abinet

This lovely cabinet, built by Greg Isaak of Clark, South Dakota, has a design based on a somewhat larger Shaker cabinet built around 1840. Although the adjustable shelves were not on the original, we incorporated them to make the cabinet adaptable to the variety of storage needs found in modern homes.

Cherry, a wood often favored by the Shakers, was used for most of the parts. As a concession to modern materials, though, we used cherry plywood for the back and the drawer bottoms. The highly figured wood used on the door panels and drawer fronts is called "quilled" cherry.

Make the Case

Begin by edge-gluing enough V» in. thick stock lo make the sides (A), top <B). bottom (C). adjustable shelves (D) and fixed shelf (E). You'll need a thickness planer, or some work with a hand plane in order lo reduce ihe adjustable shelves to a final

thickness of ^{/i in. Try to use stock that's straight-grained and free from large knots or other defects. Also, look for grain patterns that are pleasing to the eye. After edge-gluing ihe parts, the two sides, ihe top and the bottom can be cut to the length and width dimensions shown in the Bill of Materials.

Use ihe router table and a 7* in. radius beading bit to apply the bead along the front and ends of the lop and bottom. Once the beads are completed, temporarily join the sides to the lop and bottom using counterborcd I 7- in. long by no. 8 flathead wood screws as shown in the exploded \ iew.

With the parts temporarily assembled, equip the router w ith a 7k in. bearing-guided rabbeting bit and cut the 7» in. deep by 7h in. w ide rabbet all around the back edge of the sides, top and bottom. You'll need lo use a chisel to square the rounded corners.

Now, measure the opening for ihe 7' in. thick plywood back (K) and cui il to fit. Cherry plywood was used on ours, but if

L'! V

f

I^S

isi

2a j—

- si--

14,

J

J

V?

r

-L

I i

-

c

M The Woodworker's Journal