Medieval and Renaissance Furniture

by Daniel Diehl

  There are three horizontal rails in this front assembly. The uppermost of these sits directly beneath the top and is 3¼ inches wide, 11⁄8 inches thick, and 51¾ inches long. Between the two rows of drawers is the front middle rail, which is 3¼ inches wide, ¾ inch thick, and 51¾ inches long. The rail beneath the bottom row of drawers is 3¼ inches wide, 7⁄8 inch thick, and 51¾ inches long. Thus all three of these boards are the same width and length, but each is a different thickness.

  The first step in preparing these boards is to run a decorative bead along the front edge. The top and bottom rails have a bead along just one edge of the front, but the center rail has identical beads along both front edges. These can best be seen in the front face detail, and the profile of the center rail will be exactly the same as the front profile of the divider stile cross section. As you did to form similar moldings along the inner corner of the front legs cut these moldings with molding cutters or a molding plane. Then cut matching moldings on the two vertical divider stiles, which are both 2½ inches wide, ¾ inches thick, and 13¼ inches long. Cut a decorative bead along each front edge of the stiles as shown in the divider stile cross section.

  The stiles and rails will interlock in a manner known as an egg crate grid. The drawing of the rail and divider stile assembly illustrates that a 1¼-inch-deep cutout is made in the front face of each divider stile. This cutout is located between the two rows of drawers: 63⁄8 inches from the top of the divider and 6 inches above the bottom. In the illustration labeled drawer divider stiles, side view and front view, you can see that the area to be removed is 1¼ inches deep but only ¼ inch wide. After this area is removed, cut the edges on a 45-degree angle, just deep enough that the 45-degree miter cut falls flush with the inner edges of the bead molding. When complete, the outer edges of these mitered areas should be ¾ inch apart. Before making these cuts, study the drawings of the divider stiles carefully. Mark the area to be cut out so that it is identical on each stile, and remove the appropriate area with a saw and chisel. We suggest that you initially make the miter cuts too small, and then slowly enlarge them with a very sharp chisel or carving knife when they are ready to be interlocked with the corresponding cuts on the middle rail described below.

  Now cut two corresponding cutouts along the back edge of the middle rail, both ¼ inch wide and 2 inches deep. One is located 22¼ inches from the left end of the rail, and the other 21 inches from the right end. This should allow 7 inches between the areas to be cut out. For an illustration of the locations of these cut outs see the top view with top removed. After the cutouts have been removed, miter the edges in the same manner as the corresponding edges on the cutout areas of the two stiles. When finished, the two stiles and middle rail should all interlock smoothly and appear like the drawing of the front face detail. If you are unfamiliar with this complex joint, we suggest you make at least one with scrap pieces of wood before attempting it with your actual stiles and rails.

  Next, cut a 1-inch-wide tenon on the top end of each of the two divider stiles. As shown in the rail and divider stile assembly and drawer divider stiles side view drawings, the tenons should be located ¾ inch behind the front edge of the stile. This tenon is shown from both the side and front in the drawings labeled drawer divider stiles, side view and front view. The back edge of the tenon is 11⁄8 inches deep, while the front is 1¼ inches deep; this allows for 45-degree miter cuts on the edges of the tenon similar to those that allow the stile to interlock with the middle rail. Finally, make a small, ¼-inch-deep and 1½-inch-long notch and similar 45-degree cuts on the bottom edge of each stile. These are shown at the bottom of the drawer divider stiles side view drawing.

  Cut two mortise holes through the top rail at the locations shown in the top view with top removed drawing. These mortises, ¾ inch square, must allow the tenons on the tops of the divider stiles to fit through them; the fit should be tight enough that the stiles have to be lightly tapped into place with a mallet or the heel of your hand. The mortises must be positioned so that they fall exactly in line with the cutouts on the middle rail and allow the divider stiles to stand in a perfectly vertical position.

  On the bottom rail, directly below the tenons on the top rail and the cutouts on the middle rail, chisel out a small trough with 45-degree side walls. This trough must be ¼ inch deep and will accept the small offset at the front edge of the stiles.

  Cut notches into the ends of the top center bottom rails to allow the rails to fit into the mortise holes in the legs. The notch on the right end of the top rail is shown in the top rail drawing. Here you can see how the end of the rail fits into the mortise on the top of the leg in the adjoining illustration. The notches on both ends of all three rails are identical.

  Now you should be able to fit together the three horizontal rails and the two stiles. When all five pieces fit together so that the beading around the front edges forms a consistent band around the front of the drawer openings, you are ready to assemble the case of the dresser.

  Assembling the Front of the Cabinet and Rear Stretcher

  This procedure requires two people with the ability to work together with coordination and speed. Place a few drops of glue in the interlocking egg crate joints on the stiles and middle front rail. Press the pieces together. Immediately place a few drops of glue in the mortise holes in the top rail and tap the rail onto the tenons at the top of the stiles. Then place this assembly facedown on the floor, put a few drops of glue in each of the mortises in the front leg of one of the end units (including the mortise for the front leg stretcher) and place the ends of the top, middle, and bottom rails and the stretcher into the appropriate tenons. Apply a few drops of glue in the two troughs in the bottom rail before it is set into place.

  Immediately put a few drops of glue in each of the mortises on the front leg of the remaining end unit and also in the rear leg stretcher mortises on both end units. Place the rear stretcher in the rear leg of the end unit already attached to the front face. While one person holds the rear stretcher and braces the end assembly already attached to the front face, the other person should tap the remaining end unit into place on all five tenons. When all the tenons have been properly placed, carefully stand the unit on its feet and use strap clamps to pull it together, making certain that the entire case is square and plumb.

  The tenons on the vertical divider stiles are held in place with ¼ inch dowels. Drill through the top front rail as shown in the rail and divider stile assembly drawing, put a few drops of glue in the dowel holes and tap the dowels into place, allowing ¼ inch of exposed dowel to remain above the face of the rail to be sanded off later.

  As shown in the rail and divider stile assembly drawing, the bottom of the divider stiles are doweled through the bottom of the bottom rail. This is the weakest joint in the entire piece, because the weight of the drawers will have a tendency to pull downward, pulling the bottom rail away from the stiles. We suggest that these dowels be replaced with common wood screws, providing a far more effective and sturdy support—and one that was eventually adopted on the original piece after the doweling pulled apart.

  Installing the Back Boards

  The case of the dresser is now at its most unstable. The front rails, stiles, and stretcher are all in place, but the only thing holding the back together is the leg stretcher. We suggest covering the front of the dresser with two or three thicknesses of an old blanket or furniture pad and gently sliding the case so that the padded front rests against a wall. Note on the materials list that the back boards are only ½ inch thick and are rough-sawn, but you may opt instead to use smooth finished boards. To get ½-inch-thick boards, you will probably have to buy standard mill-width boards and have them planed down to ½ inch. When the boards have been cut to the proper 51¼-inch length, mark a line down the center of the 2-inch-wide rear legs to a distance of 14 inches from the top of each leg. An assistant is recommended to help hold the boards in place while they are being attached to the legs. The back boards are held in plac
e with 1¼-inch-long common nails (nails with heads). On the original piece, these are hand-forged nails whose heads were formed by bending the upper ¼ inch at a 90-degree angle to the body. If you do not have access to hand-forged nails, it is unlikely that anyone will examine the back of your reproduction closely enough to notice the difference.

  Run a small bead of glue about ½ inch inside the outer edge of the top back board. Hold the board in place, making sure the top edge is flush with the top of the legs, and gently clamp it. Drill two pilot holes in each end of the back board and into the leg to a distance of 11⁄8 inches, with one hole about 1 inch below the top of the board and the other hole about 1 inch above the bottom. Nail the board into place. Proceed in a similar manner with the second and third back boards. When the glue is dry, the case of the dresser should be sturdy enough to be moved without any danger.

  Installing the Divider Walls and Drawer Runners

  There are two pine divider walls separating the center drawers from the side drawers. Runners for the center drawers and the inside edges of the outer drawers are attached to these divider walls. The existing divider walls and runners are obviously replacements, but it is equally obvious that some similar structure must have been included on the piece originally. The locations of these walls and rails are shown in the top view with top removed and section A (drawers removed) drawings.

  Cut the two ¾-inch-thick divider walls so that they are 14 inches in width, the same as the height of the body of the case. The grain on the divider walls should run from the front to back of the dresser. Cut the divider walls to length so that they will need to be tapped gently into place between the back boards and front divider stiles. Next, cut out areas of the dividers to fit around the top, center, and bottom front rails. When these notches have been cut, the divider walls should lock firmly into position on the front rails.

  Now cut the twelve oak boards that will serve as runners for the drawers to rest on. The four runners for the outermost edges of the long left-and righthand drawers are 2 inches wide, ¾ inch thick, and 19½ inches long. The eight runners for the inner edges of the long drawers and for both edges of the small center drawers are all 1¼ inches wide, ¾ inch thick, and 19½ inches long.

  One at a time, tap the divider walls into place and, using a short level, mark lines running from the top edges of the front middle and bottom rails, along the full depth of the divider walls. Repeat this process on both sides of the divider walls so that you have the exact positions of four drawer rails marked on each divider wall. Then drill three pilot holes into each of the drawer runners; these holes should be drilled into the ¾-inch thickness of the runners and run the entire 1¼-inch depth. Remove the divider walls, run a bead of glue along one edge of one drawer rail, set the drawer rail into position, and nail it to the divider walls with 1¾-inch-long finishing nails. When the glue is dry, repeat the process with the runners on the opposite side of the divider walls. Make sure the pilot holes in the rails do not fall at the same locations so that there is no danger of the nails from the runners on one side of the divider wall hitting the nails from the corresponding runner on the other side of the divider.

  Next, using the procedure outlined above, mark the positions of the runners on the inside of the ends of the dresser. These runners should be cut so that they can be tapped into position between the back of the front center and bottom rails and the inner face of the back boards. Cut notches at the rear corners of these rails to allow them to fit over the rear legs of the dresser. When these four runners snap into place, drill two pilot holes in each runner, one located so that a nail can be driven into the rear leg of the dresser, and another drilled at a 45-degree angle about ½ inch back from the front edge of the rail, so that it can be nailed to the back edge of the front rail. Install the bottom runners first. Run a small bead of glue along the outside edge and front and rear ends of the runner, tap it into place, drill the pilot hole into the rear leg and front rail, and nail the runner into place. Then run a bead of glue along the front and rear edges of one divider wall and tap it into place. The notches in the front of the wall that fit around the front rails should hold the wall into place. After drilling pilot holes, drive small common nails through the back boards of the case and into the end grain of the divider walls.

  Building the Drawers

  Each of the six drawers is a different size than the others. The dimensions are shown in the drawing of the front of the piece, but we also provide them here for clarity and ease of identification. The three drawers in the top row are all 51⁄8 inches in height, but they vary in width. The drawer on the far left is 21 inches wide, the center drawer is 7 inches wide, and the one on the right is 19¾ inches wide. The drawers in the bottom row correspond in width to those located immediately above them, but these drawers are all 57⁄8 inches in height. All six drawers are 197⁄8 inches in depth. They are all 1⁄8 inch lower and narrower than the hole into which they fit, as they are on the original. If you prefer, you can make them closer to the dimensions of the openings and sand or plane them slightly if necessary. In either case, we suggest comparing the sizes of the drawer boards with the sizes of the openings in your reproduction dresser to make sure they will fit easily. in the bottom row correspond in width to those located immediately above them, but these drawers are all 57⁄8 inches in height. All six drawers are 197⁄8 inches in depth. They are all 1⁄8 inch lower and narrower than the hole into which they fit, as they are on the original. If you prefer, you can make them closer to the dimensions of the openings and sand or plane them slightly if necessary. In either case, we suggest comparing the sizes of the drawer boards with the sizes of the openings in your reproduction dresser to make sure they will fit easily.

  To avoid confusing the pieces for the various drawers, place all five boards for each drawer in a single pile. Each stack of drawer parts should contain a bottom board, a back and a front board, and two side boards. As indicated on the materials list, all the drawer parts are pine except the front boards. Because all the drawers are constructed in the same manner, we have only provided illustrations for constructing the small drawer located in the center of the top row of drawers. If you construct this drawer first, following the diagrams, you should have little trouble repeating the process on the remaining five drawers.

  The first step is to cut a rabbet in each side board ¼ inch above the inside bottom edge. This rabbet runs the entire length of the side board, cut to a depth of ¼ inch and a width of ¼ inch. These rabbets are shown in the top center drawer cross section (with bottom removed) and back drawings.

  Next, cut the dovetail joints along the front and rear edges of the side boards. A detail drawing of a general dovetail joint is shown on page 3. First lay out the open portions of the dovetail joints, known as the “female” part of the joint, on the side panels. Each end of each side panel of each drawer has three female cutouts, and while the drawers vary in height, the relative position of the joints to the top and bottom of each drawer remains the same; only the spaces between the dovetails increase slightly on the bottom row of wider drawers. Each of these female cutouts is 3⁄16 inch wide at its narrowest point (at the outside edge of the board), 3⁄8 inch wide at its widest point (facing the center of the board), and ½ inch in depth. The sides of these cuts can be made with a coping saw or saber saw, and the large end can be cut free from the board with a 3⁄8-inch-wide chisel.

  Now cut the corresponding “male” sections of the dovetail joints in the drawer’s back panel. Remember that the back panels are ½ inch narrower than the side panels; mark the positions of the male dovetails by measuring from the top of the back board. These must correspond exactly with the locations and sizes of the female ends of the joints in the side panels, but they should be relatively easy to cut. We suggest making the male ends slightly larger than required and slowly carving or rasping them to an exact fit.

  The male ends of the dovetails on the front panel are more challenging, because they are cut from only
½ inch of the ¾-inch thickness of the board. The front dovetails are shown in the top center drawer side view illustration; a top view of how the side and front panels will look when joined is shown in the top center drawer top view diagram. The only way to cut the dovetails into the sides of the front panel is to mark out their positions carefully with a pencil and cut them with very small chisels. Remove only a very small amount of wood at a time, and proceed slowly and carefully so as not to remove too much wood or split the oak. When the dovetails have been cut so that they fit snugly into the corresponding female dovetails in the side panels, cut a rabbet that is ¼-inch-wide and 3⁄8-inch deep, ¼ inch above the bottom edge of the drawer front.

  The next step is to apply the decorative trim molding to the faces of the drawer fronts. It can be seen in the drawing labeled drawer and side panel trim molding and is shown in place in the top center drawer front illustration. Miters are cut onto both ends of each of the four pieces of molding so that when they are placed on the drawer front, they form a rectangle the exact size of the front of the drawer. Place a small bead of glue on the 1-inch-wide back of the molding, and gently clamp it into place on the face of the drawer front. Drill pilot holes before tacking it to the drawer front with ½-inch-long headless brads. The small center drawers have two brads in each piece of molding, while the wider drawers have two brads in the vertical pieces of molding and four brads in the long, horizontal pieces.