Synopsis: After seeing a photograph of a small cupboard at a Shaker group in Kentucky, Christian Becksvoort determined to breed it. The cupboard has six backboards, they usually overlie the case prime and backside. 4 are grooved on each side, whereas the top backboards are grooved on only one facet. Splines are inserted within the grooves after the backboards are nailed in place. The door frames have mortise-and-tenon joints. One door has a porcelain pull, whereas the opposite has a stopped cove as a finger pull.
Just a few years in the past, I chanced throughout a photograph of a diminutive walnut cupboard on the South Union, Ky., Shaker group. The dimensions, the glass doorways, and the inside shelf and divider intrigued me. The cupboard’s goal was unclear; maybe it was used to retailer herbs, medicinals, or stitching notions. The glass doorways counsel that it was made after 1850.
With out really having seen the cupboard, I used to be hazy in regards to the development particulars. I do know a couple of issues: The dovetailed case will get utilized prime and backside boards glued to it after meeting. The vertical backboards bypass the case prime and backside, so the top grain is seen till the utilized prime and backside boards are added. Additionally, it seems as if the underside might have been added later, as a result of it’s shorter and thicker than the highest and has dadoes or cutouts on the edges. If I had been making a strict replica, I might observe all of these particulars, however as a mission for myself, I opted to make a couple of adjustments: The 2 finish backboards sit in rabbets within the sides; I used cherry as a substitute of walnut; I made some slight changes to dimensions; and I needed to guess and use my finest practices the place particulars weren’t seen.
Dovetails preserve it collectively
At all times tails first for Becksvoort. Begin by laying out and slicing the tails on the ends of the highest and backside boards, then place the chisel within the scribed baseline and start with gentle mallet blows. Minimize out a shallow chip. Repeat. The mallet blows ought to get more durable and the chips thicker. Transfer midway by way of, flip the board, and end losing materials away between the tails.
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Switch and minimize. With the pin board (the case facet) vertical within the vise, use a knife to switch the tails to it. Then use a handsaw to chop between the baseline and the half-blind line.
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Chopping pins. As you probably did with the tails, begin with gentle chisel chops on the scribed baseline. Then take away a skinny chip by paring from the entrance. The subsequent chops alongside the baseline are deeper. Comply with these by eradicating thicker chips. You may break up the chips to take away them, as a result of they are going to be wider on the backside than the highest. Pare alongside the cheek of the pins, and refine the flat on the half-blind line.
The case: All issues not equal
The 4 case boards are flush on the entrance, however the case sides are wider than the highest and backside boards and are rabbeted alongside their again edge to obtain the again. The case prime and backside finish on the rabbet, permitting the backboards to overlie them.
Dadoes earlier than gluing up. Use a desk noticed and a dado blade to chop the dadoes for the middle divider within the prime and backside case boards. The middle divider is identical thickness because the case elements–5⁄8 in.—in order that’s the dado’s width as nicely.
After slicing the dovetails, rabbets, and middle divider dadoes, glue and assemble the case. Then concentrate on slicing the dadoes for the shelf and the shelf divider.
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Glue within the nooks and crannies. Unfold glue shortly in and across the dovetails on the tail boards in addition to the pin boards. Then faucet the case collectively.
Tighten issues up. When you faucet all of the dovetails residence, add cauls and clamp strain till the glue dries. Test for sq. and modify the clamps if vital.
Inside infrastructure
A variety of dadoing should be carried out to create the inside compartments. A middle divider will get dadoed into the case prime and backside, a shelf will get dadoed between the middle divider and the facet of the case, and the shelf will get a small vertical divider dadoed between it and the highest.
Dry-fit the middle divider, and mark it and the appropriate case facet for the shelf, then rout dadoes in each. Set the shelf in a single dado, then mark its size within the different dado. Minimize it to dimension and dry-fit the shelf in place. Mark the middle level on the shelf and switch the mark to the highest. Then with the shelf eliminated, rout each the case prime and the shelf to just accept the shelf divider. When every thing matches accurately, all of the dividers and the shelf might be glued or tacked into place.
Safe the middle divider. Slide the middle divider in place, drill a pilot gap on every finish, and faucet in brads to verify the divider doesn’t transfer whilst you’re routing dadoes in it.
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Two extra pairs of dadoes. To chop dadoes for the shelf, use a trim router and a double-fence jig. Minimize the dado in the appropriate facet of the middle divider, then flip the case and minimize the dado on the within of the appropriate case facet. Carry out an identical operation to chop the dadoes for the shelf divider.
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Assemble the dividers. As soon as all of the dadoes are minimize, you’ll be able to set up the shelf and shelf divider. First, drill a pilot gap by way of every dado (close to the entrance of the case) to find the place the brads will go; this can forestall errant brads from poking by way of in undesirable locations. Subsequent, slide the shelf and shelf divider in place, faucet in every brad, countersink it with a punch, and fill the outlet with putty.
Atypical again work
The six vertical backboards are subsequent. I joined them with splines in 1/8-in.-wide grooves. The boards will must be wider for those who determine to make them tongue-and-groove or shiplapped as a substitute. The left and proper finish backboards are glued to the lips of the rabbets; the opposite items are fitted dry and tacked to the case prime and backside.
Getting groovy with the backboards. The six backboards are grooved for splines on the desk noticed. The 2 finish boards are grooved solely on one facet; the remaining get grooved on each side.
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Begin on the ends. Put all of the backboards in place dry to make sure they match, and trim the top boards if wanted. Apply glue to the rabbets, put the 2 finish boards in place, drill pilot holes, and drive nails. Set the ultimate 4 backboards in place dry, ensuring they’re flush with the highest and backside boards.
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Tape, nail, and insert. Tape throughout the backboards and over the edges to maintain the boards from shifting. Drill pilot holes and nail the boards in place, avoiding nailing into the spline grooves. Slide the splines into their grooves. When the highest and backside boards are added, they are going to be trapped in place. Go away a small hole between the backboards (about 1⁄16 in.) in addition to within the spline recess to permit for wooden motion.
Mortise-and-tenon door frames
After milling the door rails and stiles, rabbet all eight items to just accept the glass panes. The through-mortise-and-tenon joints are centered to match the rabbets.
Run door rabbets. The rails and stiles get rabbets to deal with the glass panes. You may minimize them on the desk noticed with two rip cuts per piece. The primary minimize is with the within face in opposition to the desk, and the second minimize is with the surface face in opposition to the fence.
Minimize the cheeks on the desk noticed. The rip fence is the cease for the shoulder minimize. The shoulders are offset, so that you’ll want two fence settings. If you happen to minimize the mortises with a router, drill press, or any bit that leaves spherical ends, you’ll have to sq. them up earlier than becoming the tenons.
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Double down on the glass doorways
When you’ve glued up the door frames, you’ll be able to hinge them. I exploit a mix of a trim router and chisels to get the job carried out. When they’re hinged, you’ll be able to match the doorways, leaving a couple of 1/32-in. hole on the prime, a couple of 1/16-in. hole on the backside, and a powerful 1/16 in. between the 2 doorways.
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Hinge the doorways. Lay out, rout, and chisel the hinge mortises within the door stiles. As soon as you put in the hinges within the doorways, set them on the case and switch the hinge areas. Then minimize the hinge mortises within the case sides.
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The proper match. With the doorways put in, finetune their match. Use a straightedge and a pencil to mark any locations the place you wish to take away materials with a block airplane. As a basic rule, Becksvoort leaves “a dime match on the prime and a nickel match on the backside– as a result of hinges by no means transfer up.”
Integral pull. The fitting-side door has a porcelain knob, however the left facet has a aid on the within of the stile for the fingers to seize when opening. Minimize the stopped cove pull with a quarter-round bit on the router desk.
With the doorways eliminated, drill for the porcelain knob (mine is from vandykes.com) and the magnet catches, and rout a stopped cove as a finger pull on the within of the left door stile. Earlier than rehanging the doorways, set up the glass, making skinny strips for stops and utilizing tiny brads. So as to add a little bit of historic authenticity, I exploit previous or restoration glass.
High to backside
As soon as the case is assembled, the utilized prime and backside boards might be profiled. The entrance and finish edges of the highest get rounded over, with a small fillet on the underside. On the underside board, the entrance and ends get a heavier roundover, with a fillet on the highest. I wait till after I’ve hinged the doorways to the case to connect the highest and backside.
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Two cuts per profile. The utilized prime will get a roundover with a fillet on the underside. With the board face up, use a 3⁄16-in.-radius roundover bit raised to chop the fillet in addition to the curve, and profile each ends and the entrance edge. For the second minimize, flip the board backside facet up and decrease the bit to chop solely the curve. Comply with the identical steps for the utilized backside board, however change to a 1⁄4-in.-radius roundover bit and minimize the fillet on the highest face of the board as a substitute of the underside face.
Orient the utilized prime and backside. After making use of end to the case (having masked off glue surfaces), place the highest and backside so the facet overhangs match, and pencil some marks to information realignment later.
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Glue on the highest and backside. With the case on its again on bar clamps, skim a layer of glue on the highest and backside boards. Place the boards on the case, and use spring clamps to carry them in place whilst you tighten the cam clamps and bar clamps.
Earlier than gluing on the highest and backside, apply end to them and the remainder of the cupboard. Remember to tape off the elements first to forestall end from getting on any glue floor. When the end is dry, glue the highest and backside in place on the case, leaving a 3/4-in. overhang on the entrance and a 2-in. overhang on the edges. You should utilize C-clamps or cam clamps within the entrance, bar clamps within the again, and cauls with bar clamps on the edges if wanted.
Glass set up
After making use of end, Becksvoort installs previous or restoration glass within the doorways. It has a delicate wave to it and is in step with the unique. The stops get tacked into the body.
Preload the stops. Set the glass within the rabbets. Earlier than you set the stops on the glass, drill pilot holes and set brads. Then place the stops on prime of the glass in opposition to the body.
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Two methods to set a brad. Lay a thick piece of paper on the glass to guard it whilst you faucet the brad in place with a hammer. Alternatively, you should utilize an adjustable wrench to slowly squeeze the brad residence.
Lastly, reinstall the doorways and add the magnets within the doorways and two small screws within the case to catch the magnets.
—Christian Becksvoort is a furnishings maker in New Gloucester, Maine.
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