This a quick blog pertaining to how I made a puzzle board. The materials are a 1/2 sheet of cherry cabinet grade 1/4" ply...well, the stuff with the mdf core. And some 4/4 walnut.
I believe the sheet was cut down to two 24x36" pieces. I ripped some walnut 3/4" x 1" for dividers. Thus the space for the drawers will be 1"tall. In the picture below I'm gluing (weighting) the dividers in place. Precision is a must, otherwise you'll have wonky sliding drawers.
The sides are walnut with a big rabbet on each edge, I left the rabbet a bit deeper than the thickness of the ply, then I can plane it perfect. So, one inch between the rabbets, and a hair over 1/4" on the two rabbets.
Above I glued the bottom. Then, I glued the top in the other rabbets. This is what it looks like glued. I left the sides long initially, then used a scrap to mark the correct length.
This is where I had to remove a bit of the side by hand so the drawer would close.
I then cut this piece in half and proceeded with my drawers.
The drawer sides are just half inch stock with a rabbet the thickness of the ply. The drawer bottom is glued flush.
Now, I planed the sides flush to the cherry ply, the I added some 1/2" walnut to the perimeter - as a fence of sorts. The customer wanted an opening on the right side.
Plane the edges all flush, and soften all sharp edges with a block plane and sandpaper.
Finish was dewaxed shellac (zinsser sealcoat), aerosol satin lacquer, and Howards feed'n'wax.
It turned out well, and my friend seems to really enjoy it.
Take care,
Dan Westfall
