# Stickley Three Door Buffet Clone Build Thread



## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

This build thread will move along pretty quickly since the project is pretty much done at this point - but I thought I'd post a few of the pics I took along the way. 

This is what I consider my first major woodworking project and included a lot of firsts for me - new joinery methods, using rough cut lumber, few new tools (bandsaw, jointer, planer, biscuit joiner, etc), and the first thing I've built not using plans so it was a real learning experience.

I built it mostly based on the picture and dimensions posted on the Stickley website - the dimensions of my piece are basically the same but 1/2" narrower. It isn't built quite the same as the Stickley - I used dado joinery instead of sliding dovetails (I didn't know how you'd cut the ends on a 66" long piece). And the purists will probably hate to hear this - but I used pocket hole joinery to add some additional strength to the dado joints to keep them from pulling apart - and biscuit joinery to help align the hardwood edging on the intermediate shelves and when joining the top. I also wasn't sure what the interior of the cabinet looked like - one open compartment or 3 individual compartments - so I went with three since I wasn't sure a single shelf would hold up to the weight of the pottery I know my wife will be storing in it when it is complete.

The project originally started a few years ago when my father in-law offered me a few white oak trees that were killed by gypsy moths on his property. At the time I had no way to work with rough cut lumber - but I hated to see the trees end up as firewood so I decided to have it sawn up. Its been sitting for the last few years in the breezeway of my old house and in the shed at my new house. The moisture content was finally down as low as I figured it would get by air drying so I decided to give it a try using it. I would have preferred to have it kiln dried - but couldn't find anywhere close by that does it. Either way I ended up with a nice supply of really cheap lumber that should last me a while.

More to come.. 

-John


----------



## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

*Preparing stock for use*

This year I finally picked up a planer and jointer so I could use the wood so I milled up some stock. For my first time using both tools I think it went fairly well - but after doing so I wish I would have had the lumber sawn a bit differently. First - I didn't get much 5/4 and what I did was all flat sawn. Secondly - what he did saw was not even 5/4 (and the 4/4 boards not 4/4) - and with some of the boards warping I had a hard time getting the dimensions I needed out of them. The sides were originally supposed to be 1" thick - but ended up barely over 3/4" after they were straightened out. Here are some pics of the side pieces planed and cut to rough size. 

Second task was to resaw some lumber for the wood panels. Again - I was hoping to get two pieces of 1/2" stock from the 5/4 boards - but ended up with ~3/8" panels. The grain on the end panels was flat sawn and looked fairly wild - but it ended up pretty decent with after they were stained.


----------



## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

*Doors and Carcase Construction*

I put the carcase together next. Instead of solid wood for the shelves I used 3/4" red oak plywood for the bottom shelf and web frames. The web frames were put together with biscuit joints and the carcase itself is held together with dado joints. The dividers are also held in place with dadoes. To help with this task I built an adjustable dado jig from the plans on the Woodsmith website. I modified it a bit to be 48" wide so I could cut two panels at once to keep the dadoes aligned - this worked fairly well - except I think the extra width in the jig gave it a bit of flex so the center of the dados weren't quite as tight as I would have liked. I also somehow managed to get one of them misaligned.. but fortunately I was able to cover up that problem by using wider wood edging on the dividers. 

I also ended up having to build a panel cutter jig to cut the pieces to final width. This came in handy a few more times during the project - but I think it may be retired after this project. It came out fairly well - but it figures when I cut it to size I hit a huge void in the plywood the whole way down the blade side of the base so that side is not very sturdy - so much for that supposed void-free cabinet grade plywood...

After test fitting the carcase, I worked on the door panels. I used 4/4 stock for the doors since I wanted quarter sawn figure for the doors - and ended up with 1/4" panels. A bit thinner than I would have really liked - but glad I went with the quartersawn wood instead - the grain looks really nice.

-John


----------



## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

*Drawers and shelves*

I built some adjustable shelves using 3/4" plywood with white oak edging for each section. I picked up a Kreg jig for the shelf pins - this worked pretty well - the shelves fit without any wobble. With the short span (~21") they feel pretty sturdy so I'm glad I didn't use one big shelf. I think I may eventually replace them with solid wood shelves though - the red oak plywood doesn't look nearly as nice as the solid wood pieces.

When doing the shelves I also edged the rest of the plywood parts on the cabinet. I used biscuits for this - I know some people don't have a high opinion on them - but for this it worked very well to keep everything aligned - much better than my previous attempts just using glue and clamps. Most of it was edged with 3/4" stock - but I used 1" stock for the dividers to cover up my mistake with the dado alignment. This created a lip in the center section - but from the outside it looks fine. Here is a pic of the case together with the shelves in place and the drawer parts laid out.

The drawers were made with an oak front and poplar sides / back. I was going to use maple, but had some poplar laying around so I used that instead. I'm hoping this doesn't come back to haunt me some day since I used wooden slides. The drawers were my first attempt at dovetails with my new porter cable jig. It took a lot of test cuts, but they came out pretty nice. I was really torn on the drawer slides - originally I was going to go with blum hidden soft close undermount slides - but they were pretty expensive - so I decided to go with a simple wooden runner system instead. I put in a center runner that helps keep them aligned side to side and also acts as a stop. The drawers run on the web frame - I used some nylon tape to help prevent the popular drawer slides from wearing down on the oak over time. I also installed a few small blocks to the back of the web frame that could be flipped up to prevent the drawers from being pulled the whole way out. 

Last thing I worked on was the solid wood top. This was one of the biggest challenges for me. I wanted a 1" thick top - but pretty much all of my 5/4 stock was warped, cupped, or twisted and I had to go through the whole pile to find enough decent pieces to get a 68" long top. Even then the pieces weren't the nicest and after planing and sanding they ended up about 7/8" thick. It looked pretty flat un-finished and in the pics - but now that it has finish on it it looks a little wavy. Guess I need some more practice with the ole belt sander. 

With all of that completed it was time to move the cabinet to the garage for finishing. Not the ideal finishing room.. but after giving it a thorough cleaning it wasn't too bad. I definitely need more tables to work on though - didn't enjoy working off the floor. The last pic is in the process of staining all the pieces. 

Hopefully I'll have the final pics tomorrow.. the last coat of finish is drying now and I should be able to wrap up installing the hardware and moving it inside.

-John


----------



## GROOVY (Apr 27, 2008)

Good save on tree... looking forward to the next stage


----------



## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

*Its finished*

I finished putting on the final coats of finish and installed the hardware. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.. now my wife is excited to start filling it with china. Now that the buffet is finished its time to start working on the matching china top!


----------



## Rockerbox1 (Jan 21, 2011)

Very nice piece.


----------



## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Wow!!!! That came out beautiful. 
Nice workmanship. I like your choice for hardware.


----------



## Paul W Gillespie (Jul 7, 2011)

Great job. Love A&C furniture and that is what I intend on building as a woodworker. I am working on a A&C coffee table. I started milling the lumber only to find it a bit too green still. It was kiln dried by a local sawyer, but I think he pulled it a week or two to early. So that project has been on hold while I reconfigure my shop. I love quarter sawn white oak. Again, great job.


----------



## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

Just drop dead gorgeous! Wonderful job.


----------



## GROOVY (Apr 27, 2008)

"Just drop dead gorgeous! Wonderful job. "... could not have said it ant better Gene


----------



## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks for the comments! I have to give my wife credit for picking out the hardware. I thought the pewter hardware would be too light against the dark stain - I was going to get an oil rubbed bronze, but she wanted the hardware to match other furniture we have. Now that it is all together I think the light color suits it pretty well.


----------



## MasterSplinter (Jan 12, 2013)

Wow. Very impressive. I love it.


----------



## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

Very nice. I also like the hardware.


----------

