NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1983, No. 43, $3.50 Making ... - Wood Tools

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Bookmatched doors hinged on concealed hardware make for dean, uninterrupted kitchen cabinets. European-Style Cabinets Frameless carcases, hidden hinges and continuous veneers by Bill Pfeiffer A bout four years ago, I happened upon a dazzling maple .fl... kitchen in a New York loft that changed the way I look at kitchen cabinets. The kitchen's sleek, seamless doors and drawer fronts and clever concealed hardware gave it an uncluttered appeal that I'd never seen. When I looked closer, I discovered yet more refinement beneath the pretty shell-the cabinets were of a remarkably simple, direct construction that squeezed the most out of materials and space, both in short supply in the small rooms that become today's kitchens. The cabinets were built in what has come to be called the European style, a no-nonsense construction that's gaining favor on this side of the Atlantic. Euro cabinets evolved in POStwar Germany as tradesmen, strapped by materials shortages, struggled to restore bombed-out housing. To save wood, they turned to man-made materials, often attractively veneered 54 plywood and particleboard trimmed with thin strips of solid wood instead of a bulky face frame. And by joining panels with knockdown fasteners, cabinetmakers catered to the European custom of bringing the kitchen along when moving the rest of the furniture from one home to another. In the United States, we don't take our kitchens with us when we move. <strong>No</strong>netheless, I fmd European-style cabinets appealing because of the sophisticated result I get without having to resort to long-winded joinety. You need only master a simple corner joint to build cabinets elegant enough to be adapted as built-in furniture for the living room, or even freestanding pieces for other rooms in the house. Bill Pfe iffer makes cabinets and architectural millwork in New York City.
Layout and construction-In a nutshell, Euro-style cabinets are simple boxes made of :X-in. plywood, banded on their front edges with �-in. by :X-in. solid wood strips. This banding replaces the wide, solid wood frame that trims traditional cabinets (figure 1). There are rwo advantages to frameless construction: you can bypass the tiresome job of mortising or doweling the face frame together and, once done, the cabinets are more spacious because there's no frame to encroach. As figure 2 shows, each base cabinet consists of rwo sides, a bottom, and a �-in. back let into grooves. A doweled or mortised frame holds the top of the cabinet square and serves as a mounting surface for counters. Wall cabinets are similarly construcred, but have a plywood top instead of a frame top. Before I explain construction details, I need to say a word about design. If a kitchen is to be functional as well as attractive, cabinets must be sized and located to encourage an economic work flow. This is a complex subject that's beyond the scope of this article, so I refer you to three books for help: Terrance Conran's The Kitchen Book (Crown Publishers), Sam Clark's Rethinking the Kitchen (Houghton Mifflin) and Jere Cary's Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets (Taunton Press). I suggest you start your design by selecting appliances, favoring ones whose proportions will relate to the width of the cabinet doors-which, along with drawer fronts, are the single most important visual element. Once you've decided what will go where, draw cabinet and appliance locations on a scale floor plan. As figure 3 on p. 57 shows, wall (upper) and base (lower) cabinets should conform to some standard depths and heights, but the width of each cabinet will be set by the appliances and room size. The 36-in. standard countertop height seems to be comfortable for most people. You can vary it to suit, but don't make it too low, else dishwashers and other under-the-counter appliances might not fit. Positioning the lowest shelf of the upper cabinets 52 in. above the floor, with 16 in. berween countertop and cabinet, is the best compromise berween working room and comfortable access to the upper cabinets. I try to work out the width of my cabinets so that all the doors will be berween 14 in. and 19 in. wide. These dimensions produce the most pleasingly Takakjian; drawings: Lee PhO[os: Carl Hov 1: Fig. Euro-cabinet VS. face-frame construction VS. Plywood carcase, edge-banded with solid wood, offers simpler joinery and more interior space. Plywood carcase gains rigidity from mortised or doweled face frame. Fig. 2: Carcase construction Scribe strip Edge-banding Detail A: Nail rail 'A-in. plywoorJ back let into grooves Detail C: Ta blesaw 3A-in. plywood sides setup for carcase Frame top joinery , i Shelf-pin holes Panel Side I- Detail B: Offset tongue joint Knockdown fastener offers altemative joinery. Level 2x4 platform independently, then deck with 0-in. plywood. Cover platform with 0-in. hardwood ply. 55
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1 1 1 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1983, No. 4
Page 3 and 4: FINE WOODWORKING Editor John Kelsey
Page 5 and 6: & PHILADELPHIA & November 11th, 2-1
Page 7 and 8: HARPSICHORDS &: FORTEPIANOS Harpsic
Page 9 and 10: Forstner Bits- �:I.� === Planl
Page 11 and 12: HILLER HARDWARE CO. ASSURES ITEM PU
Page 13 and 14: Nu-Life Sanding Belt Cleaner • In
Page 15 and 16: Delmhorst Wood Model Moisture G-30
Page 17 and 18: How To Make National Builders Hardw
Page 19 and 20: Keen-Edge Co. presents Oldham Carbi
Page 21 and 22: A by Roy Underffill new The Woodwri
Page 23 and 24: ______________________ ____________
Page 25 and 26: I" by Black & Decker Black & BRAND
Page 28 and 29: offers a complete range of small, b
Page 30 and 31: 30 3/a" 6010DL CORDLESS DRILL KIT P
Page 32 and 33: ________ �Wrking_ ��::::::--:
Page 34 and 35: Miters, tape and glue I use ordinar
Page 36 and 37: ox, then cur the lid off later, com
Page 38 and 39: · .1: Fig . Proportions · section
Page 40 and 41: 57 Fig. 2: The five parts of a tote
Page 42 and 43: .;A Shop�esting Five Jointer-Plan
Page 44 and 45: duction motor, the Emco has plenty
Page 46 and 47: · , Four lmpowered bed rollers sup
Page 48 and 49: JOInter is nice, but what good is i
Page 50 and 51: Cutting Dovetails With the Tablesaw
Page 52 and 53: Goats Get Jitn Pritchard How a home
Page 56 and 57: Scribe strip fits bumpy walls In a
Page 58 and 59: After glue-up, the fiberboard and e
Page 60 and 61: Itnproving the Fretsaw Pivot guides
Page 62 and 63: Which Glue Do You Use? Chemical typ
Page 64 and 65: Adhesive Hide glue (hot)· (Behlen
Page 66 and 67: Disc Sander Sculpts Tur nings A way
Page 68 and 69: After the grooves are cut on the pl
Page 70 and 71: Spoon Bits Putting 17th-century hig
Page 72 and 73: piece. Drying takes four to eight h
Page 74 and 75: 74 Martin In this gate-leg table, a
Page 76 and 77: Entitled "The Nash House, No. 1 Cor
Page 78 and 79: 1: Fig. Proportions of the Ionic or
Page 80 and 81: S.c., Adapted from an original buil
Page 82 and 83: . HJUSE 131 -12th Avenue S.E., Calg
Page 84 and 85: Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets
Page 86 and 87: Some Great Magazine Gift Ideas Fine
Page 88 and 89: HAND-HELD LAMINATE AND VENEER SLITT
Page 90 and 91: 90 A Subsidiary of VA VIiAMONT AM.A
Page 92 and 93: 10" CONTRACTORS TABLE SAW Cast Iron
Page 94 and 95: The World's F-mest Chisel Has Been
Page 98 and 99: 98 • LU REM Combination Woodworke
Page 100 and 101: Woodworking Plans & Projects A full
Page 102 and 103: NOTES AND COMMENT Have you outgrown
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Notes and Connnent (continued) 2x2
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Notes and Conunent {continued} wood
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Notes and Connnent (continued) read
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Notes and Connnent (continued) mote
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Events 15 15; ALABAMA: 15 15. 15, 1
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5/4 8/4 Moh Box be to Call or write
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all CLASSIFIED per CT The CLASSIFIE
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CANADIANS: High quality machinery a
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CHE ClICClNe; E6e;E ® JOE WORKBENC
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Now you can own the Rockwell 13" Pl
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1983, No. 43, $3.50 Making ... - Wood Tools

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