When attaching the upper face frame, I glued and pegged it in place. This took some time and the glue gelled quick. For the lower face frame, I clamped it, and after the glue set, I drilled and pegged it. This worked much better as I was able to get glue squeeze out along most of the edge
Once I trimmed the pegs and carved the bead detail into them, I set the top cabinet on the lower cabinet – very exciting! I think the next step is prep boards for the backs.
On Gene’s hutch he has 3/8” offset doors and used rat tail hinges which get mortised into the side of the door. The only part of the hinge you see is the “tail”. For the doors he used brass pulls with a latch. He used the same pulls for the drawers. For the drawers I prefer the early style pull and plate that Bess Naylor used on the step-backs she built.
I think I want to see more of the blacksmith door hinges that you get with an inset mounted door. I found one source I liked (
http://www.sevenpinesforge.com/products/rat-tail-hinge/). If I do inset doors, I’ll add side beads to the stiles to add a little detail. I was concerned at first that having inset doors would require me to do inset drawers as well but then I noticed several projects which have inset doors with lipped drawers. One was Gene’s last project – a Kas he built for a class at Olde Mill. Gene passed away before the Kas was completed and painted (Bess at Olde Mill did the finishing). I was visiting Gene’s wife when Bess delivered it, and I was able to assist in assembling it. It wasn’t until this past fall that I was able to locate the blacksmith hardware and mount the door. There you go – inset door and lipped drawer!
After completing my painted cabinet for the kitchen I’m thinking I may just turn similar knobs for the doors and drawers and use wood latches for the doors. It would certainly be cheaper, but the brass might look nicer. Any opinions?
Pictures:
1) Face frame glue-up
2) Face frame assembled and tenon pegged
3) Face Frame glued and clamped to cabinet
4) Upper and Lower cabinets
5) Gene’s door and drawer pulls
6) Bess’s drawer pulls
7) Gene’s Kas