Medieval and Renaissance Furniture

by Daniel Diehl

  Construction Notes

  Although the lines of this wine cabinet are simple, the thickness of the boards used in construction and the attention to detail in the carving and metalwork mark this as a fine piece of furniture. There are some surprising subtleties in the construction of this piece that make it a work of truly fine craftsmanship.

  Materials

  This cabinet is made of oak, and the dowels used in assembling it may be either birch or maple. The hardware on the door is metal, but no metal fasteners are used in construction of the casework. Wood for the framing members, along with material for about half of the panels, should be readily available from any lumberyard. The large panels for the door, the primary side panels, and the large board on the top have to be glued up. To prevent such wide boards from warping, glue together three or four boards rather than two. Before beginning construction, study the materials list carefully. Note that the top and bottom connecting rails on the front, sides, and back, though all the same thickness, are different widths.

  Mortises and Tenons

  All the tenons used in the construction of this chest are ½ inch wide and located slightly off-center on the rails (see corner post and rail assembly, top view). Likewise, all the tenons are the full height of the rails from which they are cut (see detail B). Because the tenons are the full height of the rails, take extra care in cutting the mortises. Any overcutting on the height of the mortises will be visible after the pieces are joined together.

  Framing

  Lay out the framing members for the front of the cabinet—corner posts and top and bottom rails—on a level work surface. The wide sides of the corner posts should be oriented toward the front and rear faces of the cabinet. Ensure that the boards are in square, then mark the locations where the top and bottom rails will join the corner posts. Remove the top and bottom rails from between the corner posts. On the ends of the rails, mark out the tenons as shown in detail A and corner post and rail assembly, top view. Mark the locations of the corresponding mortises on the corner posts. Cut the tenons and the mortises into which they fit. Because the mortises and tenons are slightly off-center, bear in mind which side of each board will face the outside of the cabinet, and the fact that the left and right ends of the top and bottom rails should be mirror images.

  The tenons should fit snugly into the mortises so that they can be seated with several firm taps with the palm of your hand or one or two taps of a wooden mallet. The joints must also fit squarely. Mark all posts and rails as to their position, as well as the outside surfaces of the rails and posts. Also mark each mortise and tenon joint as it is finished, as these hand-cut parts will not be interchangeable. If the parts are not marked, it can take hours to relocate each piece in its proper place. Make these markings with chalk or on pieces of masking tape so that they can be easily removed from the wood.

  When the front of the cabinet has been fitted together, repeat the process for the back. Then disassemble the pieces, lay the top and bottom rails aside, and repeat the entire process with the side panels (see detail B). Again, because the bottom rails on the front and back of the cabinet are not the same width, pay careful attention to which corner posts belong to the front and which belong to the back. The right side rails connect to the right front and back left corner posts.

  When all the mortises and tenons have been cut and finished to a snug fit, assemble the frame. Set the cabinet on a level work surface so that all the joints will fit square and plumb. You should now have a framework that is basically the outline of the finished cabinet.

  Panel Rabbets

  On the left and right sides of the cabinet frame, mark the locations where the side panels will be seated (rabbeted) into the top and bottom rails. The side panels are set into the frame from the inside of the cabinet (see details C and D). All the rabbets are ¾ inch deep by 1 inch high. Mark an identical rabbet on the inside of the front bottom rail. This will support the front edge of the cabinet floor. On the outside face of the back of the cabinet, mark two more rabbets of the same dimensions. These are for the back panels, which, for reasons unknown, are fitted to the outside of the cabinet rather than the inside.

  Now mark the locations of the bottom braces shown in detail D. These braces will support the floor boards. Mark the 2-inch outline of the braces on the inside faces of the front and rear corner posts so that the top surface of the brace will be on a plane with the bottom of the rabbets into which the side panels will fit. Disassemble the cabinet frame and cut the rabbets as marked.

  Bottom Braces

  Cut two 22½-inch bottom braces from 2-inch square stock. On both ends of each brace, cut a 1-inch-square tenon in the center, leaving a ½-inch-wide shoulder all around the tenon. Lay out and cut corresponding mortises on the corner posts inside the outlines of the bottom braces.

  Assembling the Frame

  Now reassemble the framing members on a level surface, as described above, but this time include the bottom braces. Make certain that all the joints are square and the cabinet is plumb. Clamp the cabinet together with bar clamps positioned near the top and bottom side rails on all four sides, and begin drilling pilot holes for the ½-inch framing dowels. Drill and dowel one joint at a time. Cut each dowel about 1 inch longer than necessary, and taper the end slightly so that it can be driven into the hole more easily. When the dowels are seated, cut off the ends and sand flush with the cabinet.

  When the corners of the cabinet are doweled, dowel the bottom braces to the side rails. Each brace should be doweled at two equally spaced points along its length. Drill pilot holes through the bottom brace and about 1 inch deep into the side rail. These dowels will not come through the outside of the cabinet.

  Side Panels

  Trim the side panels, two wide and two narrow, so that they drop easily into the rabbets on the inner face of the side rails. The panels are loosely tongue-and-grooved together and do not quite come into contact with either the front or rear corner posts of the cabinet (see side wall, cross section). On both sides of the cabinet, the narrow side panel is located next to the front, and the tongues of the tongue and groove joints are on the narrow panel. The tongues are ¼ inch wide with a ¼-inch-wide shoulder on either side. The space between the side panels and the front and rear corner posts is about 1⁄16 inch. This gap likely was not the result of sloppy cabinetmaking, but a way to allow the wine inside the cabinet to breathe.

  After the panels have been tongue and grooved and set into position, drill and dowel them with 3⁄8-inch doweling. There should be two dowels each in the top and bottom of the narrow board, and five dowels each in the top and bottom of the wide board. Drill the pilot holes from the inside of the cabinet so that they go first through the side panels and extend to a depth of ½ inch into the side rail. The dowels should not come through the outside face of the side rail.

  Top

  Next, attach the top of the cabinet. Drill and peg the top boards directly into the top rails at the locations shown in the drawings. The narrow board is located at the rear of the cabinet. Overhangs are as indicated in the drawings.

  Bottom

  The bottom of the cabinet is made of two, three, or even four boards of various widths. Because it is not seen, the exact widths of the boards are not important. The front board needs to be notched slightly to fit around the corner posts. The boards should fit easily into place, but they should not be loose or sloppy. Because they cover the bottom of the side panels, they will help hold them into place if they are a good fit.

  Back Panels

  The back panels, as shown in the rear view drawing, are attached from the outside of the case. There are slight gaps between all the boards in the back, as there are between the side panels and the front and rear corner posts. After the panels have been drilled and pegged into place, merely rough-finish the dowels. They do not need to be cut flush with the panel surface. The exterior surface of the back boards also remains rough-cut.

  Door

  The original doo
r is one piece of oak, but you should have the piece glued up at a mill. A glued door is less likely to warp than one cut from a single plank. Trim the door so that it is ¼ inch smaller in both height and width than the opening into which it will be placed. Enlarge the door-carving design on a photocopier to the size called for. Transfer the design onto the face of the door at the location indicated in the front view drawing. Then use a coping saw or reciprocal saw (saber saw) to cut out the twenty-four triangular areas that make up the design. The triangles should be separated by a 5⁄8-inch-wide latticework of wood. Rasp, file, and sand the interior edges of the lattice to a smooth finish, taking care not to break the fragile latticework.

  Now carve the face of the finished triangles as shown in the profile of carving drawing. You can use a small hand router, such as a Dremel tool, or a carving gouge. Because the lattice is so fragile, we recommend using a hand router unless you are a very experienced carver. Finish the design by carving the outer circle and small wedges to a depth of about 3⁄16 inch.

  Additional Shelves

  You may want to install one or more interior shelves. Attach small blocks to the inside faces of the corner posts with modern wood screws to support additional 2-by-2-inch braces on which to rest the shelves. Position these braces parallel to the bottom braces.

  Finish

  When the cabinetwork is completed, finish-sand the entire piece with sandpaper and give it an oiled finish as described on page 7.

  Hinges

  Cut the long straps on the hinges from a section of 2-inch-wide metal stock. On one end of the hinge strap, cut 1½-inch-long hinge tangs as described on page 10. Cut the decorative head at the other end. The 2-inch-wide metal stock will not quite accommodate the two outward curls near the head end of the hinge. The tips can be either welded onto the body of the hinge or cut straight and forged into the curled shape shown on page 10. If you heatforge the curls in the proper medieval manner, when you cut the shape of the head, cut the arms that are to be curled as two long, straight points, like the tines of a fork. The points should follow along the sides of the small diamond shaped design at the end of the hinge head. (If you look at the drawing of the hinge and imagine the two curls being straightened out, the procedure for cutting and bending them should become clear.) In the space between the tangs and head, taper the shaft of the hinge from the 2-inch plate near the spine to ¾ inch behind the decorative head, as shown in the drawing of the hinge. Form the butt (short) end of the hinge in the same manner.

  Catch

  Cut and drill the catch plate as shown in the drawings. Form the staple from a length of 3⁄16-inch round stock, and file the ends to wedges (flat points). Insert the staple, points facing upward, into the jaws of a vise to a depth of 1¼ inches. Place the catch plate over the ends of the staple. Heat the ends of the staple and bend them toward each other as shown in the drawings.

  Barrel Bolt

  Hasp. Lay out and cut the hasp as shown in the drawings. Then cut the slot in the center of the hasp, either by heating the metal and cutting it with a chisel, or by cutting it with a jeweler’s saw. File the edges of the hasp, inside and out, until they are smooth. Locate the area on the bolt barrel where the hasp is to pass through. File a flat spot wide enough to allow a drill bit to bite into the surface of the bolt. Drill several holes, in a straight line, the width and thickness of the tongue on the hasp. Drilling into the round metal of the bolt is extremely exacting and is best done with the help of a drill press. When the holes are drilled, remove the metal between them with small pin files. Insert the tongue of the hasp through the slot in the bolt barrel, heat it, and crimp it around the surface of the bolt. The crimped edge will face the front side of the barrel bolt.

  Bolt Barrels. Bend a 1-inch ear on one end of one of the three pieces of flat stock. When bent, you will have an L-shaped piece of metal with one leg 1 inch long and the other about 3½ inches long. Leave the short end of the L in the vise. Heat the exposed end of the bracket and, using a piece of round stock just slightly larger than the bolt as a forming mandrel, shape the long end of the bracket around the mandrel into a shape similar to a question mark. You will need an assistant for this procedure, one of you heating and bending the metal, the other holding the mandrel firmly in place.

  When cool, remove the metal from the vise, insert the unworked end into the vise, heat it, and bend it until the two ears are on a single plane, creating a bolt barrel similar to the one shown in the drawings. Repeat this process for the remaining two bolt barrels. Then drill attachment holes in the ears of the three barrels. Place the three bolt barrels on the face of the cabinet, two on the door and one on the corner post. The relative positions of the barrels are shown in the drawing of the barrel bolt assembly. Drill pilot holes for the forged nails that will hold the barrels in place. Position the bolt and two barrels on the door, and nail the barrels in place with 1½-inch forged nails. Heat and crimp the nails on the inside of the door to hold the barrels securely in place.

  Attaching the Hinges

  Attach the long arm of the hinges to the door with forged nails, again predrilling the holes and crimping the ends of the nails. When the hinges are attached to the door, set the door in place, allowing a gap of about 1⁄8 inch above and below the door and 3⁄16 inch between the door and the corner post on the edge of the door where the barrel bolt is located (the side of the door that swings open). Attach the small ends of the hinges to the door frame (corner post) and the final bolt barrel to the opposite corner post. Latch the door shut and drop the hasp against the door. The catch should be nailed to the door so that the slot in the hasp falls over the catch ring when the bolt is in the locked position.

  PROJECT 17

  Sixteenth-Century

  Ambry Cupboard

  Ambry Cupboard, English, circa 1500. Oak, 44 ¾ x 42 x 12¾ inches. Collection of Bolton Castle, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England. Photo by Daniel Diehl.

  The original purpose of this oak cabinet, which probably dates from the 1500s, is unknown; its design offers few clues as to its use. The delicate design and fine craftsmanship shows that it was a quality piece of furniture, and its small size indicates that it was most likely intended for use by one person rather than an entire household. The beautiful openwork carving in the door panels may have been backed with fabric to make the carvings stand out as well as to conceal the contents of the cabinet. Much of the space that this piece of furniture occupies is put to no discernible use; thus the original owner was probably rich enough to invest in an article of furniture that was more decorative than functional.

  Although the piece resembles a small bookcase, it is doubtful that this was its intended use. The top is too high to use as a reading shelf, a common feature in the period, and a sixteenth century book owner presumably would not have kept them in a cabinet that could be moved so easily—books were simply too valuable to put at risk. One of the most interesting features of this piece is how strikingly modern it looks. Both the construction and the carved designs are startling precursors of the craftsman-style furniture that became popular during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Although the cabinet has long been in Bolton Castle’s collection, no one has been able to determine how long it has been there, its place of origin, or its original purpose. This charming piece of furniture remains a mystery.

  Construction Notes

  A cautionary note to the builder: Even without its carved decoration, this cabinet’s apparently simple construction is deceptive. The lines of the cabinet are clean, but building it is not easy. Although its square-cut lines and edges seem to be visible, it contains a bewildering array of rabbet joints and lap joints. The use of excessive rabbeting was undoubtedly an attempt to transform fairly heavy timbers into a light and delicate piece of furniture. There are no hinges on the doors, which pivot on dowel pins. The basic construction techniques are simple, but you should study the plans more than once before beginning work. To simplify the project, we will give instructions on b
uilding the ambry from the ground up. Note: The current back panel is clearly a replacement from the nineteenth or even early twentieth century, with no attempt to emulate period methods or design. We have taken an educated guess about the appearance of the original back panel based on the construction of the rest of the ambry.

  Materials

  This ambry is constructed entirely of oak. Surprisingly, the boards are the closest to modern mill dimensions of those used in any piece in this book; they should not present physical or economical challenges to the builder.

  Feet

  Following the front view and end view drawings and the materials list, measure and cut out the ambry’s feet. The foot detail drawing can be enlarged on a photocopier and transferred directly onto the wood. When the foot has been cut to shape, lay out the mortise that receives the end panel. As shown in the end view drawing, the mortise is 9½ inches long and begins 1 inch from the back end of the foot. The mortise is 5/8 inch wide and is located in the center of the foot, leaving 13/16 inch of wood on either side.

  Side Panels

  Cut the side panels to the dimensions given on the materials list. Lay out and cut a tenon on the bottom of each side panel. The tenon should fit snugly into the mortise in the foot and should be the full 2¼-inch depth of the mortise and 5/8 inch in width. To ensure that the side panels sit in the center of the feet, remove 1/8 inch from each face of the side panel when you cut the tenon to width. Temporarily fit the foot into place to ensure a snug fit. Moving up the side panel, lay out and cut the mortise that will hold the stretcher that separates the feet. This 1¼-by-2¾-inch mortise should be located 9¾ inches above the bottom of the foot.