Friday, November 9, 2018

Curio Cabinet, Part 3: Carcase Joinery and Shaping

Having completed the beading on the side panels, I moved on to the joinery for the carcase.  I cut stopped dadoes into the top and bottom to accept the side panels.
Dado in the bottom
The front of the side panels would extend past the dadoes by about 1/2" and I used the router plane at it's maximum setting from cutting the dadoes to mark the cutout for that.
Marking the cutout depth - being very careful as there was little bearing surface for the router plane
I don't know how it happened, but one joint fit poorly.  It was way too loose.  I ended up having to glue a few shavings to the part of a side panel that would be inserted into the dado.  My two sides are not exactly the same thickness, so I suspect that I used the wrong side piece when sizing the dado.  It's way too easy to make mistakes - checking that you're using the right parts when laying out and cutting joinery is key.
Here is the carcase dry assembled
Next, the top and bottom needed stopped rabbets to accept the back panel.  It's tedious to do this with hammer and chisel, but it goes fairly quickly.
Chopping away some waste
Paring to one gauge line
Then up in the vise and paring to the other line
Came out nice and clean
The sides got a through rabbet using the Recond #778 rabbet plane
The underside of the top was to get a cove moulding on the front and both sides.  This will be the first time I've incorporated this type of detail in a project using hand tools.  I had made a few pairs of H&R's some years ago and used them for this.  First I made a template of the shape.
Used a circle template to mark a quarter round of just under 1/2" radius
Last year after I had bought Matt Bickford's DVD "Moldings in Practice", I practiced making mouldings with some success.  But each one I did was with the grain.  For my current project, the profile on the two sides would be across the grain and I really had no idea how the planes would perform.  So I practiced on a scrap of hardwood (maple) and it came out very nice.
The practice piece with profile on cross-grain and long-grain edges
Then, ...
Used the template to mark the stock
Laid out the rabbet that would remove the bulk of the material
Cut the rabbet with a saw cross grain, chisel to split cut the waste and a wooden rabbet plane to clean up
Then used the moulding plane(s) to shape to the layout lines
Note that I used a backer board to keep the grain from blowing out at the far end
Very pleased with how it turned out
On the upper edge of the bottom, I put a simple 1/4" chamfer on three sides.
And here's the carcase dry-fit
Next I need to make the frame for the door.  I'll be using the mitered bridle joints that I practiced on.  I need those to be RIGHT!  To be continued ...

6 comments:

  1. Very nice. I have a curio cabinet coming up as my next project as well. Out of curiosity, what size molding plane are you using?

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    1. I used mostly the #8 (1/2" radius), but also used the #6 and #10 a bit.

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    2. Looks good, nice clean work. BTW, I've never had one joint be a little loose, no not me :-).

      ken

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    3. Ha! I guess I'm a little hard on myself. BTW, looks like your new bench build is progressing nicely.

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  2. Me too, just kike Ken... yeah right :-)
    Cant wait to see the final results, good work

    Bob, who could use a lot of curio cabinets :-)

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    1. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished, too. Just ordered the hardware from LV - hinges, shelf pins and door pull. Hope they get here within a few days.

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