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Let’s use the No. 913 Dresser here as an example of how to prepare a list of parts.

In this book, the following conventions are used when discussing thickness, width, and length. When referring to pieces of wood, these terms reflect the direction of the grain. When referring to the piece of furniture as a whole, they refer to the piece’s normal orientation in space, and apply no matter what view of the drawing we are looking at. This may seem like a minor point, but adopting a standard and sticking to it avoids much confusion. When looking at the drawings, the whole piece is 50" high, 36" wide, and 20" deep, the way it appears when looking at the front elevation. By keeping these terms consistent, regardless of the view, we can generate a more accurate cut list and avoid errors and parts with the wood grain going in the wrong direction.

For individual parts, width is always the direction across the wood grain, and length is always the direction with the grain. The top of the dresser is ¹³/₁₆" thick, 20" wide, and 36" long, even though the width of the dresser is determined by the length of the top. A drawer opening is 4⅜" high by 13 ²⁵/₃₂" wide. The drawer front that goes into the opening is 4⅜" wide (minus the desired gap around the opening) by 13 ²⁵/₃₂" long. This convention, when adhered to, keeps the grain running the right way for all parts. In the example above, we know that the grain on the drawer front runs horizontally. If the dimension were stated the other way—13 ²⁵/₃₂" wide by 4⅜" high—it would indicate the grain runs up and down. The depth of a drawer is the distance from the front to the back, not from the bottom to the top. The drawers in this piece of furniture are all the same depth, but the second drawer up from the bottom is the tallest one.

I start by making a list of the major components, such as the top, the sides, the back, the front rails, and the drawers, leaving room on the paper to list the parts that make up these components. For this dresser, I will have:

• One top—which may be composed of one or more pieces of solid wood or plywood. There is also a backsplash across the back of the top.

• Two sides—composed of legs, stiles (frame parts that go up and down), rails (frame pieces that go horizontally), and panels.

• One back—which may be frame-and-panel construction as shown, solid-wood planks, or plywood.

• Several front rails and one center stile.

• Nine drawers and drawer fronts.

In addition, there are a dozen knobs or drawer pulls, and some way must be provided to slide the drawers in and out, either on purchased hardware or on guides fabricated from wood.

Looking at the drawing, I know the finished top is ¹³/₁₆" thick, 20" wide, and 36" long. I probably don’t have a piece of wood that wide, so the top may be composed of two, three, or even four pieces of wood, and if gluing up for width, the individual pieces should be a little wider than necessary to allow for preparing the joint.

I start my list with the largest pieces first because they will have the greatest impact on the finished piece of furniture. That way, when digging through a stack of lumber, I will be looking for the widest, most attractive pieces first. I may decide to use some lumber for the top that is already planed to ¾" thick. This decision won’t have a tremendous impact on the appearance of the finished piece, but I must keep in mind that the 1/16" I’ve just eliminated from the top thickness has to come from somewhere. I would most likely let the overall height be a little shorter, but someone else might decide to lengthen the legs. If this is done, somewhere in the height, the dimensions noted in the drawing will change. Making these decisions now, and noting where the changes will occur, will avoid much frustration later on.

Having determined the parts and their sizes for making the top, I move on to the other parts that appear in the front elevation. Once again, the question of thickness arises when looking at the rails between the drawers. These are stated to be ¹³/₁₆" thick, but I might reasonably decide to use some ¾" thick stock. If I do, then I must recalculate the vertical layout where these pieces meet the legs, or I will end up with a ⁵/₁₆" discrepancy.

At this point, it would be helpful to take a scrap piece of wood, cut it to the length of the finished leg, and do a full-size layout. When changing the thickness of any component, it’s safest to work from the middle of each joint rather than from the spaces between the parts. By laying out full size, locating the midpoints—and from them the edges—you will end up with a full-size layout to help you visualize the relationships and be better able to plan your work.

A calculator that can add and subtract in fractions is a tremendous help. I use a “Construction Master," which works to sixty-fourths of an inch. Some of the other brands available will only work to one-sixteenth of an inch, and this isn’t fine enough for quality work. This calculator is also available as an “app” for smart phones. If you decide to ignore all of these ¹/₃₂" differences, their feelings will get hurt and they will all get together and travel to one point of your project to rally against you. You won’t know what point at which they have gathered until you find yourself trying to put something together that just won’t fit. It will be off by the sum of all the little discrepancies that you ignored.

The section view gives the width of the rails, and the plan view gives the distance between the front legs, which is the given length of the rails. The rails will be that given length, plus whatever is needed to make the joints between the rails and the legs. The drawings show tenons on the rails and mortises in the legs, but without exact dimensions. The builder must decide on joint details and must account for whatever effect that decision will have on the finished length of the parts.

After determining the sizes of the rails between the drawers, I can list the drawer fronts themselves, with the drawer boxes appearing as a sublist. Knowing the sizes of the openings for the drawers, either from the drawing or from calculations that include any changes, the width and length of the drawer fronts can be determined. The desired gap around the drawer front must be considered at some point, and will be based on the species and cut of wood used, atmospheric conditions both in the shop and in the furniture’s future home, and the preferences of the maker.

Returning to the list of major components, the pieces for the sides can be determined by studying the drawing, listing the various parts, laying out to full size, and deciding on and noting the joinery details and how these will affect the overall sizes. The side view of the dresser tells me the exposed portion of the stiles on the side panels is 4½" wide; however, by looking at the plan I can see that the rail fits into a groove cut into the leg, so it must be made wider to allow for the tongue. Here is yet another case where the individual maker must decide how to join the stile to the leg, and the effect that decision will have on the overall width of the stile. This same caveat applies to the sizing of the rails, and the panels that make up the sides of the case. The drawings show what the outcome should look like, but the reader needs to determine for himself the final sizes of the component parts.

The back is not shown in elevation anywhere, but the sizes for all of the parts can be determined from the top and side section views. The method of making the back should be determined, the overall size established, and then the sizes of the component parts figured.

After the list of all of the parts is completed and double-checked with the drawing, then the process of fabricating parts and building the furniture can begin. It is beyond the scope of this book to cover all of the techniques and options for milling joints and assembling furniture. If you are new to woodworking, the Bibliography lists few resources for this information. If there is a woodworking club in your area, attend some meetings and get to know other woodworkers.

Many community colleges and high schools offer woodworking classes. These can be a tremendous resource for meeting other woodworkers, learning from the instructors, and for access to machinery and tools. The chapters that follow discuss some of the various techniques used in the Stickley workshops, with tips for either duplicating these techniques or using alternative techniques that were not available in the early 1900s. The furniture presented in this book is generally straightforward and simple. However, there is no place to cover up less than perfect work. The results you achieve will depend on your experience and the time and care you devote to your project. If you don’t feel confident in your abilities or your personal safety, take some time to develop your basic skills before attempting a large project.

Building any of the pieces of furniture in this book can be an opportunity to learn much about the process of woodworking, as well as about excellence in design. It is also an opportunity to learn new things about yourself and the way you think and work.