Category CABINETMAKING

This section features two time-test­ed methods for permanently joining legs to the rails of a piece of furniture: the mortise-and-tenon joint and the dowel joint. Two more contemporary ways are also featured; both involve using knock-down leg hardware—suitable for furniture that must be taken apart and reassembled periodically.

To some extent, the type of leg will dictate the way you join it to the rails. You would be unlikely, for example, to use a hanger bolt to fix a cabriole leg to a fine ffame-and-panel cabinet. A mor – tise-and-tenon joint would be a more appropriate choice.

There are several techniques for mak­ing the mortise-and-tenon. You can use a table saw to cut the tenons (page 104);

the mortises can be bored with a router (page 50) or a drill press (page 106)...

straight. The most common element of cabriole legs is the S-shaped curve, which is meant to suggest the grace and ele­gance of a horse’s leg.

The design shown below will yield an attractive, well-proportioned leg strong and stable enough to support a piece of furniture. You can alter the pattern to suit your own project or copy the design of an existing leg that appeals to you. However, do not exag­gerate the curves too much or you risk making the leg unstable. Before cut­ting into the block of wood, perform this simple test on your design: Draw a straight line from the top of the leg to

MAKING A CABRIOLE LEG

Designing a cabriole leg

For a template, cut a piece of stiff cardboard or hardboard to the same length and width as your leg blanks...

The illustration below shows one of the common ways a leg—in this case, a cabriole leg—is joined to a piece of furniture, such as a simple carcase. Before attaching the leg to the rails, you will need to cut a rabbet along the top of the rails. After assembly, the top of the leg is trimmed to the level of the rab­bet. Next, glue is applied to the rabbets, the notches and the contacting surfaces of the carcase, and the casework is seat­ed on the leg-and-rail assembly. The weight of the piece eliminates the need for clamping.

There are many ways of joining legs to rails, including the four tech­niques shown opposite and featured in this chapter. The mortise-and-tenon and dowel joints are two alternatives designed to last the life of a piece of furniture...

Like their counterparts in human anatomy, legs in cabinetmak­ing serve mainly as supports. But furniture legs play an equally important esthetic role, comple­menting and setting off for display anything from a carcase to a chair.

Whatever the style of legs, the chal­lenges of making them are several: shape and proportion must be per­fectly in balance with the rest of the piece of furniture, and the leg must also provide adequate support. The goal is to achieve a balance between strength and beauty.

This chapter will show you how to make four popular leg types: cabriole, tapered, octagonal and square legs. Several methods of attaching legs are also presented. Taken together, these leg types and joinery techniques offer attractive alternatives for a wide range of furniture styles.

Among...

Cast in metals ranging from wrought – iron to brass, door hinges come in a wide array of styles to complement virtually any door. Most fit into one of four basic categories shown at right. Clock-case hinges are best suited to doors that overlay their opening. Com­monly used for flush-mounted doors, butt hinges typically sit in shallow mor­tises cut into the door and case. Surface – mounted hinges are ideal for imparting an antique or rustic look to a door. Concealed hinges, such as the European cabinet hinge, are completely hidden when the door is closed.

Before installing the hinges, read the manufacturer’s instructions regarding hinge placement. If you are working with fine woods, tap the stock for brass machine screws after drilling pilot holes to reduce the chance of splitting...

As ornamental as the frame-and – panel door, the veneered-panel door is much simpler to make. First of all, it does not require mortise-and-tenon joints. In fact, the frame adds no strength to the door at all; the four sides are sim­ply mitered at each end. The assembly is held together by biscuit joints that affix it to a plywood panel, which serves as the structural backbone of the door.

The veneered plywood is formed by up to nine plies of thin veneer glued together. The outer skin is typically У28 inch thick for hardwoods and Mo inch thick for softwoods.

Since plywood is not affected by humidity, no allowance has to be made for changes in the size of the panel. Therefore, it does not need to have a bev­el cut along its edge to fit into a groove on the frame...

panels, each holding its own pane. In addition to its aesthetic appeal, this design makes the glass less prone to breaking and also cheaper to replace.

Glass is available in various thick­nesses and types. For door-making pur­poses, the most commonly used variety is sheet or window glass, available in thicknesses up to lA inch.

CONSTRUCTING A GLASS DOOR

Cutting a rabbet to hold the pane of glass

Clamp the frame to a work surface, using a wood pad for protection. Then install a [1]/s-inch rabbeting bit on a router and set the depth of cut to the combined thickness of the glass and the molding. Hold the tool firmly with both hands while resting the baseplate on the frame near one corner, then turn on the
router and guide the bit into the inside edge of the door...

Solid-panel doors offer the same com­bination of strength and charm as their frame-and-panel counterparts. This section features two styles: tongue-and – groove and board-and-batten doors.

Sizing stock for a board-and-batten door is a matter of making the length of the boards equal to the door height; their combined width should equal the door width. Dimensioning stock for a tongue – and-groove door requires making the length of the stiles the same height as the door. The width of the door will be
the length of the rails—without the tenons—added to the width of the stiles.

In building a board-and-batten door, some woodworkers use two horizontal battens instead of the standard Z-shaped pattern; for added strength, the two pieces are recessed in dadoes cut into the back of the door...

frame-and-panel door may be built the same way as one side of a ffame – and-panel cabinet (page 48). Although the door illustrated below features stan­dard mortise-and-tenons, you can also use haunched mortise-and-tenons or cope-and-stick joints. The floating pan­el in the center of the door can be raised, as shown, divided into a pattern of small­er panels or inlaid. The rails and stiles
have an integrated molding cut into them; for added embellishment, you may choose to cut an arch or curve into the upper rail.

The tongue-and-groove door is a popular choice for modern, European – style furniture. It has stiles with grooved edges that accept tenons at the ends of the rails. The rails have grooves on their bottom edges and tongues on their tops,
allowing them to interlock...

As a fine piece of furniture nears completion, the last major task before finishing the wood is often constructing and mounting the doors. A project within a pro­ject, assembling a door demands the same care as building the piece it accompanies. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing a carefully crafted cabinet offset by a door that is warped or ill-fitting.

In addition to providing a visu­al focus, doors serve the simple function of protecting the contents stored inside a piece of furniture.

One of the first recorded uses in cabinetmaking of a door as a phys­ical barrier was the medieval aumbrey, a large cabinet used to protect food from vermin. The design of the door was prim­itive: a single piece of wood held in place with simple forged strap hinges.

Today’s woodworkers have far m...