Natory Furniture Workshop - Atelier d'Ébénisterie » Mission Bookcase

Mission Bookcase – delivered

Carl — Sun, 09 May 2010 20:56:10 +0000

Here is a pic of the completed bookcase.

The 4 shelves are adjustable. There are floating panels on each side and 2 on the back. I used a “clover” milk paint to stain this a very light green which allows the grain (poplar) to show. It was sealed with 6 coats of tung oil.

Mission Bookcase

Not visible in these photos is a carved Confederate flag on the bottom rail of each side. The bookcase is to house a collection of Civil War books.

Mission Bookcase

0.2 Frame Assembly

Carl — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:11:41 +0000

After laying out the position of the mortises on each of the frame corners and the single rear stile, the mortises were cut using my mortising machine.

I made 1/2″ mortises and allowed for a 1/4″ inset for the side and rear panels. The front bottom rail and the top face frame mortise were cut so the face will be flush with the frame corners.

Once the mortises were cut, I proceeded to cut the tenons on all the rails using my table saw and a tenon cutting jig. Once the tenons were cut, I then went to the band saw to cut the tenon shoulders – note: for the top rails, I made the top shoulders 3/4″ and 1/2″ on the bottom.

Mortise & Tenon Joinery

Once all the tenons were cut, I used my chisel as required to fit each tenon into each mortise – note I labeled each mortise and tenon so that once fit, I could easily match each rail to fit in its proper mortise since the frame will be disassambled several times for fitting the panels, routing and the sanding steps to follow.

The pic below shows the rear frame being fitted and dry assembled. Note, I designed this to have 2 panels, since one single panel would be too wide and invite greater fluctuations in width with changes in humidity and temperature.

Frame Assembly

Back Frame - Rails & Stiles

In the photo above, you can see the back frame fitted and the rails for the side panels (top and bottom). In the photo below, you can see the side rails fitted with the front and back corners of the frame. Now the final measurements for the panels can be taken.

0.1 Bookcase – Laminating Panels

Carl — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:56:08 +0000

In the prior photos (0 Bookcase), though hard to see, I have already prepared the corners of the frame. Specific steps were:

Cut selected (i.e., no flaws that will weaken the frame) 8 / 4 poplar to rough length on the miter saw
Divide these lengths into about 3 1/2 inches rough width on the band saw – i.e., if your rough plank is 8 ” wide, split it into 2, if 10″, split it into 3
Calculate the number of rough pieces needed to make the 4 frame corners – 3 ” X 2 ” approx. – from a single panel. This will be a total rough width of about 14 inches – including allowance for waste.
On the jointer, level the top and botom (widest) rough surfaces of each board – about 70% “clean” is enough to get the edges square
Again on the jointer, square both edges of each piece
Prepare to laminate the panel by aligning the edges of each squared piece, alternating the end grain orientation (reduces chances of warping) and then glue and clamp firmly – see the photos. This will create a single rough panel from which each corner piece will be cut to final size. Note: You could skip this step and create each corner from the rough cut lengths, but I find that this approach tends to waste more wood and also tends to produce small inconsistencies in the dimensions. If your corners are all exacttly the same dimensions, it is easier to achieve a perfectly square cabinet.
Plane the panel to target thickness – 2″
On the table saw, after making sure the fence is properly set for final width – 3 inches – and that the panel edge that will run along the fence is perfectly flat (i.e., no banana), cut the 4 pieces to width
Again on the table saw, square one end of each corner piece prior to cutting to final length
Set these pieces aside – later the mortises will be cut for the rails.
Repeat this process to prepare the 2 side panels and the back panels
Similarly, prepare the 4 side frame rails and the single stile for the rear panels

In the photo above the jointed pieces are being positioned and glued prior to being clamped edge to edge.

Above: The panel pieces are clamped. Note the pieces are oriented such that the grain direction is alternated from piece to piece, to minimize warping.

Set them aside for about an hour. Below, clamps removed and now ready to be planed …

Laminated Panel

Planing Bottom Panel

Final thickness 3/4″ …

Panel at final thickness

Once the frame is dry-assembled and the actual final dimensions are taken, the panels can be cut … width first, then length. I usually leave about 1/4″ of play on the width to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction.

0 Mission Style Bookcase – construction

Carl — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 01:25:03 +0000

A young lady asked me to build a Mission style bookcase as in the rough sketch below.

so I thought I would document the steps in its construction.

Here are shots of the rough wood – poplar.

Rough poplar

I need 3 sizes – 4 / 4 for the shelves and panels, 6 / 4 for the frame components, the top and doors, and 8 / 4 for the frame corners. You may be able to see the frame corners after jointing and planing to size to the left of the rough wood in the shot below …

: Rough poplar jointed and planed

… more to come …