Your Guide to

Shaker Furniture

3 Classic Projects
Shaker Hanging Cabinet
I f you own any books about the Shakers or their
furniture, you probably have seen a small storage
cabinet like this one hanging in the background
behind the more celebrated pieces.
I first spotted a close relative of this cabinet in
William F. Winter’s “Shaker Furniture” (Dover).
After a long and glowing description of the chairs
shown in the same photograph, Winter notes
only: “This small, pine, wall cupboard (from
the North family, New Lebanon) is a typical
convenience of the sisters’ shops.”
When I visited the Shaker Village of Pleasant
Hill (shakervillageky.org) in Harrodsburg, Ky.,
I saw a similar cabinet hanging on a peg in one
of the second-floor rooms. While eating sweet-
potato casserole in the Trustees’ Office Inn that
evening, everyone else at the table was raving
about the built-in cabinets; I was smitten with the
little hanging cabinet (and the casserole).
Then, years later, I noticed that Thomas Moser
published a more refined version in his seminal
“How to Build Shaker Furniture” (Sterling).
The way I see it, this small cabinet has what
few woodworking projects can truly lay claim
to. It is both simple to build and exceptionally
well-proportioned. For that, it deserves center
stage.

4 Important Lessons
When building this hanging cabinet there are
four important things to pay attention to:
■ Rabbet joinery: This cabinet – in one way
or another – is built using mostly rabbets. Become
familiar with this joint before you attempt this
project. A good place to begin learning about
rabbets is by reading “Cut Accurate and Clean
Rabbets,” which begins on page 8.
■ Wood selection: This cabinet will not look
right if you choose the wrong boards for the front.
The rails and stiles must have the straightest

PHOTO BY AL PARRISH
grain possible. Curvy, diagonal or irregular grain
will distract from the simple lines of the piece.
Save the most dramatic grain patterns, such as
a cathedral grain, for the door’s panel.
One common mistake many beginners make
is that they try to make a project with as few
Story by Christopher Schwarz, executive editor
boards as possible. While no one likes to waste
wood, the bigger sin is to build a project that could
have looked a lot better in the end. So buy some on the case stiles, making the sides look pleasing ■ Wood movement: The back is made from a
extra wood and save the scraps for the interior and – if you’re lucky – almost seamless. solid-wood panel, so it will expand and contract
pieces that won’t show on a future project. ■ Fitting a door: Beginners hate fitting doors. about 1 ⁄8" with changes in humidity. This means
When picking boards for the two side parts, Experts know there is a trick to making them right you have to attach the back in a special way to
choose pieces that have straight grain at the edges. with little fuss. Follow the directions carefully prevent it from splitting or wrenching your cabi-
This grain pattern will match the straight grain and you’ll see how straightforward it can be. net apart as it answers nature’s call.

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2004

Making a Strong Case bulge out in the center and the rabbets at the top and
Once you select your boards and joint and plane bottom will be gappy, unattractive and weak.
them down to the correct thickness, you should To make the dados in the sides, use your table
mill all the parts for the carcase. Joint one long saw’s miter gauge (set to 90°) and a gauge block
edge of each board, rip them to width and then clamped to your rip fence, as shown in the photo
crosscut them to finished length. Leave the door below. Mark on your side pieces the locations of
parts and frame stiles long for now – you will cut both dados. Sure, it will take an extra minute,
them to fit the assembled carcase. but it prevents mistakes. Also mark the top and
The first joints to cut with this project are the bottom of each of the sides so you don’t get the
three rabbets in each side piece. Set up your table right and left sides confused – a common mistake
saw to cut a 3 ⁄4"-wide x 1 ⁄4"-deep rabbet using the that even professionals make.
instructions provided in “Cut Accurate and Clean With the dados cut, you are almost ready to
Rabbets.” Make a test cut in some scrap that’s the assemble the basic carcase. It’s always a good
same thickness as your sides. Check your work idea to prepare your interior surfaces for fi n-
with a square and some care. If this joint does not ishing before assembly. Finish-sand the inside
have a dead-on 90° corner, your carcase won’t faces of your pieces (start with #100-grit paper
have one either. If it is square, check the dimen- and work up to #220), or plane and scrape the
sion of the rabbet using a dial caliper. This might surfaces to your liking.
sound like overkill, but it’s not. Here’s why: If this Test the fit of the joints and clamp the case I recommend using a dado stack for cutting
joint is just a little off, then all the joints that fol- together without any glue. Do not skip this step. rabbets because it requires only one setup. The
low it will have to compensate for this small error A rehearsal is worthwhile for several reasons: featherboard makes the operation safer and more
accurate by keeping your work pressed firmly
– especially when you start building the door and You’ll figure out exactly how many clamps you
against the saw’s table.
fitting it to the case. Small errors like this tend to need so you don’t have to go rushing across the
add up during the course of a project. room for more as the glue sets up. You’ll also fig-
When you’re satisfied with the setup of your ure out the best procedure for clamping the case
dado stack and rip fence, lock the height of the without your parts flopping around. And you’ll corners that produced the longer measurement and
arbor. This is important for a couple of reasons. make sure your rabbets and dados fit soundly. apply the tiniest bit of clamping pressure. Com-
With some less-expensive table saws, you can As you make this milk run, make sure you pare the corner-to-corner measurements again.
actually force the arbor to creep downward dur- keep the front edges of the top, bottom and shelves Repeat until everything is perfect. I like to check
ing a cut with a dado stack. I’ve seen it happen perfectly flush with the front edge of the side the squareness now because the cabinet usually
– your dado will look like a ramp for skateboard- pieces. The top, bottom and shelves, if you haven’t behaves the same once you add the glue.
ers instead of a properly made joint. Also, you noticed, are 1 ⁄2" narrower than the sides. Now add glue in your rabbets and dados. If
will be keeping this exact height for the next two Before you take the clamps off, pay particular you are new to woodworking, I recommend a
joinery operations, so locking in your setting is a attention to the squareness of the case. Measure slow-setting glue for casework. There are sev-
good idea. With your saw set, cut this rabbet on the case from corner to corner and compare the eral varieties, the most common being Titebond
the ends of the two side pieces. This joint holds two dimensions. If they’re the same, everything’s Extend. The glue’s extra “open time,” which is
the top and bottom of the case in place. square. If they’re not, put a clamp across the two when the glue is wet and your parts can move
Next, cut the rabbet in the sides that will hold
the back panel. To create this rabbet, you need
only adjust your rip fence to make a 1⁄2"-wide x
1⁄
4"-deep rabbet and cut that rabbet on the long
back edge of each side piece.
After that, cut the dados in the side pieces that
will hold the two 1 ⁄2"-thick shelves in place. To
make your life easier, make sure you do not change
the height of the dado stack you just used to cut the
rabbets. Remove the dado stack from the arbor and
install the correct number of wings, chippers and
shims to produce a perfect 1 ⁄2"-wide dado.
The dados for the shelves are 1 ⁄4" deep. By
leaving the height of the blades alone, you ensure
that the shelves, top and bottom will keep your
case square. If you change the height of the blades Gauge
block Rip
even a tiny bit before cutting the dados, one of two fence
bad things will happen. If your cut is too deep, Miter gauge
your shelves won’t seat all the way down into
the bottoms of the dados without some extraor-
dinary clamping pressure. (If you manage to The gauge block, which is clamped to the rip while making this cut – a major source of kickback.
close this joint, your carcase will end up with an fence, sets the location of the dado on the side If you have a stock miter gauge, this would be an
hourglass shape and the rabbets at the top and pieces. But because the gauge block sits in front of excellent time to add a piece of adhesive sandpa-
bottom will be gappy and weak.) If your dado cut the saw blade, there’s no danger of trapping your per (I prefer #100-grit) to its smooth metal face to
is too shallow, the shelves will cause the sides to side piece between the rip fence and the blade improve grip during this operation.

woodworking-magazine.com ■
 Stile

Mind
the gap
Angled nails
wedge the joint

This is a highly visible joint, so make extra sure you watch out for gaps between the stiles and the sides.
Nails are not an act of the devil. Someday the
glue will fail, and it’s the nails that will hold every-
thing together. Make sure you angle your nails World’s Simplest Face Frame effort to ensure the long edge of each stile is per-
(18-gauge brads are good) as shown so that the Traditionally, face frames are built using both ver- fectly flush with its mating side piece; otherwise
fasteners wedge the side piece against its mates.
tical pieces (stiles) and horizontal pieces (rails). the opening for your door will not be square.
Not so with this project, which has only stiles. To complete the opening for the cabinet’s door,
This makes things a lot easier. you need to attach the additional 1 ⁄2"-thick top and
around, will allow you to tweak the position of Cut your stiles to finished width and length, bottom pieces that have the decorative cove cut
your parts. When applying the glue, a thin but and finish-sand or plane them. If you’re handy milled on them, which is easy to do.
consistent film will bond your joints without with a block plane, it’s wise to cut your stiles As you study the cutting list below, you’ll
making a big mess. When you apply the clamps, about 1 ⁄32" long and trim them flush to the case notice that the outside top and bottom are differ-
a little glue squeeze-out is good – it means you at the top and bottom after affixing them to the ent widths – the top is 1 ⁄2" wider than the bottom.
haven’t starved your joints of glue. carcase. If you’re not so confident, just take extra That’s not a mistake. It’s actually a clever way to
After 45 minutes, take the case out of the care in cutting your stiles to length. create a notch in the back edge of the outside top
clamps and nail the sides to the top and bottom Attach the stiles to the carcase using glue and piece (cutting stopped notches is no fun). Let me
pieces, using the above photo as a guide. clamps. Nails aren’t necessary here. Make an tell you what you’re going to do to that top piece:

Shaker Hanging Cabinet

NO. PART SIZES (INCHES) MATERIAL NOTES (DIMS IN INCHES)
T W L
Carcase
3 ⁄4 3 ⁄4"-wide x 1 ⁄4"-deep rabbets on ends
❑ 2 Sides 7 19 Cherry
3 ⁄4
❑ 2 Inside top & bottom 61⁄2 17 Cherry
1 ⁄2
❑ 2 Shelves 61 ⁄2 17 Cherry Cherry in 1 ⁄2"-wide x 1 ⁄4" - deep dados
3 ⁄4
❑ 2 Stiles 211 ⁄2 19 Cherry Glued to carcase
1 ⁄2
❑ 1 Notched outside top 83 ⁄4 19 Cherry
1 ⁄2
❑ 1 Outside bottom 81 ⁄4 19 Cherry
1 ⁄2
❑ 1 Back 18 241 ⁄2 Cherry

Door
3 ⁄4
❑ 2 Door stiles 11 ⁄2* 20* Cherry 1 ⁄4" -wide x 1 ⁄2"-deep groove on one edge

3 ⁄4
❑ 2 Door rails 11 ⁄2* 111 ⁄4* Cherry 1 ⁄4" -wide x 1 ⁄2"-deep groove on one edge, 1 ⁄2" TBE

1 ⁄2 1 ⁄2"-wide x 1 ⁄4" -deep rabbet on four back edges

❑ 1 Door panel 11 17 Cherry
* Dimensions listed are oversized. See the text for details. TBE = tenon both ends

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2004

 Gap between back and side
allows for expansion Top detail on back panel
(See Back Panel Detail) overlaps expansion gap
∕

Gap between door panel

and frame allow for expansion
∕

∕
Slotted screw holes
allow for expansion

16ø" Back Panel Detail

Plan
7"
6ø"
1¬" Dia. 1 Square - ø Inch

∕
5"

1µ"

All shelves
are dadoed 5ø"
into side panel
‹

20" 16¬"
5ø"
19"

8" Top and bottom

are rabbeted
into side panel 5ø"
‹

1µ" 10¬" 2ø" 8¬"

18" Note: Side panel removed
for clarity
19"
Elevation Profile

Shaker Hanging Cabinet

woodworking-magazine.com ■
Cutting an accurate stopped notch like this is Centering grooves on your work is child’s play if Make the tenons by cutting a rabbet on both sides
a pain. By ripping the oversized top down and you cut them in two passes. Here you can see that of the rails. Use your miter gauge and fence to
regluing smaller blocks on the ends of the top, I milled one half of the groove and have turned make this cut. It’s a safe operation because you
you create the perfect notch for the back piece. the piece around to mill the other half. can’t trap your work between the blade and fence.

First you’re going to rout the cove detail on three but slight bulge in the center, so the top piece square to fit perfectly in the door opening. There
edges of both the top and bottom. would rock back and forth on it. A sharp block is no easier way to fit a door.
The best way to do this operation is on a router plane made short work of the problem. As you So let’s build the door. Cut your stiles, rails
table that’s set up with a 5⁄8" cove bit, though you remove material, try to stay away from the edges and panel to the sizes listed in the cutting list.
can do it hand-held in a pinch. Either way, make of the carcase. That’s where you can create prob- Now mill the 1 ⁄4"-wide x 1 ⁄2"-deep groove in one
sure you rout the detail on the ends fi rst, then lems that will show in the finished piece. long edge of the rails and stiles. The best way to
come back and rout the long edge. This will clean When satisfied with the fit of the top and bot- do this is with a rip blade set to make a 1 ⁄2"-deep
up a good deal of splintering that occurs when tom pieces, apply a liberal amount of glue to the cut. A rip blade is best because the top of its teeth
you exit the cuts on the ends. carcase and position the top and bottom in place. are flat, so the bottom of your groove also will
Next take only the top piece to the table saw When you’ve got them where you want them, nail be flat. Crosscut teeth will leave “V”-shaped
and rip the back edge off the board so it’s 73 ⁄4" them in place through the inside of the cabinet. channels in the bottom of the groove. Position
wide. Take the fall-off strip and rip it so it’s 1 ⁄2" Use only a couple of nails in each; their job is your saw’s rip fence so there’s a 1 ⁄4"-wide gap
wide. Crosscut 1" off each end of that falloff piece to hold the top in place as you clamp it. Apply between the teeth and the rip fence.
and reglue each end to the back edge of the top clamps around the cabinet to secure the top and Cut the groove first with one face of your work
piece, making sure the cove detail matches. Voilà! bottom to the carcase and check for gaps. against the fence, then turn it around and make
You have an instant stopped notch in your top. the cut with the other face against the fence. This
Attaching the top and bottom pieces to the The Stub-tenon Door method ensures that the groove is perfectly cen-
carcase is easy if your case is square and your Because this is a light-duty door, we can build tered on your rails and stiles. If there happens to
joints are flush. Before you attach the top and what’s called a “stub-tenon” door. Essentially, be a thin scrap hanging in the middle (as shown in
bottom, check their fit against the carcase itself. it’s a traditional mortise-and-tenon door that uses the photo above center), you can adjust the fence
You want a tight joint at the front and the sides. If short (some would say “stubby”) tenons that are and make a third pass to eliminate it.
you don’t get a seamless fit with only hand pres- only 1 ⁄2" long. A bigger traditional door would use Next get your rails and prepare to cut the
sure, you’ll need to tweak the carcase until you tenons at least 1" long. We’ve included a tutorial tenons on the ends. These tenons are made by
do. Relying on your clamps to close an imperfect on this style of door starting on page 12. cutting a rabbet on both faces of the board. Two
joint is asking for trouble. The advantage to these short tenons is they rabbets make a tenon, as shown in the photo
Sometimes this process takes a bit of detec- allow you to build the door without having to cut above right.
tive work to figure out what’s wrong. For exam- mortises in the stiles. The 1 ⁄4"-wide x 1 ⁄2"-deep Set up your dado stack with an accessory
ple, the top of my carcase had an inexplicable groove you cut for the door’s panel also serves fence just like you did when you cut the rabbets
as the mortise for the tenons on the rails. on the side pieces. Bury the dado stack in the
While stub-tenon doors are a good trick, the accessory fence so that you’re making a cut that
real trick to making perfect doors is to learn is exactly 1 ⁄2" wide x 1 ⁄4" deep.
“Skill without imagination is about “horns.” What are horns? Again, take a Use your miter gauge to guide your rails
look at the cutting list and you’ll notice that the across the spinning dado stack. Make a couple
craftsmanship and gives us many stiles are 1” longer than they need to be to fit in of test cuts on scrap that is the same thickness as
useful objects such as wicherwork the door’s opening. And both the rails and stiles your door stock. Test the fit of your scrap tenon
are 1 ⁄8" wider than called for in the drawing. in the grooves you cut in the rails. Fine-tune
picnic baskets. Imagination without This extra length and width create what look your fence setup and cut the tenons on the ends
skill gives us modern art.” like horns on the assembled door. These horns of both rails.
— Tom Stoppard (1937 – ) allow you to make a door that is slightly over- Now fetch your 1 ⁄2"-thick panel. To fit this
“Artist Descending a Staircase” sized when compared to the hole in the cabinet. panel in the grooves in the rails and stiles you
Once the door is assembled, rip and crosscut it must first cut a rabbet that is 1 ⁄2" wide x 1 ⁄4" deep

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2004

on the panel’s four back edges. Coincidentally
(OK, it’s not really a coincidence), this is the same
setup you just used to make your tenons.
Now finish-sand your door parts and dry-fit
the door. You’ll notice how the stiles extend past
the rails. These are the horns I told you about
earlier. The tenons must close tightly with only
minimal clamping pressure. If you are straining
to close the joint you are almost certainly twist-
ing your door so it’s not flat. Take the joint apart
and investigate the problem. Usually there’s gunk
that’s preventing a good fit, or the tenon is too
long for the depth of the groove.
Once you have a seamless door frame clamped Rail
up, take the whole thing apart and glue the tenons Stile
in the grooves. (Never glue a solid-wood panel
in place in a door. It has to expand and contract
with changes in humidity.)
After about 45 minutes, remove the clamps
from the door. Measure your door opening and
temporarily screw the hinges to the carcase. Now Horn
true one stile of your assembled door by running
it over the jointer. Rip the door to its fi nished
width on your table saw, trimming evenly from You can see here how the stiles stick out past the rails of the door. These are the so-called “horns,” which
the left and right stile. Then crosscut it to the you then trim off to make the door the perfect size.

A Better Hinge

I nstalling hinges for an inset door

can be a brutal lesson in preci-
sion. Inset doors, as their name
covers up the gap between the
cabinet and the door. If you’re
a little off – or sometimes even
hinge into both your cabinet and
door, right? Wrong. During the
last five years we have become
the leaf that attaches to the case.
Curiously, you have to supply your
own brads to lock this leaf in place;
implies, sit inside the cabinet or a lot – no one will ever notice. huge fans of a hinge made by my only gripe with this hinge is
the cabinet’s face frame. The space But overlay doors don’t gener- Amerock that is remarkable for that they aren’t included.
between the door and the cabinet ally have the look of a fine and three reasons: One, it lets you On the leaf that attaches to the
– called the “reveal” – has to be refined piece of furniture. They install the hinge without cutting a door you can see the two screw
perfectly equal all the way around say “kitchen cabinet” instead of mortise. Two, once you install the holes that lock in that setting.
the door or it won’t look right. “prized possession.” hinge you can tweak its position (One of the holes has a screw in
Overlay doors, on the other hand, So if you want to install inset until the door is perfect and then it; the other does not.)
are much more forgiving to install doors, you’re going to have to lock in your final setting. And The Amerock hinges are avail-
because a rabbeted lip on the door wrestle with mortising a butt three, these hinges look great on able in a variety of finishes, includ-
traditional cabinets. ing wrought iron, brushed nickel,
The secret to these remark- dark antique brass, antique brass
able hinges is that they have and polished brass. Plus they are
These holes oval-shaped holes for screws that available in a variety of styles that
lock the allow you to shift the door slightly match many styles of furniture
position of up and down in its opening and with a finial tip, a ball tip or just a
the door
even cock it deliberately out of plain button. These hinges aren’t
square to match a door opening cheap – about $6 per pair no
These holes are that’s not perfect. Once you get matter where you go. But that
for the brads the door just right, you secure the price includes high-quality screws
hinge permanently with either a for installing them. Once you try
final screw or a brad – depending these hinges, we don’t think you’ll
if the hinge is designed for a face- go back to traditional mortise
frame cabinet (which uses what hinges unless you have to. WM
Amerock calls a “full back-to-back – Christopher Schwarz
All other holes simply hold wrap-around hinge”) or a frame-
the hinge in place less cabinet (which uses a “partial Amerock Corporation
wrap-around hinge”). 4000 Auburn Street, P.O.Box 7018,
In the hinge pictured at left, you Rockford, IL 61125-7018,
If you struggle with installing hinges for inset doors, this can make it easier. can see the holes for the brads in 800-435-6959 or amerock.com

woodworking-magazine.com ■
correct length. Test the fit in the door’s opening
and fine-tune things until the door has a perfectly
consistent gap all around. You can use a table
saw to do this, but I prefer a hand plane because
I mess things up in a much slower fashion than
with a power tool. Once your door fits, you can
tweak its position in its opening if you use the
hinges we recommend in the Supplies box below.
Add the knob of your choice and a catch (the
magnetic ones are the easiest to install). Glue strip
in place
More Notches in Your Back This elongated hole allows the back to expand
As I designed this project, I tried different ways and contract and still stay tightly secured under
to make it so the back was not one piece of 171 ⁄2"- To make this notching operation go smoothly, the screw. I make these holes by wiggling my drill
wide solid wood. The solutions were more com- make sure you rip the narrow strips from the back bit. The other option is to drill a round hole and
using a sharp rip blade. This will ensure that you’ll elongate it with a small rat-tail file.
plex than I liked or they didn’t look right, so I
decided to stick with the original wide back. get a clean cut and the blocks will be easier to
To make this work, I first had to calculate reglue and get a seamless joint.
how much the back would expand and contract by wiping on a coat of boiled linseed oil that’s
in a typical Midwestern environment (which thinned down to a water-like consistency with
has some pretty radical humidity fluctuations, is attached by screwing through it into the top paint thinner. Wait about 30 minutes and wipe off
I can tell you). Using the formulas in R. Bruce and bottom pieces. You want to secure the back the excess. Then take your project outside and let
Hoadley’s “Understanding Wood” (Taunton in the center of the cabinet so it expands equally it bask in the warm sun for an afternoon or two.
Press), I figured out how much movement to on either side. Here’s how to do that: Drill six This will jump-start the coloring process.
expect. According to Hoadley’s formulas, the screw holes in the back, three along the top and After a couple of days of letting the oil cure,
panel will expand about 1 ⁄8" when the humidity three along the bottom. The middle hole should you can add a protective top coat. The simplest
fluctuates between 8 percent and 14 percent. This be a standard round clearance hole. But the holes finish for this is a wiping varnish – essentially a
is a reasonable range to expect in our climate. to the left and right should be elongated left-to- thinned-down off-the-shelf varnish. For more
So now you need to measure the space right. It’s these elongated holes that allow the details on mixing and using this finish, check out
between the two rabbets on the backside of your back to expand and contract with changes in “Understanding Wipe-on Finishes” on page 30.
assembled carcase. It should measure 17". So humidity. If you want to hang this project like the Shak-
the lower part of the back piece should measure I’ve seen people make a template to rout per- ers did, you’ll need to build and hang a board with
167⁄8" wide. That’s simple enough. The real dif- fect elongated ovals. Then they make the coun- Shaker-style pegs. The length of the board is up to
ficulty comes when dealing with the curvy top tersink using a template and a chamfer bit. This you and the scale of your room. We’ve included
part of the back. It’s 171 ⁄2" wide. That extra width is not necessary. All you really need to worry a supplier of cherry Shaker pegs below.
overhangs the top of the cabinet. Once again this about is allowing the shaft of the screw to pivot The last trick is to find a place in your home
means you have to create a stopped notch on the as the back moves. The screw’s head can remain that really shows off the proportions and work-
two long edges of the back. basically in the same place. manship of this fine piece. You don’t want this
The simplest procedure is to use the same Here’s how I make elongated holes: Drill a project to ever languish in the background. WM
trick you used for creating the notch on the top standard clearance hole for your screw that allows
piece: Gluing small pieces on the back to make the screw’s shaft and threads to pass through Contact the author at 513-531-2690 ext. 1407
a notch. And that’s a fine way to do it as long as without biting into the wood. Next, angle your or [email protected].
you pay close attention to matching the grain. drill 45° one way and drill out a bit of one side
This is a very visible part of the cabinet. of your clearance hole. Then angle the drill 45°
Make your back piece a bit wider to start with: the other way and drill out the other side of your Supplies
18" is about right. Rip two strips off each long hole. Finally, come back with your countersink-
edge so the back ends up 167⁄8" wide. Keep track ing bit and countersink your clearance hole. Once Rockler
of which edge each strip came from because that done, then you can screw the back to the case 800-279-4441 or rockler.com
will make it easier to match the grain when reglu- using some #8 x 1"-long screws. 2 ■ Amerock ball-tip, full wrap-around
ing the blocks in place. Now take those narrow hinges in antique brass, #31300,
strips and crosscut 5" off the top of each. Reglue Finishing Cherry $5.99/pair
these blocks to the back. Before you apply a finish to this project, take a 1 ■ Cherry Shaker 7⁄8” knob, 3⁄8” tenon,
After the glue dries, mark the curvy shape few minutes to break the sharp edges with #120- #78493, $2.59/pair. (Also available in
on the back and cut to that line. A band saw, grit sandpaper. This will make your project more oak, walnut and maple.)
scroll saw or coping saw will do. Just make sure enjoyable to touch and less likely to get damaged.
1 ■ Narrow magnetic catch, #26559,
it’s a fine-tooth blade. Clean up the rough saw- Now remove the back and door.
$1.49 each
cut edges with sandpaper, files or a spokeshave. Because cherry darkens nicely with age, I pre-
■ Cherry classic Shaker pegs, #23382,
Then drill the 11 ⁄4"-diameter hanging hole in fer not to add much coloring. In any case, staining
the location shown in the drawing. Finish-sand cherry can be difficult because it blotches. package of eight/$6.48 (Also available in
your back. But new cherry with a clear finish looks a bit oak and maple.)
Attaching the back is easy if you pay atten- anemic until it gets a couple of years of color- Prices correct at time of publication.
tion to the issue of wood movement. The back ing, so I like to help the process along. Begin

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2004

Shelf Support
Sidebar head Basics
S torage doesn’t do you much good if you can’t divide it to suit your
needs. That’s what shelving is all about and there are a number of
with either the low-profile pin or the hidden shelf wire. When using any
of the supports that require carefully located holes in your cabinet sides,
ways to put your shelves in just the right position. We’ve gathered the we recommend cutting a piece of 1 ⁄4" hardboard or plywood to about
best of the pack here with quick explanations of their best applications. 3" wide and nearly the height of your opening. Drill a single line of shelf
Though there are a number of good choices listed, the most com- holes in this piece and use it as a template for all the holes. WM
mon support with the best price and function is the spoon pin, with or – David Thiel
without the sleeve. We also appreciate the invisible application found

Standard with Clip One of the most common, inexpensive, Straight Pin This is a true pin. Although low visibility, it
versatile and ugliest shelf supports ever has some problems. If the hole is slightly
manufactured. While you can easily oversized, the pin can work loose, dump-
adjust shelf locations in 1" increments, the ing the shelf. If the holes are not drilled
metal track is always visible and requires perfectly, the shelf will wobble. On the
a groove machined in the sides. This sup- other hand, if small notches are cut on the
port looks best in office furniture – not a underside of the shelf, the pin can nestle in
project you spent hours building. Avail- the notch, holding the shelf firmly.
able in ugly nickel or zinc plate, ugly white
and uglier brown.

Reinforced Support An economical option, this plastic support Spoon Pin A refined version of the straight pin,
slips into a hole (or multiple holes to allow this pin can be used with or without the
for adjustment) that you drill in the cabi- sleeve. It’s then slipped into a hole or holes
net sides. Like the metal track above, these drilled in the cabinet side. The pin allows
are also common in office furniture and the shelf to fit all the way against the cabi-
are not attractive. They also hold the shelf Optional net side without any visible gap, but still
away from the side by as much as 1 ⁄ 8". sleeve has a shoulder to hold the shelf in place.

Locking Support This support also fits into holes drilled in the Screw-in Spoon Pin Taking the pin and sleeve concept a bit
cabinet sides. As an added feature, it locks further, this pin screws into its sleeve. It’s
Top lock the shelf in place from above, avoiding acci- a nice idea, but ultimately a little like gild-
dental tipping. Economical, but still rather ing the lily, and best reserved for high-
unsightly, it also holds the shelf away from end glass casework. These pins are pretty
the cabinet sides. Use this for commercial darn expensive because you have to buy a
furniture or for shop cabinets where you threaded sleeve for every shelf-pin hole.
don’t want a shelf to ever come crashing
down – not for that Queen Anne highboy.

Right-angle Support Slightly less unsightly, this support is Low-profile Pin The most invisible and still very economi-
almost invisible (with the shelf in place). cal, this support requires a little extra
The optional rubber pad keeps the shelf machining. The plastic pins are still slipped
from sliding off, but it still leaves an unat- into holes drilled in the cabinet sides, but
tractive gap between the cabinet side and the shelves themselves have stopped saw
each shelf. This is a good choice for furni- kerfs along the ends that accept the blade
ture in a child’s room or in a rumpus room. of the pin. The shelf fits around the pins (in
place) and the support disappears.

Adjustable Support This support compensates for sloppy drill- Hidden Shelf Wire Another invisible variation is a hidden shelf
ing. By trapping the shelf between the wire. Rather than using two independent
studs, the pin can rotate in the hole to find pins that slip into grooves in the shelves, this
a balance between the four holes. A nice system uses a wire support. Essentially
Studs feature, but the ugly gap is still there, and requiring the same amount of machin-
now you’ve got a stud showing above the ing and drilling, this actually provides a
Pins shelf. Save this support as a last option if more stable support and puts less stress
(or when) you’ve messed things up. on the shelf. The wire spreads the sup-
port over the depth of the shelf rather than
focusing it on two bearing points.

woodworking-magazine.com ■
Smart
SidebarWays
headto Hang Cabinets
O nce you’ve completed the Shaker Hang- hanging section of your local hardware store gap behind the back of the cabinet to house
ing Cabinet, you can sit back and enjoy and allow you to put a screw almost anywhere it. Essentially the cabinet is built with the back
it. Well, almost. You still need to hang the in a wall. There are half a dozen different kinds recessed into the cabinet, so the top, sides
cabinet – and it’s been our experience that of mollys that are suited to hold different and bottom still touch the wall.
this final step can take minutes or hours, weights. Check with your local hardware store Beyond the strength gained by using a
depending on your planning. for a good selection. cleat (as long as you catch a stud or use mol-
The hanging process should actually begin If you’re hanging a large cabinet and want lys), cleats are easy to level. The wall section of
with the design phase of the project. With to use a 1 ⁄4"-thick back (to make it less expen- the cleat is attached with one screw and that
the cabinet shown here, we’ve followed the sive and lighter in weight), a hanging strip section is leveled and fixed in place. Then the
Shaker tradition and mounted a peg board to will make mounting the cabinet easier. This cabinet is simply slipped in place over the wall
the wall, with the cabinet hung from a peg. strip (shown below left) can be built into the cleat. It’s pretty cool. WM
Other methods (more common today) are design of the cabinet or simply applied to the — David Thiel
to mount the cabinet to the wall through the back. It goes inside the cabinet and below the
back of the cabinet (either with just the back top. Actually building the strip into the sides
or with a hanging strip) or to use a French adds some strength, but it also adds an extra
cleat, which is invisible and convenient. step or two to the project.
Screwing through this strip instead of just
Screwing Through the Back the thin back will give you more strength and Cabinet cleat is
Depending on the size of your cabinet, you reduces the chance of tearing through the screwed or glued
may have used a 1 ⁄4"-thick back or thicker (1 ⁄2" thin back material with the screw. to cabinet back
or 3 ⁄4"). With a thicker back, mounting the
hanging cabinet to the wall is simply a matter Using a French Cleat
of finding a stud and marking that stud loca- French cleats offer invisibility and incred-
Wall-mounted cleat
tion on the inside of the cabinet. Then you ible strength, but they do steal some storage is screwed to studs
drill a clearance hole for the screw (usually space from the inside of the cabinet. These in the wall
3 ⁄16" diameter), hold the cabinet in place and cleats can be purchased (made from alu-
level on the wall, and screw the cabinet to the minum or steel) for the truly lazy, or made
stud with a #10 x 3"-long screw. If the cabinet from simple 3 ⁄4"- or 1 ⁄2"-thick scrap. The cleat
is wider than 16", you’ll be able to put a sec- is in two pieces, each with a 45° bevel on
ond screw through the back and into a sec- one long edge. One goes on the back of the
Back is recessed
ond stud. This should be enough to support cabinet; the other attaches to the wall. When
to allow room
most cabinets that aren’t going to be holding you nest the 45° bevels together, the cabinet for cleat
your grandmother’s fine China. hangs firmly on the wall. You should be able
If your cabinet is less than 16" wide, you’ll to do pull-ups on your cabinet if it is properly
need a drywall “molly” to reinforce the installed this way – no kidding.
The shop-made French cleat in action. This
second screw. Mollys are sold in the picture- To use a French cleat, you have to design a French cleat is made for a board ripped at a 45°
angle, but the cleat also could be made with
interlocking rabbets. Either way, you get some
amazing strength and convenience.
Screw inserted into wall Screw inserted into wall

A 1 ⁄ 2 "-thick back
requires no
hanging strip Back is
Hanging strip recessed
to allow
room for
Thin
cleat
back

With a larger cabinet, a thin back makes more With smaller cabinets, a thicker back (usually
1⁄
sense but will not be sufficient to secure the 2" or more) can be used without any major This store-bought version of a French cleat
cabinet to the wall. By adding a hanging strip, weight concern. This thicker back also allows takes up less room behind the cabinet and
the weight of the cabinet is more evenly trans- you to simply screw through the back of the is priced at about $13 for 10 sets. Place one
ferred to the cabinet box. cabinet directly into the wall and stud. hanger every foot to hold heavy cabinets.

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2004

Enfield
Shaker
Cabinet
Casework built with dados
and glue alone is troubling.
We uncover one old-school
solution that ensures your
work will endure real life.

B uilding reproductions of antiques can be like

unraveling a mystery. This cabinet from the small
Shaker community in Enfield, Conn., has yet to
reveal all its secrets. For one, I’m not entirely
sure what it was used for at the colony. A couple
places refer to it as a jelly cupboard, but most
sources prefer the following less-than-helpful
label: pine cabinet.

PHOTO BY AL PARRISH
But here’s what we do know about the piece
and where it comes from. The cabinet was built
in the first half of the 19th century (some sources
cite circa 1830) at the Enfield colony for the use of
its members. Unlike other colonies, some sources
When people first see this cabinet, their instinct is to call it a jelly cupboard, chimney cupboard or pie
state that the Enfield Shakers did not produce
safe. We’re not so sure what its original purpose was, but it does have nice lines.
furniture for sale to the outside world (although
some sources claim they did). Instead, the resi-
dents at Connecticut’s only Shaker colony ran a
thriving seed business. (Shakers are credited with the most influential collectors and chroniclers of Those drawings became “Shop Drawings of
the innovation of selling seeds in envelopes.) the Shakers. Sometime in the 20th century, the Shaker Furniture and Woodenware” (Berkshire
Enfield was founded in 1782, hit its member- cabinet passed through the workshop of Ejner House), three volumes of books that are illuminat-
ship peak in 1855 with about 200 members, and Handberg, a Massachusetts cabinetmaker who ing and frustrating. They’re illuminating because
then declined like all the other Shaker colonies repaired and restored a number of pieces from they’re one of the few sources of measured draw-
– with the last eight survivors selling the land and the Andrews collection. While these original ings of Shaker originals. And they’re frustrating
retreating to other remaining colonies. pieces were in Handberg’s shop, he made full- because some specific construction details aren’t
The cabinet passed into the hands of Edward size drawings of them on cardboard he scavenged present. So the books, which I still recommend
Deming Andrews and Faith Andrews – two of from refrigerator and stove boxes. highly, leave me with many questions.

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2006

A Joinery Problem
One area that concerned me with the cabinet was
the joinery as drawn. The shelves are housed in
dados in the sides. This is a well-accepted way to
build a cabinet, but it has always troubled me.
If you think about it for a minute, the dado
joint is a poor glue joint in solid wood. Every
mating surface in a dado joint puts a long-grain
surface against an end-grain surface. In other
words, chances are your dado joints are going to
be weak because the end grain in the shelf and
sides is going to soak up the glue and starve your
joint. If the glue weakens and fails, the cabinet
will be held together by the glued-on face frame I always prefer to have my router template below Accurately paring this corner is easy if you do it
(don’t forget that the glue could fail there, too, if my work whenever possible. This allows me to right. First score the end grain of the waste with
stressed or wracked) and the back of the cabinet. use a pattern-routing bit with the bearing on the your chisel, then come back and pare it out to
bottom and limits the amount of spinning car- your lines. Place the chisel flat against the flat
If you use a solid-wood shiplapped back, that’s
bide exposed to the area below my waist. section of your foot’s shape. This guides the tool
not going to offer much support compared to a for a perfect cut – and is why chisels need their
screwed-in plywood back. unbeveled face to be truly flat.
So if you’re a woodworker who is concerned
about the long-term survivability of your furni- single nail in his drawing of this cabinet, I took
ture, dados alone might not be a good option. a leap of faith and decided to use both glue and
But what do you do? nails in construction. I also took other small lib- to make a single side piece. Usually the grain and
erties. I used cherry instead of pine and made the color are easier to match up when the two pieces
Avoiding the Overly Fussy mouldings easier to fabricate and attach. To ease come from the same board.
The logical solution would seem to be the sliding assembly I also tweaked the back so it’s visible at But there’s another detail to watch. As you
dovetail. It’s an all-wood mechanical joint that the top of the cabinet. These are but minor sins. prepare your panels for glue-up, also pick out the
will hold forever, even without glue. But have When I compare my versions of this cabinet to wood for the face frame. Do your best to match
you ever tried cutting and fitting a whole case of Smithsonian photographs of the original, I know the grain where the sides meet the face frame
these with 13"-wide shelves? How about 20"-wide that I got this one right. stiles. This is a highly visible part of the cabinet
shelves? It’s a challenge. If you cut the joint square and a poor grain or color match will be jarring.
and tight-fitting, it won’t go together because Sides and Feet After you’ve glued up the side panels, glue up
of the friction involved. So you have to tweak Because 13"-wide cherry boards are uncommon, the panels for the shelves. This is where you can
the male part of the joint to make it sloppy. But you’re likely going to have to glue up at least a use your knotty, sappy odd-looking stuff with
how sloppy? And how do you make it perfectly couple boards edge-to-edge to make the side abandon. Just make sure the front edge of each
sloppy reliably and repeatedly? Personally, I’ve panels. You should of course pay close attention shelf looks good – that’s all anyone will ever
found the sliding dovetail better suited for joining to the grain at the mating joint in the middle of notice. Trim your sides and face frame stiles to
smaller widths – think 3"-wide drawer dividers the panel – try to match the grain patterns so that size and then prepare your router templates that
at the front of a chest of drawers. the joint becomes almost invisible. One good will be used for the feet.
Instead, I’ve come to rely on dados that are strategy here is to try to find some 9'-long boards, Make the template from 1 ⁄2"-thick plywood,
reinforced by a mechanical fastener – usually a crosscut them in half and join them edge-to-edge trace the shape on your sides and cut about 1 ⁄16"
nail but sometimes a screw (think pocket screws).
There’s a snobbery in woodworking that nails
are low-class wood-butchery. Don’t believe it. If
you’ve inspected much antique furniture, you’ll
find nails used extensively. But you have to look ¬"
close. Though the nails might be easily spotted
in mouldings and carcase backs, some of the
others are harder to find. Look inside a piece and
you might find nails that toenail the shelves or
drawer runners to the sides. Lots of the interior
guts of a piece can be (and were) nailed. It’s a fast
way to build. The nails will be there if the glue
5" 5"
gives way. And the correct nail will wedge the
joint tight for decades, maybe centuries. For a

face frame
complete discussion of the right nails and classic
stile
toenailing techniques, see “Build Furniture With
a Hammer” on page 12 in this issue.

2ø" 1ø" 2" 2œ"

A survey of Shaker pieces in books and in
person reveals that they also used nails in their

front
Front leg detail side leg
Side detail
Detail
furniture – sometimes hidden and sometimes not.
So even though Handberg’s book doesn’t show a Detail
woodworking-magazine.com ■
 sary? Perhaps not – this rabbet for the back will
not be a glue joint. But a couple passes with a
shoulder plane ensure that the corner of the joint
is clean, which ensures the back will fit tight.
With the joinery in the sides complete, plane or
sand the interior face of the side pieces to prepare
them for finishing. Planing and sanding reduces
the thickness slightly, so you should do this before
fitting the shelves. If you plane after you fit the
shelves, that can loosen your joinery.

Fitting Shelves
The right-angle dado guide here was designed Install enough dado cutters on your table saw’s Now you should turn to fitting your shelves in
specifically for 1⁄2"-wide dados. Make the jig large arbor to make a cut that is slightly wider than 3 ⁄4". your dados. If you’ve opted for the narrow dados,
enough to clamp it easily to your work and bench Then clamp a zero-clearance auxiliary fence to you’ll need to mill mating rabbets in the shelves
without interfering with the router or your hands. your fence as shown. The key to an accurate rab- – use the dado stack already in your table saw.
When building this jig, be sure to consider the bet with this method is to keep the work pressed You’ll have to adjust the settings for a good fit.
clamping job ahead. firmly to the saw’s table during the cut. The dado
After cutting the rabbets, clean them up and
stack will try to lift it off the table. For added
insurance, repeat your pass on the part to make
tweak their dimensions so that each shelf fits in its
sure you have a rabbet of consistent depth. dado. Each shelf might need a different number
shy of that line with your band saw. Then follow of passes to fit. Don’t be alarmed by this. The
up by routing the shape with a router. You could rabbet on your shelf could be a little off because
clean up your saw cuts with hand tools, such as you didn’t use as much downward pressure when
rasps, files and a spokeshave. But because there is ting the rabbet after the dados will clean up any cutting it on the table saw. Or perhaps your stock
so much end grain in this shape, the router is the blow-out on your back edge. is cupped slightly. That’s what the shoulder plane
superior choice if you have the equipment. The 3 ⁄4"-wide x 1 ⁄4"-deep rabbet at the top of is for – it can correct a great number of ills that
If you go the router route, you’ll have to clean the case sides can be cut in two passes – both some people would try to fix with a mallet.
up the step between the curve and the flat section cuts guided by the right-angle guide. If you own a narrow shoulder plane or router
of the shape – the router will leave a rounded Now cut the 3 ⁄4"-wide x 1 ⁄2"-deep rabbet on plane that can fit into the width of the dado, it’s
corner. This is quick work for a wide chisel. the inside back edge of both sides. Cutting big a good idea to clean up the bottom of the trench.
The next step is to cut the dados in the sides. rabbets is a task best suited for a dado stack in a A smooth bottom will glue better. And this joint
There are two paths to follow here. You could rout table saw, a conclusion we reached after cutting needs all the help it can get.
3⁄ 1
4"-wide x ⁄4"-deep dados and fit the shelves into dozens and dozens of rabbets for Issue 1. The If you opted to make the carcase with the
these by tweaking the thickness of the shelves zero-clearance auxiliary fence shown in the photo wider dados, use a plane set for a fine cut to tweak
with a bench plane until you get a good fit. The above is a must for this operation. the thickness of the shelf until it seats firmly in
other alternative is to cut 1 ⁄2"-wide x 1 ⁄4"-deep I clean up my rabbets with a shoulder plane the dado. When I go down this path, I rely on my
dados and then cut a 1 ⁄4" x 1 ⁄4" rabbet in the ends after cutting them with a dado stack. Is this neces- dial caliper to speed the work and make it pre-
of each shelf. Then you can tweak the fit of the
shelf with a shoulder plane or bullnose rabbet
plane by planing the rabbet on the shelf – rather
than the entire shelf.
I built one of these cabinets with the wider
Enfield Shaker Cabinet
dados and one with the narrow dados. There is lit- NO. PART SIZES (INCHES) MATERIAL NOTES (DIMS IN INCHES)
tle difference between the two approaches. With T W L

the wider dados there was less joinery involved, Carcase

3 ⁄4
but you have to be careful when sizing each shelf ❑ 2 Sides 133 ⁄4 511 ⁄4 Cherry
3 ⁄4
to fit. It’s easy to overshoot and get an ugly gap ❑ 5 Shelves 13 19 Cherry in 1 ⁄4-d. dados & rabbet
3 ⁄4
and a loose fit between the shelf and side. With ❑ 2 Face frame stiles 4 511 ⁄4 Cherry
the narrow dados, you have more joinery setups ❑ 1 Face frame rail 3 ⁄4 21 ⁄2 141 ⁄2 Cherry 11 ⁄4 -l. tenons, both ends
to deal with, but even if you overshoot the mark ❑ Backboards 3 ⁄4 191 ⁄2 451 ⁄2 Cherry shiplapped, beaded
when fitting your shelf, you won’t create that gap ❑ Top cap moulding 3 ⁄4 17⁄8 60 Cherry 1 ⁄2 x 1 ⁄2 rabbet, 3 ⁄16 -r. astragal
because the shoulder of the rabbet will hide it. ❑ Cove moulding 3 ⁄4 7⁄8 60 Cherry 5 ⁄8-r. cove
Either way is fine; pick one that appeals to your ❑ Astragal moulding 3 ⁄8 3 ⁄8 60 Cherry 1 ⁄8-r. astragal
skills and the tools at hand.
I milled the dados with a router, straight bit Door
3 ⁄4
and a shop-made right-angle guide. We covered ❑ 2 Door stiles 23 ⁄4 43 Cherry
3 ⁄4
this process in great detail in Issue 3 of Wood- ❑ 1 Top rail 3 9 Cherry 11 ⁄4 -l. tenons, both ends
working Magazine. One detail worth mentioning: ❑ 1 Middle rail 3 ⁄4 5 9 Cherry 11 ⁄4 -l. tenons, both ends
I milled the dados before milling the rabbet for ❑ 1 Lower rail 3 ⁄4 4 9 Cherry 11 ⁄4 -l. tenons, both ends
the backs. This was on purpose. When you mill ❑ 2 Panels 5 ⁄8 71 ⁄4 161 ⁄4 Cherry 3 ⁄8-t. x 1 ⁄2-l. tongue, all edges
dados with a router, you will usually get some ❑ 1 Door stay 3 ⁄8 3 ⁄4 15 ⁄8 Cherry 5 ⁄16 wedged dowel as pivot
grain blow-out when the bit exits the work. Cut-

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2006

 1®"

ø" ø"

20"
¬"
19ø"
®"

13œ" µ"

top µ" full-size

view œ" details
13"

2ø"
3"
9œ"

15ø"

12¬"

5"
51¬"

10"

15ø"

9¬"
5¬"
4"

2œ" 6¬"
front side
view 2œ" 2ø" 5" view
2"
4" 6ø"
14ø"
Enfield Shaker Cabinet
woodworking-magazine.com ■
A gimlet has myriad advantages when making When toenailing, you quickly run out of room When installing cut nails, do what you can to keep
pilot holes for nails. There’s no chuck or drill body for your hammer’s head and need to turn to the them away from the ends of the board. Cut nails
to interfere or strike your cheater block. And it nail set to finish the job. Resist the temptation to are little wedges and if they are installed too close to
gets into tight places that no drill can go. Note strike the nail head at an angle in lieu of the nail the end, they will split the work. These are installed
3⁄
that the hole and nail are installed at an angle set. The nail will usually bend. 8" in from the end. I used four nails in each side.
– mine slope toward the center of the side panels
by 7° or so – like a dovetail. This increases the
wedging action of the nails.
with heat and water. You also could use a poly- door, so you should cut everything at the same
urethane glue, which sets slowly, but there can time. One word of advice: Cut the stiles for the
be some foamy squeeze-out problems if you’re door and face frame 1 ⁄16" wider than the finished
dictable. Use your dial caliper to measure three not an experienced user of this adhesive. width. This will give you some room to trim the
things (this is when you should use its decimal face frame flush to the carcase after assembly
function). Measure the width of the dado. Mea- Toenailing for Tenacity and extra meat to trim the door to width.
sure the thickness of your shelf. Then measure Once the glue has cured and you can take the If you are going to mill the mortises in the
the thickness of a shaving from your plane. Now project out of its clamps, toenail the shelves to stiles by machine – a drill press or hollow-chisel
you know approximately how many passes you’ll the sides using cut nails. All cut nails require a mortiser – then I recommend you make the
need to make with your bench plane. Here’s a pilot hole, and these cut fine finish nails require mortises 3 ⁄8" wide and the tenons a matching 3 ⁄8"
typical example: My dado is .750" wide. My shelf a 3 ⁄32" pilot to ensure the wood won’t split dur- thick. The 3 ⁄8" mortising chisel removes waste
is .756" thick. And my plane is set to take a .001"- ing nailing. I have a little cheater block shown very effectively. If, however, you are going to
thick shaving. So I know that if I take three passes in the photo above that guides my pilot bit. This mortise these by hand, I recommend a 1 ⁄4"-wide
with my plane on each face of the shelf I will be little block guides my gimlet at the correct angle. mortise – your mortising chisel will be less likely
close to a close fit. A piece of tape on the gimlet indicates when I to destroy your work during the sometimes-brutal
I know this sounds fussy, but it is surprisingly should stop turning. To make your own cheater mortising process. There are many ways to cut
fast and easy to do. And it works – I’ve been block, simply draw on your project the path you mortises by hand, and I’ve been experimenting
doing it for years. Plus, once you make your three want your nail to take through the shelf and side. with five methods (some ancient; some mod-
passes with your plane, the surface is ready for Transfer that angle to a piece of scrap and cut the
assembly and finishing. scrap to that line. There’s no science to it. My
Once everything fits, clamp up the project cheater block starts the pilot hole 1 ⁄4" up from the
without glue. Then take everything apart and inside corner and at a 35° angle.
reassemble it with glue. Although this isn’t a Installing cut nails is straightforward. Start the
particularly complex assembly, I would choose nail with the cross pane (if your hammer has one).
a slow-setting glue (Such as Titebond Extend) or Cut nails will sometimes twist in their holes. If
perhaps a liquid hide glue (such as Old Brown they twist too much, they’ll split the work. A cross
Glue), which is both slow-setting and reversible pane helps you keep the nail oriented correctly as
you start it. Then sink the nail as deeply as you
dare with the face. Finally, sink the nail 1 ⁄8" below
“My eyes have been filled with the the surface of the wood with a nail set.
Place a nail at each corner where the shelves
endlessly changing patterns of the meet the sides. But don’t toenail the top in place.
grains. I have felt the warmth of a Because that area of the sides will be covered by
moulding you can nail the top in place from the
thousand suns in my hands every day. outside of the case. This also adds to the overall
strength of the case. Note that the nails on the
I have smelled the rich, tangy odors of outside of the case should be angled, much like
the freshly hewn chips. These are the dovetails, to increase their wedging power.
things that have made my life so fine. An Unusual Face Frame If you mill your mortises by machine, use a 3 ⁄8"
These are the most precious things I The face frame for this cabinet has two stiles and hollow mortise chisel, as shown above. Be sure to
one top rail – no bottom rail. This configuration skip a space between each plunge on your first
can leave for you, my son.” makes it easier to assemble the face frame but pass. Then come back and clean up the waste
— Jonas Wainwright, carpenter more challenging to install. All of the joinery for between the square holes. This prevents damage
from a letter to his son in 1832 the face frame is the same as the joinery for the to your tooling.

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2006

ern) for several months now for a future issue.
I haven’t reached an ultimate conclusion, but I
right now am favoring an approach where you
drill a hole at one end of the mortise and then
pop out the waste by angling the chisel toward
the hole. You can see this technique in action at
Jeff Gorman’s website (go to amgron.clara.net
and click on “Mortising and Tenoning”).
For cutting the tenons, you have many choices.
You can saw them by hand or mill them using a
router – both techniques were covered in Issue 2. Cutting tenons on the table saw requires you to Cut the edge cheeks and edge shoulders next.
A third option is to use your table saw and a dado follow all the same protocols when cutting a rab- First raise the dado stack to make a 3 ⁄8"-deep cut.
stack in a manner similar to that described with a bet. Keep firm downward pressure on the work Then pass the work over the blades. Use consis-
router table. I chose the table saw for this project – the dado stack wants to lift the work. Varying tent downward pressure when cutting tenons
pressure will result in thicker tenons. Cut your this way to ensure your joints are identical in their
to keep the number of tooling setups to a mini-
face cheeks and face shoulder first. dimension. This makes fitting each joint easier.
mum – the table saw was already set up for this
operation from the previous two operations.
And though there is but one rail in the face
frame, make an extra rail and cut the tenons on
it as well. During assembly you can clamp this
extra rail between the stiles at the foot to keep
your face frame square.
I recommend you make your tenons 11 ⁄4"
long. This length will allow you to success-
fully drawbore the joint, a technique explored
in Issue 4. If you have no wish to drawbore the
joint you can drive a peg through the joint after
assembly to achieve the same look – but not the
same mechanical integration. Now plane or sand
your face frame parts and assemble the frame.
Drawbore the joints or peg them after assembly.
I used a 5⁄16"-diameter peg.
Glue the face frame to the carcase and clamp
the extra rail between the stiles as shown in the
photo at right. The face frame should extend
proud of the sides a bit, which is correct. I find The long edges of the stiles are eas-
ily trimmed flush with the carcase
it easier to prop up the project on low beams on
with a bench plane – it’s soothing
my bench so I can clamp across the face frame
work, actually. However, trimming
and sides with the project lying on its back. Once things up at the top of the cabinet
the glue is dry, trim the face frame flush to the is more of a challenge. There’s a
carcase. I prefer to use a bench plane for this lot of end grain to deal with. Use a
operation, but an electric router equipped with Again, a slow-setting glue can be your friend in this situation. sharp low-angle block plane and
a flush-trimming bit will also do the job. I prefer The joint between the face frame and carcase is highly visible. wet the end grain with mineral spir-
the bench plane because it will produce a surface Clamp it until it looks tight all around. its to soften the wood.
ready for finishing – the router-cut surface will
need sanding or planing.
Now you have a couple details to decide on.
The original Enfield cabinet had a bead cut into
the front edge of the frame. You can add this
bead if you like. I milled a 1 ⁄8"-radius bead onto
the second version of this cabinet I built (not the
one on the cover). One nice aspect of the bead is
it gives you a perfect trench on the face frame for
nailing the face frame to the carcase.

Solid-wood Shiplapped Back

As mentioned earlier, a solid-wood shiplapped
I used 8d
d headless cut brads to
back is not going to add as much rigidity to your A D-handled router is designed for edge routing such as this. It attach the face frame. Unlike the
carcase as a plywood back. But it does look nicer adds stability and makes it easier to get a superior cut. Another other brads in this project, these
every time you open the door of this piece. option is to cut this bead with a moulding plane (side-bead require a 1⁄16" pilot hole. The nail set
You can make your backboards random or planes are fairly common on the used-tool circuit). Those are drives the brad’s head below the
regular in width. Either way, you need to cut a next on my (long) list of hand planes to buy. bead and out of sight.

woodworking-magazine.com ■
1⁄
4"-wide x 3 ⁄8"-deep rabbet on each long edge of tune the panel’s fit and tweak the fit between the
your backboards so they overlap one another and rails and stiles. Or you can glue it all at once.
hide any seasonal expansion and contraction. I
again turned to my table saw with the still-set-up Fitting the Door
dado stack to do this job. With the rabbets cut, This door is easy to fit because you have only
I planed all the backboards to prepare them for three edges that are critical – the stiles and the
finishing. Then I used the 1 ⁄8"-radius beading bit top rail. There’s no bottom rail to worry about.
in a router in my router table to mill a bead on If you followed my advice then your door should
the long edges. be oversized for the opening that it has to fit into.
Installing shiplapped backboards isn’t hard. Joint one stile of the door and rip the door down
I used a shoulder plane to tweak the rabbets to so it’s 3 ⁄32" smaller than its opening. Remove the
get everything fitting tight. Then I attached the same amount of material from each stile – this
Fit the rabbets on your backboards with a shoul-
backboards one by one. The boards on the ends will require a couple cuts. Clean up the saw marks
der plane. Once they sit flat, screw them in place
can be fastened to both the carcase sides and the (you can replace the screws with nails after finish-
from the stile that will receive your hinges. Use
shelves. But the boards between them should be ing the cabinet if you like). your longest plane for this task.
fastened with a row of screws (or nails) down the Install the hinges on the doors. Be sure to
center of each board only. If you attach a board line up the hinge barrels with the door’s rails, as
with more than one row of screws, you are asking shown in the photo on the cover. Now you can
for a split when the wood starts to move (and it around the panel in the rails and the stiles. That’s fit the door with the hinges in place. It should be
will). Don’t forget to leave a small gap between not necessary. You can allow your panel to bottom a tight fit. Prop up the door in place from below
the boards to allow for seasonal movement. out in its groove in the rails and allow for expan- (as shown in the photo below) so that the top of
sion and contraction in the door’s stiles only. the door presses against the face frame’s rail.
Doors: Building and Fitting Here’s how I do this: Cut your panel and its Remove one of your back boards and screw the
Almost all the joinery for your doors should be rabbet so it bottoms out in both the rails and stiles. hinges to the carcase from inside the case. Be sure
complete. All you need now is a groove for the Then trim the long edges of your panel to get the to press the hinge leaf for the carcase up as you
panels and a mating rabbet on the panels. The expansion room you need in the stiles. This pre- drill your pilot. This removes the slop from the
mortises in the stiles allowed me to cut stopped vents you from cutting rabbets of two different barrel of the hinge, so the door will hang right
grooves easily with the plough plane. widths. This strategy will also help prevent your
Make your groove match the width of your panels from rattling in their grooves.
mortises. If you cut a 3 ⁄8"-wide mortise, cut a 3 ⁄8"- Plane or sand all your door components and
wide groove for the panels. Now cut a mating then prepare for assembly. If you are drawboring
rabbet on your panels. Use your table saw and your joints you can assemble this door one joint at
stack dado set (again) to cut this 3 ⁄8"-deep joint. a time if you please. This could allow you to fine
Fine-tune the results with a shoulder plane.
One fine point about wood movement: When
trimming your panels and cutting the rabbet,
many woodworkers simply overlook the fact
wood expands and contracts mostly across its
width. They give the panel expansion room all

These non-mortise hinges from Amerock used

to be my favorite (see Issue 1 for a review). Now
these hinges are made in China and I’ve found
some quality problems. Amerock officials insist
the problem is being fixed. All I can say is that no
matter what hinge you buy, make sure it swings
precisely and isn’t sloppy.

Remember this: It’s easy for all assemblies to end

These panels will bottom out in the groove in the up out of square after clamping and gluing. A
rails and float in the groove in the stiles. Once little bow here and there can add up. By squaring I cut a scrap to a close size and then added a
the door is assembled, I like to drive a single brad up your frame-and-panel assemblies after gluing few strips of tape to hold the door right where I
through the groove and panel at the top and and before final fitting, you’ll make a lot less work wanted it from below. If there had been a lower
bottom of each panel. This brad keeps the panel for yourself. The door took less than 30 minutes rail, I would have shimmed the door in place from
centered in its frame. to fit and install in the face frame. below with thin wooden wedges.

■ woodworking magazine Spring 2006

where you intended it to. Remove the prop from dowel. Inside the case, mark on the dowel where
below the door. it first emerges on the inside of the stile. Drill a
1⁄
Now get out a straightedge, ruler and marking 8"-diameter hole through the dowel tangent to
knife. I mark out the gap or “reveal” directly on that point. When the cabinet is finished, you’ll
the door and plane to those lines. This allows me install the stay by putting it in its hole and gluing
to ignore whether the door is square or a paral- a 1 ⁄8" dowel through that hole inside the case.
lelogram. It will fit and look good in the end. The door’s knob is an off-the-rack 7⁄8" Shaker-
When you tweak the top of the door, you are style knob from Rockler Hardware.
going to be again planing end grain. Soak the end
grain like you did when trimming the top. And Authentic Moulding
work from the outside to the center to prevent This moulding profile was taken directly from
chipping at the ends. You can plane the long edge Handberg’s drawings. He shows it made in two Although I really like my hammer and cut nails, I
of the stile with your longest plane. pieces. The top, overhanging piece with the like my headless 23-gauge pinner just as much for
Once your door fits, you can work on the astragal is one piece; the lower half with the cove installing small mouldings such as the beading on
shopmade cabinet stay that holds the door shut. and bead is a second piece. Suffice it to say that this case.
The stay is made from 3 ⁄8"-thick scrap, a small I couldn’t find a router bit that would mill this
wedge and a dowel. First take your scrap and lower profile. So I made the moulding from three
bore a 5⁄16"-diameter hole through it for the dowel. pieces: The top overhanging piece, a coved piece nail them to the case (watch out for the nails in
Then trace the shape of the stay on the scrap and and a beaded piece. With some careful wood the carcase). Turn the case upside down on your
cut and shape it to your satisfaction. Now take a selection, it will look like one piece. bench and install the cove moulding using the
2"-long section of 5⁄16"-diameter dowel and cut a There was one other change I made to the same strategy.
thin kerf through its end grain. The kerf should moulding. The original moulding was flush to The rest is just finishing things up. Break the
be made with your finest saw (Japanese pullsaws the top edge of the cabinet. This meant that you edges with sandpaper and decide on a finishing
work quite well here). And the kerf should be had a lot of joinery showing up there, and if your strategy. If you’re going to putty your nail holes,
about 1 ⁄2" deep into the dowel. joinery isn’t perfect, you’d be showing it off. So I I recommend you do this after finishing. There’s
Make a small wedge from hardwood. The cut a 1 ⁄2" x 1 ⁄2" rabbet on the underside of the top putty designed just for this (commonly available
wedge should be 1 ⁄8" thick, 5 ⁄16" wide and about cap moulding. This does several things (all good): at every home center) and it allows you to mix
1⁄
2" long. Put glue on the dowel and wiggle it into It hides a lot of end grain on the top. It conceals and match the color closely.
the hole in the stay. Now put a little glue on your the fit (good or bad) between the moulding and Both of these cabinets are in my home now
wedge and tap it into the kerf until the dowel is the case. And it adds a lip to the top of the cabi- awaiting their final owners. What’s curious about
wedged into the stay. When the glue is dry, trim net. I like the lip, which helps keep objects from them is that building them actually created a few
the wedge flush with a saw. spilling to the floor. mysteries rather than unraveling them. The shelf
Now drill a 5⁄16" hole in the carcase stile for the The moulding can be milled using three com- arrangement is quite curious. The irregular and
mon bits (see the Supplies box for details). Once unexpected spacing makes me wonder what was
you get the router work complete, mill the rabbet stored in the original. Most people take one look
on the top cap moulding. Install the moulding by at this cabinet and say “jelly cupboard” or “pie
fitting the front piece first. It’s the most critical safe.” But I’m not so sure. WM
length of moulding on the whole piece. — Christopher Schwarz
With that piece of moulding sized perfectly,
you can glue and nail it in place with the spacer
scrap supporting the moulding on one end. Then
things get easy. Miter the front ends of the mould- Supplies
ings that travel across the sides of the case, com-
monly called the “returns.” When the miters Freud
I like a 1⁄16" gap or reveal. Here I’m marking that 800-334-4107 or freudtools.com
are tight, mark where they meet the back edge
directly on the stile with a marking knife. Do the
same at the other end of the door. Connect the
of the carcase. Trim them square, then glue and Freud router bits
marks and plane to that line. ■ 3 ⁄ 16"-radius half-round bit
#82-104 (cuts large astragal)
■ 5 ⁄ 8"-radius cove bit
#30-107 (cuts cove)
■ 1 ⁄ 8"-radius half-round bit
#82-110 (cuts small bead)
■ 1 ⁄ 8"-radius beading bit
#80-122 (cuts bead on stiles and
backboards)
Rockler
To install the length at front, first cut a scrap piece Rockler.com or 800-279-4441
of moulding with perfect 45° ends as shown. Butt
Whenever possible, rest your doors on your shop the front moulding against this scrap at one cor- 1 ■ Cherry Shaker 7 ⁄ 8" knob
floor when planing the top. Good support, a ner and mark at the other end where the mould- # 78493, $2.99/pair
sharp iron and a little mineral spirits will make the ing touches the corner of the carcase. Miter at Prices correct at publication deadline.
end grain fly off your plane in unbroken ribbons. that mark. Then attach the front piece.

woodworking-magazine.com ■
 Shaker-inspired
Bench Some simple adaptations turn this
19th-century bench into a modern
mudroom necessity.

here is an old Shaker hymn called “Simple Gifts” that begins

T with this line: “Tis the gift to be simple.” This bench carries
many of the qualities that the Shakers valued. The design is
straightforward and driven by function, yet it’s also graceful and elegant.
The construction is obvious and building it doesn’t require anything
beyond simple tools and techniques.
The antique Shaker bench that inspired this piece actually led two
lives. It was originally made without a back at the Hancock Shaker
village. As it got older (and presumably the brothers or sisters using it
also got older) wood was scabbed onto the back of the ends, and the
backrest was added, making it more comfortable.
Made of pine, the original was longer – 94" –and likely was used with
a dining table. I liked the look and simplicity of this piece, but I decided
to make a shorter version for use in an entry hall or mudroom.
I used cherry, and happened upon a single board that was wide
enough, and long enough, for the seat and the end pieces. If you’re
not as fortunate, you’ll need to glue up stock for width, which is what
I was planning to do on the way to the lumberyard.

by Robert W. Lang
Comments or questions? Contact Bob at 513-531-2690 ext. 1327
Photo by Al Parrish

or [email protected].

POPULAR WOODWORKING December 2004

Adapting the Design The second design change was Easy Layout, Strong Joinery With these three pieces fit
The original seat was 1" thick, to the ends – on the original the I stayed with the simple joinery of together, I turned them upside
and the corbel supports were arched cutout that creates the legs my example; a dado in the bottom down on my bench. After mak-
short pieces at each end. Because of the bench wasn’t centered on of the seat to capture the ends and ing sure that the ends were square
I would be using 3 ⁄4"-thick materi- the end. Because the back was two more in the back rail to cap- to the seat, I marked the seat sup-
als, I extended the seat supports to added, the cutout was pushed ture the back supports. Lap joints ports’ locations working from the
run all the way between the ends forward. I put the cutout at the where the seat supports meet the ends, as shown below left.
to brace the seat and strengthen mid-point of the ends and made ends complete the joinery. While I managed to avoid hav-
the overall structure. it taller and elliptical. After all the parts were cut to ing to measure for the locations of
size, I routed the 3 ⁄ 4"-wide x 1 ⁄ 4"- the lap joints on the stretcher, I did
deep dados in the bottom of the need to measure for the depth of
This T-square jig
seat, and the back of the back rail. the cuts. Because the ends recess
locates the exact
position of the I made the T-square jig as shown into the 1 ⁄4" dado in the seat, the
router bit. The at left to guide the router, and to lap joint cuts need to be 1 ⁄8" deeper
addition of an locate all of the joints the same than half the width of the support
end stop on the distance in from the ends. rails. The cuts in the rails and ends
bottom of the jig With the dados cut, I made were marked at 17⁄8" using the end
puts the cuts the End stop
a test assembly of the two ends of my adjustable square.
same distance
and the seat. When I prepared the
from the ends of
both the seat and stock, I planed everything to just Guiding Hand Tools
the back rail. more than 3 ⁄4". I made some final Like the dados in the seat, there
adjustments to the thickness of are numerous ways to cut the lap
the ends with a hand plane to get joints. The seat supports are rather
a nice snug fit in the dados. long, so I decided not to risk using

Guide block

Clamp the guide block for the saw to just cover the pencil lines. By pressing
the saw to the block as the cut is started, you establish a straight kerf.

After the bottom

of the joint has
been cut, use
the same guide
block to guide
the chisel to pare
the sides of the
joint.

Guide block
With the ends placed in the dados in the bottom of the seat, you can mark the
location of the lap-joint cuts in the seat rail without measuring.

POPULAR WOODWORKING December 2004

 13/4"
54" 3/4" r.

31/2"

1/4"

53"
17/8"
1/4"
30"
3/4" 3/4"
6" 17/8" Edge-lap center 6"
123/4"
18" 171/2" 171/2" 27/8"

71/2"

Elevation
85/8"
31/2" 31/2"
the table saw, but cut them with the jointer, then cut the radius at
a Japanese hand saw and guide- the top of the ends with a jig saw Profile
block as shown at left. With the or coping saw.
guide block clamped on the edge To make the ends a single
of my layout lines, it was easy to piece, I simply glued the back sup-
keep the saw straight, and I had ports to the ends. I used a butt
the long cuts made quickly. joint, and had to be careful while
I used a jigsaw to make the bot- clamping this up to keep every-

HSJE
tom cuts, but I could just as eas- thing aligned. You might want
ily have used a coping saw. I used to add some biscuits to help keep
the same guide block to pare the the pieces in the same plane. Once
sides of the joints with a chisel, the glue was dry, I cleaned up the
as shown at left. I also used a rasp joints with a card scraper, and I
to fine-tune the fit. These joints was then ready to cut the decora-
are relatively easy to make, but tive curves.
you need to be careful – if you try I made a full-size pattern of
to force them together, there is a the cutout in the ends, and the Quarter-size patterns
good chance that the pieces could corbel at the end of the seat sup-
split, especially with cherry. ports. I transferred the patterns
I like to sneak up on a good to the pieces and then made the
fit by testing the slots next to the cuts with a jigsaw. I cleaned-up the
adjacent slot rather than in them. cuts by sanding the curves with
If the wood should split, don’t an oscillating spindle sander.
despair. You can usually glue the Again, there are many ways to
split pieces back together without make these cuts and smooth the
losing any strength, or the repair surfaces. A band saw or coping saw
ever being visible. could have made the cuts, and the
With the lap joints complete, curves could be smoothed with
I turned to the back supports. By a spokeshave, a card scraper or a
making them as separate pieces, sanding block.
cutting the back taper is very sim-
ple. I used my band saw and started Edges with Character
the taper 1 ⁄4" above the intersec- I prefer to ease the sharp edges
tion with the seat, tapering to 13⁄4" on a piece like this by hand with
at the top of the support. After a block plane, and I did most of
making the cuts, remove the saw this before assembling the bench, After the joints are cut and the back extension is glued on, position the paper
marks by running the pieces over being careful to avoid the areas pattern and mark the arched cutout.

popwood.com
 in the vicinity of the joints. I glue dried. After an hour, I put
could have used a router with a glue on the top of the end pieces,
roundover or chamfer bit, but I and the top of the support rails.
enjoy the process of doing it by Then I clamped the seat and back,
hand, and I like to vary the radius and left the assembly overnight for
in different areas, adding charac- the glue to dry.
ter to the piece. With a router, I
would have ended up with a sterile A Bit of Insurance
sameness on every edge. In the photo of the original Shaker
The edges on the inside curves bench, the ends of the dowels or
of the end cutouts were shaped plugs are visible on the face of the
with a spokeshave as shown in the back rail and on the front edges of
photo below. After everything was the joints for the seat supports. I
put together, the edges near the decided to reinforce these joints,
joints were eased with a knife, a as well as the dado in the seat,
skew chisel and a rasp. with #8 x 13 ⁄ 4" screws, covering
The oscillating spindle sander is ideal for cleaning up the saw marks and I did most of the sanding before the screw heads with contrasting
sanding to the inside of the pencil line. assembly, sanding to #150 grit plugs of black walnut.
by hand with a sanding block. I Years ago I did repair work on
avoided sanding in the areas of wooden boats, and plugged screws
the joints to keep the joints from were the way we held nearly every-
becoming sloppy. While hand thing together. Here are a cou-
sanding can be tedious, it leaves ple of tricks from those days that
a much better surface, particularly speed the process considerably.
on narrow edges, than using a ran- Most people cut plugs in a ran-
dom-orbit or palm sander. dom pattern in a piece of scrap and
Because the lap joints have a then pry them out with a chisel.
good deal of mechanical strength, If you rip the scrap to roughly the
I didn’t need to clamp them outside diameter of the plug cut-
together. I did clamp a “speed ter, and use a fence on the drill
square” in the corners to keep press as shown on page 43, the
things from racking while the plug cutter won’t need to remove
A spokeshave eases the edges the block plane couldn’t reach.
so much material, and it won’t
tend to wander.
The lap joints
The second benefit is that the
should slide
together with plugs don’t need to be pried loose
hand pressure with a chisel. Set the blade height
and don’t need on the table saw to 1 ⁄8" less than
to be clamped the strip of plugs, and set the fence
together. Speed so that the plugs are on the outside
squares clamped of the blade. Use a push stick to
in the corners
carefully make the cut, and you
keep the assem-
bly from racking have a strip with the plugs still
while the glue attached. You can easily break
dries. them off when you’re ready to use
them, as shown on page 43.
Flush-cutting handsaws can be
used for trimming the plugs, but I
prefer to use a chisel. Pay attention
to which way the grain is running
on the side of the plug, and make
the cut with the edge of the chisel
on the “downhill” side. I hold the
chisel slightly above the surface,

POPULAR WOODWORKING December 2004

 and one smack with a mallet faces sanded to #150 grit before The next morning I applied a a nylon pad and then buffed.
removes most of the plug. A par- assembly, only some minor sand- second coat of oil, keeping the sur- We tend to think that the fur-
ing cut, pushed by hand, leaves the ing was needed before the entire face wet for 20 minutes before wip- niture we sit on needs to be intri-
plug flush with the surface. piece was hand sanded with #240- ing it dry. I let the oil dry during cate in design and complicated to
If I’m not sure which way the grit sandpaper. a long weekend, and applied two build. This Shaker bench proves
plug will break, I’ll make the first Cherry is truly a beautiful coats of paste wax, worked in with otherwise. PW
cut higher up, so that the plug is wood, and it’s my opinion that
entirely above the surface, and an oil finish brings out the best
Spend a little
then make the final cut in the of its character and figure. I used
time preparing
direction that the first cut broke, a Danish oil finish, and wiped it stock for plugs,
a shown below. This technique on, working in the oil with a nylon and they will be
is faster than sawing, and a mini- abrasive pad, and keeping the sur- easier to cut.
mal amount of work with a scraper face wet for about 45 minutes. The rabbet in the
leaves the plug smooth and flush After wiping the surface dry fence keeps chips
with the surface, as there are no with a rag, I set the bench in the from building up.
saw marks to be sanded out. sun for a few hours, turning it
every half hour and wiping off any
A Fitting Finish oil that bled out. This exposure to
With the entire piece assembled, the sun darkened the wood, giv-
Keeping the
it was time to finish the work on ing a jump start to the patina that
plugs barely
the edges of the bench and to cherry develops as it ages. attached to the
give everything a final sanding. I strip keeps them
sanded all of the edges with #120- manageable.
grit sandpaper, followed by #150. Break them off
With the majority of the flat sur- from the strip by
hand.

X
Y
E
EBEPT
PO
CBDL
PG
SBJM X
Y
E
FEHFMBQ
DVUT

It’s faster to trim the plugs with a chisel

than with a saw, and if you keep an eye
on the grain direction they will be flush
with the surface.
X
Y
E
EBEPT
PO
CPUUPN
PG
TFBU

SHAKER-INSPIRED BENCH
NO. ITEM DIMENSIONS (INCHES) MATERIAL COMMENTS
T W L

❏ 2 Ends 3⁄4 123⁄4 171 ⁄2 Cherry

Exploded view ❏ 2 Back supports 3⁄4 27⁄8 30 Cherry Glue to ends after joints are cut
❏ 1 Back rail 3⁄4 31⁄2 54 Cherry
❏ 2 Seat supports 3⁄4 31⁄2 53 Cherry
❏ 1 Seat 3⁄4 123⁄4 54 Cherry

popwood.com
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