Cabinet Making Charlotte NC

Modern Mission Cabinet

Simple jigs create stylish joints.

by Tim Johnson

My dog’s energetic tail inspired this cabinet. Anything within wagging range was endangered, including a number of my favorite antique toys. After one-too-many near misses, I decided to move these small treasures to safety—above the wag line and behind glass. The cabinet I built for them measures about 27 in. wide by 32 in. tall, so it’s small enough to fit just about anywhere.

This elegant cabinet is deceptively easy to build, thanks to a couple of jigs that make quick work of the most challenging joinery: the doors’ mitered, half-lapped muntins. The cabinet itself assembles with biscuits; the door frames use simple loose-tenon joinery. 

I spent about $110 for top-grade cherry, but most of the cabinet parts are short or narrow, so you can save money by buying lower-grade boards and cutting around knots. The door panels provide a perfect setting for one of your treasure boards—I’ve been saving the piece of spalted maple that I used to make my panels for years. I paid $15 for a 2-ft. x 4-ft. sheet of 1/4-in. cherry plywood to make the back.

Build the Cabinet

This joinery is as simple as it gets: four pieces joined with biscuits. The back, top and bottom are glued on. 1. Cut the cabinet sides (A), ends (B), adjustable shelves (C) top (D) and bottom (E) to size (Fig. A, below; Cutting List, below). 2. Rout rabbets in the cabinet sides for the back (F). 3. Drill or rout holes in the cabinet sides for shelf pins. Installing the pins in the center holes will position the adjustable shelves directly behind the doors’ horizontal muntins and middle rails. For maximum adjustability, drill additional holes in the sides so they run full length. 4. Cut slots for No. 10 biscuits in the sides and ends.  5. Glue the sides and ends together. Make sure the cabinet is square. 6. Drill holes for the rare earth magnet cups. 7. Temporarily install four shelf pins (see Sources, below) so you can cut the adjustable shelves to final length.  8. Bevel the front and ends of the top on the tablesaw with the blade tilted 30 degrees (Detail 1, page 44). With the doors installed, the overhang on the front and sides will closely match. Plane, scrape or sand the top’s beveled surfaces to remove the saw marks.  9. Glue on the top and bottom.  10. Fit the plywood back; then install it with glue and nails. 11. Mount the cabinet hangers (see Sources) after drilling clearance holes for the screws on which they will hang. These keyhole-style hangers can be surface- or flush-mounted. To flush-mount them, you’ll have to rout shallow mortise.

Build the Doors 

The frame-and-panel doors feature simple loose-tenon joinery. These joints are strong and easy to make. Just rout grooves in the stiles and rails and mill tenon stock to fit the grooves. Door frames made from straight-grained stock will look the ...

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