Chimney Cupboard » Hall Mirror * Garden Seat * Mortise & Tenon A aMenage: Nasa + Sale Sta: Pat Lowry, Jerome Here, Wendell Stone, Jim Barnet, Katy Sith Ten Johnson Ofer “Manager Vik Edward Fern peat e Boe Se Scone Genome anaemia east a atom malate 0) (OO) ROTI SAWDUST tors, first suggested we build a “chimney cupboard” I have to confess, that didnt have the sightestidea what he was talking about. But after he showed mea photograph and acouple ofsketches,itwas easy to see how this, ‘ype of cabinet got its name. A chimney cupboard is tall and narrow, just like the brick chimneys found in many older homes. (in fact, ‘cupboards like these were often built. tofit right next to the chimneys to put the tall, narrave space to good use.) Wel, that’s a neat bit of trivia But let's face it, Most of us don’t have exposed chimneys anymore. So I was a Dit worried that this project might not be practical in a home today. VERSAMLE DESIGN. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how versatile a piece of furniture ike this can be. It can be used in a kitchen, a bathroom, or a bedroom — ‘any place where you want storage without sacrificing much floor space, Besides providing plenty of storage, this project also packs in alot of traditional woodworking. It fea tures solidwood construction, frame and panel doors, and mortise and tenon joinery. And to make our cup- board even more versatile, we “bu ina couple ofnonraditional options. TWO-PIEE CONSTRUCTION. Typically, a chimney cupboard would have been built as a singe unit with long solid: ‘wood panels for the sides. Here, we ‘Woodsmith took a diferent approach, We made our cupboard in two pieces: a lower ‘cupboard and an upper one. ‘This twopiece construction has several advantages. First, you don't have to worry about giving up flat panels that are sixand-a-half fect long. Second, if the cupboard needs to be moved, you can fake the two pieces apart and move them separately. ‘But what [like best about this two- piece design is that you don't have to build both pieces. You ean make just the lower art of the cupboard (and ‘tot build the top half). Which means youl still get a chance to try out all, the same techniques for only half the time and money. ‘Speaking of money, Ishould men- tion that we built this cupboard out of pine. Not only is this the traditional choice of material for 2 project like this, DutitS relatively inexpensive. We even incorporated some premade ‘molding and a “beaded board” back, all of wich can be found at a local home center or lumberyard, GARDEN SEAT. While you're at it, you may want to pick up materials for another project in this issue — a ‘arden seat. Like the chimney cup- board, it's built with inexpensive dimensional lumber. (This time, we used Douglas fr) Besides being made from readily available materials this garden seatis also easy to build. In fact, you can probably “knock it out” in aweekend. “Tom No. 116A LOOK INSIDE CONTENTS Features Chimney Cupboard Alllof the same design elements that made the originals so striking are also featured im this country project: tll, narrow proportions, raised panels, a beaded board back, and applied molding Hall Mirror ............ So eal G A simple style is reflected inthe ensy-to-build design of this frame. Tehas cap molding on both the top and bottom: and a gentle curve cut along the top rail. But the main attraction here is the row of accent “windows,” which reveal a cherry background. Garden Seat It's a traditional garden bench — without the back or arms. Build fa icin a weekend, and the result will be a comfortable resting spot that looks at home in a wide variety of sextings. Mortise &lenon'.:. e220, )....2 30 The mortise and tenon is one of the most basic joints in woed- working, and there are a number of different approaches and tools You can use to create it. Here's a quick look at some of the different techniques we use in our shop. Departments Tips & Techniques ... ™ Shop Notes .. Talking Shop i Hee SOURCES cf. cc. secscant ewer cate cnitetes 2D) No. 116. Woodsmith Chimney Cupboard pee 6 Mortise & Tenon page 30FROM FELLOW WOODWORKERS Fitting Inset Doors Fitting inset doors to a cabinet opening has always been a hassle for me, especially ifthe cabi- net opening isnt perfecity square, But recently, I ‘came up with a quick and ‘easy method of trimming ‘doors with a router and ‘ustetrim Dit To begin, just mark the desired trim line near the ‘edge of the door. Then place a long, stright board under the door along the layoutline oact asa guide forthe bearingotthe router Dit See drawing acright. With the door and guide ‘clamped down to a bench or other support, i's sim- Glue Rolle: Like alot of woodworkers, Tuseapaintrollerto spread luc over large surfaces. Butinsteed of using an ord nary roller cover, Leut a piece of PVE pipe to it over the roller cage, see photo. ‘The PVC spreads the ‘glue evenly anc smoothly And ater the giue dries, it Chips off the roller easily, soitean be used again. Robe Coney Tefen, Persson ple matter to trim the door upto the layout line with a ‘lush-trim bit, see detal'a Bary Wool Naperville, lino Lid Chain Stay When building 2 blanket chest recently, ! mounted albrasschain othe under sie of the lid andthe side ‘ofthe chest prevent the {op from opening too far The problem is that the strain exerted onthe chain by the weight of the lid tends to pull the mounting screwsirightontofthe id. To solve this problem, I came up with a better ‘method of attaching the chain, Instead of simply screwing it to the under side ofthe id, pinnedit place with a brass rod. To do this, justuse a4". ia, Forstner bit to drill a hole about 1" deep on the ‘underside of the top, near the edge, see drawing at sight, Then dill an ‘rosshole forthe rodin the ‘edge ofthe top. Woodsmith Insert bras rod Brough cons foto lat lint ofc ‘Toattach thechain,sim- ‘a’. The other end of the ply drive the brass rod chainis simply serewed to, ‘through thecross hole and the side of the chest. the last link of the chain, ‘Woone Fzpavick ping tin place, see detail Unitersity Place, Wishingun No. 116 yCountersink Tip after gtuing up a numberof sina dravers, {suddenly realized that I had failed to drlland coun tetsink holes on the back ofthe draver fronts forthe pal Drilingtheholes was not a problem, but the drawers were too smal to allow my dill to fitinside to countersink the holes, ‘is I sat contemplating my dilemma, an idea cud ‘STUBBORN SANDING SLEEVES Tuse an oscillating spin- freezer for a while (Gt diesanlerforalotofmy teen minutes usually projects. But when doesthe trick). The cold changing grits, Isome- temperature ofthe freez- times have trouble er causes the rubber removing a stubborn drum toshrink allowing, senddingskeevefrom the me toeasily remove the rubber sanding drum, sanding sleeve. “Toloosenthe sleeve, Don Ostom place the drum in the Wesminse, Gobmado ‘CORD HOLDERS ‘To make my stationary cord boldersfrom a vac- power tools mobile. | uum cleaner dealer. ‘mounted them on roll (The kind that the cord around bases. But T've winds around on some never found away to upright vacuums.) keep the power cord Mounted onto the base ‘rom trailing behind on ofeach tool they provide thefloorwhea movinga _aperfectwayto keepthe tool around my shop— cord stored neatly. that is, uni recently, Teka Bele T purchased. some Wehia, Kensas denly hit me. I simply Feversed the countersink cutter on the endofthe dill bit, see photo. With the bit inserted through the hole and then chucked up in the drill, all you have to do is reverse the direction ofthe rillan ‘gently pull back on the to countersink the hole. James A, Johnson Brunewice, Ohio BT me Oe) TF you would like to share an original shop-tested tip, send it to: Woodsnith, Tips and Techniques, 2200 Grand Avent, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. Or if t's easier, FAX itto us at: 515262741, Or use our E-Mail address: woodsmith@woodsmith.com. Include a brief explanation and sketch or photo. ‘your tip is published, youll receive $30 to $150, depending on the published length. And don’t ‘worry, welll rewrite the tip and redraw the art, if necessary. Also, #lease include a daytime phone ‘number $9 we can contact you if we have any ‘questions regarding your tip. No. 116 Stop Collar Tuse an adjustable circle Ghuer ble for tmaking fee el oe ees peeetoineae foal edhticg the Dito the right diameter, When | ican Ge eee faave te citer arm tmverably moveletoo arin one direction or the other. Tal teste ee tune theater ofthe Tadd adil bt tn ol lato the al endothe cat ene er inialy eng the cutter arm, slide the stop against the arbor and tight- Silicone Feet Instead fusing felt dots on the bottom of small boxes, Ive come up with a method ‘of making “feet.” using ear silicone caus Start by delling a shak fi-dia, bole in each ‘corner ofthe bottom ofthe box. Then squeeze “dob lop” of silicone into each hole, allowing the sealant to completety fill and over. flow the hole. Try 1 use the same amount of st cone in each hole, see drawing at right. Now tape a couple of Yl-thick spacers to the bottom of the box and place it ight side up) on a piece of wax paper to level out the feet, see detall Woodsarith collar cannowbe usedas a ‘gauge for making adjust. ments to the eutterarm, Henry Fischer Hlsangson-Hadon, New Yor RST Dr avow hole ‘e’, After the silicone has set up (overnight), the Spacers can be removed.COUNTRY PROJECT CHIMNEY CUPBOARD ~ From the raised panels and beaded = board back to the mortise and tenon joinery, this project contains a number of time-tested design features. omerolkshaveaten- project into two. We designed the dency to turn their lower cupbcard to work as a stand- noses up at anything alone piece of furniture Soifvou dantt labeled “country.” They need (or want) allthet storage space, ‘equate the term with you can simply build the lower half, rough, slip-shod con- _UASS#ROWTDOER, The second option struction oran avlward, we added to this project is a glass- outdated design. front door (on the upper cupboard). Maybe it’s just my The glass door allows you to see Midwest upbringing. but what’ inside. So you coulkl even use tome, “country” hasan this cupbnarttas a display casein the altogether different living room or a halhvay. meaning. Sure, when | Woob.Fora country project ike this. think ofapiece ofcoun- chimney cupboard, no other wood tryfurniture,Tthink ofa seems quite as appropriate as pine simple, straightforward Andone ofthericethingsabout pine design. One with clean is that’s relatively inexpensive (we linesand without alotof used #2 common pine) and readily fussy details available inmost areas of the country. But I also think of There'sone other reason we chose someting that is care pine, [Lallowed us to use commer- {ally crafted, bik with pride by some _cially-madle moldings and beaded ‘one who takesthe time toget every: boards for the back, see photo. Of thing right because he Imows that course, you could make your owa whateveritishe’sbuilding willprob- moldings endl beaded boards if you ably outlast him by generafons. want fo useadifferentlind of wood. ‘That's the approach wetookwhen But by using pine, we were able to designing and bitlding thischimney purchase just ahout everything we cupboard. In Keeping with tradition, needed for this cupboard at a home the design is simple and unpreten- improvement center tious. Mortise and tenon joints are NIH, When came time to decide used throughout. And the materials onafinish, we wanted loselect some are all commonly available at most thing that would look appropriate for lumberyards. But we added a few this type ofproject Paintwas the first, “twists” to give you some options option we considered. But ater tak ‘when building the project. ing a vote, we decided to go with a TWO-PEC CONSTRUCTION. First off, we sian to give the wood a warm, old- madle our chimney cupbcard in two timelook: And'since staining pine can. pieces lower cupboard andanupper be tricky (it tends to get kind of ‘one. Thisivakesiteasterto transport blotchy), we've ineludeda special sec- the chimney cupboard if you ever tion on finishing pine at the end of have to move. Butit aso turns one this article, see page 15. Woodsmith No.116Construction Details (OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 78°H x 23%2°W x 13%4"D UPPER CABINET iow (Bea Fmoiding Flipper ‘see le “aie soc |i) tee sane" Tee les oe —— ‘knob i ( “| ‘Shop: l oo No. 116 Angle bracket cures Cupboard twa TEED 2ck sade up of * bested wainscoting ‘nh hsunehe! ‘morte and Boares Improvement canta. NOTE: Lower coiret Hawigned sot an be burt ana used ‘i Separate unt.1 A narrow piece of hardboard with thee ewenly space holes makes a sme je for locating te shelf bin hoes Lower Case ‘Thelower secton ofthe chimney cup ‘board starts out asnothingemore than a simple case. Later, a face frame, a back and adoor are added. CAUEUP Pats, The lower cup- board is mace up of four panels —two sides (A) and stop and hhottom (B), see drawing at right. Since these pieces are under 12" wid, [could have cut them froma single wide board, But oavoid problems with cup- pingand twisting later, i’s much peter to gluc up these panels narrower boards. Oncethe panels are glued up, they ean be planed or sanded ‘smooth and cutto size. The top and bottom panels are ripped 4" nar- rower than the sides fo allow room fora back that’sadded later. JONERY. On a lot of alder cabinets Tve seen, thesides ofthe caseare fas: tened tothe top and bottom with noth- ing more than nails and butt joints. Over time, the nails pull loose, and the whole cabinetstartstorack Soto sive tis cabinet alte extrastreneth, Tused dadloes, rabbets, and screws. Tohold the botiom, Feutatf-deep dado oncach side, see drawing above ‘and Figs. 1 and 1a. Then to hold the top, Leut a i!-deep rabbet on each ‘Side. Shop Note: Since the top and ‘bottom may actrally end up thinner than % after planing, the width of the dadoes and rabbets is Sized to ‘match the thickness of these pieces. ‘After cutting the dadoes, I created “eet” on the bottom ofthe cupboard sides, Thisis justa matter of driling couple helesand thea cuting away the waste with a hand saw or sabre saw, Se detail’ above and Fig, Sone arepanes from thick stock asset The last step before assemn- Dling the cascisto cut a rabbet along the back edge of cach side piece for the back, see detail’e above. ‘OSEASSINBIY.To assomble this case, all you need to dois glite the top and bottom between the sides. Just male ‘sure the iront edges ofall the pieces are flush — the sides will sticks out rast the top and bottom at the back ‘of the case To strengthen the case, 1 also screwed the sides to the top panel, ‘see detail’ above. Dorit worry about Woodsmiththese screws being visible — they'll be covered up later with molding. SHILI HOLS. Before moving on to ‘making the face frame for the case, 1 drilledhotes inthe sidesfor the shelf pins. Itscasierto do thisbeforeattach. ingtheface frame, andasimoledriling jig makes spacing the holes a snap, see crawing in eft margin FagHRAME The face frameisjustthat —awood frame applied thefaceot the cabinet to conceal the edges and provide an opening forthe door. The fist step in making the face frame is tocutthopioeestosize rom Yithiek: stock. The frame is made up of two stiles (© and an upper (D) and lower rail (F), see drawing at right. see mortise and tenonsto join the frame pieces, see details band (Por more on mortise and tenon joints, see page 30.) ‘There are a couple thingsto watch for when laying out the joints for the foce frame. Firs, the stiles ofthe face frame should end up flush with the sides. So pay attention to the shonk dlertp-shoulder distance between the tenons sinoe it determines the over all width ofthe face frame, Second, the lower ral of the face frame should end up 1 below the top edge of he bottom (B), see detail ‘a This creates a stop for the door that’s added later. ‘There's a small detal to tend to beforethe fae frame can be giued up. ‘The bottom of each sfle is tapered to maich the “feet” on the sides of thecase see detail'e. Thistaper ends at the botiom ofthe lower ral 4! up from the bottom, in my ease). Once thesiles are tapered, the face frame canbe ued together and then siued tothe front oF the case * ¥ wee j= 26-| Rall 100k stor, The bottom of the case thatiseut to Gitbetween the two sides projects above the lower rail ofthe of the case, Then the door stop is face frame ta ereate a door stop. But glued to the inside ofthe face frame. atthe top ofthe case, [had to add a TOP PANEL At this point, the case is separate door stop (P),seedetail. really beginning to take shape. ‘This is usta piece of %"thick stock However, i still lacks a finished top. To make this, I simply gived up an ‘oversized panel of 34'hick material Aller the top panel (G)is cutiosize (124A x 2K", itcan be screwed to the case, see Figs. Sand 9a. Finally todress up the cupboard bit, [added some %" cove molding around the top. After mitering the molding to length its attached with ‘gue and mails. But to alow the cup- board sides to move with humility ‘changes, Iglued the side moldings ‘only atthe front, see Figs.Back, Door, & Shelf Atthis point, all that remainsto com- plete the lower cupboard is to edd a back, adoor and an adjustable shelf, started by making the back. uct. Normally, I use plywood for the back of a cabinet. Bt because I ‘wanted this project to resemble an @ ‘older piece of furniture, I chose 10 stick with solid wood for the back. And Tused something that was fairly ‘common years ago — “beaded” boards. These are simply narrow, fongueand-groove boards that have a bead molded on the face, The nice thing about these beards is you don't have to make them. Beatled boards are sold at most home improvement centersas beated wall paneling or wainscotting. (The wain- scotting I used is sold as 14" thick, But in realty its closer to 14") The boards just need to be cut to length, so they fitflush with the bottom B). (B. When itcameto attaching the bead- ‘ed boards to the back of the case, I ‘wanted the beads centered along the back of the cupboard. So I trimmed the two outer boards just enough to ‘center the beads, cee detail’b’. Then. Inailed the boardsin place atthe top, bottom, and along thetwo sides with some #3 finish nails, see drawing. FILER BLOAKS. Since the back only ‘extends down to the bottom panel, ‘rm cuter nears 0 beads cencerec z en viewed from inside of poo : ie aI part ofthe rabbet for the back is lft exposed at the bottom of the side pieces. This creates a potential weake spot if the cupboard happens to be dragged across the floot. So 10 cor- *Achilles’ heel,” I glued a filler block (H) into each of these rabbets, see detail’ DOOR. At this point, set the lower ease aside and began workingon the oor. The dooris made up of frame that holds raised panel. To start off, I cut two door rails (D and two door stiles (J) to size out of %-thickpine, soe Fig.4. Next, ‘wide, centered groove on the edge of each door piere to hold the raised panel, see Fig. 4b. ‘The door frame is assembled with haunched mortise and tenon joints. ‘There's a slight difference between. thesejoints and ordinary mortise and tenon joints, The tenons have a small step orshoulder on one edge tofillin the stiles, see Fig. de and the box on the opposite page. After making all the joints, | dry assembled the frame and measured the opening for the door pane! (0). ‘The panel is glued up from \4"thick. stock and cut to finished size. Then the edges are beveled on the table saw to create the raised field. (For No. 116‘more on raised panels, see page 23.) ‘After the panel is completed, the door frame can be glued together. Just make sureyou dont getany glue ‘onthe frame pieces around the pane! ‘opening its importantthat the panel ‘isnt giued in place soit can expand with changes in humidity. warowane. When it came to choos ing the hardware for this cupboard, [wanted something that wouldnt lok. out of place. So I used solid brass, balltipped butt hinges to mount the door to the cupboard. Mounting these hinges is really pretty easy, especially since they're moriised into the door frame only. ‘Then they're simply mounted to the inside edge ofthe face frame, see drawing on opposite page. decided to use a store bought ‘wood knob forthe door. Finding the right one was easy; but settling on a ‘method for keeping the door closed This is just a matter of drilling a complete the cupboard. This is sin was bit trickier Magnetic orspring hole/in the back ofthe knob and fit. plyaglued.up panelot thick stock, catches jus: didn't seem appropriate ting itwith a “flipper.” (For more on see Figs. and 6a. Shop Nove: When forthis project. So decided to make this, see pawe 22) citing the panel to size, alow for a my own wood latch, see shiv. Finaly,Taddedashelf (L)to Ye" clearance gap around all edges. HAUNCHED MORTISE & TENON Usea dado blade to cut a My After adustng depth stop @@ To set blade height for Cutting 2 groove along the Mt centered, 4’-wide groove dl 0 set depth of mortise, w) making shoulder cut of inside edzes of the rails and on the edge of exch rail and til out waste and cleen up tenon, raise blade to bottom of siiles fa doorisagreat way to stile of the door Sides ented with e chisel groove cutin door ste, hold araised panel. Butitalso ‘reates a slight problem. ‘Since the groove runs along the entire length ofthe stiles, you'd be left with a gapat each fend of the sfile if you used a ‘regular mortise and tenon joint Instead, I use a fiwnched ‘mortise and tenoa. Thisis nod ‘ng more than atenon withan J) To make shoulder cutsin Jf Remove waste from ge To create haunch, raise ‘extralitieshoulder,orhaunch, “HF rai, hold workpiece wD) cheeks of tenon by mek- ©) blade and nibble aviay that fills in the end of the against miter gauge and use ing a series of passes over waste, starting at end. Sneak ‘groove, see photo, rip fenco asa stop. the saw blade, ‘up on final length of haunch. No. 116 Woodsuih ul2 Upper Cupboard Exeeptforits size, the upper cupboard is almost identi- «alto the lower cupboard. In fact, building the upper cup- Doar is actually easier. Since the upper cupboard rests on the lower cup- board, you don't have to bother malking any fect ‘St. The case for the upper cupboard starts out like the lower cupboard — justa couple of sides (VD andatop and bottom (N), see drawing at right, Once the panels for all are glued up each site piece to hold the bottom and top, see draw. ing an¢ detail‘ ‘After cutting a rabbet on the back edge of each side for the back, the ‘upper case can be glued together, ‘Shop Note: I also screwed the sides tothe top ofcase. Later these screws will be covered by molding. DRILLHOLES. The upper cupboard is {ited wit two adjustableshelves. So thenextstep so drillfour sets of "= dia. holes for the shelf pins that will support the shelves, sec drawing. ‘GENTS. Later, the upper cupboard ‘Woodsmnith ye ZIT) DLL ‘willbe attached to the lower cupboard with screws. So in order to give the screws something ite ito, lated two cleats (0) to the bottom of the upper cupboard, see detail‘ These cleats are 3" wide and are sized to fillin the space between the twocupboards. (Imac mine L'-thick.) ‘Then the cleats are simply giued to the bottom ofthe upper cupboard FAG FANE, Once the case for the upper cupboard is assembled, you can add the face frame. Here again, it's a rectangular frame that’s sized to fit the front of the cupboard, see Figs.7 and 7b. Butthis time, the stiles aren't tapered at the bottom, Both frame stiles (P) are the same width (24"). Butthe upper rail (Q) of the face frame is wider than the lower rail (R). Once all four pieces are cut to finished size, the mortise and tenon joints canbe made, and the face frame can be assembled. DooR sToP. After finishing the face frame and attaching it to the case, 1 added a door stop (S) atthe top of thecase, see Fig. 7a. This stop is zhned tothe back of the upper rail (@). (GE TOP & MoIDIG. When it came to finishing off the top of the upper cup- board, I made a couple of changes, Twarted te top to stand out from the rest ofthe cupboard. To achieve this, T made the top panel (T) slightly No. 116Jhnger than the top panel used on the Iwer cupboard, see drawing at right (dt overhangs the cupboard 194" at the front and sides) ince this larger top created a ‘wider overhang at the sides and front of the cupboard, used a wider molding, see drawing and deal a. used 4 commercially available, 194"swide cove molding.) I decided to attach the ‘upper cupboard to the lower cupboard at this point since it creates a more convenient ‘working height for installing the boards for the back and fitting the door. Connecting the two eup- boards is pretty easy. Just set the upper cupboard on top of the lower cupboard, cen ‘ering it rom side to side and making sure the two are flush athe back, ‘Then to connect the two cupboards, [drove serews up through the top of the lower cupboard and into the cleats and bottom of the mpper eup- board, see detail ‘a’. Shop Note: damped the two sec tions together while drilling the pilot holes for the screws BACK. With the upper cupboard attached to the lower cupboard, instaling the backisa lot easier. After cutting the beaded boards to length. and ripping the two outside boards to width, I nailed them in place. ‘Again, Tused a single nla the top and bottom ofeach board to allow the boards to expand and contract.) 00R. The only difference between the door on the upper cupboard and the door on the lower cupboard isthe length of the stiles and the raised panel. (If you're making the optional lass door, see the next page.) Alter cutting door rails (U) and stiles (V) to size, Teut grooves for the raised panel and made the ‘Once the door panel (W)is glued up and beveled, the door can be assembled. Then the hinges are ‘mounted, and the door is hung. Finally, theknob andlatch are added. No. 116 Cae ee = Lie Tedia knob it Centered.on ‘nc width fille ESF ase SHELVES, The last step to complete the cupboard is to make a couple shelves (X). These are simply glued. up asoversize blanks and then cut to fit inside the cupboard, see drawing. ‘AuaioR. Becausetthis chimney cup- Woodsimith board is 30 tall andnarrow,Lwasalit tle worried aboutit tipping over. So ater applying afnish (Gee page 15), 1 made anangle bracket out ofamend- ingplateand secured the cupboarto the wall see detail’ and page 23 3Glass-Front Door Making a glass-front door for the ‘upper cupboard is basically just a mat ter of substituting a piece of glass for the raised panel, see drawing at right. But there are a couple of diferences worth mentioning. First, the glass fits into a rabbet that’s cut on the back, inside edge of the door frame afer it's assembled. Second, since there aren't any ‘grooves in the rails or stiles, you can use regular mortise and tenon joints instead of haumched tenons to assemble the door frame. ‘abrEl, After cuiting the door rails and stilesto sizeand making the mor tise and tenon joints, the door frame i @ up and assembled. Then a 14" deep rabbet is routed all ‘around the back of the opening for the glass, see detail ‘a’ Since the rabbet it cant reach all the way into the corners of the oner- ing, you'll have to square these rab- bets up with a chisel, see detail ‘a’. GIASS. To prevent the glass from shattering if it should get broken, 1 ordered a: of thick tempered glass. Tempered glass can be ordered through most glassshops, (For more information, see Sources on page 35.) Lass sToP, To hold the glass place, 1 made some quarter-round Blass stop (sce page 23). Then I sim- * (2) 1%4"-da, Birch Knobs + (1) %" Birch Dowel (6"-iong) + (2p.)2"Biass Ball-ippedHinges + (12) %4" Bress Shelf Supports + (12) #8 x2" Fh Woodscrews + (@) #8 x 1¥4" Fh Woodscrews * (4) #8 x3” Fh Woodscrews + (1)%" x4* Mending Plate + #3 Finish Nails + %@" Wire Brads (optional) ply mitered the glass stop to length ‘and nailed itin place with some 5 Tong brads, see detail B. LOWER CABINE' MATERIALS LOWER CABINET CUTTING DIAGRAM 110,347 9%) -8 Na. 2 Common Ponderese Pine (67 Bd. Fe) A Sides (2) Ax 31h B TopiBottom (2) 34x 104-19 € Stiles (2) an 2%e-3% D Upper Rail(1) 34 x2%- 17 E Lower Rail(!) 34x 12-17% F Door Stop (1) 34x 1% - 184" G WopPanel (1) Ax12-219% H Filler Blocks (2) 9a x¥%5-5 1 Door Rais(2) %x 21-12% J Door Siiles 2) 7x 2/4-23% K Door Panel (1) x 10%-19 & L Shelf (1) Wx10%- 18% L * Also Needed: Five linear feet of A" ine core molding and2h”-thck beeded wain- 110 3x9) 8 No.2 Common Ponderose Pine (6.7 Bd Ft). 6 @ = as scattirg for back ec 1x6 i" » 517) 4° No.2 Common Ponderosa Pine {1.8 Bd. FL) u Woodsmith No.116Like a lot of people, when I So whats the solution? For ezan woodworking, Tused the chimney cupboard, there pine or nearly ally projects, were several option. I could ‘ad with good reason, Pine is have painted it, bu‘ this would realy available, not too exper have covered up the natural ‘ive, ands easy to work with, beauty ofthe wood. Laks could Butwhenitcomoestofinish- havo usedaclearfinish and let ing,Tvefoundpinetobeone of the wood darken and mellow the most troublesome of all with time. But didn't want to ‘woods. I sill remember how wait for that aged look. So ny firs! few aifempts at tain- —instezd, Idecidedtouseastan ing pine let the wood coking along with a tain controler. Dlotchy end mut. SIAN CONTROWLE. A stain con- Towasn't until much later troller isjusta washioat that’s that¥learned why thiswasso. applied before the stain. The Thasto do with the nature of controller “levels the playing thewooditseliPinelise most field by partially filing inthe when it came timete finish the softwoods, is madeupofalter- porous areas of the wood. So chimney cupboard, Igotasine naling layers of smal, dense when you apply the stan, i's ingfeeling as I tookcthe can of Pores and large, open pores. absorbed into the surface of stain controller offmy shel. It OFENFORES.So wenyoustain the wond more uniformly. was nearly empty: vine theareaswithlarge pores CAIMNET UPtoAKD, Normally, Instead ofrunning out» buy soak up bt moreo!the stn Tuse a commercial tain con more stain contrulle, I ied than theareaswith smallpores. troller, (There are several something different. brushed Theresultis ablotchy finish. brands on the market.) But onacoatof a General Finishes UPPER CABINET CUTTING DIAGRAM 1 5 10 et x 94) 8 No. 2Commen Porderass Pine (67 Bd. Ft) Mw us M. M 1110, x94) 8 No. 2 Commen Ponderosa Pine (5.7 Bd. Ft) wr a i Ee r WY} 1 4 10 ex 94’) 8° No. 2 Commnen Porderass Pine (6.7 Bd. Ft) 2s x i ur yyy i 5 e Yj Yj, LMA See ee ee y v weeny : t z We 16 (ie # SY)-7°No, 2 Common Ponderosa Fine (35 Bu. Ft) w w YY, 1 194) 5,2 onmen Ponder ie (2 dF es fers ib u H 100° (rgh.) of quarter i a 7 round ds op 24 (ti 3) cont. grace mbar (2784 F) Saas. Sealacell (Clear). After waiting a few minates, Iwiped offthe excess and immediately applied the stain, ‘Shop Note: Is important to apply the stain before the seal- er dries, Otherwise the slain will have a difficult time pene- trating the wood, ‘To give the wood that nice golden hue I wanted without making it look too orange, 1 stained it with General Finishes’ Sealacell (Honey Maple). Then after the stain was dry, I applied three coats ofa wipe-on oilfinish, sanding lightly between coats with 400- sit sandpaper 1 M Sides (2) %x11%-45% N TopfBottom (2) 4x 10% - 19 © Cleats (2) 153- 18%, P Stiles (2) Wax Dh-A5% Q Upper Rail(1) 346x294 - 17% R Lower Rail (1) %4x 1% 17% S DoorStop (1) ¥%4x24- 18% T TopPanel(1) 34x 13%4-23%6 U Door Rais@2) ¥4x2%4- 123% V Door Sties(2) 34x2- 40% W Door Panel (1) x 109-3016 X Adj Shelves (2) Yax 10%-18%6 * Also Needed ive linear fet of 124" pine «cove malig and 4'-thck beaded wan Seating for back No.116 Woodgiaith16 AVS acon) ise HALL MIRROR With its geometric accents and gentle curve, the top rail adds a bit of elegance to a rather simple mirror frame. The trick was figuring out how to let the contrasting cherry show through the five square cutouts. longthe top rai ofthe frame No big surprise here, These renessec accents are what catch your eye as soon as youtlook atthe mirror. Butthese detailsarekind ofdeoep- tive. They look simple. But creating thom requires quite a few steps. ‘There are two reacons for this. For one thing, I wanted to use a contrasting: wood behind thecatouts sothe squares would stand out even ‘more, This wasn’t dificult to do. eut the squares in piece of hick hard ‘maple. Then to create the contrast, I inkiidapiece ofcherry intoasecond maple piece that was ¥" thick, see photo at right. When the pieces of maple were glied together, the cher ry was visible through the cutouts. ‘There's another thing to keep in mind when creating these square accents, Because they're identical, Woodsmith they have tobe cut accurately. So you have to work carefully to make sure ‘each edge of the opening is clean and square and that all five cutouts line upina straightline ‘Tomakesureall theaccent squares align and that their edges are crisp and square, we usedasimple jig, see the box on page 18. This jig helps both to intially lay out the equares and then later to guide the chisel as you clean up the edges. No.116Construction es OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 26"H x 371s" W x 2 A. To cvote the cherry hack ground forthe squere cutouts, the top rail stars Dut as thre pieces — a face, bac, and filler No.116 Woodsith "7Topau —O itahicc Torna cen) Frame With most frames, work onthe rails nd stiles allat ‘once, see drawing on ‘opposite page. Butthe top rallisthe trickiest part of the mirror, sol stared withitfirs, see dang at right OP RAL What Tvanted was atop CE gy inieeddinciinnden 2. Mae hs ae some cherry in the background of iggrctos So the square cutouts for contrast. To get there, Ideided to build the rail eae inthree layers:a Vi'shickmapletace. | 1. : a lthick maple back and a "thick eee PU 2 hen flrs raving Late these Tet oo pas three pieces will be glued together TOPRAL FACE@) Butfornow, [worked on justthe face piece and its accent squares. TOP Rill FACE. The first thing to do with the top rail face (A) sto cut it to final size (43) x 22)A"), see draw ing. Thea aid outthe centerlines of eacltof the five squares, see detail’ at right, (The middle square is cen- tered along the length of the piece) ‘ACCENT SQUARES. The accent squares inheightand width. To make these sqitares identical, [used asim- <= ple jg, see photo in box below. I's basically just a board with a square opening and a ip. But instead of cut ting out the square opening, I cre- ated the jig by gluing five separate picces together, sce page 22 and worked on the top rail back (B). the topedge.) This groove isfiled by Once the jigis built creating the This pieces cu from #'thickssiock, the ¥4"thick cherry top rail filler squares is a simple threestep pro andifsthesame sizeastheface piece (C) that’s cutto fit into the groove. cess, see box below. (x32), see drawing. TOP RAIL LAMIKATION. With the fille ‘TOP RAILBACK& FLIER. With the Next, cuta¥i"-deep groove 14" _ strip glued in place, the face (A) and P accent squarescompleted,I wide inthe front fave ofthe back (B). back (B) pieces can be glued togeth- e& set the face piece aside see deta b‘above, (itstarts3" rom er, see Fig. 1. The trick here is mak- eee ee rg ~ ed g Fis, mark the centers ofthe squares, Now, remove most ofthe weste for My Clamp the layout jig Back over the see detail ‘a’ above. Then with thajig flmeach square by criling overlapping WB sauares and carefully rernove the rest (age 22) lay out thesquareson theprece. holes with a Forstner it. (of the waste with a sharp chisel. 18 Woodsmith No. 116! ing sure the two pieces end | up flush as you're gluing. them together — especially since the pieces have already been cut to finished size. To help with this, I placed a ‘clamp across the width ofthe railateach end. : At this point, the top rail i still needstenons. ButI don't i like eutting tenons until the P mortises are complete. So L E setthe top rail aside to work ‘onthe other three frame peces, i see drawing atright, BOTTOM AL & STES. The bottom f rail (D) is cut from 4"thick stock and is quite a bit narrower than the toprail @¥" x22), The stiles (E), on the other hand, are cut from 1". thick stock (214" x 2414"). This cre- ates a shoulder between the sfiles and rail, see detail’ at right. ‘MORTStS &TenOMs, With the pieces cut to size, I cut the mortises in the stiles and the tenons on the rails, see detail ‘a’ at right. The thing to keepin mind here is that because the stiles are thicker than the rails, the mor- tisesare affset slightly. And because they aren't centered, you need to lay ‘them out so the pieces “mirror"each other. (For more on mortise and if ‘tenon joints, see page 30.) ‘TOP RAIL RABBET. Aficr the mortise and tenon joints have been cut, I set the bottom rail and the stiles aside foramomentand turned my attention tocresing arabhet onthe hackinside etige of the top rail, see Fig. 2. This } ‘rabbet will hold the mirror, and it's Teprail asembly rorow e wore Sree “eer ® Solesore 1” thick quite wide (176") so that afterthe curveiscut next, the rab- bet will still be" wide at the top of the curve. (To complete the rabbet, the other three pieces willbe routed after the frame is assembled later) To cutthisrabbet,Istood the piece ‘on edge and made a couple passes over the table caw blade, moving the fence between passes, see Fig, 2 ‘Whiat you want is a rabbet that will Iiatch the thickness of thick mir ror plus a piece of backing material (@ piece of "thick cardboard). In ny case, the rabbet was i" deep. TOP RAL CURVE. The next thing to do is cut the gentle curve along the bottom edge ofthe top rail, see draw: ing above. To lay out this curve, 1 clamped a scrapblock at each endl of therail so could push a strip ofhard- board against them and draw the NOTE: Poston mortise sg back of als ‘ged sis are Tush. ‘io chamfer Saecot bottom a! ‘curve, see Fig.3, Then Icutitoat on the band say, staying about Y!"from the layout line. And finally | sanded up to the ine with s drum sander chucked up in the drill press. GE TREATMENT. After the curve is cutin the toprailthereare two more thingsto do before the frame can be assembled Fst, [routed 2’ cham fer along the inside elges of the top and bottomrals, cee detail'b'above. ‘Then [routed a4! roundover along the front edges of the stiles. MIRROR FRANE ASSEMBLY. Now that alltheiecesare compte, the fame can be glued together ‘WoodsmithCap Molding & Mirror Now that the frame isassembled, the. next thing I worked on was complet- ing the rabbet on the back. This rab- bet will hold the mirror and backing. COMPETE RABBET.The rabhet on the top ail hasalready been cut with the table saw. But to complete the 94" wide rabbet on the bottom rail and the two stiles, [ used a hand-held router and a rabbet bit, see Fig. 4. Get the bitto match the depth ofthe rabbet on the top rail — 14" in my case, refer to Fig. 2 on page 19.) ‘Safety Note: When routing a rabbet withahane-held router onthe inside edge ofa frame, be sure to move the router clockwise and take light pass: €s to reduce chipout, see Fig, 4, ‘Therabbet bitwillremove mostof the material, butthe four corners will need to be cleaned up. First of all, at the top corners the rabbet has to be “extended” soit’ fhish with the rab- Deis on the sides, see Fig. 4a To do this, [aid out the final corner of the rabbet witha straightedge and scored it with a utility knife. Then | pared away the waste with a sharp chisel. The rabbet bit can't cut a square comer atthe bottom ether. So when the top corners are complete, the bot tom corners need to be squared up too, see Fig. 4b. App CaP MOLDING. The last step before installing the mirrors toadd ‘ap molding the top and bottom of the frame, see drawing above. ‘The chamiered molding onthe top ‘and bottom is identical And there's a ‘ricky can use to minimize chipout onthe ends. Instead of cutting these pieces to final size and then routing Complete raboet on Face befre ding tepane bowom on sek ona Gicfrom 3 sngle Sree a the chamfer, start with a single over. size blank (4! x 3714"). Then rout the chamfer on the blank, see Fig. 5 Note: didn’t attempt the chamfer in ‘one pass — that would just be ask ing for chipout. Instead, routed itin multiple passes, raising the bit between passes until there was a Yi? shoulder lef, see Figs. Sand 5a. And ‘when routing, is best to start with Woodsmith No. 116the ends. This way, any chipout on the ends will be removed when you rout the long edges ofthe blank. With the chamfers routed, the top ‘and bottom caps (F) can be ripped ‘to width (29, see Figs. and éa Then they can be glued to the frame. These ‘caps are centered sidetoside. And they're flush with the back of the frame, see detail's’on opposite page. APPOYING A FINISH. At this point, the mirror s complete, Butbefore adding the mirrorand the hardware forhang- ing the mirror, [carefully sanded the mirror and applied a finish. This isa perfect project for a wipe-on finish, Getting the finish into the accent squares and wiping tout —is easy. (You can either use three or more coats of an oil nish oracouple coats ofa thinned down varnish.) INSTALLATION. Now all that’s eftis to install the mirror and hang it on the wall, see drawing at right. used a {thick mirror. And Thad it cut ye" smaller than the heightand width of the rebbet opening in back. (iy mir ror ended up 197A"x31%4") Shop Note: It’s a good idea to wait to order the mirror until after the frame and rabbet are complete. With the mirror cut to siz, also cut a backing from a piece of card- ‘card, see drawing, (Mine was about 4 thick) Then Tadded ten turn but- tons tothe frame to hold the mirror and backing piece in place, 22" Mpls 9.2588) eae 35 Hard Male C15 FE MATERIALS & CUTTING DIAGRAM soy XIN: Chery ld Sa) LLL LLL Fini tame belere adalng iron ard backing A mirror this size is not light. So when banging it on a wall, you want tomake sure it hasplenty of support I screwed two “D-bracket” hangers to the back. Then to add the wire, I used a special knot I learned froma fiend of mine who had worked ina framing chop, see Fig. 7. ‘Tocreatetthie knot, I feed the wire through the bracket and baek around behind tselt, see Fig. 7. Thenit is fed through the bracket again and out through the loop. Now the remain- ‘ng wire can be wrapped around ise Another tip [learned was to wrap some tape around the ends ofthe wire soit won't scratch the wall. ‘After tho wire has been attached tothe brackets, the frame canbe hung: ‘on the wall. Here, I would caution you to hang the mirror on two points — preferably with screws attached to twostuds,seephoto inmargin, 1 AA mirror this hejey requires plenty of support, so hang it ‘on two screws sinking them neo seus, if posible Ly Wi ‘SUPPLIE: See Se ars : Z : YJ) | * soa sre 2) | + (ay Picture Wire 5 ft) + (1) Ye" Mirror (1976 x 3198") A TopRailFace(1) Yax4%e-32% — D Bottomfall(t) %4x2%-32% | + (1) Cardboard Backing B Top fail Back(1) Yex4¥e-32% |) E Stiles (2) Vx2e-24% | | + (10) #4x %* Rh Wocdscrews € Top Ral fler(t) Yax1%4-32%e —F Top/Bim. Cops(2) Yax2-37 | | = @)¥8x}4* Rh Woodscrens No. 116 Woodsiaith aTips FROM Our SHoP Jig for Accent Squares To create the square accents in the mirror on page 16,Lused asimple ji, see photo, Thisjig des two things. It helps ‘when initaly laying cout the squares, and it guides the chisel as you cut the open ing to its final shape, see bax on page 18 ‘The ji is simply a board with a ‘square opening init Allip glued tothe top edge helps to postion thejigon the worke pece co the squares align, see drawing. To create this jig, | decided not to cut the square out of a single Doard, Instead, 1 glued four scrap pieces together to create a perfect 14" square opening, see draw ing. Then I glued the lip to the top edge. 1 Making « Wood Door Latch For the chimney cupbcard ‘on page 6, made my own, doorlatch foreach door by ‘adding a flipper to a 1" dia birch knob, The fipper is on the insie of the cup. board and rotatesto “lock” the door shut, see drawing. Unfortunately, the tenon dgathe knob wastoo short So the first thing Thad to do was replace it with « Tonger tenon, see Fig. L To do this, first cut off the existing tenon with a hhand saw. Next, a hole is, dried for the new tenon, Shop Note: To hold the nob secure, luseda wood hhand screw. Finally for the new tenon, I glued a 1" Tong dowel into the hole. ‘With the new tenon on the knob, next Tout a kerf onthe tenon thot the fir per using the table saw and a simple jg, see Fig. 2.0 rmalke this J, first draw a centerline on a piece of serap and drill a 14" hole near one end. Then to cut theslotin the tenon onthe snob, insert itinto the hole inthe fgand cuta centered, Wdeep keri -Atthis point the knobis ready for the flipper, see drawing at right The thick ness af the flipper should ‘match the thickness ofthe saw kerfjustcutin the new terioa, se Fig. 3. ( sized the flipper 4 x21) ‘The latch is now ready to be glued together in the door. Just make sure you Exploded view of Jigtsed formating een squares don’t get any give in the hole on the door) Finally I added a small ‘wedge tothe inside of the cabinet, see drawing above: ‘This holds the fipper tight when it’s “locked”. taper onthe edge ofthe fp Aer adding the wedge, per, see Fig. 3 aesr aR Remove tenon Gein rh han se ? veoh v Bt point As zz SECOND: Dri hole WoodsmithMaking Raised Panels One way to cut raised pan- els (such as shown on the chimney cupboartion page 6) is to use the table saw. But there are a couple of things Ido to make the job -g0 easier and get smocth, clean bevels and shoulders. To begin, tilt the saw blade (about 7° for the chimney cupboard) and. raise the blade to the cor- rect height (114 in this case), see Fig. 1. Once the saw blade is adjusted, I actually make the cut in two passes — moving the rip fence slight- ly between passes. ‘The first pass removes mostof the waste. Then (0 clean up any burn marks or blade ewirls, { make a sec- ond “skim” cut. This also creates the (avide shoul- der on the profile. Note: 'Before moving the rip ence for the second pass, cutthe Devels on all the edges of all your panels Shop Tip: When cutting the profile, cut across the end grain edges frst Then ‘fyouget any chipout, twill De removed as soon as the Devel is cut on the face grain edges. ‘Afterall the raised pan- cls have been cut, the last step is to sand the bevels But there's another area that needs stention. Since thebiae wastited, these! shoulder wil be undercut slighly. To square itup, I sade a sarin block that hasabevel cut onone edge, sce Fig. 2. 8 A Finishing Tip. Ifa raised pane shrinks, an unfinished border mary appear along the edge To prevenc ths it's a good idea wo finish the panel before mounting cin ee frame. Angle Bracket To prevent a tall, shallow project from tipping over, I talc a litle precaution by anchoring itt the wall For the chimney cup- board on page 6, made an angle bracket out ofasim- ple, lat mending strap I picked up at a hardware store, It already hal holes Glass Stops ‘One way to install a glass panelin a woed frameis to use quarterround molding Here's a safe way to make your own quarterround, For the glass door on the chimney cupboard (page 14), I started with a 45"long blank. This blank is ripped extra wide (114") and then allfour edges are rounded over, see Fig. 1. Now, the next step to making the stops is to cut "deep grooves on each: No. 116 drilled init AIT had to do was bend it, sce drawing. Toanchor the cupboard, 1 set it in place against a wall. Then I set the brack- et on top, flush with the wall, and: marked its posi- tion. Simply screw the bracket in place and then seoureit tothe wall 1 cecige, see Fig.2 Todo this, first set the rip fence ¥/" from the saw blade and make four passes inal Finally, raise the blade andeutofftwo ofthemold- ‘ng strips on the “waste” side ofthe blade, see Fig. 3 ‘Then move the fence and cutoff the other twostrips, Woodsrith Before installing the glass, miter the quarter- round strips tolength, Then secure the glass by naling the stops in plave. 124 QUTDOOR PROJECT GARDEN SEAT Without the traditional arms or back of a garden bench, this seat is B= ‘most garden benches is. ‘no walkin the park. The back legs are typically angled, and the joinery ‘connecting the arms, legs, and back can get bit complicated. But we decided on a simpler approach. Our garden “seat” doesn’t have a back or arms. So itnotonly has simple look smuch easier to build tco, ‘And there's another benefit to this approach. You don't need to have a Jarge formal gardento justify building this garden scat. It will be right at home on a front porch, beside a lower bed, or in the backyard. ‘GIVE ARIST. This garden seat is ‘imple enowigh fo build ina weekend. uL 3 But you don't want to go out to bay ‘your lumber on Friday ing on Saturday mornin ifyou're working with dimensional lumber (‘ovo by” and “one by” stock —we used Dougias fir) Dimensional lumber can be pretty “wet” when you buy it, and it needs a chance to dry beforeyou start build- ing, like to let it set in my shop fora couple weeks. After tat time, there are usually small checks in the ends ‘of. few ofthe boards, and some of the boards will have warped. Waiting allows me to “seo” these problems before they get built into the seat (Chis also a good reason to buy a Woodsaith inexpensive and easy to build, and will fit nicely in a variety of settings. Tittle extra material to begin with.) ‘OUTDOOR SUPPLIES. Because this seat is going to spend significanttime out dors, you'll want to take care in selecting your supplies. Wheniteame to the glue and hardware, I used a water-resistant ghie (Franklin's Tite. bond I) and galvanized, exterior screws. Note: Ifyour seatis going to bbe outside all year long (@s opposed to keepingiton aporch or storing it away during the winter), you may ‘want to use a waterproof glue like plastic resin or polyurethane glues. FINISH. The finish will requiresome ‘extra care to0, We used a semitrans- ‘parent finish on our seat, see page 28, No. 116sear Stat curves exten Tells arson crbate contour eat Construction Details (OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 48° x 20%"D x 18°H tex2¥e th Solvanized screw a NS pace grain cg tower fal Legs glued up from isby stb (i 754) - 8 Douglas Fir (10.7 Bd, Ft) ‘Front and back Frame joined with sept dats are sortie and tanons— inte eo CUTTING DIAGRAM MATERIALS 2x6 (17x78) -& Douglas Fi(10.7 Bd. Ft) A begs (4) eee B Upper Ralls (2) 18x3- 16% € Lower Ralls (2) 1x3 - 16% D Upper Streichers (2) 1%x3-45 E Supports (2) We x3- 17% F Lower Stretcher(1) 12x 2-44 G F/B. Seat Slats (2) 44> 256-42 H Ctr Seat Slats(5) 44x 256-47% SUPPLIES + (12) 8x28" fh Exterior Serews + 2) #Bx 1 Fh Exterior Screws + (64) %6"-da, Face Grain Plugs No. 1166 ‘To build the garden sect, Istarted by ‘working on the legs. These are con- nected by rails on the ends and then bythe stretchers atthe front and baci. LEGS ‘The legs are thick posts that could hhave been cut from 4x4s, But Thad a hhard time finding Douglas fir txts, ‘so when making thelegs (A), [glued ‘up two pieces of “two-by” stock and ripped them 3° square, see drawing and detail’b' above. They can be cut to length at this point too (18"). LEG MORTISES. With the legs cut to size, three mortises canbe cut in cach leg; two for the rails and one for the stretcher, see detzil'b’ above. ‘When laying out these mortises, thetrick is to make sure that the four legs can be assembled later into a complete frame for the seat. This means the legs on each end of the seat should end upwith mortises that ‘mirroreach other, see detail’ above, ‘Shop Tip: When leying outthe mor- tises, the legs will bok better if the joint ines are all oriented the same. afriled these mortises on the drill press, see Figs. 1 and 1a. They're the ‘same width and length, butthedepths are different. On each leg, the two ‘mortises for the rails are only 17s" deep, while the one for the stretcher is 1%" deep, soe detail above. ROUT ROUNDOVERS. Now to complete thelegs, routed a Yi" roundover on all he edges excep the inside edge, see Fig. 2, Here,you wantosiopthe roundover 114" from the top ofthe Jeg. That's beceuse after the seat slats are added later, the outside slat is flash withthe inside edge oftheleg, SD) refer to detail'b’on page 29 ILS & UPPER STRETCHERS With the lexscomplete, Tegan work ‘on therails and upper siretchers, sce drawingabove. Therailsconnect the legs and create end assemblies Later, the stretchers will be acded to con- Woodsmith Ne. 136nect the two end assembles. UT TO SHE started by ripping the ‘upper (B) and lower rails (C) and the upper stretchers (D) to finished width @), see drawing. Then I cut the two pairs of rails 1654" long and the stretchers 45" long. CUTTINOHS. The next step is to cut ‘tenons on each pieee, see Fig. 3.The ‘tenons are identical, excep: for their lengths, see Fig. da. Note: The tenons should end up 7s" shorter than the depth of the mortises, sec detail ‘s! ‘on page 96. This way, the tenons wont “bottom out” in the mortises, and. there will be room for excess zhre, CUTDADOES. The next thing Idid was ‘cut dacioes that would hold the seat supportsand lower stretcher that are ‘added later, refer to page 26. These adoes are cut in the lower rail (C) and upper stretchers (D), see Fig. 4 ‘The dadoee are jf! deep, and they require multiple passes over a dado blade so they will match the thick= ness of the stock, see Figs. 4 and 4a. (Mine ended up 146" wide.) Here'saquick tipyou can use t cut these daudoes: Use the rip fence as a stop and flip the pieces between pase es, sneaking up on the width of the dadoes by adjusting the fence. This ddoes two things. On the lower rails, thistechniquecenters the dadoes per- tectly. (Allyouhave w do isstartwith, the blade roughly centered on the piece, see Fig, da.) For the upper “This garden seat requires sic eurves: inal one on each ofthe upper and lowerrails and onthe seatsupports, ‘But fortunately, all these curves are identical. So when laying them out, Tdecided it would be quickest to create a hardboard template so the pileces would end up the same. ‘There are a couple ways to lay No. 116 2”, neath sretchar ae ‘fee drawing page. stretchers, fippingthe pieces locates rails are cut along the bottom edge the dadoes the same distance from so they match the upper rails. each end, (But this time, start with To layout the curves, Lusedasim- the blade cutting the shoulder closest _ ple template, see box below. (It will tothe end of the pie also be used for the seat supports ‘COTCURVES. At this point, Iset aside ter) Thea cutthe curve with a band ‘the upper stretchers so could cut sawor sabre sawand sand itsmooth, some curves on the upper (B) and END ASSEMBIIES, Now the legs and lower rails (©, see drawing on page rails can be ghued together. But don't 26. Ontheupperrails,thiscurvecre- glue the stretchers between these ates more comfortable surface for end assemblies quite yet. There are silting. And the curve on the lower a couple more pieces to add first. ‘outthe curve You can either draw graph lines and plot points on the Dlank. Or bend a straightedue and ‘race it onto the template blank. With the curve laid out om the blank, next youcan cutit outwitha ‘band saw or sabre saw and then sand itsmooth — just ike it will be done onthe workpieces, Woodsuith:With the end assemblies glued together and the upper stretchers ‘complete, all that’s left to add to the frame of the garden seatare the seat supports and lower siretcher SUPPORTS & STRETCHER ‘The seat supports strengthen the slats that are added later And to determine the final length ofthese pieces, its a ‘200d idea to dry assemble the frame ofthe sea, see drawing at right. surronts. The supports (E) are ripped 3" wide and are cut to length to fit between the datloes cut in the upper stretchers, see drawing. (My supports were 17)! long) ‘UT CURVES. Afier the supports are cat to fit between the stretchers, all that’ eftisto cuta curve on the top edlge ofeach, This curveis the same as the one on the rails But there is one difference. On the rails, the ‘carves span from shoulder to shouk der, but the seat supports are alitle longer. So the curve is simply cen- tered side-to-side, which leaves a flat ‘spotat each end of the support, see Fig. 5. (Lused the same curve tem plate, see the box on page 22) ASSEMBLY. Ater the curves have ‘been cut and sanded smooth, the seat supports can be glued and screwed added, Idecided to wait untillaterto above, Nowllthats left for the frame between the two stretchers. To do plugthese holes, referto Fig.7. (For _is to add the lower stretcher. this, I dried counterbored pilotholes more on adding plugs, see page 34.) LONERSTRETCHER. The lower stretch- inthe uppersiretchers, see detal’s’ After I glued the seat supports er (F)isripped towidth tomafch the above. Note:Since there willbemore between the streichers, I glued the _ lower rail at the center, see drawing holes to plug after the seat siais are end assemblies in place, ee drawing above. (Mine was 214" wide.) Then { PS Tem ae BT ‘When its time to apply a finish on PANT. Another option is to paint ‘an outdoor project ike this. you thebench with anally primer and Ihaveseveraloptions rom whichto a couple coats of latex paint. This, chocse.Itallependsonwhatends of course, covers up all that beau ‘upunderneath the fais. {iu wood grata, but paint will pro- OUTDOOR OL. If 'd wanted fo ket tect the wood better (and longer) the grain ofthe wood stand out as than any other finishing option, uch as possible, [eouldhaveused _SEMLTRANSPARENT STAIN. When it anoilfinishformulatedfor outdoor came right down to it, couldn't use like DAP's Woodie or General bring myself to paint the garden the instructions for the stain you Finishes’ Outdoor Oil. This is a seat. But Lwaswiligto sacriicea pick out. But I found that when it ‘good choice with amoreexpensive litte of the wood grain for more came to staining the vertical sec- ‘wood, like redwood, Butyoull want protection, SoTused asemitrans- tonsiikethe legs ary foambresh to renew the finish every year by _ parent tin, see photo. ‘was helptl for removing the excess applying an additional coat of oil, BRUSHING TP You'll want tofollow so I didn't end up with any runs. Woodsmith No. 116