One of the things the C/R is known for is making its own hardware. With that in mind, I set out to make my offset-knife hinges from flat brass and steel rod stock. I should mention that the set shown here is not my first set (that set now rightfully residing in the scrap bin.) Blanks are cut from 1/8″ brass sheet stock, then filed to exact length.

Next, a small hold-down jig is used to drill out the pin- and screw-holes. Exact placement of these holes is critical, as four leaves (two for each pair, and two pairs to a door) will all have to line up if the door is to swing properly.

After drilling, each leaf is flattened, polished, and labeled (top right door, bottom left cabinet, etc.)

After the parts are labeled, each leaf is paired with its “mate” (one leaf to be installed in the cabinet, one leaf to be installed in the door). The pin holes are reamed to accept the steel hinge pin, then each pair is super-glued together for shaping.

Each rectangular pair is then filed into an “L” shape to offset the swinging action of the doors.

Once the hinges are shaped to final dimensions, they are pulled apart, and laid out to scribe the mortise each one will fit into.

After the mortise has been routed and chopped out, screw holes are located and carefullydrilled. Drilling through the piece would mean a bad day at the shop.

The hinge is pressed and screwed into place before glue-up, making installation significantly easier.

Shown here is the cabinet with the sides cut to size, but the top and bottom still oversize. Knowing exactly where the front edge of each side is located will help in determining the final “footprint” of the cabinet.

The final shape is laid out on the top and bottom pieces, which are now ready for basic shaping on the bandsaw. Because the hemlock is so soft, great care must be taken not to scratch or dent the surfaces - in this case, taping butcher paper to the undersides of each piece.

Shown above is the cabinet after rough shaping on the bandsaw. A small, false drawerfront is placed to the right of the doors to give a better sense (at least to me) of how the door will relate to the rest of the piece.

Despite its somewhat dubious reputation (thanks wholly to the low-end commercial furniture industry), the technique of doweling, if executed properly, can be a strong and secure way of joining two pieces of wood together. Accuracy is key, or else the joint will either fail or not come together at all. Shown here are two (out of three, one for each side of the cabinet) of the doweling jigs, which essentially serve as drilling guides.

The cabinet top and bottom, with dowel holes drilled. Each “guide” (basically a scrap of wood with a small “heel” glued onto one end) is used to drill holes in both the sides of the cabinet, and into their corresponding locations on the top and bottom pieces.

Once all the dowel holes are drilled, a few dowels can be inserted to check for alignment. (And , of course, to have a look at the way things are shaping up…)

One important consideration when beginning any piece is the graphics of the wood itself. How will the grain pattern and texture or a particular wood, or even a particular board affect the look or feel or the piece? Where will the doors come from? Should the board be resawn for a “mirrored” look, or sawn consecutively for a “wraparound” effect? I spent the better part of a week pulling boards out of the wood room, marking out various parts, then putting them back. I still had the hemlock plank, but was afraid to cut into it. I told this to Greg Smith, one of the instructors, and he told me, “You just gotta commit, man.”

After careful resawing, I have a pair of bookmatched boards that will eventually become the two concave doors for the cabinet. Here they are shown clipped together after rough-shaping.

Here are the two doors, still oversize but with mating rabbets (where they overlap), as they relate to the mockup. Although it seems counter-intuitive, the cabinet itself will actually be built around the doors.

Leaving all the parts oversize for the time being allows more flexibility when it comes to determining the graphics of the piece. In other words, the grain pattern of each individual part can be carefully selected to relate to the other parts, and the piece as a whole. This is also the last chance to fine-tune any size or proportion issues that may not have been apparent from the mockup.

For my first project at College of the Redwoods’ Fine Woodworking Program, I decided to make a small wall cabinet. Working drawings are rarely used; rather, full-scale mockups are made from sketches. Cardboard and hot-glue guns can be a maker’s best friend at this stage in a piece’s development.

The design parameters for the first project are simultaneously strict and open-ended. Each piece must follow the “4 S’s”: Simple, Solid, Small, and Sweet. No glass, veneer, or bent laminations may be used. In the above picture, the mockup of my cabinet-to-be is sitting next to a large plank of Western Hemlock, a beautiful yet extremely soft wood that is native to the Pacific Northwest. I’ve never worked this wood before, and I can’t wait to dive in.