Popular Woodworking 2001-08 № 123, страница 19

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Country

Though this dry sink won't store pitchers

of milk fresh from the cow, it will give your kitchen an old-time feel that no modern cabinet could.

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Traditional American dry sinks were made from yellow pine and had deep wooden troughs on top that were useful for storing pitchers, churns and buckets of liquids. Now that we've got refrigerators and ice makers, the dry sink has graduated to become an expensive item at antique markets.

This updated version preserves the form of the traditional dry sink, with its high splash guard on back and storage down below, but I've altered a few key components. Instead of a sunken wooden trough on top, I've added two drawers. And instead of yellow pine, this dry sink is made from curly maple. Put the finished project in your kitchen to add a country touch to a farm home, or use it as a buffet in an informal dining room.

Traditional Construction

I build all my casework the same way, and I'm convinced that these methods will ensure that the furniture will be around for a long time. Begin by building the face frame of the cabinet because most of the cabinet dimensions are based on the face frame. I use mor-tise-and-tenon joinery to join the rails and stiles. I make the tenons on all the rails 1" long, and all the mortises 1¹/l6" deep, which will ensure your tenons won't bottom out in your mortises and give some space for excess glue to go. Dry-fit the face-frame parts, then put glue in the mortises and glue up all the rails and stiles. Start with the center rail and stile and work out.

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Doors Next

Once the glue is dry from the face frame, I like to make my doors because they are easier to hang and fit while the face frame can be laid flat on my bench. The doors are built much the same way as the face frame, with 1"-long tenons on the rails. To hold the panel in place, I plow a ³/s" x ³/s" groove down the inside edge of all the door parts. Be sure to make the tenons on the rails haunched because of this groove.

Once you have the rails and stiles fit, measure the opening for the panel and cut your stock to size, making sure that you leave a Vs" gap all around to accommodate

by Troy Sexton

Troy Sexton designs and builds custom furniture in Sunbury, Ohio, for his company, Sexton Classic American Furniture. Troy is a contributing editor for Popular Woodworking.

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