Shaker Cherry Wall Cabinet

This is a Shaker wall cabinet built out of Cherry from the December 2005 issue of Fine Woodworking by Matthew Teague. I’ve wanted to build this project for a while given some of the new joinery in it like sliding dovetails, bridle joints and through dovetails. Those parts were pretty challenging and while they didnt come out perfect, I’m still happy with the result. There is a small drawer still to go yet but that is a work in progress.

The door and back were resawn from a single 2” thick board and then bookmatched to get the interesting grain pattern. The top and bottom piece are attached to the sides with through dovetails that I cut mostly by hand. The tails were cut with a router dovetail bit and the pins were sawn and chopped by hand. I have to admit it took me a few tries to get them right, actually 4 sets of tries. I had started this project last fall and screwed up the first two sets of tops and bottoms and gave up and put the sides in the scrap pile in frustration. I hung onto them and gave it another go this winter and got it finished.

The finish on this cabinet is Tried and True Original Wood Finish. This is the first time I have used this finish and I have to say that I love the way the wood looks and feels after putting it on. There is no foul smell or sanding between coats like wipe-on-poly, my usual finish so I think I will use this more often in the future. I think I will try their varnish oil next as it is supposed to be more durable than the original wood finish.