To cut the through-tenons on the shelves I simply clamped all of them together and used a hand saw to define the cheeks.
John Tetreault
A router made quick work of removing the waste between the tenon cheeks.
John Tetreault
When routing out the waste I nicked one of the tenons. If these were regular tenons the nick would have been hidden in the mortise, but since they are through-tenons and will be seen, I picked a similar grain from a scrap piece and made a tenon plug of sorts.
John Tetreault
The scrub plane sure is a fun tool to use. I adjusted the blade to take shallow cuts and deliberately lined up the scalloping with the grain for all shelves. This texture will compliment the weathered texture of the case sides.
John Tetreault
I marked the shelf through-tenons on the case sides and then drilled tiny holes at the four corners of the mortise location.
John Tetreault
From the exterior of the case sides I used a forstner bit to drill out most of the waste and then carefully squared up the mortise with a chisel.
John Tetreault
I cut slots on all the shelf tenons where wedges will be added later. After test fitting all the shelves, I disassembled everything and added glue to the shelf dados and a little drop on each of the tenon cheeks. Lots of clamps and cauls pulled it all together and one long clamp on opposite corners held the case square.
John Tetreault
I cut the dovetails for the top purposely a little tight, so no clamps were needed once it was tapped in place. You can get away with this on a softwood like pine, but I wouldn't recommend using this technique with hardwoods.
John Tetreault
To cut the through-tenons on the shelves I simply clamped all of them together and used a hand saw to define the cheeks.
Photo: John Tetreault
Furniture Lab Tech Cabinet - Part II
Follow along as Fine Woodworking associate art director John Tetreault constructs a cabinet using reclaimed materials found during our recent trek to southern Massachusetts.
Things are really beginning to speed up at this point of the Tech Cabinet build. The dados for the shelves have been cut in the case sides and the dovetails have been cut to accept the top. Next, I broke out the scrub plane to surface the interior shelves. The undulating surface that the scrub plane produces mimics the weathered exterior boards of the case sides. Browse through the photos above, where I show you how I made the through-tenons on the shelves and a little trick to cut mortises on the case sides when you want to keep the original patina of the wood.
Once the shelves were done, I was ready for the case glue-up. It was a little tricky with all those through-tenons, but I tackled the case first and then tapped home the dovetails on the top.
I'll be back next week, with the conclusion of the project and plenty of final beauty shots!
More Projects by John Tetreault
• The 3-Hour Cabinet
• Bending Dovetails
• Make Your Own Leather Chisel Roll
• Video: Build a Hybrid Roubo Workbench
Watch the Furniture Lab Junkyard Visit
Be sure to read Asa Christiana's story outlining the original idea and intent of Furniture Lab, plus, watch our original Furniture Lab junkyard visit. John Tetreault, Tom McKenna, and Anatole Burkin visited an old salvage yard for some quirky design inspiration.
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