CHAPTER IX.
Elementary Cabinet Work.
101. Combination Plane.
—The most elementary of cabinet work necessitates considerable groove cutting, rabbeting, etc. Rabbets and grooves can be formed by means of the chisel, the sides first being gaged. A better way, by far, is to plane them. In earlier practice, joiners were obliged to have a great variety of special planes—one for each kind of work, and frequently different planes for different sizes of the same kind of work. There were rabbeting, dado, plow, filletster, beading, matching planes, etc., etc.
Fig. 173.
[Fig. 173] illustrates a modern combination plane which, by an exchange of cutters, can be made to do the work of a (1) beader, center beader, (2) rabbet and filletster, (3) dado, (4) plow, (5) matching plane, and (6) slitting plane, different sized cutters for each kind of work permitting of a great variety of uses. By means of a guide or fence, the plane can be set to cut to a required distance from the edge of the board. A stop or depth gage can be set so as to keep the plane from cutting any deeper than is desired. When cutting across the grain, as in cutting dadoes, adjustable cutting spurs precede and score or cut the fibers of the wood on either side of the cutter.
102. Drawer Construction.
—The front of a drawer is usually made of thicker stock than the other parts. [Fig. 174]. For example, if the front were to be made of three-quarter inch stock the sides, back and bottom would probably be made of three-eighths inch material. Drawer fronts are always made of the same material as the rest of the cabinet or desk while the sides, back and bottom are usually made of some soft wood such as yellow poplar.
