49 - Cabinet Maker's Tool Chest, страница 20

49 - Cabinet Maker

FEATURE PROJECT

:nd view

Rail & Dividers

The inside of the case is divided to form an upper storage compartment and the openings for the drawers. To do this, I added an upper rail, a pair of large horizontal dividers, and a small vertical divider, see drawing at right.

The upper rail and horizontal dividers fit into a series of grooves and dadoes that are cut in the sides and back of the case, see Fig. 4.

STOPPED GROOVES. But before you get started, there's one thing to be aware of. To accept the upper rail, you'll need to cut a short, stopped groove in the front stile of each side, see Fig. 4. I used a table-mounted router and a W straight bit to do this. But since the sides are mirror images, it requires two different setups.

Start by positioning the fence and clamping a stop block to it, see Fig. 5. Then with the side riding against the fence, slide it forward until it hits the stop block. Note: Wait for the bit to stop spinning before lifting the side.

To cut the groove in the second side assembly, you'll need to reposition the stop block, see Fig. 6. Then lower the side onto the spinning bit and slide it forward until the bit cuts through the top edge of the side.

DADOES. The next step is to cut the dadoes that hold the horizontal dividers. I used a table-mounted

router here as well. But this time, I installed a V2" straight bit and adjusted it for a shallow (Vs") cut, see Fig. 4a.

Once again, the dadoes in the sides are stopped short of the back edge. This way, the ends of the dadoes won't be visible when the case is assembled.

To rout these stopped dadoes, I used the same basic method. The only difference is the stop blocks are clamped farther from the bit.

But when it comes to routing the

dadoes in the back of the case, there's no need to use stop blocks. That's because the dadoes go all the^B way through.

DIVIDERS

Now you can turn your attention to the two horizontal dividers and the vertical divider. Like the sides and back of the case, each divider is a simple frame and panel assembly that's held together with stub tenon and groove joints. But there are a few differences worth noting.

FRAMES. First of all, the stiles (K, L, and P) and rails (M, N, and Q) that make up the frames are V2"-thick hardwood instead of the 'W' stock I used for the sides and back.

Most of these frame pieces will be hidden inside the case. But the front edge of each frame will be exposed once the case is assembled. So when making the rail (or stile) that's visible in front, if s worth taking some time to select the wood that complements the grain pattern in the rest of the chest.

PANELS. Another difference ii^^ the dividers is that the panels (0 anr^W R) are made of V4" hardboard instead of Vs" material. And since the

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ShopNotes

No. 49