18th Century Spice Box Construction

[Howie French]

I am just starting work on an 18th Century Spice box.

This will be a challenging project for me. I will be attempting
many new techniques for the first time.... Tombstone doors, Ogee bracket feet, installing a half mortised lockset, molding etc..

I have seen many pictures of these small chests, some with full inset doors, and a lot with a combination of overlap (hinge side) and inset (lockset side).
It seems to me the advantage and reasoning of the overlap/inset combination
is to facilitate the drawers clearing the hinges when sliding out.

I perfer the look of a balance door (inset both side), so my question is....
how do you resolve the drawer/hinge clearance issue, I am assuming the drawers must be made with a little slop so they have side to side movement
to clear the hinges. Is this correct, or are the hinges (haven't purchase yet)
so small that they provide very little interference ?

As far as the Tombstone doors, the 2 biggest issues I see are laying out the panel to match the rails and stiles, I am assuming it's best to construct the rails and stiles including cutting the arch, then using this as a template for cutting out the panel (after adding 1/4" all the way around to allow for the wood that will be received in the rail and stiles). Is this the right approach ?

The other issue with the doors will be squareing the inside corners of the panel, after it has been routed with a raised panel. I know how to layout the
shape but am not sure of the carving approach needed to insure a sharp crease at the inside corner that runs parallel to the outside corner. (I have
right and left skew chisels that I purchased just for this project)

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Howie

[Ernie Hobbs]

I look forward to seeing your project pictures when you get it finished. Here's a couple of recent threads that may be helpful-

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=39213

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=42356

Good luck with your project.

[lou sansone]

hi Howie
these are really fun projects, but you have to take your time.

the way I do doors like these is to do a full size drawing and transfer all the dimensions to the panel, rail and stile parts. the main issue with those doors is doing the return on the inside of the arch. for square inside corners you will have to finish the bevel off with a sharp knife that scores the surface, followed up with a couple of different chisels. a skew chisel makes this process much easier as you are trying to form the inside corner / bevel. So your skew chisels will do the trick. BTW you can always practice on a junk piece of wood to try your hand at the arch.

I have seen the doors done both ways IRT the full inset or overlap. I use the overlap and say to myself... this is a copy of the original and the heck with symmetry.


best wishes
lou

[Rob Millard]

Howie,

Like you I prefer the symmetry of inset doors. Some of the spice cabinets I see, with inset doors, feature surface mounted “H” hinges. If you use the H hinges sold by Londonderry Brasses with their true period look, this method can be attractive, but I prefer the look of butt hinges. The amount of side clearance needed is not that great, so you might do a test in scrap to see how it works. The other alternative is to run a shallow ( 1/16”-3/32”) rabbet on the front inside edges of the sides, allowing the door to slightly overlap the sides. This will provide clearance for the hinges and maintain symmetry.

On the tombstone door the layout should have center point of the arcs just slightly above the shoulder line, by maybe a ¼”; this makes the tombstone more pronounced and keeps the arc of the top rail from looking flat.

Carving the inside corners will be greatly eased with your opposing skew chisels. The only thing to watch for, is to work down with very shallow cuts, making a light score cut at the intersection, (miter) to avoid lifting the grain on the adjacent side.
Rob Millard

[Howie French]

Ernie, yes I have read all the threads regarding these pieces, it's these postings that inspired me to attempt one myself. I have enjoyed looking
at all of the postings from your family, very nice work. I will post pictures
when I am done.

Lou, I will make sure to take my time with this door, full size drawing is
a good idea, as well as practice carving on some scrap. BTW, I love your shop. That is my style of building ! Also, you do great work.

Rob, I am pretty set on inset doors, and I perfer butt hinges as well.
I will order the hinges and install on some scrap to see just how much clearance I need, If the drawers need alot of slop to clear, I like your idea
of a shallow rabbet. Thank you for the carving tips. Also, your work is very impressive.

As I proceed, I am sure more questions will arise.

Thanks, Howie

[lou sansone]

thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked the shop. I am a real believer that if life's situations allow you to design and build your own post and beam building, it is one of the most rewarding woodworking projects you can do. In my case I had the added experiences of cutting down all the trees and sawing them up myself for my shop. I still have found memories of many trips through twisted access roads, dragging 6 or more full size oak trees through the forest, back to the saw mill, using a 40 year old D-9 size crawler with its bucket raised to about 14" in the air, belching black smoke that was so thick I thought the fire department would be called each time..... anyway, I think you get the picture.


You also got a couple of real great craftsman to also weigh in on the project ( rob and any of the hobbs clan - I am out numbered ) I also quite admire their work. Anyway, the comment about taking time with these project stems from the fact that although quite small, they have pretty close tolerances and lots of fussy details. I should post a few photos of one that I built some time ago which would give a few other ideas. One of the fussy parts is the drawer dividers and how they intersect each other and how they fit into the sides of the case. Do let us know how the project finishes out.

Lou