Friday, October 30, 2015

Shaker hanging cabinet, North Sea edition, dadoes and rabbets.

With the sides trimmed to the correct thickness it was a small job ripping them and touching up the edges with the plane.
The narrow strips of wood from the ripping will eventually form the stiles of the front of the cabinet.

The sides themselves, need a dado for the shelf. I am just going to put in one single shelf in the middle of the cabinet, though you could also put in more shelves if you wanted to. I guess that two shelves would be the maximum practical number, to prevent the height between each shelf to become too low.
Technically there is nothing wrong with putting the shelf other places than in the middle, but since I don't know what I'll use the cabinet for, I'll go the conservative and safe route.

Since I don't have a dado plane, I usually make my dadoes by marking them up, and sawing to the desired depth. A fine crosscut saw is ideal for this job.
I normally clamp a piece of wood right next to where I am going to make the cut, to help guide the saw.
Once I have made the cuts, I remove the waste using a chisel and then I clean up the bottom of the dado with a router plane. If you have a real router plane i.e. a plane which is easier to adjust then my homemade router, It is easy to remove all the waste using such a plane. Just remember to gradually increase the depth of your cut. You'll be able to control the router plane better if you don't take a huge cut such as 1/4".

The top and bottom needs some rabbets. The design calls for approximately 1/4" of wood to protrude from the carcass as a decorative element.
Since I am going to try making blind dovetails, my rabbets on the sides will have to be 11/32" wide (9 mm) That way I can have 1/8" of wood left to cover my dovetail and still meet my design criteria of 1/4" protrusion.

The rabbets on the front will need to be 1/4" plus the thickness of the sides themselves (3/8") = 5/8" wide.
For all the rabbets I used my rabbet plane, but if you haven't got one of those, you could also make them the same way that I made my dadoes. But that would probably require a bit extra sanding eventually.

Sawing the sides of a dado.

Cleaning out the waste from a dado with a chisel.

The rabbets on the top and bottom boards.

14 comments:

  1. Your lumber looks good for pallet wood. Nice and straight with no knots!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried to find the nicest looking pieces. There is no need to make it harder than necessary.

      I am having some dangerous thoughts at the moment..
      I am seriously considering making a full size Roy Underhill joiners tool chest out here. I would glue up all some stock and then maybe construct it the next time I get on board.

      Cheers
      Jonas

      Delete
    2. Sounds like a plan to me.

      You'll just need a sea shanty to help with the work!

      Delete
    3. What shall we do with the worn out pallets..
      What shall we do with the worn out pallets..
      What shall we do with the worn out pallets lying in the workshop?
      Hooray we'll build a toolchest
      Hooray we'll build a toolchest
      Hooray we'll build a toolchest down inside the workshop.

      And so on.. :-)

      Delete
    4. So help me Bob I’m bully in the alley.
      Way, (way!) hey, (hey!) bully in the alley.
      Help me Bob I’m bully in the alley.
      Bully down in Shinbone Al.

      Delete
    5. We ought to do a woodworking music CD together.
      We might borrow Sylvains name from instagram and call ourselves "The happy Shavings"

      Delete
    6. Happy Shavings is Aymeric.

      But, I'm in!

      Delete
    7. Aymeric, if you are reading this:
      Sorry for the mistake.

      Since you have the cool name in Instagram we should also invite you to participate in the soon to be World famous woodshop band.

      Brgds
      Jonas

      Delete
  2. LOL, I like that the Happy shavings :-)
    I'll buy your CD he he

    Cheers
    Bob, trying to drink his morning coffee without spilling it, laughing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bob,
      I hope your wife won't be mad at you if you spilled some coffee, Please tell her that I am sorry :-)

      Actually Brian is a professional musician, so if he plays the trombone loud enough, and I just sort of mumbles, then there is every chance that it will be a success.

      Cheers
      Jonas

      Delete
  3. Thanks Jonas, I am all in!
    I guess we need a woodbro fraternity house ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Aymeric.

      I like the idea of a fraternity house.
      You really found the best name for your Instagram account.

      Brgds
      Jonas

      Delete
  4. I concur with Brian, that is some of the nicest pallet lumber I've ever seen. Everything I've ever come across looks like it was recovered from a train wreck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess there are some quality requirements to Euro pallets, and maybe those are most easily met if the manufacturer uses some decent quality of lumber.
      Our single use pallets are normally also built pretty cheaply. With a few exceptions off course.
      Brgds
      Jonas

      Delete