Today we mostly worked on fabricating the doors for the unit. Before that, however, I did a little more handwork–I sawed off all four legs to the finished length. If you click on the photo, you will see the less cosmetic side of furniture building: the glue and the screw holes. The glue will be sanded away and we are planning to cover the screw holes with pine plugs made from the wainscoting that will form the back of the unit. I think the contrasting woods will provide an interesting detail; however, that means that we must be quite precise when we are drilling the holes.
I’ve done a little research on some of the terminology that we have been using. According to Wikipedia, the muntins are the wooden spacers that divide the panes of glass from one another. The are also referred to as mullions. Another link suggests (to me, anyway) that the horizontal spacers are called transoms.
Whatever the label of its parts, the doors have many pieces that must be created and then put together via tenons and mortises. The tenon is the “tongue” that sticks out. The mortise is the recessed area in which the tenon is inserted. In this picture, Uncle Kenny tapers each edge–after it has been through the router.
Take a look at the finished product (prior to sanding.)
So, the majority of the day was spent measuring, making, and placing. When I left, we had a good start on the door frames. As Uncle Kenny warned, this is proving to be the most labor and time-intensive aspect of the build.