I needed a place to store shoes in the bedroom and decided on a design with through-tenons and contrasting woods to highlight the joints. I made the shelves from cherry and the sides from maple. Viewers of the Wood Whisperer might recognize the design.
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Now a few process photos:
I started with a CAD model to work out the proportions I liked:
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The sides have a gentle taper. The back edge is square to the base and each side section is tapered 2 degrees, for a 4 degree taper in total. The tenons get proportionally narrower as you go up. It took some careful layout to get all this geometry right.
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Being a beginner, I didn't really know how to cut mortise and tenon joints. I started by cutting the tenons on the table saw and attempting to chop the mortises by hand to fit. I realized this was not a good approach after some frustration with the first mortise.
To recover, I made a template to route the mortises a little narrower than the tenons I had already cut and used a router plane to sneak up on a tight fit.
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Here are the pieces with all the joints cut, and a dry fit:
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I applied the finish before assembly, with the glue surfaces masked off. Three coats of gloss Arm-R-Seal and a final coat of satin.
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Thanks for having a look!