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Small cabinet in curly maple and black walnut

June 9, 2011 By

Breaking the rules

I spent some time playing with a cabinet design concept, and also trying to break some design rules.

Dimensions:
Box: Symmetrical finger joints, 12-1/2″ wide x 14-1/2″ tall x 7″ deep
Drawer: Asymmetrical finger joints, Width: 11-3/16″ Height: 2-1/2″ Depth: 5-13/16″
Cabinet back: Shiplapped, book-matched black walnut
Hinges: front/on door: 3″ long ; claws/sides: 2-3/4″ long
Materials: Curly maple and black walnut, both local to NW Missouri
Finish: Sanded to 150 grit, and applied three coats of Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish using a tightly wadded lint-free cloth

Equipment used: Leigh D4R dovetail jig with the F3 finger joint template; and the M2 multiple mortise and tenon template

Photos of the box — make sure to click on the images to enlarge them, and to navigate from one to the next:

I hope you enjoy seeing this little cabinet — I had a great time implementing some ideas, and breaking rules. For example:

  • Joinery: It is unusual to see finger joints in fine pieces. The more traditional joinery is dovetails; and it seems that contemporary thinking leans toward very skinny dovetails. But I love the “zippered” look of finger joints, especially when contrasting woods are used.
  • The shelf: It is held in place using through tenons. I wanted the rounded ends of the tenons to play with the zippered look of the carcase. Further, I wanted to capture at least one of the through tenons in some way (see “Hinges”, below).
  • Drawer: The finger joints are asymmetric — the human eye likes to see symmetry. I decided on asymmetric finger layout; this means that the top fingers are curly maple, and the bottom fingers are black walnut. Convention normally dictates that both top and bottom should be curly maple in the drawer.
  • Hinges: Over the last several months I have been experimenting with finger joints. This project summarizes those trials. My wife, Sandy, designed the basic shape; I traced and shaped the hinges using rasps and files, and an oscillating sander. The shape of the hinges on the doors are reminiscent of a large shark’s tooth, while the other half of the hinge reminds me of a crab claw trying to catch the through tenon.
  • Glues used: For the finger joinery I used liquid hide glue; it is repairable, and it also has superb lubricating qualities that allow easy assembly of joinery with a relatively tight fit. For the hinges I used epoxy.

I welcome your comments on this cabinet.

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Box making, Design, Education, F3 finger joint, Finger joints, Jigs, Joinery, M2, Tenon

A wooden hinge form

May 12, 2011 By

A wooden hinge form surrounds the through tenon on the side:

Wooden hinge surrounding the though tenon.

With the hinges glued in place, and the doors trimmed to final fit with a block plane, all that’s left to do is finish sanding, and apply the varnish. Stand by!

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Box making, Design, F3 finger joint, Finger joints, Jigs, Joinery, Leigh jig, Mortise, Tenon

Glue-up and sanding time

May 5, 2011 By

The glue-up

Glue-up time! First thing: sanding. Then more sanding, to make sure everything was truly nice and smooth, and that all the drum sander, blade, and router marks were gone.  Then it was glue-up time, using Titebond’s liquid hide glue:

Glue-up time!

Why liquid hide glue?

I prefer to use liquid hide glue for the following reasons:

  1. It acts as a great “lubricant”, and it actually helps the joinery slide in much more easily when the fit is a bit on the tight side, as finger joints must be.
  2. It has a very long open time; this is perfect when I have many areas to cover. Just take one look at the corners on this little cabinet — it has a bunch of finger joints, and glue must be applied to every one of them with an acid brush.
  3. Liquid hide glue, like its counterpart, hot hide glue, can be repaired, unlike modern yellow glues.
  4. Liquid hide glue will not interfere with the Waterlox varnish I will apply as the finish.

Clamping

Clamping is a must when using finger joint joinery. I don’t use cauls when I use the Bessey clamps, as I have installed cork with packing tape over the cork; this keeps the glue from sticking to the clamp/cork surfaces. Eliminating the cauls simplifies the glue-up. I recommend you do this, too.

Joint clean-up

Following the glue-up, I always use a scraper, to remove the excess glue. Then I use a hand plane to flush the fingers to the rest of the board:

The best way to get the fingers flush to the boards: a hand plane.

In this case I sanded all surfaces, following the hand plane. The reason: all boards have a lot of figure, and I did not want to run the risk of tear-out. Sanding was truly my friend this time.

Time for doors

Once the glue set, it was time to start on the doors. The book-matched door boards were well acclimated to the shop environment, and they were ready to cut just oversize at the table saw. Then I trimmed them to size on the shooting board:

Trimming the doors to height on the shooting board.

Next: trim the doors to width, make the hinges and the door pulls, and install the hinges. Only then will this cabinet be ready for the finish.

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Box making, D4R Pro, Design, Education, F3 finger joint, Finger joints, Jigs, Joinery, Mortise, Shooting board, Tenon

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