The
Complete Illustrated Guide to
Furniture & Cabinet
Construction
Step-By-Step Presentation of Basic Furniture Construction Techniques
Andy Rae
A
graphic, step-by-step presentation of basic furniture construction
techniques
Expert woodworker and writer Andy Rae takes
the construction of furniture and breaks it into components -- from
boxes, cases, doors and drawers to shelves and feet. He explains all
the techniques used to build them, so you can choose the ones that
are best for you. Then he shows you how to put the pieces together
to make great furniture.
You'll acquire a working knowledge of woodworking materials, a
higher control over your work and tools and an understanding of
basic design principles.
- Graphic, step-by-step presentation of key
techniques and methods
- Visual maps, cross-references and indexes
make information easy to find
- Covers the many woodworking methods and
tools available
- Modern, up-to-date coverage of tools and
techniques
- Part of a three-volume encyclopedia of
woodworking
"After 20 plus years of practicing the
craft, I still search daily for new ways of working. Once you
discover something that works, call it your own and stand by it."
-- Andy Rae
The Complete Illustrated Guides Introducing a new series of
books in the tradition of Tage Frid. All the techniques and
processes you need to craft beautiful things from wood are compiled
into three comprehensive volumes: The Complete Illustrated
Guides. Highly visual and written by woodworking's finest
craftsmen, these three titles -- Furniture and Cabinet
Construction, Shaping Wood and
Joinery establish a new standard for
shop reference books.
Excerpt:
Assembling Cases
Get it right the first time with
the right tools and the proper clamps and clamping
technique
by Andy Rae
When you're ready to assemble your
furniture, you usually have only one shot to get it right.
Once the glue is spread, there's no turning back. Glue up
a cabinet out of square, and you'll pay dearly later in
the construction process because your error will
accumulate so that fitting subsequent parts becomes a
nightmare. To get it right the first time, it's vital to
have the right assembly tools on hand and to use the
proper clamps and clamping technique. After all, who
hasn't glued together what was a perfectly fitted miter,
only to find the joint slipping out of alignment as you
placed pressure on the joint? Learning and practicing the
correct approach to assembly will save you untold hours of
frustration.
The dry run
One of the best techniques I've
come to learn about assembly (and learned it the hard way,
meaning I had to make many mistakes first) is to always --
and I mean always -- do a dry run of any assembly.
This means assembling all the parts without glue. Make
sure you use all the necessary clamps you'll need and
check to see that you can confidently close all the
joints. In effect, you're practicing the entire assembly
sequence.
And 9 times out of 10, you'll discover during a dry run
that something is missing or you need more clamps in a
specific area to bring an assembly together. Or perhaps
you'll need to rethink the glue-up process and break the
assembly sequence down into smaller, more manageable
parts. It may take more time, but investing in a dry run
is well worth avoiding the horror of applying glue, only
to find that you can't quite put the parts together as
planned.
Assembly tools and jigs
There are innumerable jigs
and tricks used in assembly. All are aimed at making the
process of putting together multiple parts easier, more
accurate, and ultimately less frustrating. There's nothing
worse than spreading glue only to find you don't have the
right tools or setup ready to go. Here are some essential
assembly aids that make glue-ups go a lot smoother.
Reading
square with a pinch rod
It's vital to square up a
case or opening immediately after assembly--before the
glue dries. One way to check for square is to read the
diagonal measurements from outside corner to outside
corner with a tape measure. When the two measurements are
equal, the opening is square. But clamps often get in the
way, it's practically impossible to get a reading on the
back of the case, and reading the outside corners won't
tell you whether the inside of a deep case is square. A
more accurate method is to use a pinch rod.
A
traditional pinch rod is simply two sticks, sharpened at
one end, that you pinch, or hold together, in the center.
The modified version shown at right adds clamping heads
that make things a little easier and more precise. Set the
rod to the length of one of the diagonals; then check the
opposite diagonal inside the case. Push the sticks into
the case to read the entire depth. Keep adjusting the rod
(and the case) until the rod fits equally between both
diagonals.
Squaring a
case with a board
As an aid to assembling
a case square, cut a piece of plywood to the exact width
of the case opening, making sure adjacent edges are
square. Before you clamp the case joints, clamp the board
inside the case, lining up one edge of the board with the
case sides. Voila! No more twisted or out-of-square
openings.
Shims and blocks align parts
It's a good idea to
keep on hand a variety of shims and blocks in varying
thicknesses, from playing cards, squares of plastic
laminate, and strips of leather to 1/4-in.-, 1/2-in.-, and
3/4-in.-thick blocks of wood. These spacers help align or
position parts during glue-up, and they're great for
protecting the surface of your work. In the photo at
right, small squares of MDF align the clamp heads over the
center of the joint, while plastic shims prevent the pipes
from dinging the surface
Riser blocks
raise the work
Gluing up assemblies
often means having to get underneath the work to attach
clamps or other parts. The simplest answer is to raise the
entire assembly on blocks of wood. But finding stock thick
enough can be a pain. Just as strong, and easier to make,
are sets of riser blocks made from 3/4-in. plywood glued
and nailed together. Blocks about 5 in. high by 2 ft. long
are sufficient for almost all your glue-ups.
Clamping
cauls
Like blocks, cauls made
from scrap material can prevent dings in your work. More
important, cauls distribute more clamping pressure across
a joint, allowing you to use far fewer clamps when gluing
up. For broad gluing surfaces, use bowed clamping cauls.
For narrow joints, scrap plywood or leftover sticks of
wood work fine. The trick to getting the cauls to stay
where you want them until you add the clamps is to tape
them temporarily in place.
Dovetail
tapping wedge
In many cases, you
don't need to bother clamping dovetail joints, especially
on small box constructions, such as a drawer. To assemble
and fully seat the joints without damaging the pins, tap
over the joint with a wedged-shaped block of dense wood.
The shape of the block allows you to position it over the
joint regardless of the size of the tail. |
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Introduction:
Making furniture is one of the most satisfying ways to pass time:
The schiiick of a plane iron on wood; the dizzying aroma of freshly
sawn sugar pine or East Indian rosewood; the endless array of color,
texture, and feel of woods from around the world; the tense but
joyful final assembly, when all work and toil come together in a
conclusive burst of completion. What excitement! This is the fine --
and fun -- art of woodworking. The reward is beautiful furniture.
To experience this excitement, you'll need to have a degree of
control over your work and your tools, command a working knowledge
of your materials, and understand some basic design principles.
Unlike most other crafts, furniture making and cabinetmaking demand
vast knowledge -- and attentiveness. You must know what tools and
techniques to use and how to arrange the correct sequence, or order,
of events when using them. You should listen with attentive ears and
eyes to the material you're working and choose wood wisely, allowing
for its eccentricities. With its countless pieces and parts,
cabinetmaking involves a high level of organization, and organizing
your work and your shop space are part and parcel of the craft. By
combining all your skills, you can make any type of furniture your
dreams conjure up. You're limited only by your imagination. I hope
this book will provide you with a starting point for these skills.
With practice, many small joys are waiting for you. They're worth
seeking.
Above all, be patient. It takes time to master some of the
smallest things. There are tricks and shortcuts, of course. They
come with experience, and many are shown in the pages ahead. More
important is the awareness that comes from trying many approaches
and finding one that works for you. In a very real sense,
woodworking is a personal journey. That's because there is no right
or wrong way of making furniture. What counts is what works. After
20 plus years of practicing the craft, I still search daily for new
ways of working. Once you discover something that works, call it
your own, and stand by it. You'll have found something that will
make your woodworking more pleasurable. And your fine furniture will
reflect the results.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
How to Use This Book
Part One Tools and Materials
SECTION 1 Shop Necessities
Shop Space and Fixtures
Mobilize Your Workshop
SECTION 2 Woodworking Machines and Tools
Basic Handheld Power Tools
Favorite Edge Tools
Fundamental Layout Tools
Sharpening Gear
Clamps
SECTION 3 Working Wood
Buying and Preparing Solid Wood
Flattening a Board by Hand
Smoothing with Edge Tools
Good Sanding Techniques
Keeping Parts Flat
Plywood and Other Man-Made Boards
Mixing Materials
Laying Out and Cutting Plywood
Making Your Mark
Choosing and Using Glue
SECTION 4 Designing Furniture
Understanding Wood Movement
Part Two Box and Case Construction
SECTION 5 Basic Cases
Inside Case Parts
Securing to a Wall
SECTION 6 Shelves
Shelf Joinery
Open Shelves
Shelf Options
Dressing Up a Shelf
SECTION 7 Nails, Screws, and Other Fasteners
Nails and Screws
Hardware Solutions
SECTION 8 Assembling Cases
Clamping Problems
SECTION 9 Cutting and Attaching Moldings
Working with Moldings
SECTION 10 Drawers
Drawer Construction
Tray Construction
Drawer Interiors
SECTION 11 Drawer Hardware
Drawer Slides
Computer Hardware
Drawer Pulls
Part Three Doors
SECTION 12 Building Doors
Doors with Panels
Solid Doors
Glass Lights
SECTION 13 Fitting and Hinging Doors
Installing Basic Hinges
Specialty Hinges
Shopmade Hinges
Hiding Doors
SECTION 14 Door Pulls and Hardware
Pulls and Handles
Locks
Catches and Bumpers
Part Four Bases, Feet, and Stands
SECTION 15 Bases
Toekicks
Installing Cabinets
SECTION 16 Feet
Feet and Casters
SECTION 17 Stands
Making Stands
Part Five Frame Construction
SECTION 18 Legs and Aprons
Strong Joints
Aprons and Rails
Legs
SECTION 19 Chairs and Stools
Chair Joints
Chair Backs
Chair Seats
Hitting the Floor
SECTION 20 Face Frames
Making Face Frames
Corner Units
SECTION 21 Frame and Panel
Making Panels
Back Strategies
Part Six Tabletops and Work
Surfaces
SECTION 22 Making Tops
Top Construction
Top Options
Leaves and Ends
SECTION 23 Attaching Tops
Allowing for Movement
Hardware Solutions
Sources
Further Reading
Index
Hardcover, 9-1/4 X 10-7/8 in., 320 pages,
with color photos and drawings.
Published 2005
ISBN 978-1-56158-402-4
The Complete
Illustrated
Guide To Furniture &
Cabinet Construction
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