Traditional legs
Various other traditional leg shapes are shown in 198. Figure 198:1 is the plain turned Jacobean leg; 198:2 shows the twist, both of which were a feature of oak-work. Part …
Leg and frame construction
LEGS Cabriole legs Perhaps no single feature in furniture has been so widely used as the cabriole leg {cabrioler = 'to bound or leap like a goat'). Present-day application is …
Cornices
Cornices are now rarely used, but were a feature in traditional work. Strictly speaking, a cornice is the top moulding of the entablature to a column which, in Classic architecture, …
PLINTHS AND CORNICES Plinths
Plinths in traditional work were always projecting, as distinct from recessed, the term itself meaning the lowermost square-shaped projecting part of a base or column from the Greek phiallos, a …
Carcass backs
Carcass backs can perform three functions: (1) closing in the opening; (2) adding stiffness and rigidity to the carcass; (3) increasing the back weight, thus reducing any tendency for tall …
Dust boards/panels
These are a refinement fitted between drawers in carcass-work to protect the drawer contents from falling dust or displaced articles. They are now only used in the highest quality work. …
CONSTRUCTIONAL METHODS Flush-top carcasses
Where the tops are an integral part of the carcasses and not planted on as separate members, some form of interlocking joint must be used. Figure 187:1 shows a secret …
Solid board carcass construction
This method of carcass construction is rarely undertaken by large manufacturers, and, when it is, the wood is usually strip laminated for stability and uniformity of colour and grain in …
Frame and panel, or frame and thin skin construction
Much of this method of construction is a legacy of the utility furniture of the 1940s and early 1950s, when wood was at a premium and components were whittled down …
AREAS OF CARCASS CONSTRUCTION
Carcass construction can be broadly broken down into four main areas, the first being most applicable to present-day large scale production: 1 Knock-down (KD) construction using sheet materials 2 Pre-assembled …
Part IV Advanced areas of furniture construction 21 Carcass construction
GENERAL NOTE The construction of any large carcass must provide for possible distortion, either under the weight of its own members or by applied forces—pushing, pulling, lifting, upending, etc.—or by …
SCRIBED WORK
Scribing or shaping one piece to fit over another, as in a moulded and rebated/rabbeted framework (168:17), is an alternative to mitring and gives the same overall appearance; also, any …
Gluing and cramping/clamping mitred work
It is a sad truth that mitres never seem to fit so accurately after they have been glued. In theory they should meet exactly, but in most cases positive pressure …
Cutting mitres
The mitre-square or fixed mitre is used for marking true mitres (45°); the adjustable bevel for all other angles. Some jig or guide is necessary for sawing, and the simplest …
Mitre, scribed and scarf joints
If two pieces of wood of equal section are to be joined together without the end grain showing then the mitre cut between them must halve the overall angle. Thus …
Dovetailing accessories
Where short runs do not warrant the use of a dovetailing machine, accessories can be obtained for most types of spindle moulding/ shaping machine and router (including portable routers), incorporating …
Corner lock joint
Also known as box lock or finger joint it has considerable decorative possibilities if cleanly cut in good wood. It is usually regarded as a machine joint but can be …
Carcass dovetails
Where a side rail is grooved or tenoned into a leg or post as in a framed-up carcass, the shoulders of the two dovetails must be offset; moreover in tenoned …
Secret (double lap) dovetails
These are used where open dovetails would be unsightly, but as one lap must show end grain the jointing method could be entirely hidden with secret mitre dovetails, which are …
Lapped dovetails
This is the usual type for drawer sides (154:4), carcass-work (154:5), etc. where one face must not show the joint and the dovetails are set back by a small lap …
HAND-CUT DOVETAILS
Three types are used: (a) through dovetails which show on both sides of a corner joint (154:1); (b) lapped dovetails which show on one face but are concealed on the …
Dovetailing
Rapid developments in woodworking-machine techniques have evolved distinctive jointing procedures which are often as good as, and in some instances superior to, the traditional handcut joints they have replaced. An …
APPLICATIONS
Typical applications are shown in 150 where two 3/8 in (9.5 mm) dowels are used to each joint instead of mortises and tenons in a simple framework (150.9); long and …
DOWELLED EDGE JOINTS
These are no longer used to any great extent but handworkers may find the process useful, particularly where the jointing methods must be hidden. The boards are planed slightly hollow …
BORING SOCKETS/DOWEL HOLES
Any expedient should be adopted to ensure truly vertical boring of the sockets. If done by hand, using a Russell Jenning's pattern dowel - bit in a bit - or …
Dowelled joints
Spiral, grooved, and fluted or faceted dowel - pegs offer greater holding power than the standard smooth birch dowel-rod, and dowelled constructions are now used extensively in lieu of mortises …
LOOSE TENONS
Loose tenons for demountable structures which Joints closed 148 Rebated/rabbeted frames showing alternative methods are not glued together are shown in 147:1. It shows the keyed tenon in which a …
Miscellaneous tenons
Figure 146:2 shows the single stub tenon for connecting drawer rails to carcass sides, but the length of the tenon can only be a bare 1/2 in (12.5 mm) in …
TYPES OF TENONS
Several variations are possible. 142:6 is used only in the cheapest work for thin slats into thicker frameworks, such as play-pens, garden seats, etc., and the depth of the mortises …
Mortise and tenon joints
These are probably the best known of all woodworking joints. The variations are many and only the principles and the main types need be given. Mortise and tenon joints are …
HALVED JOINTS
Several different forms of halving joint are used which are easy to cut and usually regarded as first exercises for students, although they have practical applications in skeleton grounds, frameworks, …
Housing/dado, halving and bridle joints
138 Working a housing/dado HOUSING/DADO JOINTS Housings are usually taken to mean wide grooves cut across the grain to receive the full thickness of fixed shelving, drawer runners, etc., although …
Edge jointing
133 Jointing details each alternative board will correct the tilt (133:4). The top board should be swivelled slightly and should bind at both ends, while finger pressure applied simultaneously at …
EDGE JOINTS (BUTT JOINTS)
These are used for jointing narrow widths, facings, lippings, glued fillets, blocks, etc., and can be either plain glued or reinforced with tongues, dowels or screws. Plain glued edge joints …
JOINTING/JOINING METHODS
Jointing methods are, therefore, designed to hold or lock pieces of wood together, either in the same plane or in opposing planes, so that the method of attachment is permanent …
