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EDROOM FURNITURE

BACHELOR S CHEST

N IGHT STAND

HEADBOARD

2.50OTES FROM THE SHOPO . 34

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WOOOSMITH

Editor

Dona ld 8. _I lk.

OeslgnOlreclo,

Ted Kralicek

.r s tan , Edlto,

Stlve

Krohmer

A rt D lreclor

KIYMulder

Tod1nicat IItU5 l1 a l0< 8

O ,d Kreyllng

Mike Henry

Su_pllon Manager

Sandy Baum

S_pbOO

ssIslant

Chrt.telMlner

VIcky RoblnlOn

Jockle Stroud

ShlrloyF._

Ann William.

Diane Starr

C o m pu te r O p e t 8 t 1 o n s

Ken Miner

CIICtltationManage'

J e ff F a rr is

Adm ln ls trallveAsSlslan l

Cheryl Scott

Building M ain te nance

AfChl. Krause

WDODSMITlf (ISSN 0164-4114) Is

P \ I b I is l e d

b im o nl hly ( Ja n u. 'Y .

March.

M ay. July.

Scp

_, November) by WoodsrnI1Il PlJb ish Iog

Co..2200GrandA.e., Des Moines,lowa503'2.

WOOO5Mmt ISa r_,ered uademarl< 0I1he

WOocismtll PuI>ksIWlg Co.

'Copyright tN4

by

W oodsmttll

PubIisIling

Co.

I Rlgh R... ,.,ed.

Subscription.: One year (6 issues) 510. Two

ye.rs (12Issu ) $18. 5'910 copy p

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3

OOlD SM ITH

II )f o u d lik e to s ha re a w oo dw ork ing tJ pwi-lhother

rea,dGr of

Woodsmlth,

send your Idea to:

Wood IfJim

TIps teChniques, 2200 Grand

Ave . Des Mo in es , Io w a 5 03 12 .

Wopay aminlmu , of 10 fo t

Ups ,

andSl5

more

ro r

s pe cia l t ec hn iq ue s (th a t

a rB

aoc p lad

for publication). Please give a complete 8X

planailon

of

yoor idea.

II

sketch Is ~eed ~

send

It

a long : w e ll d raw a new one .

S N

IN

YOUR

I E S

Fina,ly, r came on the idea of co mbin in g

t],e corner Cllk>ffs with two Ccl.amps to

form a corner clam p. 'l'h~ corner clamps

can he used

to

sq ua ..,

up

c as e w ork,

or to

just clamp

together

the

co rners

on

a

m i

te re d (11Ime .

To make the clamps, glued .two of the

% thick co rner cut-orfs tegethel' to produce

a 1 t thi ck bracket,

Then

T

;>oredtwo

holliSfor the C-e,lamj)pads, and cu~off the

sharp corners on the ends of the bracke t,

Fin.ny, the edge~ are trimmed and

sanded so they're smooth and perfectly

square , (lfthe s to c k u s e d for the I ysusan

is square to begin with, having tc square

the

cl amps can

he

eliminated.}

PetTy

li o I iO >

W al/wila N o tIJ . D a ko ta

Steve..

Jotmeon.

D es M o i

ss,

Iow a

SCR AP W OO D C ORN ER CLAMPS

Not too long ago,

had

t o

make a large

number of Lazy Susan shelves. Every

thing went together just

fine until

real

ized

was Producing a mountain of cut-off

corners that were taking Over my shop. I

haled the thought of feeding.all tliose cut

off .

into

my

wood heatel; so

decided to

come up '\.lith som e 'ay to use the sc rap s.

The advantage to this system is thauthe

screen in no way effects the air flow from

the fan, yet it prevents large debris from

faDing intg the router. I'veused my router

this way (or

~

years, and have had no

problems.

table, protected the molor with small

piece of fiberglass SCreen

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WOODSMITH

hardwood edging strips. see Figo.

4

and

6.

The tongue on the top edge isusedlater to

attach

the top panel.

These tongues

mU

fit into grooves that

are routed in the edging strips. To gouge

the thickness of the tongues, first rout a

groove

in

test piece

with

a ~ straight

bit.. Then the tongues are cut on a router

table to fit thi$

g roov .

Set up the router table with %

straight bit to rout V.,,;de rabbets on

both faces of the plywood to produce the

Y. - long

tongues,

se c

Fig.

3.

Adjust the

depth of cut until the thickness of the

tongue fits the groove in the test piece.

IlECORATIVE SIIOULDER. Aft. the

tongues are cut, 1 added

a

Yo'-wideshoul

der on the front, back, and to p edges of'the

plywood

to

set off the panel in the frame,

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

This

assures

the grooves

are

routed in

the same position on both sides.

aocr GROOIPS. To rout the grooves,

clampan auxiliary fenee to the plywood

anr l

usc a handheld router with

a

YI

slraight bit,

se e

Fig. 2.

Istarted with the top groove. This

groove should be

iI

down from the top

edge of the plywood.

se e

detail in

fig

2.

(Alter Ihis measurement 10 equal the

thickness ofthe stock for the web frame.)

The position of the next four grooves

is

critical because they determine the siU of

the openings for the drawers.

To preduee the

COlTeCt

height for the

drawer openings, rout these four grooves

8 they're exactly 7.r apart measuring

from the top of each groove, se e Fig. 1

AlWr the grooves are routed, rip the

double- wide panel in half and trim it to

form tw o panels, each6~ide.

RO~'TTONGUES.

The next step is to rout

tongues on the front back, and top edges

of each plywoodpanel. The tongues onthe

front and back edges are used to attach

This chest of drawers is built

exactly the opposite Of the

way it was d.signed. That

m ay n ot m ak e m uc hs en se. but

that's one ofthe problems you

fa wh.n you set out to build

a chest ofdraw.rg- you have

todesignthe deawe rs

s t 3nd

then destgn

t

he cabinet

around them.

Thisis O$peeiallyrue Ofthis

chest b ec au se w e wanted to

build it with draw

er s

that

a re

a tittle out of the ordinary.

There's no hardware on the

drawers -

n o p u lls

metal

guides. Instead, these draw

er s

are designed

with

eon

cealed cove as a finger

pull.

and a guide system that's

madecompletely of wood.

In order to make al l of this

work, th e cabinet hllJ to tAke

into account the

eoved

lip Ie

sign on the drawer fronls, as

well as the method used to

WUOL

the

dra wers

in

the

cabinet, and the final

Si lA}

of

the drawers . In other words,

the cabinet is

deslgned

to nt

the drawers,

h e se d esig n c on side ra tions

are discussed in m ore detail in

the artic le o n

bui ld in g drawers

that begins on page 13. OnC

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,

1/ ..... W ID E,

DEep

REUlif

vr~

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[0

PLYWOOD

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WOOOSMlTH

5

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I: O G I, . . G ;1

THIC~flt

l['o N ,PA N E\ .

If

BACK EDGJNG

-

-

-

-

l:

D JMINSIONS GIVI N

?

O lOP 0': GROOVeS

I

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i

CAalN(r

SIDE tA NEl

I 7r

. ,

1 1

A U GROOV lS

1~

W tl)e-,

~

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It

. lONG rONGUES CENTERED

7

ON

THIC1(NBS

01 sroc~

i

11f~

TO~E O~ Bo rrO M EOQ~~ t,_

...J ~THIC~NESStOF

4t4STOC~

T (SE,oriA lt)

I

PO ,S ln O N GROO vr

SO EDGIN G IS /;q

A60VE PA N El

---

@

fROtir

EDGING

cur lIe UEF O N TO P

A ND SID E EOGE S

O N lY

-- 0 STR A lG HT

an

1 / / 1 1 0v :.

YONGUE CE:N ttiRE O O N

Pl..yW OO O

F fOUJ I 3

see Ftgs. 4 and 6. Rout this shoulder Yio F IGURE:,

wide and V o deep on the outside face o f the

plywood panels. see Fig. 3.

THE EDGIN G S TRIPS

Now the 'solid-wood edging strips can be

added to the front and back edges of ~he

plywood sides. AU of these strips are cut

from 5 /4 stock (1110.' thick actual).

BACK OGl NG.

The back edging strips

(C), arc ripped to width so they're just

slightly (~.) wider than the thickness of

the plywood sides, see em ss Section ill

Fig.

1.

1 his extra width provides just

enough material so the

surface of the

strips

can be planed and sanded down perfectly

flush with the plywood.

Then these strips are ell~ to length so

Lhe)'r. equal to the distance fron\ the

bot

tom of the plywood panel to

the

Shoulder

of

the tongue on the

top

edge, CO Fig. 1-

RO ljTGROO I'& .A fO Or the strips are eut to

si ze , rout, a

V i x V

groove on the edge o f

the strip to match the tongue on the back

edge of the plywood panel, see Fig. 1.

I

routed

this groove on the

router

table,

making

sure

it

was

positioned s o th e

extra

~ ... in width w a s sticking up above the

oul i ~ace of tbe plywood.

R..B B t.VJ FO R B ACJ:\ .

A l o , c u t - a o / lt ; I ' - \ v id e

by W.dcep rabbet 0 11 the back edge of the

edging strip for the 14 plywood back. see

Fig. 5. Shop Note:

J

used a labJe saw

rather than the router ,able

to

cut this

rabbet-because the saw produces a cleaner

edge along the shoulder of the rabbet.

FROl;T EDClN C . The front edging strip

(B) is ripped J Owide

and cut

to tbe same

length as the back-strip, Sect'ig.

,I.

Then a

Y x

l / . t l l

groove is routed on the inside face

to fit the tongue on the front edge of the

plywood panel, see Fig. I.

This groove is positioned exactly the

same distance f

r

om the oUl ide edge

as

the

groove on the back edging strip. (That is,

.s o

ihe.edge

ie V ,

8bo .Ye

the

su rtace O f

the

plywood.) Since this groove is in exactly

We Same position, it cal l be cut US ,g the

Same set-up on the router table.

ASSEM BLY. Finally, glue the e lling

strips- to the tongJ.les on the plywood. Be

sure the top end of each edging 5t.rip is

6ush with the oulderoflhe tongue on the

top edge of the Side, see Figs 4 and

5 .

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6

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WOODSMITH

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S t o r

10 BACXII:AIItt. SYIUACl WlDTH-

Of

m'I

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TONGUES

LtNGTNOf WE 'IAMI

RAlI.$ EQUAlS INSIO(

OlM(NStQHS Of

aINY

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~Hn to . P : PANfl

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S T O O P E O

GROOVES

.J

l

flGUIlE6

TOP PANEL

To complete lhe basle cabinet, the sides 1 t

are joined together with. top frame and

five web frames.

PLYWOOD PANEL. The first step on the

top frame is to cut the plywood panel

(D)tosize.

2914 '

long by

15w ide.

Then

eu t

rabbets on both raees to form yolong

tongues on aU four edges. Also rout a

Y .. . -wide, deep shoulder on the out,ide

face o( the plywood. se e Detail in Fig. 7.

FR.- lE.

After .he panel is cut. the four

frame members can be cut to size. Cut the

frontlback rails

(El

to length SO they're

equal

10tbe shoulderla-shoulder length of

the panel. se e Fig. 6.

The width of these rails should be 1 t o .

However. this width may have to be ad

justed because you want 10 be sure lhat

r

~;=~~=:f=:=:===;;~=;~~==~~~~~~=:==;~=:f~:wben these rails are anaebed to lhe panel,be total width

o f

this top a mbly i. equal

1~\

't~t':,~~.~rON ~

l -'.__.J to the width of the cabinet. side~.

. f : \ . O W J ) , .o , : 1 l As for the stiles F) for the top (ramc,

they're cut H wide and

M

long as the

cabinet sides are wide (17'Y').

GROO\'f;S.Next. grooves are cut in the

frame members to match Ihe tongues on

the plywood panel. On the ti'Ontiback rn il~

(E), rout a Y groove on the edge of both

pieces SO tho (ace of the rail~ i. slightly

above (~ ) the surface of the panel, see

details in ~'ig. 7.

O n the stiles (FI, the gro ove

has

to be

stopped (rom both ends of the stile to

prevent it from showing. see F'ig. 6. I

routed this stopped groove on the

router

table, making

a

plunge cuL to .ta.i the

groove and lifting the stile off the bit to end

the cut.

Then I routed an identical

y

toPlled

groove on the bottom edgeofthe stiles, see

c r e s s Section in Fig. 7. This groove is for

attaching the top frame to the cabinet

sides, see Fig. 8.

BE\tL EDGE.After the grooves are cut,

glue all fou r frame members to the top

panel. Then rip a

1 .

\\;de. 45 bevel on the

front edge of the top frame, se e Fig. 7.

WEB FRAM ES

To complete

th e

~inel. five web

t 'ramco

are

built to

connect

the cabinet sides. In

order to determine the size o r the~

frames. dry-clamp the completed top

frame to the cabinet sides.

mE RAJl.S.Nov.',measure the distance

between the cabinet sides (this sbould be

ao W ')

to find the length o( the frontJbaek

rails (G. H . and

I),

se e Fig. 8 . The width o(

the..

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7

~fJit~EDN~~__~

FRO NT RA il ____

FI G U R E 1:1

NOTCH D EtA il

I.. WI.. ~. OfE )

GE OON .AIl (S , 131~

r- --

51.

Q)

~i

80JTOM

we

FRAME

I .

1 /.

TONGUE

..-- flf S IN GROOVE

r

O N Si D E p~Nn

I.-t ll __ .-

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

TH ill M IDD LE f.AMES

n j

. ( . : . V < : lONGU

ON OVTSID f ED GE

;OltNEi

DETAil

,-

tOe

Y E~

WOODSM ITH

TO P W E B flAM E

3 h

_ 7..

;;;:. . : ...

__

FIGURl9

Measure tb e d istance between tbe front

edgillg))iece(B J

and

toherabbet on the

back

edging 'piece (this should be .

160/.).

then

su btract the thickness of the fl 'ontiback

rails l o / .. . + '0 /,,

=

lW), an d a d e l y fo r

th e two \Io -lo ng stu b tenons that \ \ 1 1 1 be

cut on the end s of the stile s, see Fig. 8.

This s ho uld p ro du ce a final length of loY./ '

fol'

th e s lile& (J) . The w idth of all the stiles

J)

is 1% '.

GROO SFO I', ~L.After th e ra il. and

st iles ar e cu t to s iz e, a g ro ov e is c u e on the

ins ide edge of ea ch p ie ce for the plywood

p an el. T he g ro ove in al l the stiles (J) is

ce nte re d on the ed ge of each piece and

wide enough

to

m atch th e thickness

of

th e

plywood panels.

TO PWE D rR A.IIE .

the groove in t he fro nt

back rails 0 of the top fram e is al so

ce ntered o n th e th ickness o f th e rail- the

same as th e sti les.

However , the. procedure for cutting the

grooves on the o ther

ft antes

varies be

c au se o f the w idth of the rails.

~nOOL WEO

FR AltF-S.~'he frontJback

l-ails (I:IJon tire three m iddle web fr ames

are

1

wide, se e P ig .

10.

Th is extra w idth

means the groove can't be centered. In ..

Stead} it s po.~itioned the same distance

from th e b ottom edge as th e groove on the

st ile s, see detail in ~ig. 10.

To cut these grooves se t the fence on

the saw us ing the g ro ove in the . stil e as a

g uid e. M a ke th e

JiI'St

pass, and then a ci ju st

th e fence to w iden the groove to match th e

thickness o f t he p ll~vood panel : and m ake a

second pass

to

finish the groove.

UO M OMW86 FRAME.

On the bottom w eb

fram e, the extra-wide rails (1) al so ... v e a s

a kiekboard fo r the cabinet . The groo ve in

these rails is

a

li ttle bit Il ipky

to

cut..

To locate the po sitio n o f th e g ro ove, I

used. rail fro m o ne ofthe m iddlef ra m es as

a

guide, see Fi g.

12.

Line up the to p ed ges

f bO th p ie ce s, and m ark the lo ca tio n o f the

g ro ov e o n th e b otto m rai l 1). Then cut the

gr oove u sin g th e mar k as a guide.

s r u s TEi'lONS. ,A fter a ll th e l l O O v e s ar e

cut, stub tenons ore cu t On the ends o( bhe

stil es (J)

to

fi t th e g ro ov es in th e ra ils. Thi.

is $inmly

a

m atter of cutting two

rabbets

on the e nd s o f t he stiles to p ro duce the stu b

ta no n, se e d etails in

Figs.

9, 10, an d 11.

iOXCUEQNSTlLE

N ex t cuta rabbet o n

the outside edge of all the stiles (JJ to

produce a tongue that,

fit.

the grooves in

th e sides of the cabinet,

NOTCH.

Finally, cut a y .

x 10/

notcb on

th e front rail of th~ th ree m id dle fr ame s

an d the bottom fram e, see Fig. 13. This

n otc h is u ;

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WOOSMITII

~

T HE D R AW E R GUID E SYSTEM

When the web frame. arc complete, the

next step is to attach the drawer guides

(P), see Fig. 14. Cut the four drawer

guides wide enough so the top edge of the

guide is y . above the front

rails

see Fig.

15. Then trim them 10length so they butt

against the back rail, and extend to the

front edge of the front

rail,

se e

Fig. 1'1.

Next, eut a rabbet on the front end orlh.

guides

so it

overlaps the notch in the front

rail,

se e

Fig. 14. Also. chamfer the top

edges or the guides slightly to reduce bind

ing. Then glue the guides 10 the plywood

panel of the web frame .. theire centered

on

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,

9

. ., -

. . .

, -

1( 0

P lYWOOD

K 0

~. . . . . . .

l-4 VWOOO

~

. . . ~

A l A

0 ( 0

0 0

[tOM' i*~cnc17~.pt'z *a~**at' t

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. NYlON G u o .

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WOODSMITli

CUTTING DIAGRAM

K

1_.u... IOnOMYllW

., elIAtANCE'

i

I

L~\ ' (, ' l-C~_OW _t

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10/24

lf NG ;tH O f T EN ONOlTIS W ITH CH ISEL

ClEA N SlO~OF

US

E S AM E FE NC E

SffilN TO Tl t iM

tll

L~NGTHOF

lENa.;:'

WllH

MUlTiPlE

PASSES

JO IN .ER .,Afte rt1 be uprights an d ra ils a re

Out to size, they're joined together with

mortise and tenon joints complete

step . .by . .step e xplanation of how to cut. a

morti se and tenon jo int is given in ood

. ,iti

No. 26.)

Basically , 31 1 this involve s is borin g a

series'o~%' holes centered

OIl

the width

o r

the stock and ; y deep, see Fig. A. Then

clean up che cheeks of the mortise with a

to.the

length

necess ar y to

put the

UPrights

in the tight position

011

fh~ be d I ra m e.

MIDDLE RAfL, The middle rail (C) is

ripped to a width of

2 , Then

to

deter

mine the length of this rail, take.the final

length of the top rail ~B), subtract- the

width of both uprights (314' each, 01 a ootal

of 6~') and add 1~ for the two ~Iong

tenons on the ends of the middle rail, see

Fig. I,

By the tim. ~Jinished building ~he chest of

drawers and the night stand shown in this

issue,

no long. . had a choice -

J

had

to

build a headboard to match, The head

board shown here.is designed to fit a queen

siz e bed. But. it's very easy to alter the

d im ensi ons

to fi t any ma ttr e s s

size .

THE

~A5IC

FRAME

Building thj. headboard is really just a

matter of'bullding a very ',rgofr.methat's,

joined 1 tl1 mortise and tenon joints. To

St.rt construction, 1 CUtthe uprights A

and the top

B

and middle

C rails

to size

from

~

stock

(1 ' -th ic k sto ck).

U I'IIICU'I'S. rh e

uprights

(A ) ar e

cut

311lOI:

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13

VOODSMITH

want to avoid.)

CUT

S lUE TO

WIUTII.HopefUlly the

cabi

net has been built L planned -with open

ings 61 high. If it is, rip the stock for the

drawer sides and backs to

a

width of

6~

If the opening is larger or smaller than

p lanned, th e dra we rs c an st ill be made , bu t

the dove ta il s won t have tb e p rope r spac

ing. And, because of the way the dovetail

jig works, the dovetail

the bottom edit.

will be affected the most. It may be only

partially cut, and thus it ill look a litlle

odd

and

will be

8

Iitlle weak. but

the

draw.

ers will hold together.

CtlTSII)ElI

TO

I_.~SGTII.

A ile the

drawer

sides ar e cuI to width, they can be cut to

length. This is basically

a C t

to fit oper

ation. ThlltlR,

thedrawer

sides

must

be

cut,

to length

the 3s.~enllileddrawer

fits

the

depth ofihe

cabhw t. .. wuh a

little

clenr

ance between the back of the drawer and

the back of the cabinet.

Todo this, first meas ure the depth ofthe

cabinet. Then subtract the thickness or th

drawer front V,. )and drawer back (~ ')

add on th~ length of the dovetails (they

overlap on the fronL an d

back

total of

~ ), and finally .ubtNICI Lbe amount of

clearance needed at the back (usually

;4 is s u ff ic le n t) . T h e n cu t th e-d raw er s id es

to length.

Cl7l IJACK I ,, )

1~f.N(;. PII,

Next the

drawer

back can be cut to length. This is relatively

e as y to de te rm ine . o n the drawers in the

chest and night stand beeause the length of

the back is equal to the length of the

drawer's front.

The length of the front is determined by

measuring the width of the cabinet open

ing and subtracting an amount ror clear-

counts ror drawer sideo thaL are

6 y

high

and Kl - f or c learance . These are not

arbi

In\fj dimensions.

I )OVETAIL SPACING.The 6 4 height fo r

the drawer sides produces prope l spacing

fo r the dovetail jOitlt when i tf i c ut. \v ith a

router and

dovetail

jig . rl'hi~proper spae

lng

means

that tho dovetail.

are

evenly

spacedon the drawer side

ith

a halfpin o n

the top edge and

a

half pin on the bottom

edge, as shown in fig. I.

Shop Note: The smallest width for a

drawer side when the dovetailjig is

used

is

I~ . FT Omhere the idth of the sides can

increase in increments

of~.

and s l. iU

have

proper spacing for the routed

dovetails.

One of thes e incrementa 1S6Y

f

A nother is

4 Y A the dimension used ror the drawer

in the night stand.

CL&,IltANCE.Also included in Lhe height.

ofthe drawer o pe ni ng i s n c le arance of ~ .

This. allows

Yl~ or

c le aranc e be tw e en the

top edge of the drawer and the web

frame

above it. plus V O l for the head of the nylon

gUde that the bottom edge of the drawer

side rides on , see

. i g .

1 .

These two allowances demonstrate the

importance of planning ahead - you have

to know how the drawer isgoing to be built

d

how It's to be mounted. Bx using a

nylon glide, you have to plan ahead for the

Y l t space th a t it requires. So, we're deal

ing with rather sma]] lQ lcrnnces for the

cabinet openings.

[r

there s much mo re than Y 1 ~ clearance

above the drawer, it ill tend to drop down

too much when it's opened. (You know the

feeling when you open a drawer and the

front d rops there'. that sudden fear and

quic k m ov e

to

catch it That. s

what

) OU

'rhe drawers used on the chest and the

night stand shown in this issue a re 1Ilittie

out of the

ordinary;

We wanted to keep the

design c lean and sim p le ... ye t we

also

wan t ed

to build drawers that ...ere inter

esting from. woodworking standpoint.

To make them interesting. we de ci de d to

have absolulely c lean drawer fronts-not

even any drawer

pulls.

Instead,

t lower

edge of the drawer front has a concealed

CO\ t which is used to open tile drawer,

This feature had to be taken into con

sideration for the design of Ihe cabinet as

well a s th e

d:..

wer;

The

draw er

f''O''t

hi ls 1 0

extend down fa,' enough to allow room fo,

the cove, see Fig.

I.

At the same time, the

cabinet has to be designed so rnere s

enough clearance to allow you to get your

finlters

Into

the

eoved

lip.

JU this de.ign took shape, what we were

really dOing was designing the

chest

around the drawers.

Or

more precisely,

desiln'ing the openings in the chest for

specific drawers.

After

all the design considerations

were

worked out, there was still the practical

mauer or building the drawers. This In

volved two basic

de cisions:

1) the con

struction (joinery) that would be used fo,'

the

drawers, and 2)

the method used to

mount them in tbe cabinet (the guide

sy lU m).

DRAWER CONSTRUCTION

JU

f ar a s

the construction of these drawers

is concerned. I built them using

4 1 4

mahog

an y

for the drawer fronts and ~~yca ,ore

for the sldes and backs.

USing two different wood. like this is

common practice. The drawer

rront

Is

made with the same wood used for the est

of the cabinet (mahogany in this ens . ofthe

projcoUl

in this issue). Then the sides and

back are made of

inexpensive

stock. (We

usually use ~ sycamore or poplar for the

ides and bJICkbecause tbese '()()ds are

downril ht cheap around bere. and they're

also easy to work with.)

DEIGnT

OF

OPE:''l.\'G.

To

build the draw

ers for the chest, I started with the side.

and back. The first step here i. to

rip

1'.'

stock to width so i~its the height of Ihe

opening In the eabinet.

That.sounds

simple

enough, bllt the most 'important thing

about building drawers is the plannlngthat

precedes this measurement.

Tho height of the opening should aetu

ally be determined when the cabinet i. in

the de,iln' and planniog SIB .

The h st of drawers is designed with

oponings that are 61 high, which ae-

I Y U

CHAW Ea

iO fOG

:~

,- =,

:~

..... CUAtAHCf

f

[ ~

.

.

~

e ,OR~WIR

f RO NI O VlR LA t S RA il Ir.

~

[ J :

~

.

----~

-

-

Ifi

r

i..

CLEARANCE

,

',

?r ~'

..

I

It~

OVE

(

NYlON GUOf

Building Drawers

T H E DETA IL S FOR DRAWER CONSTRUCTION

7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 034

14/24

WOODSMITH

The only problem is that the last dovetail

has W be completed. 'lb do this, replace the

drawer front with a piece of scrap

wood,

and continue routing.

see

Fig. 7. (The

scrap wood will help to prevent chip-cut on

the drawer side as the last dovetail is

routed.)

ROL'TCO\1-.

When

these

joints

are

com

plete, the \ cove can be routed on tbe

bottom edge .fthe drawer fronts. [did this

on

router table.

Then I chamfered the

top

edge at 45'.

This allows a IIltie oxtrn space to ge t your

fingers in t.o the cove to open the

drawer,

Before Msembling the drawer, I also

rounded

over the lop edges

of

the

drawer

side s w ith a l'i lO\lnd..oveJ bit. This is no t

8neeessarv step , but,

it .tIoOftens the edg es o f

the sides, and il just looks nicer when you

open the drawer.

MOUNTINGTHE noM

The last step in making the drawer is toeut

the gt OO\'c,W mount the drawer bottom;

Again, this n quire planning ahead. The

gt OO'

es

should

be

positioned

so

they

don't create a gap that', visible on the

outside ofthc drawer, and 2

so

the drawer

botwm is high enough to leave room forth.

runner that's part. of the guide system.

For these drawers, Ipositioned the

groove so it's

from the botlom edge of

th e drawer R id e. see I- ig . 4 . rh is . un

fortunat

7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 034

15/24

0 ,

. C lEW INTOotAWJ lACK

THtcK

1 5VOODSM.lTH

GlU l GU IDo l UJt

OWU_

~L

510

\ ~ CHAMf[ ON

~aonoMDG

AN D (NOS

FIGUI

u s t :

I.

S T O C K F O R

S ID ES A ND 8ACK

nC II t Simp ly a p iece o f

m a ple w ith

a g roove

dow n th e

center.

The runne r should

be

about

Y t

wider

than the guide bar to allow a

V

o n e ac h

side of the greove, (Once a ga in, this ,,;dth

Vias planne d (or w he n the not-th \ 35 c ut in

the front runner.)

When the groove is cut in the runner, the

width

of

the

groove should

allow for

n

smooth

ti t

ov e r the guide bar - just

w ide

enough

J;O it lito over the

b al'

e.sily, but not

sloppy.

The depth of the

greove

should be such

that \,hen the bottom o( the

groove is

riding on the top ofthe guide

bar,

the

sides

of the drawer are riding on the glides.

~OUSTTIl~RUNNEIt.Alter the (TOOves

cut, the only problem is how to mount. the

ru n ne r to the bottom of the draw er; T h do

this, cut the runner to length so it s a

very tight fit between the front and back of

th. drawer.

Then push it in place on the drawer

bottom and moun; the drawer in the cabi

net. ro pOSition the runner, push the

drawer nil the way into the cabine t until

the dra w e r D'Ontis in full conta ct with the

ra iJ s , (Th is will ensure

the

drawer

is not

rocked out of pcsition.) Ab;o, adjust the

drawer front from side to side until tbe

clearance at both ends of the drawer front

is the

s a me .

Now, earefully pull the drawer out and

mark the pusition of the r unne r , Apply glue

and place

n weight (a

brick will

work)

on

the runner

[0

clamp it to the bottom.

D A A E M S T O P .That e em p le t e s the guide

system. There's only one lest detail to

complete the drawer. To ,top the drawer

from b \ R No\\ the guide

bar ca n be mounted to the web frame.

Apply glue to the bottom edge of the bar.

and place It 011 the web

frame

'0 it's

centered in th e notch in the r lil, see ~'ig. S .

Then clamp the guide bar in plnce with

~Iamps on the front and bark. As the

clamps are ti)thtened, make sure the guide

bar is exactly square with the front rail.

Although this bar can

b e

screwed to the

w e b f ra m e, I th in k g tu in g a n d c lam pin g is a

better procedure. DUling the I'OC.'S of

driUing Jlilo~ holes and driving in the

s e r e w s

the bar is bound to

I li p

out of

square. So I think it's better to just apply

glue and clamp it in

p l a c e .

nu: Rlr.

7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 034

16/24

W O O O S M lT H

M

t

r

F

1 V ..

x 71. - _ ~

B

ev.roll

D imensions.:

24 lC 2lPW - 16*0

A

Slde

Pernel.

(2)

I

ly 141 lC 23 /1

8

i~ft . Edgings (2) 11/1. lC 1

. -

22 '1 .

G

Side Bk . Edgings (~ )

1/1 .. X

:V .. _ 221~

0

Top Ponel 1

'/ .. p1 '113 x ,17 '/..

TOp

Roil s

(fl t/Bk) (2)

11/... X 1 16

F Top Stil es

(SId ) (2)

lV, ..

x

11. 16

G

T op W .b fr Roil. (2) 10/,. x 0/, ... laY;

M id W eb F r R oll,

(:2)

0 / .. .

IV

t81.4

Web F t Stilet

4

, ..

x

1 0 /. 1 3 0 / . ..

J Web Fr Pono * (2)

1/. pty 13 V . .. lC16

1

Blm She lf Po ne (1 )

o/ . pt y

14.x 19

B tm She lf

Edgin9J ~2

IV , .. ~

1 - eut

to

fit

M

Kicltbootd

1 0/, ..

x2h-

19

N

Otower Front

l)

/, . . l CS '/4 - 161

0

Draw e, 80ck

1 Il:

lit

40/. - 1M .

P

O ro we r Sld@ s(2) Ihx4 -13~

Q

Drowo Bottom 1

II pfy - Ul 10 fit

R

DfQwe f G uide

(1)

,)/ , . . t h f ck - (out

to

fi t

S

Drewet Runn er

1 V.. . J I :

l1h

wt

to

fil

T

Cos.e Bo(k ,1 / . . p ly - (ul to fit

1 6

CUnlNG DIAGRAM

THE CABINET SIDES

To build this night stand, r started

with

the side frames, w hich co nsist

of a plywood panel. with edging

strips on the front and back edges.

PANEL. First,

cut

t \VO : y . 1 p l y wo o d

panels (A) to size:

14 0/8

wide by

23 t

long . Then to attach the web frames and

bottom shelf, thnee grooves are cut across

the inside face on both plywood panels.

R OU T G R OO V E S . To cut these grooves, I

used the router table. Set up the router

table to rout y.x y grooves a c r o ss each

e a b i n e t.sid .

T h e to p g r o o v e is p o sib i o n e d lY 1 6 d o w n

(rom t he top edge or the plywood panel.

This allows for the V.f-Iongtongue on Wp

MATERIALSLIST

If you plan to build the chest of

drawers shown on page 4 you ll

eventually want

LO

build

a

night

stand to go with it. But that's not

such

a bad deal, at least

Irom

a

w o o d w o rk in g standpoint.

111 fact, yo u maywant to build the

nights tand first- it makesan excel

lent warm-up project fOJ'he chest of

drawers. t has all the design fea -

tures

o( the chest, but in

a

smaller

scale.

The basic cabinet is built exactly

the ;ODIeway as the chest, except it

has only t\VO web frames (one abo ve

and one belowthe drawers). And of

course, the re s om} one drawer to

build which makes

things a 10L

easier.

_ _ _ N _ jght

Stand

A BED SID E COMPAN IO N

groove, clamped a fence LO the

plywood and used a hand-held

router.

l \ l i .C Il E S. After the grooves are

cut, Y.o'-longongues are em , on t~e

front, back, and top edges of the

p ly w o o d panels. S i n e e these tongues

w il l have .to

fit

v.. -wide grooves

touted in the edging

strips,

outed

a groove ina test piece gauge the

thicklless of ~he tongues.

Then to

c u t

the tongues,

used a

%' bit

in

the router table, seeSteps

1 an d 2 in ~'ig. I. Set the reneeto cut

a Yl-wideorabbeton both faces ofthe

plywood. A

7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 034

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(i:l

,ONT

IOOINO

IY WOOD

S I E P N E L

(A )

. ClW

7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 034

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WOODSMITH

THE WEB fRAMES

After the side Irames and the top frame arc Itf

complete, the

two

web frames

an d

the '

bottom shelf can 00 built.

\VEO

tR.UtES.The

two web

frames are

almost identical. The overall dimensions

and the length of the Individual pieces are

the same, the only difference is the width

of the frontlback rails (G and

H.

BAns.

To

get

the length of the rails ror

the web frames, dry-damp the top frame

to the sides of the cabinet. Then measure

the distance between the side frames to

get the length of the

rail,

(G and

H.

This

should 00 I8~-. refer 10Fig. 3.

Although the length of the rnils on both

frame>;

is

the same, the width is dilTerent.

On

the top frame the rails (G) are ripped

I . wide (see Fig. 3), and the rails (H)on

the middle frame are ripped

IV

wide, see

Fig. 4.

S T I L e s .

The stiles (I) on both web frame.

are the same size. To find the lenj th oflhe

stiles, first measure

Irom

lhe front.

moldiog on the cabinet

side

to the

rabbet

in

the back molding. Then subtract the thick

ness of the front and back rails

V.

0/ ,,), and add a

v

for the .Iong stub

tenons on Ihe ends of the stile . The unal

measurement should be 130/, . , A . for the

width, the stile. are

.11 10/. wide.

cnoovss To join the raUs and sutes,

fu'St cut. gro ove on the inside edge of each

piece to match the thickness (If the ply

wood panel, see the Details in Figs. a and

4. Then cut stub tenon. on the end. of tho

stiles to match the groove in tho ral ls. Also

cut a rabbet on tho outside edge of the

stiles to form a v tongue to

fit

the groove

in the cabinet sides.

NO I C I I. Before the middle frame is n

sembled. eut 1 0 / 1 wide, - deep nOleh

centered on the front mil fo,' the drawer

guide.

see

Fig. 6. Then

drill

V hole 114

Jr om each end of the front rail for the nylon

glides, Fig. 5.

ASSE>18LY. Dry- assemble the fram

and take

measurements

ror lhe

14

ply

woodpanels. Cut the panels to fit, .n t c l t

in the frout rail. Glue it to

the web frame 0it's eentered on the width

of the frame.

THE BOTTOM SHElf

The bottom shelf conslsts or plywood

panel with edging strips on the front and

back edges,

CuT 1'&~ELTOSlZE,To build this shelf,

first eut, t,he plywood panel (K) to length 60

it's V,longer than the inside width ofthe

cabinet. (The extra is for the

1 1

18

7

, (i)RON I

t -.,.-9 ---,

,

J

L

onOM NElf rA .N ti. ,

lAC.

rlUt\

T O NG U E S A T

COtN lS Tom

. .

~iJI....

toN GUS

. . .

L ccc

cut rc anwuH lACk

f~NG ON CA IIWE T1-01'5 ,

J

~~~r S

oaooVE

ON

. NO SIOIS

Il NO TO t:

CfHfU.fO

FIOHT lAll

LO

I

I

I

I

l

-1.~

~

1 ;

.-

~

- - 1

CJtOSnn

1

C U T W I DT H

Of

... GU IDE ~.

A IO V E RAJl

GUIDE

N OT CH G UIDE to FI T FRONTRAIL

R.I.. ONf l > O . 0

nT tl i lW1ilN RAILS

:t ..

~t~6~:

MAlt

AU ClOOYES

ol(P.

((NlIRIO ON STOCk

~_~Dt.EW (e. F RAM J

IJ

I

D

Stilt

MOtE FO R

~y ONGUDE

~

- . . 1

, .. P lYWOOO ;Ct;S.The tirSt step in building the

drawer is

to

cut the drawer sides

(P)

and

badtI11lRCORSf:R:;. After the mortise and smooth cut on the bottom 5houlder.

the width ofthe two stiles (1%' each) plus a tenon joints are cut, the ends on both rails After the initial scoring pass, move the

total of Vi - (or expansion space between are mitered al_ISIO Cut a o/,t'widemiter on router in the normal eleekwise direct.ion to

the edge of the mirror

an d

the edge of the the outside corners of both rails. see Detail complete the rabbet. Then use a sharp

stile. in Fig. I chisel to square up the round corners ofthe

llORT'Sf:S. Aner the pieces are cut to C'lIFF.1I :I) :I;S. Th soften the edges on rabbet, see 'ig. 6.

size, the next step is to cut the mortises in the

frame,

the front edges of the rails and CIJTUA CK . Now the plywood back CO

the raila, The mortlsee are

wide by 1110' stiles are chllmfcred. (I did this on a router be cut to fit in the rabbet on the baekotthe

long nnd centered O il the edge of the ,.ail.s, table with n 45 chamfering bit.) On the frame. 'l'hen glue It In place.

sec Fig. I. A INo, they're only

v .

deep to rails. rout the fl'oni edges and the corner TH E HOLDING STRIPS

allow for the miteron the ends of the rails, under the mitcl ( tlend, sec Fig. 2.

refer to Detail in ~'ig. I. On the stilcs. rout all the front edges. Th mount the mirror to this fi'8lne, two

Th cui the mortises, I used a % bit in a Then I all O wanted to chamfer the outside holding snips are used to grip the top and

drill pre , drillillg overlapping holes to eorner;

I

F'ig. 3. ,'he problem is that the bottom edges of the mirror. These strips

remove the waot e. (This is the same tenon on the end of the stiles i. right in the are, in turn, screwed to the plywood back.

method used to cut the mortises on the way of the pilot on the chamfer bit. So a see Fig. 6.

headboard.

I iC join the VCS and becom e a

subseriber to World of Wood . contact the

Secret.ary-~urer Bruce Forness at the

address al lOye.

Although we still highly recommend the

Starret t

rule (if you

ca n

track it down). the

best alternative we've found is the rule

Garrett Wade is carrying. To order the

rule . heck the new 1980 Catalog. or con

tact Garrett Wade. 161 Ave. of the Amer-

icas, New York. New York 1 0 0 1 3 . Tele

phone: 1 -800 22 1 -2942. (Note: Lee Valley

in Canada is also carrying the 1 2 rule. For

information, contact Lee Valley,

2680

Queensview

Dr. ,

Ottawa, Ont.

K2B 8 J9 .)

ROUTERS

1 ogre. th.t th. Scars i de a f or ch. ging

b ils 0 11 iU

IlCl

J 014 tC l is see,ingly a . good

one. Unfortu ately , I . actllal part Ihat

locks

It e '''aft alter tl ~,o te, has

stopped.i8 mad. of all i'iferior a ll og . Th is

part jroctl,red

O l

}) ll roi l ier fn1dering

t i r

tOla111teChaliiJt1U

for tho ~lg; /g

bit

l'$tUS8f

and the shaft now lIpi fYe,I y.

Fo rt ll ia le il l . I rtl~to :tdth e ,0 .1

ru.ctivnitlg par ~fo~ it compltltly broke

apar( .. din g

a hard

of metal into

the

rolder', motorand poI.ibly de.troying it.

I

nO Ie rue

a

tiro

wre nch

.y.tnn -

vise

grip

to

hold

the .haft atld th~ choop stamped

stul

leretlcil

to

1 003 tilt carry a 1 2

rule in their 1985 catalog (stock

139NOS .0 1 ) lha.-s .lmOK identical t > tbe

Starrett rule in .ccuracy and clarity, yet

ifs only $9.95.

When we were researehing the article on

routers in

IVood.,;th

No. 31 , we decided

to limit the price range of the routers to

under $200. \Ve (elt there lutd to be a limit

somewhere. and this price range would

include all but

a

few of the heaviest indus

trial models. We also decided to use full

suggested retail price because it was the

only way to make f.ir comparison.' .

As for plunge

reu te rs,

we exclude them

from our first review because there simply

wasn't room to review

t

helr ijpeciaJehar ac

teristics in the same Hrticle with the stan

dard routers, We nre planning to do a

followup

article on plunge

reuters

(Maid

ta,

Ryobi,

and

the new Black and Decker)

in an upcoming issue .

ALMOST AN INCH

Recently we received

a

letter from a

reader who had been having problems find-

ing two ~rules with identical eal

ibrations. An r checking dozens of rules

against each other at loeal hardware

store. he finally found two that actually

matched.

We had th e sam e problems in our shop

until we purchased a 2 rule manu-

factured by the L.S. Sta rre u Co . This rule

is designed

to

meet engineering standards.

and like nll SIJIITCtt tools, it has been a

benchmark for excellence for years,

Richard Herwg

EXf er Ne lo Ha l ps hi re

Rob .. West ,- a

Hol/illY Meadvw., Illinois

Because of the potential problems associ

ated with both spontaneous combustion

and the use o f

mineral spirtts, we

decided

to call M r. L au re n (Executive Director of

the Coating Research Group) to gel his

opinion on IIOalcingoil-filled rags in a min

eral spirits bath.

According

t > Mr.

Lauren, soaking rags

in a closed container filled witb mineral

spirits wil l prevent

s p o n t a n e o u s

com

bustion from taking place because of the

lack of oxygen in the eonta inez He also

mentioned that the same general condi

tions exist when oil-filled rags are sub

merged

in

water

until they c an be thro \\ I)

away. Agsln, the key to

pre ven tin g s pon-

ta neo us com busuon {, 'O m o cc urr in g is th e

lack of oxygen.

Although this p.aetice wil l prevent

sp ontaneous co m bustio n, ? (t , Lauren eau

tioned that It may e. eate more problems

that it cures. The biggest problem is that

when the rags are wrung out and reused,

they're still saturated with a very flam

mable solvent. And when combined with

the remaining problem of spontaneous

combusUon (From the finish still in the

rags). this poses double threat..

It's Mr. Lauren's opinion (and ours). that

the potential hazards of reusing old rags

that have been soaked in mineral spirits

are

too

great to jusLir.,' saving a few dollars

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7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 034

24/24

WOODS~UTH

night stand, and the headboard. 1 men

tioned using hru-dwood plywood to build

the projects.

Tbar's not entirel,)' accurate. \Vhen we

originally deSigned these I,rojecls, we

In

tended to build

them

out of oak. then at the

last minute, we decided to usc

Honduras

Mahogany instead.

The only prob lem is that Honduras lil a

hogany is not

available tIS

plywood.

So,

what we had to do

\vfiS

rnakc ow

0\\11\

pl)'\\'OO(I ut\ing flexible veneer and high

density particle board.

Flexible veneer is

Jlot

your ordinary ve

neer. This sturr is incredible. It's only

V

thick (which makes it vcry Oexible) and it

comes in book-matched sheets that are

mounted to a thin paper backing.

1b mount Oe.ible veneer. fIrSt cut the

particle board to rough .i ze (abou; I

larger than needed in both dlmensieas).

Then cut the Oexible veneer to 6t the par

title board. (Tbi. veneer can easily be cut

wilh a sc i sse rs .)

The ,..commended procedure to mount

(he ven ee r is

to

b ru ~h c cn tac t c emen t 011

the I>a,title

b o a rd

and the

v e n e e r ,

This can

lie. bit of. mess. We e found this task is

much easier with. palnt roller

I buy Ihe eh~ pe.t short-nal> paint '-oller

I can find

r o s p r e a d I

he contact cement.

The roller puis down a thin even coot. an d

yet iI'S cheap enough so Ihal when I'm

done

u;;t throw it 8way.

IltO >l.()NtlIlR11 E. Another method for

mounting flexible veneer ~

to

use

a

rela

tively

n ew

product: hOlmelt glue sheets.

These arc lilcrall~1sheets

o r

adhesive

mounted to a peel..,rr paper backing. It s

the same type of adhe.. ive found on the

back of

iron-on

edging tape.)

1b

use this odhe.he. cut it to the same

size as the flexible veneer. placed in on

particle board. and pitll actually t,,o(old. First il':; a

long nnd

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