Beginning the Assembly
Drill out the mortises for the front and back assemblies, using different diameter Forstner bits to cut out the waste.
First, I assembled the ends of the case, then I drilled and chopped the mortises to accept the long front and back assemblies. By doing it this way, I eliminated some of the tearout you could get from drilling and chopping through existing holes in the posts.
Finish cutting out the mortises by cleaning them out with a sharp chisel and doing the same to the tenons until you have a nice clean fit.
After all this horsing around, I assembled the long sides, added the floor and brought all the assemblies together, using customary and prodigious amounts of glue. After getting it all clamped up real good, I turned on the air conditioner to hopefully lessen the effects of the steamy summer humidity we were experiencing here in “tropical” Minnesota. I let the project sit overnight, to give the glue plenty of time to set up and cure.
The next morning, I removed the clamps, which revealed a sturdy little piece of furniture. I added a ledge of two 1″ x 3/4″ x 1-3⁄8″ mesquite cleats to support the box lid, which is simply a straight, thick mesquite board, planed and drawknifed at the edges.
Routing Sliding Dovetails in the Top
Use a shop-made fence attached to your router table along with a panel-raising bit and back cutter to form a nice, clean shadow line along the panels.
Push the piece along your router table to cut out the sliding dovetails for the lid support, which will be aligned two sections of the top assembly.
With the carcass completed, it was time to make the top. I set aside two planks early on for this component. After surfacing a straight, square mating edge on each, I chose two more boards to serve as the top support rails. These sit within the saddles cut into the legs. They have a pivot point at the back, drilled through and pinned to the legs with a couple of simple whittled pegs.
I attached the top support boards to the top planks, 2-1⁄2″ shy of the leading and trailing edges of the top, using a simple sliding dovetail arrangement. After laying out my system on the underside of the top, I clamped the two planks together nice and flat before adding a straight board to use as a fence to guide my plunge router. Then I took three deepening passes with a 1/2″ straight bit until I reached a depth of 5/8″. I switched to a dovetail bit to shape both sides of the housings, taking one pass for each cheek. To cut the mating dovetails into the top edges of the top supports, I chucked the same dovetail bit into a router table and made a few passes on scrap wood to dial in the fit. Once everything was set, I routed the two supports.
Here’s how I assembled the top: I fitted the rails onto one plank before sliding the other plank into place. I glued only the edge joint between the top boards. (It should slide on the dovetailed supports as needed to allow for wood movement.) Once the glue cured, I scraped off the excess and took my drawknife to the edges. A light scuff sanding with 220-grit cleaned up the surfaces, followed by a topcoat of shellac.
