PROJECT TWO

SMALL STORAGE CABINET

by JOHN MCGUANE

This small storage cabinet is perfect in a home office or on a crowded countertop — anywhere you need a few extra drawers in which to hide things away.

Two species of pine and two varieties of plywood were used in this project. I selected white pine for the top, sides and drawer fronts. Yellow pine was used for the drawer support assemblies due to its hardness and ability to endure decades of drawer sliding. The cabinet back and drawer bottoms are cut from common ¼″ interior-grade plywood.

INCHES (MILLIMETERS)

HARDWARE & SUPPLIES

2	drawer pulls
10–20	No. 20 biscuits
10	No. 6 × 1¼″ (32mm) drywall screws
	wood glue

Each square represents ½″.

STEP 1 | Glue up the white pine boards that will be cut to form the sides, top and drawer fronts.

STEP 2 | Cut the slots for the biscuits. Clamping a stop board to the worktable makes it easy and efficient to cut biscuit slots.

STEP 3 | Use a damp rag to wipe off the excess glue. This will eliminate having to scrape the glue off later. Dried glue, if not removed from the surface of the stock, will quickly dull saw blades, jointer and planer knives.

Tip

Remove the fence from your biscuit jointer and hold the jointer and the stock flat against the worktable. Cut all the biscuit slots with your stock facing the same way, either facing up or facing down. This method places the slot in the approximate center of ¾″ stock.

STEP 4 | Cut two ¾″-wide by 1/8″-deep stopped dadoes in each side to accept the drawer dividers. Then, set up your jointer to cut a 1/8″-wide by ¼″ deep rabbet on the back edges of the top and sides. This could also be cut using a router with a straight-cutting bit. This recess will allow the back of the cabinet to sit flush.

STEP 5 | Using biscuits at the joints, glue and clamp the drawer dividers. After the glue has cured, round the front edge of each divider using a stationary belt sander or a router with a roundover bit.

STEP 6 | Apply glue in the dadoes and attach the two drawer divider assemblies to the sides

STEP 7 | Attach the top to the cabinet, using biscuits and glue. Then, after the glue sets, attach the back with nails or screws. After cutting the drawer parts to size, use your router and dovetail template to cut half-blind dovetails on the drawer sides, fronts and backs. (See step 18 in project eleven, “Bachelor Chest.”) Then rout a ¼″-wide by ¼″ deep groove ¼″ from the bottom edge of each drawer part to accept the bottom panels. Use a small artist's brush to apply a light coating of glue to the dovetails. The drawer bottoms are not glued but are nailed in place only at the bottom of the drawer back panels.

STEP 8 | After the drawers are assembled, fit them into the cabinet.

STEP 9 | If you like, draw some decorative curves on the front and bottom edges of the cabinet, then cut with a jigsaw. This adds visual interest, and it establishes feet for the cabinet, allowing it to sit level.

STEP 10 | Use the pattern provided or your own judgement and imagination when designing decorative details.

STEP 11 | Round over the edges of the sides using a router or by using sanding paper. Then rout an ogee profile on the front and side edges of the top.

STEP 12 | Use a random-orbit sander with 120–150-grit sandpaper. Because this wood is soft, using coarser sandpaper would leave scratches that are hard to sand out.

STEP 13 | A gel stain works well to give some color to the almost pure white pine.

STEP 14 | Apply a topcoat of polyurethane to finish the cabinet. Finally, attach the drawer pulls.