Kitchen cabinets (“hutch”) and a pause from white oak

A set of three kitchen cabinets, made with the intent of not exposing end grain, and to have a “minimalistic” appearance.

Fully concealed mitred dovetails joining the upper surface to the sides of the lower chest of drawers. Otherwise I used half concealed dovetails. The front rails of the drawer dividers are jointed to the cabinet sides by retracted stopped sliding dovetails. In addition to provide much appreciated improved stability to the carcasses, the drawer fronts could overlap them while still being inset. That also opened a Pandora’s box of issues around fitting the drawers with regard to the lower edge of an upper drawer front, to the upper edge of the drawer beneath.

As every cubic mm counts in this small croft kitchen, there are drawers in the plinth as well.

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By governmental decree it was oak aut nihil. Options were limited to what the whole seller had to offer, after industry customers had taken theirs; leaving me with white oak (Quercus Alba) of often prominent and beautifil figure, but also challenging grain and a density of around 0.9. Tangential silicate rich late wood took a toll on both me and plane blades. So, until my skills have improved significantly, I will stick to less demanding stuff.

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Videos by Mr. D. Charlesworth were utterly helpful in making the concealed mitred dovetail joints. It required quite the number of guides and jiggs, but every deviation from canon brought trouble. The mitre lines could of course have been better, but at a length of 18″, I’m OK with them.

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