Although this cabinet is being presented as a workshop project, it could’ve easily qualified for the heirloom category. It’s not often that you see a Shaker piece like this getting such a facelift. That’s right, at its core this is a Shaker-style cabinet. There’s the tidy symmetry of the design, and solid no-nonsense joinery. The only hardware are the hinges and the screws for the drawer knobs. Looks and smells like Shaker to me.
But it’s the black accents of the drawer knobs, drawer dividers and beads that trim the door panels that can throw you off the Shaker scent. Not to mention the added flair of book-matched ambrosia maple veneer on the doors and drawers.
Coming back down to earth you’ve got the perfect pairing of working with compliant cherry for the dovetails in the upper case and pine to give long life to the drawers. Did I mention the bridle joints on the doors? You’ve got work to do, my friend.
Kicking off with the LOWER CABINET
It would be easy to use plywood for the large panels in both of the cabinets on this project. But as I said in the beginning, this cabinet is going to be with me in the workshop for a long time. So all hardwood construction is in order, it’s a splurge of time and material that I’m willing to make.
WOOD SELECTION. Out of the gate the first investment of your time is selecting and matching the best parts of the wood to the parts of the case that will show. Then you can glue up the material for the sides and dividers.
LEG PROFILE. Notice the profile at the bottom of the side panels. I roughed those with a jig saw. Then used a flush trim bit and a straight edge to make the profile crisp (Figure 1).
Drilling the shelf pin holes are next
