Full production diary, including prototype stage, of the capstone build. A gantt chart is provided at the end which outlines the time taken at each stage.

1. Technological University of Dublin
Dublin School of Architecture
Bachelor of Technology
In
Timber Product Technology
I declare that the work contained in this submission is my own work and has not
been taken from the work of others save to the extent that such work has been
cited within the text of this submission.
Student Signature: __________________
Date: ____________________
Course Code: TU732
Academic Year: 2021/2022
Semester: 2
Module Title: Applied materials, finishing & Reproduction
Lecturer: Aidan Ryan
Year: 2022
Student’s Name:
Daniel Cash
Student ID Number:
C19720711

2. i
Contents
List of figures........................................................................................................................................... ii
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................1
Pre-production prototype.......................................................................................................................2
Workshop diary.......................................................................................................................................3
Day 1 ...................................................................................................................................................3
Day 2 ...................................................................................................................................................6
Day 3 ...................................................................................................................................................8
Day 4 .................................................................................................................................................15
Day 5 .................................................................................................................................................20
Day 6 .................................................................................................................................................25
Day 7 .................................................................................................................................................33
Day 8 .................................................................................................................................................40
Day 9 .................................................................................................................................................46
Day 10 ...............................................................................................................................................53
Day 11 ...............................................................................................................................................59
Day 12 ...............................................................................................................................................65
Day 13 ...............................................................................................................................................69
Day 14 ...............................................................................................................................................76
Day 15 ...............................................................................................................................................81

3. ii
List of figures
Figure 1. Original leg design....................................................................................................................2
Figure 2. Sample of two wedging styles..................................................................................................2
Figure 3. Marking the planks with chalk. I tried to mark out longer rips where possible. .....................3
Figure 4. Planing the board edge to see how far the sap wood goes.....................................................4
Figure 5. Prototype door rail on top of rail still in the board..................................................................4
Figure 6. Board with a lot of unusable sap wood. ..................................................................................5
Figure 7. All components marked out on boards. ..................................................................................5
Figure 8. Leg pieces planed on single face and edge..............................................................................6
Figure 9. A piece of waste material that I used to make a wedge to use in the morticer......................7
Figure 10. Leg angled in morticer with angled block placed underneath. .............................................7
Figure 11. Setting out of legs. .................................................................................................................8
Figure 12. Tenons off the tenoner..........................................................................................................9
Figure 13. Using a mortice to check the fit of a tenon on a test piece...................................................9
Figure 14. Tenons cut on the table saw................................................................................................10
Figure 15. Rebate on aprons for banding. ............................................................................................10
Figure 16. Pre staining the aprons ........................................................................................................11
Figure 17. Jig for cutting taper on legs..................................................................................................11
Figure 18. Using offcut as a packer.......................................................................................................12
Figure 19. Finished the taper with a hand plane ..................................................................................12
Figure 20. Jig for making wedges..........................................................................................................13
Figure 21. Lengths of edging.................................................................................................................14
Figure 22. False bed and fence set up to rip lengths of edging. ...........................................................14
Figure 23. Masking tape applying pressure to banding whilst gluing...................................................15
Figure 24. Marking the curve with a template. ....................................................................................16
Figure 25. Pieces with a straight edge in clamps..................................................................................17
Figure 26. Edging held in place with masking tape...............................................................................18
Figure 27. Gluing the curved edging in place........................................................................................18
Figure 28. Dry fit of the base ................................................................................................................19
Figure 29. Taking light shavings off with a block plane. .......................................................................20
Figure 30. Both sides out of clamps with wedges still in place.............................................................21
Figure 31. One side still in the clamps with the wedges hammered in position..................................21
Figure 32. Tenon and wedges flushed to the leg face..........................................................................22

4. iii
Figure 33. Full base in clamps. ..............................................................................................................23
Figure 34. Two pieces of ply shelving. One with leftover glue still on and one after sanding. ............23
Figure 35. Using a straight edge to cut a straight line on two pieces of veneer. .................................24
Figure 36. Using the setting out to make an angled block. ..................................................................25
Figure 37. A pair of drawer sides taped together to speed up the cutting. .........................................25
Figure 38. Using the angled block to chisel out the rest of the waste. ................................................26
Figure 39. Shoulder housing roughly cut of the drawer front..............................................................26
Figure 40. Using the angled block to finish to the line. ........................................................................27
Figure 41. Sawing close to the marked lines for the dovetail sockets..................................................27
Figure 42. Chopping out the mortice on the back panel frame............................................................28
Figure 43. Testing block for fitting the tenons. Face side has been marked so I can reference off this
side........................................................................................................................................................28
Figure 44. Testing the fit of a tenon from the tenoner before cutting the back panel rail tenons......29
Figure 45. Veneers cut to rough length. Veneers for drawer base on the left and back panel on the
right.......................................................................................................................................................30
Figure 46. Numbering the veneers in the bottom right-hand corner just in case they get rearranged.
..............................................................................................................................................................30
Figure 47. Joining veneers for the back panel. .....................................................................................31
Figure 48. Applying glue to the plywood..............................................................................................32
Figure 49. Mortice in the centre of the back panel rails.......................................................................33
Figure 50. Using the drawer base to test the fit in a groove on a test piece........................................34
Figure 51. Muntin for the back panel. ..................................................................................................34
Figure 52. Masking tape along the veneer cut line...............................................................................35
Figure 53. Panel groove machined into drawer fronts.........................................................................37
Figure 54. Dry assembly of the back panel...........................................................................................37
Figure 55. Cutting the angle on the drawer bases................................................................................38
Figure 56. Drawer panels still square and sanded to 240 grit. .............................................................38
Figure 57. Dry assembly of drawers......................................................................................................39
Figure 58. Staining the internal edges of the back panel frame...........................................................40
Figure 59. Test pieces for the drawer fronts. Piece on the left has the curve marked from the template
and the right piece has the curve cut out.............................................................................................41
Figure 60. Rough curve removed on the bandsaw...............................................................................41
Figure 61. Hand sanding the drawer face.............................................................................................42
Figure 62. Using a card scraper to finish the drawer faces...................................................................42

5. iv
Figure 63. Dry assembly of the drawers. ..............................................................................................43
Figure 64. Book matching veneers........................................................................................................43
Figure 65. Ply parts out of the veneers hot press.................................................................................44
Figure 66. Selecting boards for the cabinet..........................................................................................44
Figure 67. Marking domino positions on the boards............................................................................45
Figure 68. Board clamped to table to keep steady while cutting dominos..........................................46
Figure 69. All boards for cabinet panels with dominos cut. .................................................................46
Figure 70. Gluing up panels...................................................................................................................47
Figure 71. Masking tape covering stained edges..................................................................................47
Figure 72. Back panel being clamped. ..................................................................................................48
Figure 73. Shortening shoulder lenght on drawer backs......................................................................48
Figure 74. Taping off dovetails on internal drawer faces. ....................................................................49
Figure 75. Staining internal drawer parts. ............................................................................................49
Figure 76. Cutting horns off back panel stiles.......................................................................................50
Figure 77. Cutting off excess material on stiles. ...................................................................................50
Figure 78. Finishing the tongue on the back panel...............................................................................51
Figure 79. Cabinet panels sanded to final thickness.............................................................................51
Figure 80. Using the base to accurately mark the bridle joint on the cabinet sides. ...........................52
Figure 81. Practice run of fitting the bridle joint. .................................................................................52
Figure 82. Practice run clamping the drawer with angled blocks.........................................................53
Figure 83. Dovetail machine set up for cutting the walnut panels.......................................................54
Figure 84. Cutting laminated pine board dovetails as test pieces........................................................54
Figure 85. Sanding the tails as the machine left a bad finish on the walnut........................................55
Figure 86. Using scrap piece to set up the table router........................................................................55
Figure 87. Stopped groove on cabinet sides.........................................................................................56
Figure 88. Panel groove on cabinet top running through dovetail sockets..........................................56
Figure 89. Using a template to cut out bridle joint...............................................................................57
Figure 90. Finishing corners with a chisel.............................................................................................58
Figure 91. Curve cut out on cabinet top. ..............................................................................................58
Figure 92. Curved edge marked at front of cabinet sides.....................................................................59
Figure 93. Setting the planer fence using a sliding bevel. ....................................................................59
Figure 94. Regluing a drawer with less clamps to reduce the chances of knocking it off square. .......60
Figure 95. Cutting dominos in the inside of the cabinet.......................................................................60
Figure 96. Flexi ply panels with veneers ready to be attached.............................................................61

6. v
Figure 97. Flexi ply panel with glue rolled on and veneer taped on ready to be pressed....................61
Figure 98. Fitting drawer side fillers. ....................................................................................................62
Figure 99. Thicknessing door rails and drawer guides..........................................................................62
Figure 100. Curved fillers ready to be fit. .............................................................................................63
Figure 101. Curved filler ready to be cut. .............................................................................................63
Figure 102. Fitting push to open catches for drawers..........................................................................64
Figure 103. Filler clamped in place to measure and cut drawer guides...............................................64
Figure 104. Marking out domino locations by placing each piece in their location.............................65
Figure 105. Filler with domino housing cut out....................................................................................65
Figure 106. Walnut strip attached to plywood using mitre bond.........................................................66
Figure 107. Exposed plywood on the cabinet bottom that needed to be covered..............................66
Figure 108. Door rail in jig to cut out panel groove..............................................................................67
Figure 109. Maple door panel with straight edges at perpendicular angles........................................67
Figure 110. Completed panel groove with rail marked out on the stock face. ....................................68
Figure 111. First pass on the pin router. Each rail needed three passes..............................................68
Figure 112. Stiles and partition rough cut. ...........................................................................................69
Figure 113. Stiles and partition at finished sizes...................................................................................69
Figure 114. Book matched partition board being glued.......................................................................70
Figure 115. Dominos cut out on the partition. .....................................................................................70
Figure 116. Marking out shoulder positions on door stiles..................................................................71
Figure 117. Using a test piece to adjust cutter heights and depths. ....................................................71
Figure 118. Meeting stiles with all machining finished. Note grain direction, both stiles cut from the
same board. ..........................................................................................................................................72
Figure 119. Rebated test piece being set up for the V-groove and round over for the meeting stiles.
..............................................................................................................................................................72
Figure 120. Rough cut the inner curve on the bandsaw.......................................................................73
Figure 121. Rail in jig after being ran through the spindle moulder.....................................................73
Figure 122. Completing rail shape on the spindle with a different jig..................................................74
Figure 123. All door rails with inside curve complete...........................................................................74
Figure 124. All door rails fully shaped...................................................................................................75
Figure 125. Cutting dominos in the cabinet top. ..................................................................................76
Figure 126. Marking partition position.................................................................................................76
Figure 127. Prepping cabinet to be glued.............................................................................................77
Figure 128. Centre partition dry fit.......................................................................................................77

7. vi
Figure 129. Gluing up cabinet...............................................................................................................78
Figure 130. Starting door set out by copying the cabinet curve...........................................................78
Figure 131. Door rail set out. ................................................................................................................78
Figure 132. Cutting door rail shoulders on the chop saw.....................................................................79
Figure 133. Door rails cut to size...........................................................................................................79
Figure 134. Door stiles with dominos cut out.......................................................................................80
Figure 135. Angled fence on the planer to cut the angle on the door stiles. .......................................80
Figure 136. Sanding the internal curve of the door rail by hand..........................................................81
Figure 137. Gluing up first door. Diagonal clamp keeping the door square.........................................82
Figure 138. Dry fit of door.....................................................................................................................82
Figure 139. Sanding drawer bottom level.............................................................................................83
Figure 140. Sanding the external parts of the cabinet whilst the cabinet is on the ground. ...............83
Figure 141. Drilling the 5mm holes for the brass screws. Breakout piece clamped to the inside of the
cabinet. .................................................................................................................................................84
Figure 142. Fitting the base onto the cabinet upside down.................................................................84
Figure 143. Turning maple doorknobs on the lathe. ............................................................................85
Figure 144. One maple doorknob.........................................................................................................85
Figure 145. Hinge position marked on the door...................................................................................86
Figure 146. Hinge position marked on masking tape on the inside of the cabinet..............................86

8. 1
Introduction
The following is a workshop diary which outlines the processes taken to manufacture a Gimson
inspired bow-front cabinet on a stand, which was the final year capstone piece. The diary first starts
with the pre-production prototype. This was the stage where designs were worked out in the
workshop before manufacturing could begin. During this stage different construction details were
worked out but some of the jigs were also made.
Following from the pre-production prototype is the production of the actual piece. The diary outlines
the sequence of operations that was followed and states rough times in which it took to complete
each task. To see the completed artefact and any related documents, visit https://dan-cash-
furniture.yolasite.com .

9. 2
Pre-production prototype
The prototype was an opportunity to pay attention to areas of the piece which were hard to visualise
through drawings. It was also a chance to make jigs to produce the actual piece. I first made a base
frame from scrap wood that was laying around. The original design had straight, square section legs
as seen here in the first image. I thought
this made the base look very plain and
that a slight taper would add more to the
look of the piece. This meant a slight
change had to be made to the sectional
size of the side stretchers so the through
tenon would be centred on the tapered
leg.
Another decision I needed to make
before production was how I should
wedge the through tenons in the base
frame. As The idea behind the through
tenons was to highlight the joinery
methods, I wanted to explore more than
one option. I made a quick sample of two through tenons and wedged them differently. An image of
the sample is shown here in figure 2. I like the look of the wedge being inserted a few mm into the
tenon, but I am not sure how this will affect its strength.
Figure 1. Original leg design
Figure 2. Sample of two wedging styles.

10. 3
Workshop diary
Day 1
9:00 – 13:00
• Began with timber selection. Using chalk, mapped out what parts would come from
which boards. Assessed each board individually for its grain pattern, sap wood and
suitability for each component.
Figure 3. Marking the planks with chalk. I tried to mark out longer rips where possible.

11. 4
Figure 5. Prototype door rail on top of rail still in the board.
Figure 4. Planing the board edge to see how far the sap wood goes.

12. 5
Figure 6. Board with a lot of unusable sap wood.
Figure 7. All components marked out on boards.

13. 6
• Crosscut any boards that did not need to be ripped. These were mainly the larger
pieces which make up the cabinet sides and top.
• Used the rip saw to rip long lengths.
• Went back to the chop saw and finished cross cutting the longer lengths.
• Organised all the components, placed all the base parts together, door parts together,
drawer parts together etc.
Day 2
9:00 – 13:00
• Started by planning one face and edge of all the legs, aprons, and stretchers.
• Thicknessed all parts to size.
• At this point, ripped and planed a piece of maple that will make the wedges. Did not thickness
it yet as I wanted to have the mortices completed so I could check the fit as I thicknessed it.
• Marked out all mortices, shoulders for the tenons and marked the taper on one leg. Still need
to make a jig to cut the taper with this leg and then just use the jig to cut the rest without
marking them.
Figure 8. Leg pieces planed on single face and edge.

14. 7
• Before chopping the mortices, made an angled block with a slope of 1:8. This was to accurately
chop the angled mortices that will take the wedges.
• Chopped all the mortices.
• After chopping all the mortices for the tenons, then chopped out the mortices for the
wedges using the angled block made earlier.
Figure 9. A piece of waste material that I used to make a wedge to use in the morticer.
Figure 10. Leg angled in morticer with angled block placed underneath.

15. 8
Day 3
9:00 – 12:00
• Made setting out of side stretcher to accurately mark splayed shoulders
• This was also used to mark the taper on the legs.
• Used tenoner to make tenons on all the stretchers and aprons. For the smaller pieces, they
were left them as one long length so the tenoner could be used for one side of each rail. To
Figure 11. Setting out of legs.

16. 9
cut the other tenon, used the table saw and set the height of the blade to the width of the
shoulder and cut off the cheeks of the tenons.
Figure 13. Using a mortice to check the fit of a tenon on a test piece.
Figure 12. Tenons off the tenoner.

17. 10
12:00 – 13:00
• Used the spindle moulder to take out a small rebate which the banding would be glued into
Figure 14. Tenons cut on the table saw.
Figure 15. Rebate on aprons for banding.

18. 11
• Once the rebate was finished, stained the aprons. This was done as once the banding was
glued in place; it would be very difficult to stain them afterwards without staining the banding.
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
• Made a jig to hold the legs at an angle to the saw blade so I could cut out the taper.
Figure 16. Pre staining the aprons
Figure 17. Jig for cutting taper on legs.

19. 12
• Once a taper was cut, the off cut was used as a packer between the leg and the toggle clamp
• Left roughly 1mm on the taper of the legs so it could then be finished off with a hand plane to
remove any saw marks and leave a smooth finish
Figure 18. Using offcut as a packer.
Figure 19. Finished the taper with a hand plane

20. 13
15:30 – 17:00
• Next, made the maple wedges that would wedge the aprons to the legs. Thicknessed a piece
of maple to the same thickness as the tenons, using the mortices as a guide to test the fit.
• After working out an adequate length for the wedges that would leave me room to hammer
them in past the protruding tenons, made a jig that would cut the wedges at an angle on the
bandsaw.
• In preparation for the shelves, broke out a length of timber that would be used to cut the
edging from.
• Thicknessed a length of walnut that would match the thickness of plywood.
• Removed the crosscut fence to rip long lengths. Made a false bed from 3mm MDF which would
stop pieces falling between the blade and table.
• With the rip fence placed on the smaller edge, positioned it 3mm from the blade and locked
it in place.
Figure 20. Jig for making wedges.

21. 14
Figure 22. False bed and fence set up to rip lengths of edging.
Figure 21. Lengths of edging.

22. 15
Day 4
9:00 – 9:30
• Using polyurethane glue, the banding was bonded into the rebates on the aprons. Pressure
was applied using masking tape.
9:30 – 12:00
• Cut plywood to rough size for lengths of shelving
• Made sure to have at least 1 straight edge off the saw
Figure 23. Masking tape applying pressure to banding whilst gluing.

23. 16
• Using a template that was made previously, marked the curved pieces of shelving. As these
had extra length on them, the centre point was marked on the edge so I would know where
to mark from when cutting them to final size after veneering.
• Using the bandsaw, cut roughly 2mm from the curved line of the template.
• Next, with the router and a bottom guided flush cut bit, used the template to cut the curved
edge on the plywood.
• Like the banding on the aprons, masking tape was used to apply pressure.
• Instead of polyurethane glue, PVA glue was used this time.
Figure 24. Marking the curve with a template.

24. 17
• For the pieces with a straight edge, they were placed in clamps for extra pressure.
• When gluing the curved edging, pressure was applied with the masking tape at one side and
then made my way across to the other.
Figure 25. Pieces with a straight edge in clamps.

25. 18
Figure 27. Gluing the curved edging in place.
Figure 26. Edging held in place with masking tape.

26. 19
12:00 – 13:00
• Dry fit of the base.
Figure 28. Dry fit of the base

27. 20
Day 5
9:00 – 9:30
• Carefully cleaned up the bandings with a block plane and a card scraper.
9:30 – 11:00
• Then began to glue the base together, one side at a time.
• Glued up both the left and the right sides separately.
• Once each side was in the clamps, checked for square and then wedged them in sequence
using a hammer to hear when the wedges had bottomed out.
Figure 29. Taking light shavings off with a block plane.

28. 21
• Once they were wedged, removed the clamps.
Figure 31. One side still in the clamps with the wedges hammered in
position.
Figure 30. Both sides out of clamps with wedges still in place.

29. 22
• Removed the leftover wedges and proud tenons with a tenon saw, roughly 2mm from the face
of the leg.
• Using a hand plane, flushed off the tenons to leave a smooth surface.
• Once the two sides were ready, repeated the process to attach the two sides with the aprons
and stretcher.
Figure 32. Tenon and wedges flushed to the leg face.

30. 23
• left this in the clamps as one of the components wasn’t wedged and it needed time to let the
glue set.
11:00 – 13:00
• Prepared shelves for veneer
• Removed all the masking tape from the plywood and using an orbital sander with 120 grit
sandpaper, any excess glue was removed and ensured the flat surface of the plywood was
level with the edge of the walnut edging.
Figure 33. Full base in clamps.
Figure 34. Two pieces of ply shelving. One with
leftover glue still on and one after sanding.

31. 24
• Once sanded, then started prepping veneers.
• Cut lengths of veneers two at a time using a straight edge and a Stanley blade. This meant a
book match could be made in the veneer but also meant there was two identical edges to
tape the veneers together.
Figure 35. Using a straight edge to cut a straight line on two pieces of
veneer.

32. 25
Day 6
9:00 – 12:30
• Broke out all parts for drawers and back panel
• Used a setting out of the drawer front to mark the angled shoulders and dovetail sockets
• Using the setting out, measured the angle of the shoulders and made a block to pare with.
• Cut all of the dovetails first. Taped them into pairs
to speed up the process.
• To cut the drawer fronts, first cut the shoulder
housing out of the back.
Figure 36. Using the setting out to make an angled block.
Figure 37. A pair of drawer sides taped together to
speed up the cutting.

33. 26
• Using the angled block made earlier, chiselled to the shoulder line.
• Began cutting out the sockets. Firstly, using a Japanese saw to cut close to the marked line.
• Then chiselled out the rest of the waste before again using the angled block to finish to the
line.
Figure 39. Shoulder housing roughly cut of the drawer front.
Figure 38. Using the angled block to chisel out the rest of the waste.

34. 27
• After fitting the drawer sides into the matching sockets for the drawer fronts, then marked
the drawer backs. Made sure to allow for the 4mm veneered plywood base.
12:30 – 13:00
• For the back panel, marked all the shoulder lines for the tenons on the frame.
• Marked all the mortices and allowed for the groove that would be taken out of the inside
faces.
13:00 – 13:30 Lunch
Figure 41. Sawing close to the marked lines for the dovetail sockets.
Figure 40. Using the angled block to finish to the line.

35. 28
13:30 – 15:00
• Used the morticer to chop out all the mortices and made sure to always have the face side
facing in.
• When breaking out, an extra piece made from softwood was made. This would be used to test
the fit of the tenons and as a test piece for the rebates and grooves.
Figure 42. Chopping out the mortice on the back panel frame.
Figure 43. Testing block for fitting the tenons. Face side has been marked so I can
reference off this side.

36. 29
• After running a test piece in the tenoner and making adjustments so it would match the
mortices, I then tenoned the top and bottom rails of the back panel.
15:00 – 17:00
• Before running the grooves for both the back panel and the drawer base, the plywood would
need to be veneered to ensure a perfect fit.
• Used a flitch of maple veneer and cut out lengths that would suit both the drawer base and
back panel.
Figure 44. Testing the fit of a tenon from the tenoner before cutting the back
panel rail tenons.

37. 30
• Whilst doing so, grain direction grain direction was considered. Vertical grain pattern for the
back panel and the grain running from side to side for the drawer base.
• To get a straight edge so veneers could be joined seamlessly, the guillotine was used.
• Using veneer tape, matched up the veneers and taped them together along their edge.
Figure 46. Numbering the veneers in the bottom right-hand corner just in
case they get rearranged.
Figure 45. Veneers cut to rough length. Veneers for drawer base on the left and back panel on the right.

38. 31
• Repeated this process on both sides of the plywood.
• Once the veneers were ready, the hot press was used to glue them to the plywood.
• With a roller, plenty of glue was applied to the plywood and then placed the veneers on top.
Figure 47. Joining veneers for the back panel.

39. 32
• Once in the press, paper was placed on both the top and bottom of the pieces so they wouldn’t
mistakenly stick to the press.
Figure 48. Applying glue to the plywood.

40. 33
Day 7
9:00 – 11:00
• Due to a mistake measuring the veneered back panel, it was mistakenly cut too narrow.
• To save the piece and not have to do a rework, it was decided to add a muntin to the back
panel.
• Marked and morticed in the centre of both
the bottom and top rail of the back panel
frame. These would house the muntin
tenons.
• Broke out a muntin piece and repeated all
the same steps as had previously been taken
to make the tenons on the rails.
11:00 – 12:30
• As the drawer bases had been veneered,
this was able to be used as a test piece for
the grooves.
• Using the spindle moulder, it was set up
with a grooving bit and used the test piece
of material that had been broken out the
day before.
• With this and the drawer panel,
adjustments were made and the correct
heigh and depth for the panel groove were
made.
Figure 49. Mortice in the centre of the back panel rails.

41. 34
Figure 51. Muntin for the back panel.
Figure 50. Using the drawer base to test the fit in a groove on a test
piece.

42. 35
• With the spindle moulder set, ran the grooves in the back panel frame.
• Made sure and had the face side facing down on each piece.
• Once the frame was ready, I then cut the panels to size.
• Placed masking tape along the lines where I would cut the panels.
• This was done to reduce break out of the veneers.
12:30 – 13:00
• Once the panels were cut to size, a dry assembly of the back panel was done.
• As the pieces were to be stained, the edges needed to be stained before it was assembled.
• Sanded the edges with 240 grit sandpaper and a sanding block.
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 17:00
• As the spindle was set up to cut a panel groove, adjusted the feather boards to suit the drawer
parts.
• Machined the sides first then adjusted the feather boards again to suit the drawer fronts.
Figure 52. Masking tape along the veneer cut line.

43. 36
• For the drawer bases, they were simply kept square until they ready to be cut them the final
shape.
• To cut the angle, I marked them out with a pencil and clamped a piece of MDF to the table
saw.
• Cut a straight edge on a piece MDF, and to cut the angle on the drawer base, simply placed
the marked line along the straight edge of the MDF and held it in place whilst cutting.
• With the drawer panels cut, a dry assembly of the drawers was done.

44. 37
Figure 54. Dry assembly of the back panel.
Figure 53. Panel groove machined into drawer fronts.

45. 38
Figure 56. Drawer panels still square and sanded to 240 grit.
Figure 55. Cutting the angle on the drawer bases

46. 39
Figure 57. Dry assembly of drawers.

47. 40
Day 8
9:00 – 9:30
• Stained the internal edges of the back panel frame. This was done so I wouldn’t have to stain
them whilst the frame was glued up and risk staining the maple panel.
9:30 – 13:00
• Next, started to shape the curved drawer fronts. Using the template that was made in pre
manufacturing the curve was marked.
Figure 58. Staining the internal edges of the back panel frame.

48. 41
• First tried this process on a test piece.
• The first step was to use the bandsaw to cut the rough shape of the curve.
• Used the belt sander to sand most of the surface to the marked lines.
Figure 59. Test pieces for the drawer fronts.
Piece on the left has the curve marked from the
template and the right piece has the curve cut
out.
Figure 60. Rough curve removed on the bandsaw.

49. 42
• Sanded by hand on any parts that were difficult to get with the belt sander.
• For any deeper marks left by the bandsaw, a card scraper was used to finish the surface.
Figure 61. Hand sanding the drawer face.
Figure 62. Using a card scraper to finish the drawer faces.

50. 43
• Completed a dry assembly of the drawers.
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
• Next, continued with the veneering of the internal ply parts.
• For some parts the veneers were book matched.
• Used the hot press to press the veneers.
Figure 63. Dry assembly of the drawers.
Figure 64. Book matching veneers.

51. 44
15:30 – 17:00
• After this, moved onto breaking out the walnut for the cabinet.
• As the boards were cupping, they were ripped down to smaller widths, trying to keep at least
two rips per part the same width.
• When selecting the boards, grain was matched as much as possible. When breaking out, some
tear out was experienced so I had to select what faces of the boards would be internal or
external.
Figure 65. Ply parts out of the veneers hot press.
Figure 66. Selecting boards for the cabinet.

52. 45
• When the board locations were selected, then marked the location of the dominoes that
would be used to attach them.
Figure 67. Marking domino positions on the boards.

53. 46
Day 9
9:00 – 10:30
• Cut all dominos in boards that were marked the week previous.
Figure 68. Board clamped to table to keep steady while cutting dominos.
Figure 69. All boards for cabinet panels with dominos cut.

54. 47
• Glued up panels. Glued all 3 panels at the same time in one set of sash clamps.
10:30 – 11:30
• Placed masking tape on the stained edges of the back panel frame to stop glue sticking to the
stained surface during glue up.
Figure 70. Gluing up panels.
Figure 71. Masking tape covering stained edges.

55. 48
• Glue up the back panel.
11:30 – 12:30
• Cut back the shoulder length of the drawer backs as they were too long.
Figure 72. Back panel being clamped.
Figure 73. Shortening shoulder lenght on drawer backs.

56. 49
• Taped all the dovetails and sockets of the drawer parts so the internal parts could be stained.
• Stained all the internal drawer parts.
Figure 74. Taping off dovetails on internal drawer faces.
Figure 75. Staining internal drawer parts.

57. 50
12:30 – 13:30
• Cut off the horns of the back panel frame stiles.
• Using a Japanese saw and chisel, cut the remaining bits of the stiles to finish the tongue around
the back panel.
Figure 76. Cutting horns off back panel stiles.
Figure 77. Cutting off excess material on stiles.

58. 51
14:00 – 17:00
• Removed panel from clamps and used the drum sander to sand them down to final thickness.
Figure 78. Finishing the tongue on the back panel.
Figure 79. Cabinet panels sanded to final thickness.

59. 52
• Marked the position of the bridle joints on the cabinet sides.
• Did a practice run of the bridle joints on a laminated pine board.
Figure 80. Using the base to accurately mark the bridle joint on the cabinet sides.
Figure 81. Practice run of fitting the bridle joint.

60. 53
Day 10
9:00 – 10:00
• Removed masking tape from drawer parts and glued up drawers. Made angled blocks to place
the clamps at right angles to each other while clamping.
10:00 – 11:00
Figure 82. Practice run clamping the drawer with angled blocks.

61. 54
• Used laminated pine board, which had been thicknessed to the same thickness as the cabinet
parts, and did practice runs of the machined dovetails until the settings were right.
11:00 – 12:00
Figure 84. Cutting laminated pine board
dovetails as test pieces.
Figure 83. Dovetail machine set up for cutting the walnut panels.

62. 55
• Cut dovetails on the cabinet panels.
12:00 – 14:00 (Including lunch break)
• Using a scrap piece, set up the table router to run the panel groove on the cabinet sides.
Figure 85. Sanding the tails as the machine left a bad finish on the walnut.
Figure 86. Using scrap piece to set up the table router.

63. 56
• Ran the panel groove on the cabinet top and stopped grooves on both sides.
Figure 88. Panel groove on cabinet top running through dovetail sockets.
Figure 87. Stopped groove on cabinet sides.

64. 57
14:00 – 15:00
• Using a template with a guide bushing on the router, cut out the bridle joints on the cabinet
sides.
Figure 89. Using a template to cut out bridle joint.

65. 58
• Finished off the corners with a chisel.
15:00 – 16:00
• Marked the curved top off a template that had previously been made with a router and
trammel.
• Used bandsaw to rough cut the curve.
• Finished with a bottom guided flush cutter and the template.
Figure 90. Finishing corners with a chisel.
Figure 91. Curve cut out on cabinet top.

66. 59
Day 11
9:00 – 10:30
• Dry assembled the cabinet and marked the curved edge on the panel sides.
• Copied angle with a sliding bevel and set the fence on the planer to cut the angle.
10:30 – 11:30
Figure 92. Curved edge marked at front of cabinet sides.
Figure 93. Setting the planer fence using a sliding bevel.

67. 60
• Using the domino again, cut out dominos on the plywood panels and the internal parts of the
cabinet sides.
11:30 – 12:00
• Broke apart one of the drawers due to not being square.
Figure 95. Cutting dominos in the inside of the cabinet.
Figure 94. Regluing a drawer with less clamps to reduce the chances of knocking it off square.

68. 61
• Re glued and clamped the drawer.
12:00 - 13:00
• Cut up flexi ply panels for the doors to rough size.
• Cut maple veneer strips which I would veneer onto the flexi ply.
• Book matched veneers and then aligned the centres with the panel centres.
• Cold pressed the panels to attach the veneer.
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
Figure 96. Flexi ply panels with veneers ready to be attached.
Figure 97. Flexi ply panel with glue rolled on and veneer taped on ready to be pressed.

69. 62
14:00 – 17:00
• Broke out material for the drawer guides, filler pieces and door rails.
• Began fitting drawer fillers.
Figure 99. Thicknessing door rails and drawer guides.
Figure 98. Fitting drawer side fillers.

70. 63
• Marked the curve and rough cut with the bandsaw.
• Hand planed a smooth surface close to the line, then used the belt sander to sand to the final
curve.
• Clamped fillers and sample partition piece in place to start fitting guides and push to open
catches.
Figure 101. Curved filler ready to be cut.
Figure 100. Curved fillers ready to be fit.

71. 64
Figure 103. Filler clamped in place to measure and cut drawer guides.
Figure 102. Fitting push to open catches for drawers.

72. 65
Day 12
9:00 – 9:30
• Marked and dominoed fillers to cabinet and shelf.
Figure 104. Marking out domino locations by placing each piece in their location.
Figure 105. Filler with domino housing cut out.

73. 66
9:30 – 10:00
• Removed 3mm from the back of the cabinet bottom and replaced it with a 3mm walnut strip.
Figure 107. Exposed plywood on the cabinet bottom that needed to be covered.
Figure 106. Walnut strip attached to plywood using mitre bond.

74. 67
10:00 – 10:15
• Squared the door panels but did not cut to size yet.
10:15 – 12:00
• Began using pin router to cut panel groove in door rails.
Figure 109. Maple door panel with straight edges at perpendicular angles.
Figure 108. Door rail in jig to cut out panel groove.

75. 68
Figure 111. First pass on the pin router. Each rail needed
three passes.
Figure 110. Completed panel groove with rail marked out on the stock
face.

76. 69
Day 13
9:00 – 11:00
• Broke out timber for door stiles and cabinet partition.
Figure 112. Stiles and partition rough cut.
Figure 113. Stiles and partition at finished sizes.

77. 70
• Book matched two boards for the centre partition, joined them with dominoes.
Figure 115. Dominos cut out on the partition.
Figure 114. Book matched partition board being glued.

78. 71
11:00 – 13:00
• Marked out shoulder positions on door stiles.
• Ran the panel groove on door stiles.
Figure 116. Marking out shoulder positions on door stiles.
Figure 117. Using a test piece to adjust cutter heights and depths.

79. 72
• Ran rebate, chamfer and round over on meeting stiles.
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 17:00
Figure 119. Rebated test piece being set up for the V-groove and round over for the meeting
stiles.
Figure 118. Meeting stiles with all machining finished. Note grain direction, both
stiles cut from the same board.

80. 73
• Roughly cut out the inner curve of the doors.
• Used spindle moulder and jig to finish the curve.
Figure 120. Rough cut the inner curve on the bandsaw.
Figure 121. Rail in jig after being ran through the spindle
moulder.

81. 74
• Repeated the process for the outside curve of the door.
Figure 123. All door rails with inside curve complete.
Figure 122. Completing rail shape on the spindle with a different jig.

82. 75
Figure 124. All door rails fully shaped.

83. 76
Day 14
9:00 – 10:00
• Marked the position of the partition using the shelves.
• Cut out all the dominos for the partition.
Figure 126. Marking partition position.
Figure 125. Cutting dominos in the cabinet top.

84. 77
• Dry fit of the centre partition.
10:00 – 11:00
Figure 128. Centre partition dry fit.
Figure 127. Prepping cabinet to be glued.

85. 78
• Glue up of the cabinet.
11:00 – 13:00
• Started a setting out for the door.
Figure 129. Gluing up cabinet.
Figure 130. Starting door set out by copying the cabinet curve.
Figure 131. Door rail set out.

86. 79
• Made jig to hold rails in position to use the chop saw for the shoulders.
• Cut the shoulders for the door rails using chop saw.
Figure 132. Cutting door rail shoulders on the chop saw.
Figure 133. Door rails cut to size.

87. 80
14:00 – 15:30
• Cut dominos in door stiles.
• Used planer to cut the angle on the door stiles.
Figure 134. Door stiles with dominos cut out.
Figure 135. Angled fence on the planer to cut the angle on the door stiles.

88. 81
Day 15
9:00 – 11:00
• Hand sanded all the door rails.
Figure 136. Sanding the internal curve of the door rail by hand.

89. 82
• Dry fit the doors.
• Glue up of first door.
• Filled domino housings on second door rail to re cut it.
11:00 – 12:00
Figure 138. Dry fit of door.
Figure 137. Gluing up first door. Diagonal clamp keeping the door square.

90. 83
• Sanded the drawers.
• Sanded the external parts of the cabinet.
Figure 139. Sanding drawer bottom level.
Figure 140. Sanding the external parts of the cabinet whilst the
cabinet is on the ground.

91. 84
12:00 – 13:00
• Fit the base to the cabinet.
Figure 142. Fitting the base onto the cabinet upside down.
Figure 141. Drilling the 5mm holes for the brass screws. Breakout piece clamped to the
inside of the cabinet.

92. 85
• Drilled 5mm hole for the brass screws.
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
• Turned maple doorknobs
Figure 143. Turning maple doorknobs on the lathe.
Figure 144. One maple doorknob.

93. 86
15:30 – 17:00
• Planed doors to fit the cabinet.
• Marked out hinge position.
• Chopped out hinge recess on doors and cabinet.
Figure 146. Hinge position marked on masking tape on the inside of the
cabinet.
Figure 145. Hinge position marked on the door.

94. 87

95. Process 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Timber selection
Broke out rough
Broke out base
Base marking out
Chopped mortices
Setting out of base
splayed legs
Tenons on the
Tenons on the table
Rebated aprons for
Stained aprons
Cut taper on legs
Made maple
Made walnut edging
Attached banding
Broke out ply pieces
Attached walnut
Dry fit base
Hours
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

96. Process 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Flushed off
bandings
Base glue up
Sanded and
thicknessed ply
Started cutting
veneers for internal
Broke out drawer
parts and back
Marked drawer
Cut dovetails on
Chopped out
Marked back panel
Chopped mortices
Cut tenons
Prepared back panel
and drawer base
Hot pressed panels
Made back panel
Ran back panel
Ran drawer base
Cut veneered
Back panel dry fit
Sanded back panel
Drawer dry fit
Stained internal
edges of back panel
Shaped drawer
Finished veneering
plywood parts
Broke out carcass
Grain matched and
marked dominos
Hours
Day 7
Day 8
Day 5
Day 6

97. Process 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68
Cut carcass dominos
Glued up carcass
Glued up back panel
Shortened drawer
Stained internal
Cut off back panel
horns
Finished off back
panel tongue
Drum sanded
carcass panels
Marked bridle joints
Did practice run of
bridle joints
Glue up drawers
Set up dovetail
carcass and sanded
them
Machined panel
Cut bridle joints
Cut out curve on
Cut splayed cabinet
Dominoed shelving
and carcass parts
Re-glued one
Veneered flexi ply
drawer filler
material
Fit drawer fillers
Fit push caps
Dominoed drawer
bottom shelf with
walnut strip
Machined curved
panel groove
Hours
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12

98. Process 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90
Broke out stile and
partition parts
Book matched and
glue up partition
Marked out stiles
Ran panel groove in
stiles
Ran V groove in
stiles
Ran roundover on
stiles
Ran rebate on stiles
Machined door rail
curves
Dry fit cabinet
Glued up cabinet
Door setting out
Cut door rail
shoulders
Domioned door
stiles/rails
Cut angle on door
stiles
Sanded door parts
Dry fit doors
Glued up doors
Sanded drawers
Sanded cabinet
Fit base to cabinet
Turn door knobs
Fit doors and hinges
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Hours