Craft cup display

[Richard Hutchings]

My daughter asked me to make this for her. I already have the wood, I chose maple for it's durability. This will be in and out of vehicles so it needs to be strong. The one in the picture is just screwed together, I obviously don't want to do that. Ideally, I would dovetail the shelves in but that would take too long. I'm thinkin through mortises with wedges. I'm open to other ideas.

Of course, the top piece will give me a chance to practice dovetails.

[Richard Hutchings]

No input from you guys yet :-( Stopped dados. My idea right now will be to cut the sides to the same width as the shelves, cut the dados and glue the cut-offs back on.

[Mike Allen1010]

Through, wedged M&T's for the horizontal shelves would be bulletproof, attractive and fun to make. Combined with dovetailed carcass, get great chance to practice those hand tool joinery skills. Go for it – I think it'll be great! Look forward to seeing the pics.

[Richard Hutchings]

Thanks, I like the mortise and tenon the best as well. I've never done it so it should be fun.

[Mike Allen1010]

A suggestion for through mortices, I like to cut from both sides, meeting in the middle, so you get nice, clean margins given they will be visible. To lay out the mortices on both the outside and the inside and exactly the same place I like to use a story stick with knife marks with a small fence attached that references off the same edge so that the mortise layouts are exactly the same on both sides.

[Ben Ellenberger]

I think you’ve got a good plan! I’ve done a small bookcase and a few other things with wedged through-mortises for shelves. You can also just do that for two of the shelves and set the others in a dado, if you want to save a little chopping.

[Richard Hutchings]

Already screwed up the holes. I made a perfect template/shelf with all the holes. My plan was to stick a in it to keep it aligned. Wel, I didn't get the alignment dowel in far enough and the boards slipped, ruining the new board. I can use it for something else, maybe a chisel holder. I have to back Lowes and buy some more ridiculous priced maple. Lesson learned.

[Richard Hutchings]

Got a lttle time in the shop today. I got all the boards dimensioned and drilled. Next step will be the mortise and tenons. I found a nice piece of walnut for top to make the dovetails stand out. I may do a little more this afternoon, we'll see. I'll fix the image later. I still can't post from my phone anymore.

[Richard Hutchings]

Been thinking about mortising the shelves, which is my next step. Mortise are generally cut parallel to the grain. Mine will be cut 90 to the grain. Will this cause any troubles, either for the chisel or strength of the joint?

[Ben Ellenberger]

Your chisel needs to be 90 degrees to the grain and cut through the fibers. If you try to chop between with the blade running along the grain you will split the wood.

[Richard Hutchings]

Sounds like a job for a drill followed by chisels. I think that's how I'll do it.

[Richard Hutchings]

After putting way too much thought into this and having limited shop time, I've decided to go with stopped dados, which is appropriate for shelves. I think I'll slice off the back of the side boards up the the dado start, and glue it back on when I'm done. I've also decided to use my dado stack to remove most of the stock and finish up the front with chisels and router plane. I'll save the rest of the hand work for the dovetailed top board which I'm really looking forward to. I will have plenty of time this weekend to take my time doing that. Stay tuned.

[Richard Hutchings]

Because this thing is going to be banged around in and out of vehicles, I'm concerned about the strength of dados. I'm thinking of using shallow dados with dowels added after the fact. The shallow dado will give more glue surface to the dowels or leave enough wood for screws and plugs. Maybe wedged dowels. It never ends.

[mike stenson]

Sliding dovetails? Would resist pullout mechanically.

[Richard Hutchings]

Sliding dovetails? Would resist pullout mechanically.

I thought of that but I don't have any experience making them and I think it might take too long to do. I want to complete this project this weekend. I agree though, I think it's the best idea outside of the original mortise and wedged tenons. 6 stopped sliding dovetails, I would definitely need to break out the router.

[Tom Bender]

Shallow dados with plenty of screws from the outside, then add 1/2 x 1/2 triangular glue blocks (match the grain direction) above and below each shelf. That should be plenty stiff. Then you could add a rib under the bottom shelf instead of those metal brackets (and more glue blocks). Don't forget the handles on the ends.

[Richard Hutchings]

then add 1/2 x 1/2 triangular glue blocks (match the grain direction) above and below each shelf.

Should these blocks span the width of the shelf? I like your ideas.

[Richard Hutchings]

So far, I found I really suck at making tenons. I'm sure ther are some good lessons i learned. I had to shim some of them and straighten the shoulders on a couple with the tool, achem tablesaw, we shall not speak of. Anyway, I got them all snug and i hope to have better luck with the dovetails.

[Richard Hutchings]

So, I suck at dovetails as well. Maybe I need to do a lot more practice before sending something out into the world. Anyway, I'm going to screw this together and start practicing more instead of waiting til someone asks me to build something.

[Gary Focht]

So far, I found I really suck at making tenons. I'm sure ther are some good lessons i learned. I had to shim some of them and straighten the shoulders on a couple with the tool, achem tablesaw, we shall not speak of. Anyway, I got them all snug and i hope to have better luck with the dovetails.

A router plane is really good at refining tenons parallel to the surface of the board and adjusting thickness. I’m not great at sawing tenons either, but I can clean them up with a router plane with the best of them.

[Richard Hutchings]

Yeah, I know how to do that, I just haven't learned to leave the line. I'll keep practicing on shop stuff. This thing I'm making is now going to have clear pine sides, walnut top, maple shelves and no dovetails or mortises. Just screws and dowels. I'm disappointed in myself but I have very little experience at this so that's my goal now. More skill/practice needed!

[Richard Hutchings]

This morning, I cut a new set of sides out of some clear pine I had on hand. I decided to try the dovetails for the top board again since I already had the walnut pins cut. I followed Paul Sellers method of chopping them and the first ones went together really well. I haven't finished the other side yet, ding ding, it's time to clean up and go to work. Hopefully, that won't happen in the new year. I applied for SS yesterday so retirement is on the horizon!

I wanted ask if there's any way to quiet the mallet and chisel. Being pine I was tapping pretty softly but I did wake up my wife. Not that she complained but I'd like to soften the noise somehow. Quiet work is one of the draws to hand tools for me, plus the lack of clouds of sawdust.

[Christopher Charles]

Wood is good mallets are quieter but not a silver bullet. I also used to use a rubber mallet.

[Tom Bender]

It's like living near the railroad tracks. Your wife will soon get used to it and not wake up.

[Richard Hutchings]

So after making this way more difficult than it needed to be, I'm finally at the glue up stage. Even though I used traditional joinery, I'm going to add screws because this isn't going to sit in a home, it's going to be in and out of trunks and craft shows. I have to go get some 2" screws.

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[Richard Hutchings]

This display will hold 30 mugs. I still haven't decided how to properly set it up. It needs to angle back a little so gravity keeps the cups in place.

I also have an idea for an improved stackable display. I may build that as I find the right material.

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[Richard Hutchings]

Seems there's no end to the way I can screw something up. I was filling the gaps in the dovetails with CA because it's fast. Of course haste makes waste and now I have this to fix. The board stuck to my vise jaw and this happened when I took it out. I know this is not the way to fix gaps but I was in a hurry. Now what's the best way to fix it? I'm thinking chisel out a ramp and add a fresh piece.

[Richard Hutchings]

Repair in progress. Fortunately it's on the back and will be just fine.

I used a paring chisel to slice off a ramp and glued a fresh piece onto it. I think that once I plane it down, it won't attract the eye. We'll see in a 1/2 hour when the glue sets. I need to start finishing today.

[Richard Hutchings]

Done.
Things I learned.

Dowels aren't all created equal and i need a full set of drills.
My dovetailing needs a lot more practice.
Mortise and tenons need a lot of practice, especially for the sideways ones I did here.

My tablesaw makes a great sharpening station and keeps me from using it. I've used it for other things that don't inclilude cutting. It's a great table.