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CARVING

Photo 8- Using a carving gouge to establish the half circles in the carving design.

While the door is drying start the carving on the front side pieces. Rip them to width, cut to length, then get out your carving tools. Before you lay out the "S" pattern of this design, you need to know what chisel you will use to make it. The pattern depends on the diameter of the half circle cut by the gouge you use. My #8 by 5/8" gouge has a diameter of 3/4", so I marked out spaces at that dimension as in photo 8. But you could use one with a greater or lesser diameter to suit your tooling or your desires.

Mark out the spaces between half circles as described above, and also scribe two longitudinal lines 1/2" from each edge to establish the lateral position of each half circle. Begin carving by cutting half circles within your scribe marks as shown in photo 8. Cut down to a depth of 1/16" or so. Make this entire series of cuts on both pieces before you go ahead with the next step of clearing out the waste in each half circle. The only reason for this is efficiency; it will take less time if you are not switching from chisel to chisel at each half circle. This kind of methodical carving with a repeating design is called running carving and can be done with an infinite number of designs.

Photo 9- Connect the half circles with a straight bench chisel. Angle these cuts to follow the slope of the design.

Once the half circles are cut, use a regular bench chisel to connect their ends as in photo 9. Angle the chisel toward the half circle, to follow the angle of the final surface which slopes down toward the half circle. Point the bevel of the chisel toward the waste, because the flat of the chisel leaves a cleaner edge, and it is the edge not wasted away that will be seen.

Photo 10- Make a sloping cut down into each of the half circles as shown.

Finally use a gouge with a very shallow arc to waste away the material inside the half circles, and between the bench chisel cuts (photo 10). My #3 by 1/2" gouge did the job well. Sharpen this chisel to its best, because you are cutting across the grain and the sharper it is, the smoother the finished surface will be. Slope the cut down toward the half circle, and dish it out following the radius of the gouge you use.

When the door is out of clamps, trace a vinelike design onto it, such as in the photos. Note that this design goes on the panels only, and not on the frame parts. Also, this design stays within 1/4" of the edge of the panels, to avoid chipping the edges as you carve. Sketch out your own design if you find the inspiration, and it needn't be cut only within the panels.

Photo 11- Sketch a tree or vine trunk at the bottom panel, and extend its branches up into the higher panels. Sketch and erase until you have a pleasing pattern. Then carefully outline the pattern as shown.

Use a #12 or #15 V-parting tool to outline the vines as in photo 11. Again, sharpen the tool well for best results, because as you cut directly across the grain, a dull tool will push and crush the fibers rather than sever them. Work slowly and coax the tool through the wood rather than forcing it quickly- you may find that it will jump ahead of you, beyond the pattern!

Photo 12- Texture the background around the branches with parallel lines. Go slowly and gently so you don't slip ahead farther than you intended.

With the outline finished, cut the parallel grooves between the vines which provides a textured background (photo 12). Again go carefully or the tool may slip and cut through a vine. I confess this happened to me once or twice (okay- three times!) but it was easily repaired by gluing back in the small chip that was cut out. Note that the grooves follow the grain direction of the panel, so that the grooves on the bottom panel are horizontal whereas elsewhere vertical.

CARCASE

Photo 13- Make a shallow reference groove where the carcase parts join so that when you put it together the parts have a shoulder to sit against, keeping them in alignment.

Cut the 45o angle on the inside edge of the two front side pieces. This is just as easily done on a jointer as a table saw. Then get out the two backs, cut to length and rip to width. Set up the table saw to cut a very shallow rabbet in the side pieces and in one of the backs where the pieces butt together. Make this rabbet 1/2" wide, and only 1/32" or so deep (photo 13). The sole purpose of this rabbet is to help you locate the butt joint during assembly. Otherwise the parts would slip all over with glue in there. Be careful that the blade doesn't burn the wood in the rabbet, because that is the glue surface and glue doesn’t stick very well to burnt wood.

Photo 14- You'll need an armful of barclamps to glue on the side pieces as shown. If you don't have this many, do one at a time, or use no clamps and attach them with glue and nails. Pre- drill for the nails in this case so the wood doesn't split, and use small-headed finish nails.

Glue the two backs together. Use nails to hold them together. If your cabinet is made of hardwood, predrill holes for the nails, much as you would for screws, to prevent splitting. Softwood like pine may not require holes. With the nails in place you don't have to wait for the glue to dry before you do more assembly, so glue and clamp on the front side pieces as in photo 14. No nails here- you don't want any nail holes next to your nice carving! Use clamping strips between the clamps and the front side pieces to prevent the clamps damaging the surface.

Photo 15- There's a screw block under all those chips from the drill bit! With any screw block it helps to bore out the holes before you go to assembly. This extra step makes the assembly procedure a joy instead of a nightmare.

Make 16- 1/2" x 1/2" x 2" screw blocks for securing the top, bottom, and shelves. Drill two screw holes with countersinks through one face of each block as in photo 15. Then mark out the location of each block on the inside of the carcase. One by one place each block in position and mark the location of its screw hole with a pencil placed in the hole. Why not just put the block in place and drill a hole through block and carcase at once? Because the bit will make the block wander all over the place and it won't get located correctly. After marking out the location of the holes, drill an appropriately sized hole on the mark and screw down the block (photo 16).