “iat"atone end ofadowel. Then attach a section ofthe rale with doublesided carpet tape, see Fig. 1. “Tokeepthedowel irom falling through the block, I installed a Vi" keeper dowel just above the rule, see Fig. 1. ‘Touse the gauge, sett down over the top of a saw blade or router bit. This will push the dowel up soit sticks out the top of the block. As long as the height of the block and the Tength ofthe rule are the same, the depth of cut can be read off the rule at the top edge of the block, see Fig. 2. ‘John R. Todd, Sr. Holly Springs, N.Caralina Pex TOOL STAND The shop cabinet plans in Woodsmith No. 74 gave me the idea to make a tool stand for my bench top power tools. But | modified the top to aceept re movable shelves. (Editor's Note: Lynn built the Woodsmith cabinet, butany ‘similar base would work). ‘Now I can attach each power ‘ooltoitsownsheif,and slide the tool I want to use into the slotin the top. The idea sto add a sec- ond top tothe cabinet, this one with heveled sides to hold sid- ing shel, refer to Fig. 2. ‘This double top is built from ‘mo layers of $4" plywood. The top layer is made up of four pices: a shelf (hata tool is at tached to), and three pieces that “surround” the shelfand secure itto the base piece, see Fig. 2. Start by cutting the plywood for the shelf, beveling the sides to 45", see Fig. 2. Next cut the surrounding side pieces, also cutting them with 45° bevels. ‘Tocomplete the top. glue the surrounding pieces to the 4" piywoodbase. see Fig.2.Use the ‘shelf as a guide to position the surrounding pieces, see Fig. 2, Finally 1 glued trim around the edges of the top — but the trim onthe font isnt ged on Tastead, i's attached with ‘Woodsmith? shangerbeltsand wingnuts, This ‘way, it locks the shelf into the slot, see Figs. !and 2, Lynn Gaston Omaha, Nebraska No. 81like tormakee raised panels on the router table rather than on the table saw. To dothis, Tusea shop built panelraisingjig anda straight router bit, see photo. (Note: It’s similar to a jig in Woodsmith No.53.) ‘Thejiglooks unusualbecause the fence Jeans forward at 12° ‘over the top of the router bit, referto Fig. 2a. But, whenitsset ‘up this way, most of the bit is ‘safely buried inthe fence. ‘To make a panelraising jig, cet two pieces of 4" plywood 6 ‘wide and the same length 2 RAISED PANEL JIG ‘your router table fence — one Piece is forthe fence, the the for the back. Then make 2 beveled ledge for the workpiece to ride on a Itspushed past therouter bi. braces,see Fig. 1. The 12" angle the jig over a straight bit To do this, rip one face of aon one side of the braces holds mounted inthe router table, see strip of 34" stock to 12". Then the fence at the correct angle Fig.2a. Now, holdthe workpiece slueitto the bottom edge ofthe over the router bit. firmly against the fence and fence, see Fig. Finally, [bored a hole in the down on the ledge. Ten push Next, I cut a 1M/equare hackbetveenthemiddlebraces the workpiece past the bit. To notch centered in the botiom toacceptmyshopvacuumhose. prevent chipoul, I rout the ber. ‘edge ofthe fence to serve as an see Figs.1and2, Toimprovethe _elsinthree passes, each onesuc ‘opening for the router bit suction, cap the space between cessively deeper. The fence is attached to the the braces. A. Gillon back with four nearly triangular To make raised panels, align West Hills, Calyornia 1 2 QUICK TIPS SANDING PILLOW ‘mSanding curved surfaces and inside corners can be difficult. 1 solved the problem by making a sanding pillow —a soft pad that hholds sandpaper and coniorms tojust about any surface. ‘To make one, cut 2 piece of Nowputahandfulofsawdust wiping rag is gone, and in its JEETSENN ECT Der) into the plastic bag. place is.a small plastic clip for ‘This makes a sanding pillow closing abreadl bag. that will adjust to almost any These little square or rec shape. And talsoinsulates your tangularplasticclips make great handfromtheheat generated by little scrapers. They're stiff thesandpaperonthe workpiece. enough that you can press them ‘Stanley Hogshead firmly against the workpiece. Posedeno,Colfornia Bultheplasticisn'thardenough sandpaper the same size es one tomarthe surface. side of sandwich bag (the kind ‘CLUE SCRAPER “They scrape the squeeze-out ‘with the locking top is best). lM When wiping glue squeeze off a glue line just like a litle Noxt,spray the backofthesand- outotfaprojectlalwaysseemed snowplow. paper with spray adhesive, and tosmeararound moregiue than John Huntington stickciton the bag, Taetually removed.Butnow, the Wayland, Massachusetts No.81 Woodsmith 56 FEATURE Entertainment Center Doors only have to do two things: open and close hole idea isto open the ntof the TY) and slide them back into the cabinet 0 they’renot eft hanging open. The hardware for the sliding doors consists of a tem, Onepart isaconcealed hinge inthe back ofthe door frame. The other partis a aiding track that’s screwed inside the cabinet. To hang the door, just mount the two parts ‘and snap them togther. The best ping about this har justable in thee directions. Ith perfectly the first time, no problem. You can stil get them to shoulda’ hav ‘ize, The overall size of Pho ype. unless is somewhat large, mostly because i's desiemed to TV e deep in order to accom ‘modate a big hump on the back ofthe TY. Since the compartments for the sterco equipment don't need that much depth, I made the shelves for these compartments shallower than the TV shelf This saves on the amount of plywood needed and ccreatesachamber behind the stereocompartmen!— ‘an ideal place forall the dangling wires. PLxwoon, Building this cabinet requires two ful sheets of 34" cak plywood, phis a sheet of 14" ply wood. Since sh hhandle, [built ig that guides a circular saw for cut ting the plywood pieces to size. also used the same Jig to guide a router to cutthe grooves used tojoin all the plywood pieces together. (Refer to bax. page 9) Woodsmith, there’s a TV behind them. Then it’s nice if they open and slide out of the way. That's why sliding door hardware is essential for this cabinet. No. 81EXPLODED VIEW DIMENSIONS: 5510"W x 491/2"H x 24V4"D MATERIALS & SUPPLIES woop parts SUPPLIES X_ Stereo Door Stes 2) YuxZe-424 * (@)Seir-Cosng Concedied Hinges Y GlossPoneistop: V4x3s-I0'Ggh) * @)PairSicingDoorHorcwore 1. Storage Door Rais()Yx = 1s 1814°x3778" Sheet /a~INcK Goss AASIer. Door Ses Mex Ze 14 © ©) Door Pu (34! bore) 88 Stor Door Panels @) Viply-11iax9¥8 —* @4)SD00r-Svle Sher Supports oh) H TVBock Vaply-SVAX29%% 1 StoreoBock A py-20x4de J Storogetock —uply-31ax 14 K EogngSips 34x 4-25 Gg) LUppertVRat ax Tle 314 ‘Upper Stereo Rol $4 x 192-20 N Lower CoeeRot Sax die 62h ‘OUpperMoming 12x 112-9 on) P LowerMolding — Yex 334% (rgh @Siorage Divider Saply- Iovax 14 SHELVES R Stereo Selves @) Saply-15¥4x 197% § storage shelves). TSH 18a TinrDoorRase Sexaie-11he UNoscrnen Sede. as © | | vivcccmaestn iby invexasie Witocn tom ttn nee No.81 ‘Woodsmith iPLYWOOD CASE ‘The Entertainment Center consists of threemain groupsot parts—the plywood case, adjustable shelves, and doors. The case (and alsothe shelves) are built from two 4x ‘sheets of $¢"-thick plywood (good on two sides). Allthe pieces are held together with ‘tongue and dado joints. Keepingalltheparts straightcanbealitle ‘confusing. So, to get myself organized, I Started by cutting all the pieces to finished ‘Sze. Then Leut the joints CUTTING THE PLYWOOD used a shop-made exige guide lke the one ‘hownin the box.on the opposite page o cut all the pieces from the two sheets of ply- ‘wood, see Fig. 1. (Youcould dlsouse acireu lar saw and a straightedge, or a tabie saw witha rip fence.) ‘THE FIRST SHEET. In order to get all the parts from justtwo sheets of 4" plywood, followed aparticularcutting sequence. Fist, _sromAae DOMDeR piece the finished length (444) ofthe ease top (A). see Figs. Land. Setasidethe short half ofthis piece to be used later forthe ply- ‘wood shelves, see Fig 1 Now rip the long half of the sheet to finished width, producing the case top (A), see Fig. 2. Rip the other piece to finished width G4” narrower), then cutitto finished engi for the case bottom (B). “THE SECOND SHEET, Next, cross-cut the ‘second sheet of plywood to produce apiece 49" long for the case sides (C and D), see Figs. land 2, Get aside the shorter cut-off piece for right now.) Then sip the piece to ‘reduce identically sized pieces forthe let Without changing theposition ofthe table ‘aw fence. rip the remaining plywood piece toproduce two pieces (E,F) the same width as the sides, see Fig. 2. Then cut these two pieces iofinishedlengthto produce the ver- tical divider (E) and the horizontal divider (F), see Fig. 2. Set aside the small piece that's left to be used later for the storage divider, Q,sce Fig. 1.) ‘Shop Note: Ii helps to label all the pi ‘now so you can keep track of them during the joinery and assembly stages. Also, { clearly labeled the “top.” “inside.” and “front” of each piece. This helps orieat the pieces properly when you start cutting the Terosseut one of the sheets to produce a side (C)and right side (D),secFig.2. _jointsinthenext series of steps. 2 JOINERY LAYOUT DIAGRAM 8 No. 81CUTTING THE JOINTS | © | Meese ce mt ae en ct thd ovr nea athens. Each of the six pieces has at leasttwo cuts. waster in wane Aino keep ertientari marlin of each tongue and dado on the plywood before actually cutting the joints, see Figs. 2 Te incl ne TOUT eed 47 are itn sae rouer ot ale dates Bat rer th ye ae he wore ony ter bl, roe my nde Sitges ah tram Sho Vice ace on FONG Nes near sot hed abst athe tongues. Some tongues.are offset (formed by takeg + ito oe egy othe moe piece), see Fig 4. Some tongues are centered Gerocity rar arco monroe rtp Tn chess nace’ on the thickness of the workpiece, sec Fig. 5. ‘op Rat ketal net sa eee Strela ie tated pilot bearing with a larger bearingte routthe cle onews Forces asian sea cee Sopp eben yotngatet soetontsenppicotpynood Tsay ratanneskapon eet rab prices tng tat athedae C Wire cunt ene bum atone Seceecien netted Renstosteta scene env cnthe ens te ete Somotimesitseasieriouseacirvslarsawto ‘cutafull sheet of plywood than itis to balance {48 sheet onthe tabee saw. Ard a shop- made edgeguide makes using acireularsaw more accurate. The best thing about this edge ‘ude fs Chat can be used wo rude ether a ‘Sreuar a ora routers photos ali val ‘The secret lies inthe way the iis buit. |... ,2°°_S It’s made from a base of Masonite that's LYWOOD screwed to a narrow piece of plywood, see drawingsalright. (made tejig4 (long for ‘crosecuting a fill sheet of plywood.) ‘Note: Bystarting with a wide enough base ‘you can make the edge guide fit both your ‘Grcular saw and your router, First cutoff the right edge ofthe base by running the drcular saw slong the right ‘edge of the fence. Then, do the same thing onthe other side of the jig with a straight bit in the router. (Rout from left to right.) |, Touse the jig. just line up the edge of the @ | | vasctsyourinteatedestline and camp the Jigin place. Nowrunthe tool along the fence. No. 81 Woodsmith 9CLEATS, BACKS & EDGING STRIPS Once you've cut the joints an all the ply. ood parts, the case 1 be assembled But first, to check | that the case is uareane! the joints fit well, I dey ax sembled the parts, Note: Keep all the corners flush at the ‘back. This way, the front edge ofthe top (A) ‘should overhang the side panels by 3" When youre satisfied the case its well assemble itwith gue ardelampall the parts together. (We're offering some assembly tipsin the box below, and also on peg 16.) KEEPERCLEATS.Afterthecaseis glued up measure the openings forthe three plywood hacks, see Fig. 6 Then cut four keeper ‘leats (G) foreach ofthe openings to hold the backs in place, see Fig. 6a. Note: The 44" plywood TV back (I) is ‘mounted fushto the outside ofthe case, see Fig, 6a, So nai these cleats 4" in from the back edges. But the stereo back (1) and storage hack (J) are inset 42" see Fig. 6b, ‘BACKS. Now the three "plywood backs GLLD canbecuttofit Butdon'tserew them. tothe cleatsjustyet—youTl need toremove them later tocat openings for wires. | wore stars, Next I turned my atten- | tonto the front ofthecabinet. The first step here is to cover the exposed edges ofthe slywood sides and dividers with hardwood ‘ediging strips (1), see Fig 7. Te do ths, rst rip four strips of ¥4"hick stock to width to match the thickness of the plywood paris, Then cut two strips to finished length to fit the edges ofthe case sides, and giue them in place, see Fig. 7a. Next, cut and glue an edging strip onto the vertical divider, see Fig. 7b. Forthehorizoataldvider sneak uponthe ogth of thestrip until it fts between the left sideand the vertical divider, see Fig 7. 6 get a clamp where (pow want ih Thats Its difficult trying to cross one clamp ‘over another. The what I found when min the out dining the top the ae en fabineocherides. awe aren’ quite Instead ofclamps, Tong enorigh. wed short nals Trscapairorass temporarily pull the that extend beyond lcs together. Sart te workpiece. The the nail at « high jes grab onto the anal, and make Bi td transfer ting eau famenthetcork L 10 i Woodsinith No.81RAILS & MOLDING STRIPS After you've comp- leted attaching the edging strips to the Sides and dividers, the plywood edges remain exposed on the ease top and bot tom, refer to Fig. 7 These edges arent covered with edging strips, but with a molding strip (along the top). and a rail {across the bottom), see Figs. 9 and 1. PPER RAMS. [made the front rails forth cease from ¥¢hick oak. The upper tdvided into two pieces, the upper TV rail (L) on the led, and the upper stereo rail (on the right, see Fig. 8 by eulting both pieces 12" wide,and tolength tfittheir openings. Then glue and clamp them ‘LOWER RAIL. Next, the lower rail (N) is ccut to width and length, see Fig. 8. This covers the exposed plywood edges on the bottom, and keeps the cabinet from sagging. CUTMOLDING. Oncethelowerrilis glued in plac, strips of thick molding ean be addedaround the topand betiomofthe case, ‘see Fig. 8 cut a bevel on the face of each Suripto add adecorative look t the case. Before cutting this bevel, first rip the sectiois of upper molding (O) to hed width, sce Fig. 9. Then do the same forthe lower molding (P), see Fig. 10. ‘Next, cut each scetion of the upper and lower molding to rough length (several inches longer than needed) Now, before mitering the molding strips tofinishedlength the bevelcanbe cut onthe frontedge ofeach stip, see Figs. Qand 10.1 ddthieonthe table saw with the bladetilted 0207, see box at ight ATEACH MOLDING, When all the sections ofmoldinghave been beveled, youcanmiter them to length and glue themin place. ‘Shop Note: There's trick to getting the ‘molding strips tofit around thecabinet with a minimum of gap at the mitered corners, Thetickinvolvesstacting with the front (the longest) strip of molding Firsteutad5" miter ononeendofthe strip. Then measure the case to determine the finished length. Now miter the other end of the strip so the distance from short point to ‘shore-point ofthe mivers equals this length. With the front strip cu the correct length, temporarily clamp it in place while you ‘measure for the sidesrips. These stripe are ‘Srst mitered on the front edge. then cut to length with a” crosocuton the backedge ‘Whenail he molding strips have been cut to fit the cabinet, they can be glued and clampedin lace. Dothisoneatatime,again beginning with the foat stip ‘DOOR STOPS. After the rails and molding sitips have been glued onto the case, door Stope can be cut and attached to the upper rail There's one stop for the TV doors, aad ‘one stop for the stereo door. (The storage A sero-cletrunce insert prevents the nar rove edge ofa workpiece from tipping into the table saw opening. A push stick Keeps your hand away from the spinning blade doors are stopped by the storage divider that's intalled later.) ‘Start witha blank cut to finished widthiand ough length tobe used for both stope. Then Ccuta V"swide rabbet on the lower edge, see Fig. 6. The rabbet stopsthe doors sotheyre inset 14" from the front ofthe cabinet. Aller the stops are eut to size, you can soften their appearance by cutting chamfer ‘on the lower ends of each stop, see Fig, 8a ‘Then glue the stops into place on the back ledge of each upper rail. see Fig. 9 and the loded View on page 7. No.81 WoodsmithWhen the outside of the case is comp. Tetely built, you can use the leftover ply wood to build the parts that go inside. DIVIDER. The first partisadivider (Q) for the storage com partment. The height (ength) iseasy to fig ‘ure —it's the sameas the height ofthecom- partment, see Fig. 11. Butthe depth takes a litle figuring. First measure from the front ‘edge ofthe cleat that holdsthe plywood back hin place, to the front edge of the edging sizip on the horizontal divider, see Fig. 1. ‘Then subtract 1" from this distance (to allow for the edging strip that's attached later). Now, subtract an extra 1” tallow for 14" inset when the 4"-thick doorisclosed, Cutthe divider othis finished width. dnmy case, the dividersare 1644" wide) STORAGE DIVIDER & SHELVES EpoING smus. Before screwing the dividerin place, glue an edging strip tothe {cont to cover the exposed plies. [cut tis File longer than needed, tien tinned ito Jength after itwas ued in place. (For more onthis procedure, see Shop Notes, page 17) ‘Now the divider can be centered in the storage compartment and serewed in lace irom the topand bottom, see Fig. 1 ‘SuELWES. Next, cut four plywood stereo shelves (R)andtwo storage shelves (S)'0 ftin this compartments, ee Fig 12. ‘Note Alla shelves canbe cut from the plywood leftover after cutting the case top and oitom, refer to the Pywood Cutting Diagramon pages. ‘Also note that the shelves are installed with he grain direcionrunting from sideto Side. (hiss the shelf longi) But rst rip the plywoodnto tresequal width pieces, my case 154. (Thisisthe shelf depth) “Then cut the shelves for each compart ment to length so they'te 4" shorter than the compartment is wide, see Fig. 12, Now slucanedgingssripoaihe troutedge ofeach ‘hell see Fig 12 ‘MARKING TEMPLATE. To locate the posi tion ofthe holes for the shelf eupport pins, ‘used a template made from Ys" Masonite, sce Fig, 13.Shop Note: Make the template'o fit the taller (Stereo) opening. Once the holes are drilled on that sie, cut the tem Hate shorter forthe storage compartment ‘To make a template, first cut a piece of Masonite to a width of 6, see Fig. 13. Then ‘cut the template to len 0 inside the Stereo opening: Now, il a series of Ue" holes the fall eng of the template ‘Note: Postion the holes 212" from the backedge ofthetemplate,seeFig. 13. Then, always keep this edge fo the rear when marking heholes.Thispositions thepnsan ‘equal distance from the front and back of ‘ach seit whenthey/re finaly installed. OPENINGS FOR WIRE: 1Dne of the best parts ofthis Entertainment Conteris the “wire management” area be- hind the stereo compartment. Ithidesallthe ‘wires that look ike spaghetti coming out of theback of the electronic components, “Togetto the components, you haveto cut ‘arrow slots in the plywood back, see Fig. 1A. But first, position the shelves in the stereo compartmentto fit your components. STEREO OPEXINGS. Mark the postion of. all the slots from inside the stereo compart ‘ment. Idid this by rst drilingasmall starter hole to indicate the corners of each slot ‘Then [removed the plywood back and used sabre sawto complete the slot openings. ‘TWOFENING. Ifthe television youTlbe plac- ingzin the cabinets too deep from a "hump" ‘on the back, cut an opening in the TV back tozceommedate the hump, see Fig. “Then screw all the backsin place. 2‘The most challeng: ing part about this project is building thedoors. The doors are inset ¥4" from the front edge ofthe cabinet, with an equal is") space around each door. Rather than build the doors to allow for thea" space, | thinkit'seasiertobuildthem to ghtly inside the cabinet. Then create the 3e" space all around by trimming the doors after they're assembled. ‘RAILS AND STILES, Firat cut two rails (T, W, 2) and two stiles (U, X, AA) for cach door frame. Rip these to a uniform width (25x!) from 4sthick tock, see Fig. 15. “Then cutallthe sles tofinished length so they fit the height of each door opening ex: actly, see Fig. 15. Next, set the stiles in the cabinet and catthe rails (oft between them, adding ¥2" oallow for ¥4'Jong tongues on theends ofeach ral see Fig. 16. ‘GROVES. All the doors have a panel that fits in a groove centered on the inside edge ofthe frame, see Fig-46-On the stereo door this is a 4"thickppiece of smoked glass. On the other doorsit'sapiece of 4"plywood. Tused the table saw tocutthe groeve fora smug fit with the Va" plywood. ‘Shop Note: The plywood I used for door panels had a lower grade back — not too attractive whea the doors are open. So T covered the inside ofeach door panel with a ‘matching (oak) veneer before assembly I you use veneer, cut the grooves to ft the plywood plus the thickness ofthe veneer. ‘TONGUES. When the grooves have been cutin the frame pieces foal five doors, cut Vée-dong tongues on the ends ofthe rails to fitin the grooves on the stiles, sce Fig. 16. ROUND-OVERS. Before assembling the ‘doors, I routed a 44" roundover on the in- side edge ofeach rail and stile, see Fig. 16. (The oudsidle edges are rounded over after the doors are cut ofthe openings.) “To highlight the joint between the stiles and ral Tleo rounded over the shoulder near the ends ofthe ral, see Fig. 16.9 do this, first remove the pilot bearing from the roundver bit, see Routing Tipat right. PANELS. Now the frames can be dry as sembled (to check that they're square and the joints fit wel). Then measure for the panels (V, BB)thetitinside the frames. To do this, ada 34" tothe inside dimensions of the frames. This allows for two "deep srooves, with a ie" gapall around to make sssembiing the doors easier. Finally, the doors can be assembled with the plywood panels glued inside the frames, ‘CUTTO FT Now 4 can be trimmed off the outside edge of each door to create 2 tuniform space. Note: To create ¥@" space between double doors, trimmed Yi of themating Gnsie) stles Thesiighty difer cent width stiles won'tbe noticeable. The pilot bearing on a rownd-over bit ean sometimes get in the way. On a woorkpioce witha tongue, the bearing prevents the cut- tere from reaching the workpiece. And the bearing can slip into a groove on an edge. ‘Sofirat Iremovethe boaring, then rn the ‘workplece along an auxiliary rower table fence — it acts just like a bearing, INSTALL THE GLASS. Before installing the alas pane! inthe stereo door, [frst routed ‘a rabbet around the back inside edge ofthe frame, To do this, l used a 14" rabbeting bit agjusted to cut just deep enough to remove the inside ip ofthe groove, see Fig. 17 Linstalled thewass with Stops glued inthe rabbets behind the glass. The glase stops (are piecesof ¥4"thick hardwood cuttoa ‘width of 32", see Fig. 178, {15 Woodsmith 3ae | SPECTALTY HARD WARE Concealed Hinges ost dificult part ‘ofmounting doorsinacab- inet? I think i's geting the hinges positioned correctly. If you're a Title off, the door wil ft crooked in the opening. If you're a long ways ‘off, the door may not close at all. The beauty of the concealed hinges Iused onthe Entertainment Center on page Bis how easy they areto mountand adjust. Its simply ‘ematter of drilingholes and screw ing the hinges in place. There ‘aren’ tany mortises 1 chop out ADIUSTARLE. But the Best part ‘comesafer te doorsaremountey ‘The hinges are adjustable — tree directions. By turning three serews, the door can be shifted Vs" out or in, left oF right, up or down, So if you're 2 litle off at first, you can leave the hinges in place and ‘make up for it with the adjusting screws. SWINGING DOOR Aconcealed hinge consists of wo parts The actualhinge attachestothe door with asmall ‘cup on one end that fits into « 134"dia. (oF ‘35mm hole in the door stile, see Fig. 1. At the otherend, an armextends outand Slides into a mounting plate attached to the cabi- net, See photo a right. For the door to hang properly, the only ticks togetboth parts ofthe hinge to align when the door is placed in the opening, ‘There’san easy way to do this. DOOR FRAME LOCATION. Begin with the oor halfof the hinge. First, drill a 19-dia, hale on the door stile, see Fig. 1. Keep the centers ofthe holes the same distance from the ends of the door stile Gn my case, 2") into hole drilled in the door. Then a sepa ‘ate mounting plate ison the cabinet. Also, keep the ealge of the holes the same ‘stance from the edge ofthe stile (2. ‘Then press a hinge cup ito the hole and use if as 2 template to mark the location of ‘theswo mounting screws. After the holesare drilled, screw the hinges to the door frame. ‘eaBINET LocanON. The mounting plate ‘onthe other end of the hinge is aitached to ‘the cabinet with three screws. To drill the screwholee, Imada template that positions the holes so the center of he mounting plate aligns with the center ofthe hinge cup, see Fig.2. Drill the hole pattern (shown in Fig. 2a), and adda cleat on the front edge to position the template on the frontofthe cabinet. Whea the wopartsare mounted to the door and cabinet, the doors simple. All you have to dois aide the hinge (on the door) nto the plate Gn the cabined) ‘Thentightena seen. OTHER FEATURES. Another fea- turellike about thesehingesisthat they fitcompletely inside the cab ret 80 you can't see he hardware {fam the outside. This works expe cially well on cabinets with no face ffames, or modem ichen cabinets. Bothtypes ofhingest used have aseléclosing feature Voujust pivot the door about halfway then let 0 =the door will close itself the rest ofthe way. SOURCES. The hinges shown here. are available ffom a number of sources, see page 31 Detaied instructions for mounting thetardwareare usually include This concealed hinge has tco parts. The “cupped” part fitsinahole’n thedloor. Then ‘a mounting plate is screwed tthe cabinet. 1 4 Woodsmith No.81‘The hardware for a hinged sliding door is installed in almost the same way as the winging door hiage explained on the op- posite page. But, tallow ttosiideinsidethe ‘cabinet, the mounting plate is attached sliding roller mechanism. The roller uit (which acts much ike atypicaldrawer slide) is then attached inside the cabinet. The door is installed with two sliding rollermechanisms, oneal the topofthedoor and one parallel to it atthe bottom. Also, to keep the door siding smoothly nto the ea inet, the upper and lower slides are coa- nected by a wood follower strip, see Fig. 4 ‘FEATURES Sliding hinges ae used when, you want to get an open door out ofthe way. Inthe Entertainment Center, the doors are attached so they slide in beside a TV. Buta door mounted with this hardware can also ‘be attached so the door fips up and slides ‘over the TV. Either way, the hardware isin ‘Stalled the same. INSTALL HINGE CUP. To mount the hari ware, begin the same as for the swinging door, see Fig. 3 Locate the holes for each cup an equal distance from the end of the alile and an equal disgace from the outside edge. This distance determines the gap be- HINGED SLIDING DOOR ‘ween the door frameand the cabinet. ATTACH SLIDES. After the hinge cups are instaled, temporarily push the mounting plates (vith roller slides attached) onto the arms that extend from the hinge, see Fig. 4 Now cuta follower strip tote the upper and Tower slides together, and screw it to the ‘mounting plates with woodscrews. INSTAL SLIDES. Now the roller sides can bbe mounted inside the cabinet. But first re- move the side assembly from the door. ‘To keep the roller sides aligned with the hinge cups on the door, they must be post tioned properly inthe cabinet. To make this easier, T use a spacer strip to temporary hold the slidesin pace whileserewing them tothecabines, see Fig. 5. GUIDE ROLLER. To keep the door sliding: smoothly into the cabinet, a guide roller is screwed to the front eeige of the cabinet shelf, see Fig. 6 As the door is opened, it pivots around this roler. Then, as the door slidesinside, the roller keeps the door from slapping against the’ TV. Now the hinges can be reattached tothe ‘mounting plates, see Fig.7. When the hard. ware is together, final adjustments can be made to postion the door in the opening. eS ‘The sliding hinge has the same basic parts 48 the swinging hinge. In addition, it has a ‘guide roller and sliding mechanism, DOORSTor. The firstadjusiment Imake is to limit the distance the door can travel into the cabinet. A small block glued to the cabi- net shelf will siop the door from sliding ‘completeiyinto the opening, see Fig. 5. This prevents the door pulls irom banging into the font edge ofthe cabinet, Finally adjustthedoorforan equalgap all around. These adjustments are made by tuming the serews ia the twohinge parts. Woodsmith 6SOME TIPS FROM OUR SHOP Shop Notes SQUARING UP A CABINET Wi The challenge to fitting inset square — especially tthe front doors (euch ason the Entertain- where the doors will ft. To do ment Center on page 6) istocre- this I use a pair of ¥ahick ‘tes uniform gap between the sticks that force the opening ‘oorandthe opening Wthedoor Square and keep it that Way or cabinet is even a little out of during assembly, see Fig. 1. Saware, any gap between the DIAGONALSTICKS.Thetrckis door and the cabinet wort keto cat sticks the szact same consistent llareund length so they wedge in place TIATSURTACE Agoodplaceto when he openings square. ‘start squaring up the cabinet is Start with one stick that’s a tofind a flat surface for ax litle loner than the dagoral sembly."The Entertainment length of the opening.‘Then ft Center is so bigit probably has one end of the stick into one tobeaesembledon thedocr, corner, and draw a mark show. ShopTip:Sincethe oor ofmy ing where to ea the sick to shop sat perfectly at, Luse an info the opposite corner. ‘ld solid core door as an as Now set the Sick across the ‘sembly platform her dingonaland mark gin. DRY ASSENBLY. First dry a Cut the sick (o the longest see equalamountoffeach stick until semble the case to check that marked length, then cut a sec Fig. 1 Ifthe opening is out of they both itthe opening, the cabinet is square and the _ondstickthe same length. square, both sticks won't fit ‘Once both sticks it perfectly, joints fttogether well Theprob- Once the sticks are cut to In thissitation, rack the cab use them to keep the cabinet lem isto keep the door opening length, try to wedge them in inet into square. then trim an squareduring ghueup. ROUTING RECESSES FOR SHELF PINS Ml used sheif pins to mountthe template so that the recesses pencil marks, see Fig. 1a I cut shelves in the Entertainment align with the holes for the pins the notches 4" wide to accept a Center (see page 6). I's easy to in thesides ofthecabinet. 54 guide bushing forthe router. slide the shelves in on topofthe The templatein this case was ROUTING NOTCHES. Now the pins, butitcanbe a problem gets piece of 4" Masonite. [held recesses can be routed in the ting the front edges of all the the template in the cabinet. shelves. First, clamp the tem shelves aligned, and keeping making sure the back edge was plate onto the chelf, with the them that way. butted against the back cleat. back edges fush, see Fig.2. To“lock” the shelvesin place, Then T transferred the location Mount a guide bushingin I routed a shallow recess onthe ofthe holes in the cabinet tothe therouter base anda 2" straight bottom of cach shelf to St over template, see Fig. 1 bitin the router. Then rout « the pins, see photo at right. Now, cnt anotch in the tem recess ¥é! deep for the shelf pins, seeFig. 2a TEMPLATE. Theideaisiousea plate centeredon ach ofthetwoNormally, seting yp arouter glued to thin base, se Fig. 1. table forcutiingaspline mortise Cutthebracketfromapieceot isa straightforward process. scrapthat’s thick enough to sup ‘The depth of the mortise is de- port the workpiece. Because 2 terminedby heheightofthebit, rabbetiscuton thelong edgeof and its length is controlled by the bracket, the bracket must be Iwosipblocson tie fence icer tan the woke, ee But, routing mortises on the Fig.l. (Since the workpieces for ends of mitered pieces (as the Stalonery Boxare "thick needed for the Stationery Box, I used 44"thick scrap for the page 16) can present problems. bracket. This allowed for a ¥2' First, you have to support the wide rabbet anda V'-ide lipto piece at the same angie as the support the workpiece) miter, Theayouhavetocontend SETTING UP. To set up the with thelargehole Gorthe bi in router table for the jig, first the router table because the mount a4" straight bitfor 3s" point on the miter ¢an easily deep cut, see Fig. 2 (Be sure to ‘caichin the hole. = 5 include the thickness of thejig's HOLDING GT bulla jg to base when setting the depth) help with this cut. Tue ig con Next, adjust the router table sists of a 45° support bracket fence so the mortise iscentered ‘on the thickness of the workpiece. ‘Shop Tip: Ancasy way to do this is to rout a groove in a test piece the same thickness as your workpiece. After making one pass, turn the piece end for end and make another pass. If the second cut isn't centered, adjust the fence and ‘ty again witha fresh piece. ‘STOP BLOCKS. To establish where the ends of the mortise shouldstartandsiop,ciampstop blocks to the fence, see Fig. 3. ‘Tocheck he placement of the stop blocks, I use a test piece that’s mitered on one end. Clamp the tet piece securely to the jig. Then, place the jig ‘against the right stop block and pivot it down to plunge the ‘workpiece onto the router bit, see Fig. 4. To rout the mortise, pach the jig toward the lft stop block, thea back toward the Fight stop block. 'ROUDNG. Once you're sat- isfied with the setup, follow the ‘same procedure used on the test piecestoroutthemortisesin the fends of your workpieces. 1) A good way to hide the ex the shell After i's glued on, 1 posed edge ofapieceofplywood trim the ends of the strip flush is to glue on an edging strip with theendsof the shel madeofhardveod. (Tha’swhat However, the ends ofthe strip Ididontheshelvesiorthe Enter. arein the way ifyou try totrim it tainment Center, page 6) But on the table saw, see Fig. Sol Sometimes, when you Begin to _usenspacetoprovideasurfice apply clamping pressure to the torun the shelf Soigeeto ee nee heist end a he ede ofthe plywood. ing strip is trimmed off, ae her lg othe Smale bron: Thon, Sitbont edging strip to the exact length moving the fence or the spacer, and fight this slippage, Icut the trim off the opposite end in the strip a litle long and glue iton same manner. No. 81 WoodsmithWEEKEND PROTECT Stationery Box The hand-cut dovetails catch the eye. But the unseen jomery — the splined-miter joints and the double tongue and groove joints — make this Stationery Box interesting and unique. his Stationery Box is joined using two classic soodworking joints — miters and hand-cut dovetails. But there's more. The miters on the lid are strengthened with hidden splines, And the frame holds araised panel in place witha unique double tongue and groove joint. PANEL Along with the joinery, the panel in the Hid offers some interesting design possibilites. Since the panel isexposedon bath sides its grainean enhance the look ofthe inside ofthe box, as well as the outside. To take advantage of thi forthe box shown here (and on page 32), Tedgegued two pieces of cherry with highly- figured grain. But the panel would also look goood with aninlay, orperhaps with some carving, HOW IT GOES TOGETHER. The Stationery Box has three parts: the base, the box sides, and thelid. ach part sade separately, then attached tothe others. ‘The lid and the base are a lot like mitered picture frames, with wood panelsinplace ofthe pictare. The bax sides ae joined with hand-cut dovetails, and then glued tothe base. (Formore on hand-cutting dovetails, see the article on page 24) Finally, theid is attached tothe box with small brass hinges and a neat lite id support that’s mortised into thebox side. WOOD AND FINISH. lused cherry and walnut to make the Stationery Box, and finished it with General Fin Ishes'twostep oil and urethane finish, Woodsmith No.81EXPLODED VIEW ‘OVERALL DIMENSIONS: TI"W x 330"H x T3"L ‘MATERIALS LIST “BASE | 8 Base Fe, [BQ Yex34-13 B BoseSides@ © Y2x34-11 € Bose Pane Vaply- 10laxi2¥4 BOX D BoxFiont/Bock( Vax I74-12!2 E BoxSides(2) VaxVa-10i2 up F Frame fe/Bk @) Vax 14-10% G FromeSides@) 9x 114-10 H Ud Pons! VaxBha-10%4 CUTTING DIAGRAM eEre rd ETA = a at 26°16 50.01) ae 7m Pee aa € Yat gr 265 $0.7) ae ae = a 526° 50. BASE 1 started work on the Stationery Box by buildingthe hase. Thehaseconsistsafa V4’ plywoodpanelina mitered trae. Tobe sure the panel ft snugly in the frame, I made the frame firs, and then cutthe panel oft. ‘CUTPIECES. Tomakeiteasierto work with the pieces, I began by rough-cutting: the front, back (A) and sides (B) to 114" wide anda litte longer than needed, see Fig. 1 ‘CUTTING THE GROOVE. Next, cuta groove along the inside edge ofeach nleceto accept the ¥4" panel But you don'teuta Vi" groove. Instead, cutitthethicknessofthe saw blade, “Thisway itftsa tongue cuton the edge of the panel, and holds the panel flush with the top of the frame, referto Fig. 8b. Locating the groove on the frame pieces is tricky, because 1’ hardwood plywood is rarely Vitthick— its usvallyless So Tused ‘the plywood itself t help positon the rip fence tocutthe groove, see Fig, ‘CHAMFER THE EDGE, Next, rout a 44" ‘chamfer onthetop outside edge ofthe frame ‘leces using the router table, see Fig.3. Finally, miter the frame picces to finished length, see Fig 1 No.81BASE continue With the pieces mitered to lashed length, thenext step isto create the look of fet on the comers of the assembled box, refer to Fig. &.To do this, T cut out an area on the bottom edge ofthe base pieces. scurouts.* To make the “eat outs” Grst Grillaboleateachend ofthecatoatlocation. [wanted to be sure that the holes were pos- tioned uniformly on allthe pieces sol setup ‘afence and stop block om my drill press, se Fig 4. To do this, mount a $4’ bit in the ‘chuck. Then positon the fence" from the ‘centerpoint ofthe Bit Next, clamp a stop Docktn defence 2 romthecenterofthe it. see Fig. 4a. Now, with the top edge ofthe workpiece against the fence, bore a hole at one end of, the cutout. Then fip the piece end for end, and ontothe opposite face. And, with the top edge of the workpiece against the fence, bore the other hole. Shop Note: To prevent chipout when boring, usea backing boardunderthe work piece, see Fig. ta. ‘After boring the holes, sip the pieces to final width (4 on the table saw, see Fig 5. ‘Then, to complete the cutout, draw a line connecting the tope of the holes, and cut along thatline with a band saw or sabresaw tozemove the waste, cee Fig. 6. BASE PANEL ‘With the base pieces finished, the next step is to cut a plywood panel to it inside the mitered pieces, ‘curto suzz. The tickis todetermine the ‘ezact size of the panel. To do this, measure ‘the length ofthe grooves inthe base pieces, ‘see Fig.7. Where do you measure to? Since Uhe ends ofthe pieces are mitered, the bot- tom of the groove is longer (by about Vi") than the groove ison the inside face of the base pieces, sce Fig: 78. So cut the panel to this longer length. Mine is 10¥4" wide and 1244"Iong. ‘Rasmer. With the panel cut 10 finished ‘size, youcan rabbet the topedgeto create a tongue that fits into the groove in the base pieces, see Fig. 8. ‘Shop Tip: used a serap piece ofthe same plywood when setting up the router table. ‘Sneak up on the depth until the tongue just fits the groave. see Fig. a. Ger. After the panel is rabbeted, you're ready to assemble and glueup the ‘base. Dry fit the pieces firs to be sure of a snug ft all around, Then apply glue in the ‘grooves and tothe mitered surfacesand as- semble the pieces. 7 20SIDES Once the base was finished, Ihegan workeon the thi ‘Shop Note: I'you had to doson togetthemiters onthe basepiecestight, the Tena of the pieces may be shorter than the dimensionsin te drawing. So, tobe sure the comers ofthe assemnbled sides line up with the mitered corners on the base, use your assembled base to determine the length of the box sides. To do this, measure the length and wid of your assembled base. Then subtract from these dimensions to get the length of the box sides and the iront and back piece Now, cutthe front, back pieces (D) and ‘two side pieces (E) to ina size, see Fig. LAYOUT. After cutting the sides to length, ‘check thatthe stock ssquareand thati¢'sall exactly the same thickness. Then the ‘dovetails can be lad out on the ends ofall four picces. (Formore onlaying out and cut ting dovetails, see the article on page 24.) Start by marking the thickness of each Piece (the baseline) near the ends ofall the pieces. Next, ay out and cut the pins on the nds of the front and tek pieces (D), see Fig. 9a. After cutting the pins, you're ready to ly out the tails on the ends ofthe sides ). To get a tightfiting joint, T use the finished pins asatemplateto lay outthe tails, rather than the dimensionsin the drawing. HINGE MORTSE. After the work of hand ‘cuting the dovetails, you'l probably wantto ‘get right to assembly. But there are three ‘cuts that are easier to make before the box isassembled:two hinge mortises on the top ofthe back piece, and a finger relief on the Outside ofthe frontpiece, referto Fig. 12 “Tocatthemorises or dae hinges, first lay outthepositionand depth ofthe mortises on the top edge of the back piece, see Fig. 10 The depth of the mortise should equal the thickness ofthe knuckle on the hinge. Then nibble out the waste with repeated passes over the table saw blade. Or, cut the Sides of the mortises with a hand saw and remove the waste witha chisel Note: Use a hinge to check the width and depth of the ‘mortises 28 you work, see Fig. 10. FINGERREUEF, To routthe finger reliefin thetopoutside edge ofthe frontpiece, used a4" cove bit mounted inthe router table ‘see Fig. 11a Haid out the size ofthe cove on the workpiece, and then used those lines to help position stop blocks on the router table With the top of the piece down on the table, plunge the ontride face against the router bit and fence, see Fig. 11a. Then, to establish thecave, movetheworkpiece hack and forth over the bit and between the stop blockson each end GLLING-UP. There ae two gluing steps at thie point the first is gluing the box sides together; the second is gluing the as- sembled box sidesto the base. ‘To star, apply a small amount of glue to These litle dovetail clamping bi pressure just where it's neaded — only on the (ails. Toimakethem,cutthe feet oftheblocks slightly narrower than the width ofeach tail the inside faces ofthe dovetail joints. Then assemble the box, making sure thejointsare tight, (See the box above for a tip on clamp- ing dovetails) Finally, check for square by placing atry square into the corners GLUE BOX 70 BASE. When the give in the dovetails has dried, youcan glue the boxto the base, Todo this, apply ghie to the bottom edges ofthe box. Then center the boxsides ‘onthe base and press the sides down finaly Clampthesides tothe base tocloseany gaps along the glue ine, see Fig. 12 9 NOTE: Au ruces ant trmece 10» 10After the sides and the base are gluedup, you ean start work on the id. The lid is a frame and panel assembly like the base. But there's an important difference. The lid pane! is Solid stock (not plywood), and re- quires some special design considerations. (Gee explanation on the opposite pare.) ‘RUE. Begin work on the lid by cutting the frame front, back (F) andsides (G)to finished width and thickness. Then miler the pieces to length, see Fig. 13. Nex, to form an edge prof, frst round ‘over the top outside edge using a3¢*round- ‘overbit, seeFig. 14. Then,routa ¥' chamfer ‘on the outside bottom edges, ve Fig. 15, SPLINED MITERS. To strengthen the nitered comers ofthe frame, added splines to each of the pints, see Fig. 3a. Since the frame pieces are small, | built a jig to cut :iortises for the spineson the router table. Formore on thisjig, see page 17. ‘PANEI. Now work can begin on the panel Gi Saaty eeinrersaureenietbak rihick stock (roughly 10" x 12°). | used cherry with ahighly-igured grain pattern. ‘To determine the finished dimensions for the panel, measure the opening in the dry- assembled frame, see Fig. 16. Then add 12" tothe length and the width (to ftagroovein the frame). Now cut the panel to size. ‘Newt, rout a ¥#" chamfer around the top ‘edge of the panel, referto Fig. 16a. DOUBLE GROOVE JOINT. [used 3 double ‘groove joint tohold the pane in the frame. ‘Thisjointallowsitioexpand and shrinkwith ‘change in humidity, see Fig. 16a. For more ‘on this joint, se the opposite page. FINISILING-UP. Once alle pieces are cut and shaped, you can glueup thelid. Finally, sal the hinges, see Fig. 16a. Position the hinges on the Ed so thelid overlaps the box Sides evenly (about Yall around) OPTIONAL LID SUPPORT edge of one side of the box, cee draw- ings alright feutthe mortise by drilling a series of holes on the drill press. And then and straightened the edges ofthe mortise with a chisel. Eventhough the StatoneryBor hinged on the end of a M4’ doesat require a lid support. | diameter pin that fits into hole uusedancatlitilebress supportto in the lid. hol held open.see phoio. ments for mounting are in- support Gis in a ¥'-wide chuded wilh the lid support, see 2ikMong mortise on the top page) ‘Woodsmith No. 81| DOUBLE GROOVE FRAME & PANEL JOINT Because the edges ofthe panelare exposed, Losed a solid wood panel in the lid of the Stationery Box. This meant the panel had to bbejcined tothe id frame inaway that would allow the paneito expand andcontractinside the frame with changes in humidiy. | The joint I used is an interlocking double groove joint I's mad both the frame and t are posi ‘opposing grooves, se By cutting this the panel wi ped toleave tongues thatfitin the frame when the partsareassembled. le by cutting grooves in the panel. The grooves: "photo at right int near the top of the il stand proud of the | To make a double groove joint, start with the frame pieces Inthisecampla the icknoss0fthe tongue and the widshof | the groove arethe sarte thickness as the saw blade (¥s"). So set the | ripfonecone bade's width (Y4) from the inside ofthe blade Nene cu grove in atest piece. Then ut the at pias in half, turn over one of the pisces, and try the joint. Ifthe ngrues aretoo thick to fit inthe grooves, move the fence closer to blade, 1ftho iti too loose, move the fence away from the blade, ‘WOOD EIPANGS ACROSS Tar RAINE Q Mie nextstapiniocctth depth ofthe blade and then eat the groove in the frame pieces. The tongue should fit in the _groovewith roomto expand. Inthisezample, the bladeiasetto cut | 4s" deen. Note: The top face ofthe frame is against the fence. ‘A tolid wood panel will expand and contract across the {grain with changes in humidity. Soa panel should be sized slightly emaller then the distance hebween the groovee in the frame. Here the panel can expand Vs" (/48"0n each side), ‘Nox, cut the groneein the edges ofthe panel usingthesame tet-upas youdid withthe frame pioces. Only thiatime,place 5 the botiom face ofthe panel agaénst the fence. Tkis way, the panel will stand proud of the frame when assembled. No. 81 Woo With the grooves cut ix all the pieces, the frame and panet ean be assembled. Todo this, apply glue tothe mitered endle ofthe frame, but not inthe grooves. To keep the panel in place, put acouplenfdotsafaluconlyncarthecenterofeachend ofthe pan idernith, aWOODWORKING -TECHNIQUE Hand-Cut Dovetails De; ails exhibit two ‘qualities not often found together, strength and beauty That's probably why they are ‘mong the most admired joints in woodworking The shape ofthe ointis alas example of form following function, They werent originally intended to be pretty. The shape is bom of function, namely to hold the picees together. Dovetails date back quite a ways. There are examples of dovetails on the woovlen coins of Egyptian pharohs, several thousand years B.C. Since the sue in those days was not very Strong, dovetails provided the mechanical stengah to hold the sides ofthe coffins togeter Itsonly recently thatdovetils wereincor- porated into the design of project for deco- ation (and to show off craftsmanship) With medem glues, a dovetail isa strong slue joint because there's alot of surface luc, Atypical éovetal joint has more than Alouble the surface ofthe same size butt or miter joint MECHANICAL STRENGTH. But the real value of a dovetail joiat is its mechanical Strength I'stays together because the sides ofthe pins and tails are cut at opposing ales, see Fig. 1. These angled sides act ike ‘wedges — opposing wedines — that inter- lock. In practice, this means that the jeint is strong because it can only be opened one direction — the opposite of the way i was puittogetner there were no “wedges,” the pint would rely on give alone for strength. What you'd lave'isa box joint tha could stip apart easily ifthe glue filed, see Fig.2. PINS AND TAILS. The interlocking nature ‘of a dovetal joint is created by cutting tails ‘on one piece and pins on the other, refer to Fig. 1. But which are the pins and whieh are the tails? The best way to answer that is to Took at a dovetail joint that’s separated, see the drawing below. When viewed irom the face ofeach board, the tails look like doves’ tails. And the pins look ike wedge-shaped fingers ‘sTRESs. The combination of these two produce a joint dhat can only be opened in one diree- tion, see Fig. 1. This makes it ‘ideal for applications that take a Jot of abuse dike the front of a drawer), or have to supportalot of weight (like the bottom of a cabinel), see Fi So how do you determine where to put the pins and the tails? There's an easy rule. Find the sides that will be under siress when the box is in use, and cut the pins on those sides. For example, the pins are cut ‘onthe front ofa drawer becaus thedrawer, front piece, see Fig. 3 The joint can't be pulledapartin that direction, even fthewive ‘were to fil Another example would beahanging cab- inet with the weight ofthe contents resting. ‘00 the bottom of the cabinet, sce Fig. 3 If pins are cut on the bottom, the tails will ‘wedge in place against the pins and hold the otto on tight JUST FOR LOOKS Aside from the practical consideration of ‘mechanical strength, there’s one other sit- uationin which dovetails are used —fordec- ‘oration. For example, used dovetaiison the Stationery Box on page 18. In this case, the ‘Sides won't be stressed in normal use. So where you putthe pins andtails depends on hhow you want the box to look — with the Joints serving mostly as decoration. ‘Tpe angled vide ofthe pins and tails inter: lack to create a very strong joint that con only be disaaeembled in ome direction. Unlike « dovetail joint, box joints have little mechanical strength. So boz joints rely on glue for mach of their strength Pins aroclways placed whera the strees ie ‘greatest, suchas onadrawerfrontoranthe Yottom end of ahanging cabinet. 4 Woodsmith No. 81GETTING STARTED Laying out and cutting dovetails by hand doesn requireaay special orunteualtoas, To lay out the dovetails, you need only a ‘sharp pencil, aruler, a square, and a bevel gauge. (Or, youcanmakea simple gauge out of scrap, sce page 28) “To cut dovetails you need only a small backsaw or dovetail saw. I like to use a Je- panese hacksaw, called s daa, The ston the teeth is very narrow which makes starting acutinend grain easy. But any sw with narrow setteth will do, Talso use a coping saw and a sharp chisel {o clean out the waste between the pins.and thetailsThisiallahoninthe stepby-tep amici onthe next couple of pages) STOCK PREPARATION ‘The fist step in preparing to cut dovetails is tocut the sides ofthe box tofinished length. What we're showing here are through dovetails, which means the pins and tails 20 all the way through the adjoining pieces. Inthiscase.allthe pieces arecuttothe fill length or widthof te fnished project. Dont subiractthethicknessofthe adjoining piece, as you would wit a butjcint, for example. SQUAREUP stock When making dovetails ifs important to squareup the stock. This sounds pretty obvious, bt ifthe endsaren' exactly square tothe edges and sides, you will have slot of trouble tying to etthe joints tft. ‘Another thing ocheck foristhe thickness of the stock. Each piece should be com sistenty thick from end to end, and from edge to edge. This may seem obvious, to. Butslight differences in thickness will drive youecrazy wheniteorestimeto ft the joints “ORIENTATION. I star. by arranging al the piecesonthe bench a they willappearin the final project. Setup the pieces on edge with theadppining corners together, se Fig. 4 ‘Then mark the top edge and the outside face ofeach piece. Finally, label each corner with aletter, Larour Now you're ready 10 start laying out the pins and tals. 'PIN/TANL RATIO. I think dovetail joints look best ifthe tails are larger than the pins. So asa general rule, Tusea ratioofat Teast 1 For example, if, thenarrowest part of the pin (2s viewed from the out face) is 4 then the tail should be 1" wide at its widest Doin, see Fig 5, (This is for evenly-spaced dovetails. More on unevenly-spaced ‘dovetails later.) NALE-TINs.Dovetailoints are sid outwith ‘ahalt-pinon the tp and bottam (or ends) of the joint, and one or more full pins and tails inbetween Tepin with the halfpins on the ends. Doa't be misled by their name, They're called halipins because they're angled on only one side, not because theyre half the ‘width ofthe fll ins, Make them the same width asthe fall pins. Thisis for appearance to some exient, but also to avoid spliting ‘whe the int isasserbled. FULLPINS Neat. ay out the lines that will indicate the centers ofthe fill ins, see Fig. 6 Keep inmindthe !4rato.Itrarelyeomes ‘oat even sol do a ite adjusting (asualy to the width ofthe tal) unt it works outand looks tice “The centerines only indicate the postion ‘ofthe pins, Net, draw ines on both sides of thecenterineto indicate the ulwidthof te pins, see Fg. 7, There fs one practical con- sideration here. The widthofthe pias should Iksnice tomake the pis very narrow (espe- cially if you want to show of alle). But when you cut thetails. they are separated by cxacly the width of the pins. (This is the Waste reaberween the tals) Itthat widths smaller than your chisel, it’s very dificultto chepitout.lusually makethe pins i" wide, rust a smidgen wider. ‘VARIATIONS. In most cases, dovetails are laid out uiformly, all the tll are one size, all the pins are another, se Fig. 5. But one the advantages of hand-cutting dovetails is that you can vary the width to create de- signs that won't look like they were int crementally eat withamachine. ‘One of my favorite variations isto lay out the tails in the center wider than the tails near the edges. see Fig. 8 It's strong, but docsa'tlookmachine eut. 1AY OUT. One las tip for laying out the joints — use a very sharp pencil. The difer nce between 2 joint tha its well nd one that needs a lot of putty as filer isles than the width ofa pencil lin. Try to draw crip lines that youcan see easily as youcut. For more on how tolay out the joints, see not be narrower than your narrowest chisel. the step-by-step artcleson the next pages.