Chippendale cabinet doors

[David Kenagy]

Inspired by a trip to Williamsburg, I’d like to make a Chippendale cabinet. The style I want to re-create has thin wood pieces separating glass panels. Assembled, my doors will be 18” wide and 24” tall (His were larger). The thin wood pieces appear so fragile that there must be right & wrong ways to go about it.

I’ve got copies of his designs, but don’t know how he did it. Where do I look, to find practical advice?

[Thomas Wilson]

I have cut it with a cope and stick router bit set. You start with a wide workpiece, then rout one edge with cope bit. This will be used as the holder for the second cut on the two-sided molding. The holder can also be a scrap piece. Change bits to the stick bit and rout the molding on the other side of the workpiece. Rip the molding from the workpiece. Insert the molding into the holder. It will probably be secure enough with just friction of the holder but you can screw a ledge piece on the trailing end of the holder if the fit is loose. Run the molding through on the second face and you are done.

You make coping cuts on the ends using a coping sled and a backing board clamped in that is precut with coping profile to support the trailing edge.