Next up in the layout and cutout scene are the parts which comprise the framing for the bank of 2 drawers in the middle of the cabinet. There are 4 rails which serve as the front and rear supports, 7 cross piece, and 2 vertical struts, pictured here upon 98% completion:
Another view, showing the outside faces:
As you can see, the strut which will separate the drawers at the front of the cabinet has spear point returns top and bottom, while the strut for the back of the cabinet, being concealed from view and any need to run a continuous chamfer, lacks the spear points. Otherwise they are much same, with the other principal difference being that the rear strut, to the left in the above photos, has an additional mortise in the middle to accept a locking pin. The locking pin will anchor the middle of the rear panel of the cabinet to the back of the drawer bank.
As parts are completed, they may be stacked together. Here, I’ve added two of the middle crosspieces, the one on the left also serving as a batten for the middle shelf of the cabinet:
Now another part is completed and added, and you can see how the lower middle crosspiece, which guides the bottom runners of the drawers which flank it, is put together to form a triple-tenoned connection at each end:
A closer look- the lower element has a dado on top to locate the piece above:
All these pieces have yet to be chamfered of course. Also, they will need to be fitted to the rails so as to mark the locations of the peg mortises.
The 4 rails came next, the layout of which took quite a while. Here I’m trimming the housing for the spear point on the front strut:
A look at the near-completed cut out in this area:
A while later, the joinery at the midpoints of each rail were largely roughed out, and in some portions complete:
Another view:
Given that the arrangement of parts at the top of this assembly, where a 3/8″ (9.5mm) thick shelf panel will reside, and the arrangement at the bottom, where 1/2″ (12.7mm) thick dust panels reside, and where the drawer runner needs to be guided and supported, and given that the arrangement of framing is also different front (where there are doors) and back (where there is a demountable panel), there are as a result myriad little differences in the layout of rails top, bottom, front and back. I had to take extra steps and double-checks to make sure I had reflected these differences in the layout.
I had a close call in rediscovering that the rear rails needed to have slightly wider and shorter end dovetails than those dovetails employed on the end of the front rails of the cabinet – this outcome due to a variety of reasons – and had already cut the rails to length before this discovery was made. Fortunately, I had taken measurements from the drawing depicting the (front) rails with the longer tenons, so now that this difference has been determined, I will luckily pay no penalty and the dreaded ‘board stretcher’ will not be required (I heard that they were on sale at Amazon though).
Another look at the rails mid-way through cut out:
All for this round. It has been freezing in the shop lately and I have been putting in shorter days as a result. Things are moving along though, and the project is actually going faster than anticipated overall.
Thanks for visiting the Carpentry Way! Big snowstorm coming tomorrow apparently, so I’ll be hunkering down for the weekend. Hope you’re staying warm, if you’re in the more northern part of the hemisphere, and if I happen to have any Australian readers these days, I hope you’re staying cool in the crazy heatwave you’re having.
And Post 17 follows.
Chris;
Looks like some intricut joinery there. Alot goin in in a little space! Very cool! Can’t wait to see the half dove tail cut out! Thank for all! Have a good day and stay warm!
J.T.
Hi JT,
thanks for the comment. Yes, those small struts do tie together quite a few pieces at the same time. I’ll remember to take some photos for you when the half-dovetail mortises are cut out.
I never tire of looking at the joinery. Thanks for taking the time and effort to do the photography. And I hope you can enjoy the snow day that looks like is on your way.
Thanks Gary. It looks like we got about 6″ as of this morning, however more may fall during the day. And then it is going to be bitterly cold starting tomorrow, so I may be housebound for a few days. I brought a raft of chisels home to sharpen though, so it won’t be entirely unproductive.
Depends which end of Australia you are talking about Chris. The East coast is getting hammered somewhat more than West. The Top end from my past experiences there are either hot, or hot and wet , irrespective of the time of year. As Adrian Cronauer said “Good if you’re with a lady , no good if you’re out in the jungle” Mind you, anything under 20c starts to feel cool to cold here so I suppose a snowstorm could elicit a similar response. Don’t suppose you could lose a foot all round in the shop by framing up a cavity and filling it with sawdust and shavings:)
“Don’t suppose you could lose a foot all round in the shop by framing up a cavity and filling it with sawdust and shavings:)”
I know you’re joking, but seriously, I’d consider anything. Not my building though, so there’s not a lot I can do to modify the space, plus there is a local moratorium on the part of the natural gas supplier, so I can’t get a gas furnace installed. Plus all the ductwork. Building owner doesn’t want any walls put up internally due to thorny issues which arise as a result with fire department inspection, building department inspection, and the numerous fees and paperwork that associate.
I tried to spend some time in my shop yesterday, but is was all of 2˚ C in there, so I didn’t last much beyond 2 hours.