. Americam Style Rg Shaker, Mission & Country Projects CPSC DAsSO any American Style Shaker, Mission & Country Projects NeptuneCONVERSION CHART WEIGHT EQUIVALENTS. TEMPERATURE EQUIVALENTS (ounces and pounds / grams and kilograms) (fahvenheit / celsius) us METRIC us METRIC Ve oz 19 OF — (treezer temperature) ABC ‘hoz 149 32°F (water freezes) oc Sor 21g 98.6° F (normal body temp.) are loz 289 180° F (water simmers) arc Boz('h b) 2179 212°F (water boik)* 100° 12.02 (tb) 340.6 16.02 (1 Ib) 454g sat s2a lel 35 02 (2.2 1b) 1 kg CONVERSION FORMULA CONVERSION FORMULA ounces x 28.35 = grams dlegeeesftrenheit mins 32, divided by 1.8 1000 grams = 1 Kilogram ‘ogres casi LINEAR EQUIVALENTS VOLUME EQUIVALENTS (inches and feet / centimetres and metres) (fluid ounces / mililitres and litres) us METRIC us METRIC Vain 0.64 cm 1 thsp (14 flloz) 15 mi Yin 1.27-cm cup (4 thon 120 mi Vin 254m 1 cup (8 #02) 240 mi 6in 15.24 em 1 quart 32 fl 92) 960 mi 12 in foo) 30.48 cm 1 quant + 3 thsps aL 1 929.03 em? 1 gal (128 f oz) 3.8L 384 in 1.00 tir’ 1639 cm! tyd 91.44 «m if 0.0283 mm? ty 0.84 mt tye : 0.765 mi CONVERSION FORMULA CONVERSION FORVIULA inches x 254 = cantetres ‘hud ounces x 3 100 centres = 1 mere 1009 militares DISCLAIMER Readers should note that this book was initially intended for ublication in the United States of America, and the exstence of different laws, cond tions ard foals means that 2 reader's! responsiblity to ensure that they comply -1 all safety requirements and recommended best practices im the European Eeanarie Area, ‘The improper use of hand tools and power tools can result in sesious injury or death. Do net operate any too! unill you arefully read its instruction rrarual and understand "2 ooerate the teol saicy. Always use all appropriate ent a5 well as the guards that were supplied 3n€ equiprrert. in some of the illustrations in this book, guards and safety equipment have been removed ‘onl to provide @ better view of the operation. Oe not atizmpt ary procedure without using al appropiate safety ‘out enstring that al guards ate in place. Neither August Home Publishing Company nor Time-Life Books assume any responsibilty for ary injury, loss or damage arising from use of the materals, plans, instructions or illustrations contained in this book, However, nothing here is intended to exclude or limit liability for death or personal injury if, and to the extent that, such exclusion or himvtation would be contrary to public policy oF otherwise be unenforceable.RS a American Style Shaker, Mission & Country ProjectsNOD Leen Shaker Step Stoo! American Style Shaker, Mission & Country Projects SHAKER PROJECTS 6 Shaker Step Stool... “i 8 Lats of Shaker touches are foul in tis small projet. There ave two versions, one made with hardl-cut dovetails, the other with butt joints. Shaker Hall Table. 14 ‘Simple ies hide the challenges thot make this table rewarding to bud. And the whole project can be dime with a table saw and a router. Rocking Chair lis Shaker heritage has been pated with some modern techniques And here's an old kil hat mary be new to you: weaving seat. Shaker-Style Footstool . ssi 4 Te doesn’ tke long to build this footstool wo match the rocking chair The wo projects share many of the same techniques. MISSION PROJECTS 46 Hall Clothes Tree. — cee A specie interlocking design brings this hall ere together with adiine- tive Lok. cabo makes ic sromg nal stable, without a massive “ran.”Oak Sofa Tabl 54 Everything you'd expect in @ Mission-stsle sof cable is feared in his project, ‘including quarersawn ook, square spindles, aul mortise and tenon jotnery Glass-Top Coffee Table. 62 Mate of quartersawn oc, this radtional coffe table is enhanced with a beveled glas top. There's also.an option for solid wood Mission Bookease.. 72 Built with machinery and handwork, this cherry bookcase feaneres though ‘ome and terom joinery. It can be bale with or withoue the glass doors COUNTRY PROJECTS 88 Coat and Glove Rack... i Hang coats and mittens or cups and linens on this rack featuring storage Ihind its door. An optional finish curs it into an “instont anique.” High-Back Bench... i seven 6 ‘This bench can be bile with or without strrage under the seat, with your choice of designs in the back and finished with stan or milk pane. Jelly Cupboard . 106 ‘Back when jelly was made at home, a simple cupboard like this store the {funished product. This version offers several optims to “dress ic up.” Dovetail Chest Mand-cue dovetails provide strength and beauty. For a efferent look, 7) the frame and panel version. Both offer los of sorage and a ul-out tray. 4 Sources Index ...NUON WWIAAI rr the Shakers developed a uniquely Ameri furniture. By removing unnecessary omar the Shakers kept theirdlesimssimpleand functional, yet always in perfect proportion. The true Shaker look is clean and elegant, with every feature serving a purpose and with nothing wasted. The first two projects are perfect examples of the Shaker ideal offnction without decoration. Thestep stools hand- cut dovetails lend strength whore it’s needed, yet display workmanlike detail. The hall table achieves its lightness and grace by its legs cut with simple taper. On the matching rocking chairand footstool, you'll find an interesting way to make your own dowels. Then, when the woodworking isdone, you can try your hand at another Shaker craft, weaving seats with traditional webbing, Shaker Step Stool 8 Shop Tip: Filling Gaps. .. Designer's Notebook: Country Step Stool «-.-++ +++ 2 Shaker Hall Table Shop Tip: Tight-Fit Shoulders... . Joinery: Locked Rabbet Joint « Designer's Notebook: Lamp Table . . Shop Jist Leg Tapering Jig ‘Technigt fapering on the Jointer . Rocking Chair Shop Tip: Shaping Leg Bottoms. « Technique: Routing Tenons on Dowels. Techni jotching Round Stock « ‘Technique: Making Your Own Dowels, Technique: Weaving a Shaker Seat « - Designer’s Notebook: Alternate Weaving Patterns. Shaker-Style FootstoolShaker Step Stool Made from cherry with hand-cut dovetails, this step stool has lots of Shaker touches in a small project. ‘Or you can try your hand at our optional country version made of pine and using butt joints. haker furniture is famous for its basic, uncluttored style, as well as unquestioned utility. The step stool shown here is aclassic example of Shaker design at its best. I’ssimple fur- nitture that works. DoVETAILS. The only decoration (fit ccan be called that) is the beauty of the ‘wood and the dovetail joints. And when you look closely, youll see there are two types of doveiails. First, the treads of the steps are joined to the legs with traditional througgh-dovetail. ‘Then, youll sce the braces at the front of each step (and also across the back) are secured to the legs with a variation 8 SHAKER PROJECTS of this joint. Here, a halfovetal joint adisa nice touch of crafismanship. Uf you've never cut dovetails by hand or need to brush up your technique, step- bystepinstruetions begin on page 120.) ALTERNATE STYLE AND JOINT. With a few minor changes, the step stool can be built as a country-siyle stool. This version is put together primarily with butt joints and serows. Instructions for building this option are given in the Designer's Notebook on page 12 MATERIALS. The step stool in the photo was made from cherry. I chose cherry {or this project mostly because its tightgrained so it's an excellent wood to work with hand tools. Also, the Shakers would likely have used cherry for this project. But just about any 3". thickhardwood would be suitable. FINISH. The stool shawn above was Gnished with Danish oil, which is amix- ture of tung oil or linseed oil and var- nish. This provides a finish that's ‘durable, but easy to touch up as the step stool gets scuffed from use. ‘There is also an unexpected benefit to choosing this finish. Itprovided a way to fill some of the slight imperfections ‘you may have in the fit of the dovetails, ‘To learn more about this, see the Shop Tip on the next page.‘OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 15Wx 4D «21H Ueda wooo A Shoitleg@) ax 710% B Longleg@) —iax7-2! C Step(2) W715 D Braces) W215 x5} 48 Qi. ees be SHOP TW Ss . Filling Gaps \eny few woodworkers can While yousend, youl cut perfect dovetails every —_createa slumy of sawdust time. Thereare bound tobe —_andol As it accumulates, ssmalivoids no matter how work this slurry into the gaps hard you try Thetrick sto in the int. Keep sanding fill these voids so they blend unt there's enough to fil © intothe rest of the joint the voids between the pins | Onesoltonistoapplya —_andtais. ligeral amountofa Danish The misture wil dry very Gil. Then whileit’ still wet, ard, and itrmatches the end sand with 220.grt silicon’ grain of thepins and tails carbide sandpaper. almost perfect. SHAKER STEP STOOL 9LAYOUT It’s easiest to start this project by thinking of the legs as four separate pieces, There are two shortegs (A) for the front and two long legs (3) for the back (Fig. 1). Later, short and long leg are joined together to form each *siair step” leg (Fig. 3). So I started by laying out the cuts to make the four legs and ‘two steps (C). GLUE UP. First, I cut two pieces for each leg. one 5" wide and one 21" wide. “Theseare edge-giued together (Fig. U. (These pieces can be diferent widths as long as the glued up blank is a bit wider than 7") ‘After the glue was dry, [planed the bianks flat. Make sure they're an even thickness, especially atthe ends (where the dovetails will be cut). ‘After cach blank was planed, Leut off cone end square with the edges (leaving the other end rough, and a litle long for now). Then I ripped them all down to the final width of 7" DOVETAILS ‘The next step isto lay ont the cuts for the dovetails inthe legs and steps, ‘Since the tails ean br made fairly wide, they're strong enough to support ‘a person's weight. So the joints should be laid out with the tails on the stops and the pinson the legs. ‘Once Id decided onthe placement of the pins and tails, I figured their si: (Fig. 2. The tals are five times wider than the pins to provide the strongth needed on the steps. However, there is one more thing to allow for when laying out hejoint. Even though the width of each board is 7", the dovetails are lid out across a width ‘of only 61". The extra on the front ‘edge of each board allows forthe thick- ness ofthe brace (added later). PINS. The pins ae laid out so the nar rowest partis on the outsitle (lace sie) ofeach eg (Cop View in Fig. 2). Then a Devel gaugeis set toa 1:5angle tomark the angles on the end of each board Cop View in Fg. 2). After marking the cut lines, cut the pins as with any other doverall joint — ‘except the half pin on the front edge of ‘each piece is lel extra wide to allow for the notch for the brave (ig. 3), GLUE UP LEGS. Before marking the ‘cut lines for the tails, [glued short leg 10 SHAKER PROJECTS to each long leg to form the stair-step legs (Fig. 3). “Although this makes laying out the tails a bit awkward (Fig. #), there is & reason, If you giue the legs together first, you ‘can plane this assembly, evening out any variation at the give. joint line. Since youll have to plane the ‘whole surface, the thickness ofthe pi will change, When the pins are at their final thickness, then they can be used to lay out the tails. When marking the tails, make sure the steps are lined up with the back edge ofthe leg, FINAL FITTING. Once the pins and tailsare cut, go ahead and tap the joints together. The join's should be tight, and the assembled stool should be square. Once everything fits, the bottom of the legs can becut off square. Finally, to keep the siool from rocking on an uneven floor, a 4"-radius halfcircle is ccut on the bottom of each le.Before gluing the legs and. steps together, the braces (D) must be cat. There arcthreebraces:one on the back to prevent racking and two at the front toreinforce the steps HALFTAIL All three bracesare tothe legs with half-dovetal joints. This amounts toa large halfpin notch in the frontedge of each leg, and halftail on each end of the ound it casiest to cut the half then use ittolay out thenotch “To cut the halfvail, mark a 1:3 angle ononly one end ofeach brace. This line starts" up from the bottom edge (ig. toa). Then mark a shoulder line equal to the thickness of the leg. Cut down the shoukler fine with a doveral saw and remove the waste with a chisel, Before marking the shoulder line on the other end of each brace, frst dry- assemble the legs with the steps. Then make sure the shouldertoshoulder ‘measurement on the brace is equal to the distance between the legs (Fi Now you can mark the angle and cut out the Vinateh, HALF-PINS. Once the half-tails are cat, Hold the ends of the brace against the front legs to mark the cut lines for the halEpin notches (Fig. 6). Tused a dovetail saw to saw down both cat lines. The halfpin notch on the back is cut a bit differently. After marking the cut lines (80 they're even with the front brace), | made the two shoulder cuts to the depth of the notch (Fig. 8). Then I removed most of the waste with a coping saw and cleaned up the eut with achisel. ‘Afier the notches are cut, trim the front edges of the steps to final width (Fig.9). After dey-assembling the stool to check the fit and for square, I glued every- thing together. I positioned the clamps ‘ontop of the tails to pall the joints tight. Ariece of scrap under the legs provided a clamping surface across the half Circle cut-out. Although it was nice to use hand tools lormost of this project, [cheated a bit and used a belt sander to bring the pins Sush with the surface of the steps FINISH. Finally, I finished the step ‘tool with a Danish oil, = NISHING SHAKER STEP STOOL "DESIGNER'S NOTEBOOK This country version of the step stool uses screws and butt joints instead of dovetails. Forareal country look, try making it from pine and finishing it with milk paint, \,\ | CONSTRUCTION NOTES: f» Start by gluing up four panels a file long for the two shortlegs (A) and two long legs (B) (ee drawing below) ‘When the glue is dry, cut the panels to finished length. (The legs are not glued together to form the siairsteps until aller some cuts are matlein cach piece) = Next, cut 2¥/"-wide notches in each panel for the braces. One way to cut these is with a dado blade on the table saw, A tall auxiliary fence fastened 10 your miter gatige will help keep the picces steady during the cut, = To kay out 2 5/.wide notch for the bottom step in the long lex (B), set a short leg (A) next to a long lee with their bottom ends fush. The top of the short leg indicates the bottom of the step notch. Cut the notch ¥/" deen. ‘= Now lay out the location of the heart ‘catoutin each ofthe long legs. 2 SHAKER PROJECTS ° COUNTRY STEP STOOL, ‘CHANGED PARTS, HARDWARE SUPPLIES AShortLoge@) x7-9% (12) No. 8x1" Fhsciews B Long og) 437-204) No. 8x 114" Phacrows C Steps) 4x8-16 (1) Se dowel 12° long D Braces) 4x2%-15(A diamond shape can be cut instead of the heart by using the pattern on page 98. Just reduce the seale ofthe pat- fern to one square equals onchaif inch anduse aradius of 2/1") To cut the heart, simply drill @ 1/4" dia, hole on either side of the panc’s centerline, Then use a jig saw to cut along a line connecting the outside of each circle to the centerline. Use sand paper to ease the edges of the cutout ‘aul smooth any rough spots «= Finally, glue the short and tong legs together (Fig. 1). An alignment key ‘made from scrap will help keep the ‘short leg lush with the step notch. ‘When the leg assemblies are dry, lay out the stool’s feet. To do this, first locate and drill the I'l. holes at the top. Then cut out the remaining waste using aig sew, ss Next, cut three braces (D) 2/" wide and 15° long from" stock (Fig. 2). » To lay out the arc on each of the braces (Fig. 2), refer tothe Shop Tipon prge 65. ‘Note: The shoulder of the arc is slightly wider than the leg Cc). Later, this shoulder is sanded down, helping the brace blend into the leg. f Through the end of each brace, drill ea, shank holes with /A\-dia. coun- terbores 4" deep (Fig. 2). sToassemble the framework, first post tion the braces against the legsand drill pilot holes into the legs, Then glue and serew the braces to the legs (Fig. ). = Next fill each counterbore by gluing inalength of "ia. dowel. With the framework assembled, the panels forthe steps (C) can be glued up ‘and cutto size (Fig. $). ‘A liand-hold in the top step makes the step stool easier to carry. Lay out the hhand-hold as shown in Fig. 4. To cut it out, frst drill a dia, hole at each end and then cut out the waste between ‘them with a jig saw (Fig. 5). Toease the edges of hesteps and the hand-hold, use a 7/4’ roundover bit to routa bulinose profile, ‘fo do this, set the bit 94¢" below the router base and ‘make apass on each face (F'ig. ja). « Next, cut notches in the bottom step that match up with the notches in the back egs (Fg. 6). To do this, center the bottom step on the frame and mark the positions of the notches. Then cut the notches ¥/" deep using dado blade. = Now you can fasten the steps to the legs. Simply center a step on the frame, (There should bea ¥" overhang on all sides.) Then drill counterbores, shank holes and pilot holes as you did for the races. Finally, glue the steps to the races and screw themto the legsusing No. 8x 114" Fh woodscrews (Fig. 2). a i. i ¥ eon "6 counTeraone, y= DEEP ‘vara ae sank HOLE il the counterbores on the steps swith dowel plugs, then cut and send them flush. « Finally, ease any sharp edges with sandpaper, then apply a finish. For & finish that stands up to lets of use, try polyurethane. For 2 more traditional country look, see the Finishing box about milk paint beginning on page 104, rorron sre*© <6 SoenAcES wr “TE soos SHAKERSTEPSTOOL 13Shaker Hall Table The simple lines of this table hide the woodworking techniques that make it so rewarding to build. Even though there's a variety of joinery, it can all be cut on the table saw and router table. traditional Shaker project in this book. The tapered legs, a hall- mark of Shaker design, lead up to the straight, uncluttered lines ofthe tabe. ‘The legs have a square taper that’s cut on a table sew. It's a simple tech nique that’s made even easier with a ji ‘we show you how to build beginning oa page 22. There's also @ way to taper the legs on the jointer. Instructions for doing this begin on page 24. JOINERY. The legs are joined to the front and side aprons with traditional mortise and tenon joints. Ifyou haven't tried this type of joinery, i's nat as ciff- T: hal table is probably the most 14 SHAKER PROJECTS ccultasit sounds, Ican all be done on a router table (or the mortises) and a table saw (For the tenons) DRAWERS. For the drawers, | used ‘wo variations of a locked rabbet joint Asits vame implies, tiocks the sides of the drawer to the draver front ani back. This makes itquite strong so the drawers can ake years ofuse. Ths joint isalso cut entirely on the tablesaw. FINISH. I built this table out of cherry. One of the keys to success when fin- ishing cherry is pationce. It takes time for the wood to reach the rich red color thatcherry is known for. When it comes trom the lumber- yard, cherry is usually a light pink or salmon color. There's no need to stain it to get the dark color. As soon as the finish is applied, the wood will darken somewhat. With time (about six months) and continued exposure to sunlight, it willturn a rich, dark red. Its ‘well worth the wait, LAMP TABLE. Inthe Designer's ‘Notebook on page 21, we show how you ‘can makea lamp table companion piece (or two) by simply shortening the length of the table, And since the con struction is so similar, is easy to cutthe ‘parts for the Jamp table while youreset ‘up to cut pieces for the hall table.EXPLODED VIEW OVERALL DIMENSIONS: QW 14D x29 A Legs(a) hep 28 B BickApon(t) —f4x5%-37 € SileApons (2) 425%-10% D FrontRais@)—%x1-37 Fronterds 2) Yex30)-2% E F Fontcenter(n) Ya 3%2-3% Drawer Guides 2) 2 V%p-10% H TepMount Gi 42 1p-10% ' 4 Dr Drawor Runners (@) 43 1%5-10% 318-8 Tent) Yerahe- 14% L. Sides(4) pr dha 10% MBxks Wpr2 Me 18h N Botwoms(2) ——_Yaply-10mxIi6 HARDWARE SUPPLIES Q) Ne. 6x4" Rhweodserews (6) No. 8114" Rh woodscews (6) He" atwashers (18) Ye brads (@) 5" brads (4) Ta. chesry knobs wi screws CUTTING DIAGRAM Vax 3-60 G261.F) NOTE: ALSO NEED ONE SHEET OF rx 28" +48" POYVIOCD FOR DRAWER BOTTOMS. ‘SHAKER HALL TABLE 616 SHAKER PROJECTS 5 ESM This project starts by making the tapered legsand cutting the mortises in cach ofthem. ‘Begin by culting four leg blanks (A) tol" square by 2814" long (refertothe Exploded View on page 15). MORTISES. After culting the legs to size, mark two adjacent sides where the mortises will be cut. (t's best to cutthe ‘mortises before tapering the legs) The mortises are easy (0 cut on a router table witha %" straight bi, To set up the router table for the mortises, start by raising the bit % high (Fig. 1a). Then move the fence unlilthe bitis centered onthe thickness ofthe leg. ‘The length of the mortise is set by clamping a stop block to the fence 51/4 from the right side ofthe bit (Fig. 1). Now you can cut the mortises on two agjacent sides. ‘TAPERS. After the mortises are routed, the next step isto taper all four sides of each leg. To cut the tapers, 1 used a sliding plaiform jig on the table saw (Fig. 2). (nsiructions for building and using this jig begin on page 22. An alternate method of tapering the legs, using the jointer, is shownon page 24.) ‘Whatever method you use, the point isto cut a taper on cach side ofthe leg that starts 6" from the top end and tapers down so the bottom end is 1" square. This means cutting 1" offeach side (Fig. 20) APRONS Aller the tapers are cut, the next step to cut the front apron assembly. This consists of five pieces glued together to formtwo drawer openings (Fig. 3). FRONT APRON. To make the front apron, start by ripping the top and bottom rails (D) 1° wide by 37” long. ‘To make the three dividers for this, front assembly, rip 4 blank 31/" wide. ‘Then cut off two end dividers (2) 2%/" long, and a front center (F) 314" long. (thie ensures that the grain runs the same direction as the rails) [ASSEMBLE FRONT APRON. After cut ting all five pieces for the front apron, glue and clamp the dividers betwoon the top and bottom rails (Fig. 2). Make sure the center divider (F) is centered, ‘on the length, and the end dividers (2) are flash with the ends.BACK AND SIDE APRONS. Next, cut the back apron () and-sideaprons (C). Start by ripping the stock for these piccos to a width of 516". Then cat the three piecesto finished lengths of 1014" for tho sides, and 37" for the back. (The ‘back apron should be exactly as wide and as ong asthe front assembly.) GROOVES. To support and guide the dravers, cross members (G, H, D) fit nto /A"-wide grooves cut along the inside faces of the front and back ‘aprons (refer to Fig. 11 on page 18). he positions of these grooves are ical. They have to be cut s0 that whea the drawer ranners () are mounted, they're flush with the top ‘edge of the front apron’s bottom rall (tefer to Fig. 1f¢ on page 18). ‘To set up the saw for this position, adjust the fence so the distance from the inside edge ofthe rail (the joint line shown in Fig. 4a) to the inside edge of the dado blade equals the thickness of the stock for the drawer runner. (his ‘means you need to measure rom the joint line, not the rip fence) Then eut the grooves in the front and back aprons (Fig. 4). ‘TENONS. Now tenons can be cut on the ends of the aprons to fit the mor tisesinthe legs. Feut them on the table saw (Fig.0). “The "long tencn is formed by cut. ting /2-ide rabbeis on bath faces of the apron (Pig. 50) ‘Note: The tenons" lessthan the depth ofthe mortisetoallowa tle glue relief a the botiom of the mortise To cut the tenons, Lused a "wide dado blade and moved a wooden auxi Jary fence over the blade so only 2" wasexposed (Fig. 5). ‘Sneak up on the final height of the blade by raising itand making a pass on Doth faces of a scrap piece until the tenon fits the mortise, Once set, cut rab- bets on both ends of all four aprons to produce tenons centered on the thick- ress of the stock. Note: ‘To get a tight fit against the leg, | used a chisel to slightly undereut the shoulders of cach tenon. (ee the Shop Tip at the bottom of this page for more on this) NOTCH TENONS. So that the top of ‘each apron will si fush with the top of cach leg, the bottom end of each tenon has to be notched (Fig. 7). Since the mortises are rounded on the botiom, | ccut the tenon a trifle shorter so I didn't have to square up the botiom of the mortise. This meanscuttinga%" notch ‘on the bottom of each tenon (Fy. 6). 1D PlEcES. To make assembly easier later, [glued apair of legs to each, ‘Side apron to produce bvo complete end ‘back aprons yet. SHOP TP... 0... ccc eeeecesee ss Miht-Fit Shoulders There's an easy way to ‘The trckis to undercut Start by lightly pushing a Also, to prevent the make mortise and tenon the aeanextto the tenon chiselstaightinto the square ends of the tenon jointsfit together without cheek, leaving at least ‘/" comer (Fig. 1). Do thisall from pushing all the glue ‘gaps tthe shoulders. Uuntouched along the out- the way around the tenon, to the bottom of the mor "Undercutiing” simply side edge of the shouider, Then to remove the waste, tise, lightly chamfer the mears parng away the fyoucutall thewayto_—_anglethe chiselin toward ends Fig. 3). This chamfer tend grain Yee" deep along the edge, you'll have a gap thecheek of thetenon canbe cut with a chisel or the tenen'sshoulders. and aloose joint. ig. 2) block plane, SHAKER HALL TABLE 17‘Next, nine cross membersare cut to t between the front and back aprons. “Two of these pieces mount above the drawers for drawer guides (G), three aretop mounts (i) used to fasten down the table top, and four sit below the ddrawersas runners (D (Fig. 10). ‘CUT TO size. First rip enough stock 1/9" wide to make the nine pieces. To determine their leagih, dry assemble the table. (it may be easiest to do this with the table upside down.) Measure the distance between thefrontand back aprons to get the shoulder-toshoulder length of the cross members. Now add ¥ys"to this meesurement io account ora ¥ya"long tenon on each end After cutting the pieces to Jength, form thetenons by cutting a/'-wide by ‘ys'), and drawer rune ners (Fig. 11). Use ¥/" brads to tack ‘only the top mounts (H) in place. The ‘other cross members will be secured alee the drawersare added. Now center the table top on the aprons and serew (don't glue) it down to the top mounts (Fig. 116). Use sc! washers ander the serew heads, 1B SHAKER PROJECTS One® the table is assembled, all that’s left to build are the drawers. The frst step in making the drawers isto cut the pieces for each drawer to size. FRONTS. The drawer fronts (K) are ceat from ¥/ "thick stock. The length of ceach front is !¥/' more than the width fof the drawer opening, This allows for a 3, ip on both ends @%" total), minus Yo! for clearance. As for the height of the drawer front, measure the height of the opening. add 9/" for the ips, and subtract Yi" for clearance. SHOES. The drawer sides (L) are ext from Y"thiek stock. Cut them to width Gheigh’) to match the height of the drawer opening, minus 1" for clear- ance. As for thelength ofthe sides, moa- sure the depth of the table (om the front of the drawer opening tothe back apron). Then subtract about #4" from this measurement BACK. The backs (M) arc cut to rough width to match the drawer sides‘and to rough length tw match the drawer front. (The backs are trimmed to finalize later) LOCKED RABBET JOINT, Afler cutting the pieces to size, locked rabbet joints are cut to Join the drawer sides io the fronts (Pig. 13). See the Joinery box on the next page for details on doing this. ‘Avariation of the locked rabbet joint is used ‘drawer back (0 the sides. First, trim the back to final length. To get this length, measure the distance from end to end of thetongues on the drawer front. Cut the back to equal thismeasurement, “To cut the locked rabbet join, first cut rabbets on both ends ofthe back to Teave 1Athick tongues (Pig, 12)."Then ccuta dado in each drawer side to accept this ongue. DRAWER BOTTOM. Beforethe drawer can be assembled, a "4"-deep groove must be cut in the drawer front and sits for the plywood bottom (N). (No ‘groove is needed in the back, since it rests on top of the drawer bottom) “To locate the grooves, you need to ‘measure from different points for the Grawer front and the sides. On the drawer front, the top edge of this groove is located 1" up from the bottom edge of the lip (ig. 14). On the drawer sides, its 4" from the bottom edge (Fig. 15) Alter the grooves are cul, dry- assemble the drawerand cutthe drawer bottom to fit. Then trim the back to ‘width so itrests on the plywood battom. COMPLETE DRAWERS. All the parts or the drawer are cut, but there are still few details to take care of before the drawers are done. First, round over the front edges of each drawer front with a 1/" roundover bit (Fig. 12). Now glue each drawer together, making sure it's square. When the glue was dry, I added a guide pin on the top edge of the back (Fig. 12) This pins sirply a No. 6 x 3)" brass serow thats sorewed part way into the back. Then I cut off the head to Teavea guide pin. One other detail is to cut a slight chamfer on the bottom back edge of the drawer so it can be tilled into the opening (Figs. 12b awl 16). Finally, for mounting the knobs, 1 drilled a Vj "dia. hole 214!" from each end of thedrawer fronts (Fig. 12a) ‘SECURE CROSS MEMBERS, To finish tho table, the drawer guides and run- ners need to be secured. To do this, remove the top and drawers and drive 5" brads into the tongues (Fig. 16a). SHAKER HALL TABLE 0JOINERY. there are probably a dozen joints that canbe used tojoin the four cor ners ofa drawer. One of the easiest (and strongest is alocked rabbet. It doesnt require any fancy equipment. Al thats needed isa table saw-ancla combination blade to cata fat-sortomed groove. ‘The version of the joint shown here isforadrawer that hasa lipped edge al the way around the drawer font. RABBETS. The fist step is to cut rab- bets (ips) on te top and bottom edges ofthe drawer front (Step 0). ........Locked Rabbet Joint TONGUE. Then @ tongue is cut on both ends of the drawer front. To do ds, stand the drawer front on end and ‘cut a groove on the end of the stock (Step 2). Then widen it to leave a 7 ‘wide tongue. (The "4" thickness of the ‘tongues based on the width ofthe kerf left by the saw blade.) ‘The tongue is completed by trim ming ittoa length of 7 (Step 3). ADO. To complete the other half of the joint, a %4"-wide dado is cut on the inside face ofthe drawer side (Step 4). Gut the rabbets on the top and bottom edges. Set the biade %2* high and adjust the fence #' from the outside of the blade. To complete the rabbet, set the fence 3g" from the inside of the blade. racesne —| ASSN ste se > To cut the tongue, set the blade heioht to “7 Then move the fence so the inside of the blede is on the shoulder of the rabbet. ‘Make the fist cut, and then move the fence away from the blade to leave a tongue the same widthasthe blade, | "*S# gugroove wr mens MO PRODUCE TONG 2 3 Ss 2 To cut the tongue to length, raise the blac so it just clears the tongue. Next, screw or clamp a ‘spacer to the fence for the lip to ride against. (This wall help prevent the waste piece from kicking back.) Then adjust the fenes to leave a 1i¢-long tongue 4 Now cut a dado in the Grawer side (0 accept the tongue. Use the drawer front as a gauge. Raise the blade to 2 height equal 10 the length of the tongue. Then push the end of the side plece against the fence ard cut the dado. 20. SHAKER PROJECTSDESIGNER'S NOTEBOOK By simply shortening the length, the hall table becomes a lamp table with a single drawer. And because construction is so similar, it's easy to build this companion piece at the same time as the hall table. CONSTRUCTION NOTES 5 The lamp table isbuilt the same asthe hall table. However, some pieces are cut shorter and thereare fewer of other f pieces (see the Materials Listbelow).. © The back apron (B) and front rails ) arceacheutto finished length of 191" Tre : . (Fig. 1). The front center (F) is not j] needed in the rontapron assembly. » Cut only one drawer guide (G), two | ; yc x top mounis (H), and two drawer run- ners (1). Cut rabbets at each end ofall these picees as was done for the hall | | lable. Also cut the groove for the guide pinin the drawer runner. © The table top () is eut toa finished length of 2414" (Fig. 1). = With only one drawer, you'll need just | one drawer front (X), two drawer sides (1), one drawer back (M) and one ‘ | drawer bottom (N). The drawer uses the locked rabbet joint and is assem- | bled the same as the drawers for the | U hall table. (I ‘After the drawers semble, mount a single knob centered on the face of the drawer front (Fig. 1). LAMP TABLE © When assembling the table, the top mounts (H) set against the inside edges ofthe legs (Top View in Fig. 2). ‘CHANGED PARTS. BBackApon(!) — 25%h-19% DFrontRais@) 21-19% 3 Top) Ux 20% Note: Gniyneedt eichot paris, K M,N. ‘Only eed 2 each of pars H, 1, Bo not reed part HARDWARE SUPPLIES (Note cance in quart) (1) Nb. 6x44" Rhwoodscrews (1) No. 8x "7 Rh woodscews (4) He" Takwashors (10) #4" brads @) 3" brads () Ta. cherryknab wise SHAKER HALL TABLE 71hen it was time to cut the tapers Yon the hall table logs, I was stumped at first. It was easy to make a jig to set the angle for the cuts on the Firat two sides of the legs. But then Td have to take those angles into consider ation when tapering the other two sides. The jig Tcame up with is a siding plat- form for the table saw. The great fealure ‘of this jig is that all you have to do is, rotate the leg to taper thenext side. The vay the jig does this has to do with the centerpointon the end ofthe leg. (More ‘on how this works in abit) For now, just mark the centerpo ‘on the bottom of the leg. To do this, draw lines on the bottom ofthe leg, con: neciing opposite corners (Step 1). At the point where the lines cross, drill a Yj". bole with a brad point bit and push in a'/s'-dia. dowel, PLATFORM. To build the jig, start with a piece of #4" plywood about wide for the platform (A). Cut it to a length of 31" (Step 2) RUNNER, Next, cut a groove in the bottom of the platform and add 2 haré- wood runner (B) that will ft your miter 22 SHAKER PROJECTS gauge slot (Step 2). To determine the location of the groove, measure from your saw blade to the miter gauge slat and add 1". Cut the groove, then gluo and serew the runner in place. Finally, place therunnerin theslot of the saw and trim off one edge of the platform (Step 2). This edge shows you actly where the taper willbe cut, The jig has two fences that help alga the leg for exch cut When a legis mounted tothe jig the dowel slide (Step 3). Aer onesie tapered, the leg is rotated 90° to cut the next Side ‘The dowel realigns the piece on the ccdge ofthe ig. But one ofthe problems Tad was getting the hotein the fence in ‘exactly the right postion. Then [discov cred airick — actually to tricks, REAR FENCE Firs, cutthe rear fence (© toa width (height) to mateh the thickness of the leg. Then draw an “X on the fence tomatch the pattern on the end of the leg (Detail in Step 4). Drill 4A" hole atthe crosspoint ‘The second trick hes {0 do with ‘mounting the fence to the platform. In order to geta Y/" taper on each side of the leg, the crosspoint on the rear fence hhas to be ¥/" closer to the path of the blade. So all you do is shift the whole rear fence so it extends 1/," over the edge ofthe platform (Step 4). SIDE FENCE. A cide fence (D) mounted on the platform helps hold the top end of the leg. To position this fence, place the leg on the platform with the dowel mounted in the rear fene (Slep 5). Then position the taper start Tine (near the top end of the leg) on the cege ofthe platform (Step 6). Now draw aline along the back edge of the leg indicate the position of the side fence. ‘Thea screw the fence in place (Step 7). HOLD-DOWN. To complete the jig, add a hokddlown clamp. You can mak this with a few scraps of wood ( (Step 8). However, I like the ease of using a quick-release clamp as shown in the photo, (See Sources, page 126.) ‘To cut the tapers on the leg, mountthe leg on the platiorm and push itthrough the blade (Step 9). Then simply loosen the clamp, rotate the leg, and cut the next sie.1] Bonde onterof he bottom ofthe leg, connect the opposite comers with en “X’. Drilla ip"deep hole at ths point andinserta A" length of dowel, ) 3e 7%" plywood for the platform. Cut