BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Good craftsmanship begins and ends with good work habits, so make
the following steps part of your routine workshop practice. If you have
any doubts or questions about how to proceed with a project, always
discuss them with your shop instructor.
• Carefully and fully review plans and instructions before putting a
tool to the project lumber.
• Work sensibly and safely. Wear safety goggles when doing work
that creates flying chips and sawdust; wear the appropriate
respirator whenever making sawdust or working with thinners
or other solvents.
• At the end of every work session, clean up your shop area and
put away all portable tools.
CUTTING AND ASSEMBLY
PROCEDURE
1.
Before cutting the plywood components, lay out all the pieces on
a scaled sketch in order to minimize waste. When you have the puzzle
figured out, cut all the plywood pieces–A, B, C, J, M–to their
finished size.
2.
Set up a dado head in the table saw. Cut the rabbet at the top of each
side (A) and the dado near the bottom. Both are 3/4" wide x 1/4" deep. The
bottom of the dado is 1-3/4" from the bottom edge of the plywood (Fig. 1).
3.
Cut a 3/8"-wide x 1/4"-deep rabbet along the rear edges of A, B and
C to receive the back.
4.
Drill the adjustable shelf holes inside the case, located 1” apart as
shown in Figure 1.
5.
Lay out, cut and sand the curve in the bottom of the case sides.
Use the template in Grid 3. The curve starts 2" in from the back,
1-1/4" in from the front and is 1-3/4" high.
6.
After sanding the interior faces of the case pieces, glue and assemble
the case, making sure it’s perfectly square after all the clamps are in place.
7.
Rough-cut face-frame pieces–D, E, F– and then mill them to their
finished size. A jointer can both work the pieces down to their required
sizes while also making all edges smooth and dead-square.
8.
Drill screw pockets in the ends of the face-frame rails, D and E. Cut
the curve in the bottom of the lower rail, using the template shown in
Grid 2. The curve originates 1/2" in from the ends and is 1-3/4" high.
9.
Assemble the face-frame with glue and pocket screws. Then glue and
clamp the assembled face-frame to the front of the case.
10.
Cut the plywood for the top–J–to the correct length, but leave it at
least 1" too wide. Cut the end bands–K–about an inch longer than their
required dimension. Prep them and the field top for joining by cutting
slots for three biscuits on each end. Also cut three slots into the front
edge and into the front band (L).
11.
Glue the end bands to the top. The end bands can project past
only one edge, but both bands must be short of the other edge so there
is one straight edge to go against the rip fence in the next step.
12.
Allow the end band glue to dry. Set the rip fence on the table saw to
a dimension greater than the finished depth of the top, but small enough
to cut through both end bands and the edge of the top. Rip the top.
13.
Set the rip fence to the finished width of the top. Put the edge cut
in the previous step against the fence and make the final cut. This will
make the end bands perfectly flush with the front and back edges of
the top.
14.
Cut the front band–L–to finished length, but leave it wider than the
finished width.
15.
Lay out, cut and sand the curve in the front band, using the
template in Grid 1. The front band is 4" wide at the center, 2" wide
at each end.
16.
Cut biscuit slots into the straight edge of the front band, aligned
with the slots cut into the front edge of the top. Cut slots into the front
ends of each end band (K) and corresponding slots into straight edge
of L. Glue and clamp the front band to the top. Allow glue to dry.
17.
Sand the bands and top to create a perfectly smooth surface, while
being very careful not to oversand; it’s easy to sand through the thin
plywood veneer.
18.
Round over the top and bottom corners of the top with router
fitted with a 1/4" roundover bit.
19.
Carefully measure the opening in the face-frame and calculate the
door rail and stile sizes. The doors should be 1" taller than the opening.
Plan for a gap of 3/32" between the two doors.
20.
Cut the door rails and stiles–G and H–to size and machine them
for door joinery. Start by cutting 9/32"-wide x 3/8"-deep grooves along
the centers of the inside edges to receive the panels. The best way to
center a groove is to run the piece over a dado head, flip the piece end
for end and run it through again. Use scrap to get the proper setup of
the table saw fence and dado height.
21.
Cut 9/32" x 11/32" tongues into the ends of the rails. The best way
to center the tongues is to run both sides of the pieces over the dado
head set at a height that produces a 9/32"-thick tongue. Use scrap to
make test cuts and finalize the height of the dado head.
22.
Cut the material for the door panels and join them with biscuits
and glue.
23.
Dry assemble the door frames and carefully measure the inside
opening. Add 1/2" to both dimensions to get the finished size of
the panels.
24.
Cut the panels to size. Then raise the panels by running the edges
through a router or shaper table fitted with a panel-raising cutter. The
cuts should produce panel edges that are no more than 1/4" thick.
Test how they fit into the grooves of the door-frame pieces. When the
panels are right, finish-sand them.
–3–
CONTINUED - WOODWORKS: ADVANCED PROJECT 2008-2009 TV STAND
