Small Wall Cabinet with Shell Fretwork

11" (279 mm) wide, 6" (152 mm) deep, 26 1/2" (673 mm) high. Rated 14 lb (6.4 kg) of contents. The drawings are dimensioned in feet and inches; the materials list, cut list and steps give metric sizes alongside.

It's rated intermediate. Expected build time: Two weekends, plus a night for glue and a day for the finish. It suits someone who has built a simple piece of furniture or cut a mortise and tenon before; each step still names the tools it uses.

Roughly US$90–170 in materials at typical US lumber-yard prices. Prices vary a lot by region, so price the materials list at your local yard before you start.

Pencil; Try square; Level, 24" (600 mm) or longer; Stud finder; Scissors; Printer (patterns at 100%); Masking tape; Carbon paper; Story stick (scrap strip, 30" / 762 mm); 1/8" (3 mm) dowel, 12" (305 mm) long, to dot the wall through the rail holes; Playing cards (5), as door shims; Soft pencil, to blacken the dowel tips so they leave a dot; Stud-finder wire detection (or a separate wire detector), to scan the dots; Sturdy box or a stack of books, to prop the cabinet's foot on the level line (or a helper); Handsaw; Rip saw; Backsaw; Coping saw; Scroll saw with a No. 5 skip-tooth blade (or a fret saw); Miter box; 1/2" (13 mm) chisel; Mallet; Sandpaper 120, 180 and 220 grit; Foam brush; Lint-free rags; Drill/driver with 1/16", 3/32", 9/64", 1/8", 3/16" and 1/4" (1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 3, 5, 6 mm) bits, a 3/4" (19 mm) Forstner bit and a countersink; 1/8" (3 mm) drill bit at least 3 1/2" (90 mm) long, for the wall pilots; 8" (200 mm) driver-bit extension; 1/2" (13 mm) bit, hollow-wall snap toggles only; 3/8" (10 mm) bit, for the rails' four toggle holes (drilled on every build); 3/8" (10 mm) dowel, 12" (305 mm) long, hollow-wall snap toggles only (dots the toggle holes); #10 fender washers, 1" (25 mm), 4, hollow-wall snap toggles only; 6" (150 mm) 1/8" (3 mm) drill bit and #8 x 3 1/2" (89 mm) screws, plaster walls only; Screwdriver; 3 bar clamps, 12" (300 mm) or more; 4 C-clamps, 4" (100 mm) opening or more; Glue brush; Waxed paper, a flat board and a 5 lb (2.3 kg) weight for the door's rim; Thin linen, 5 x 8" (125 x 200 mm), to back the sunburst; plus a tape, pencil, safety glasses, hearing protection and gloves. The interactive checklist on this page lets you tick off what you already own.

It is restored from "Easily-made Smoker's Cabinet", The Practical Woodworker, vol. 1, pp. 355-356, with Figs. 27-30, an unsigned how-to article from that is now in the public domain. We redrew it as a modern build guide with a materials list, metric sizes, a cut list and clear illustrated step-by-step assembly drawings, every part drawn. Every dimension follows the original article, and the article is reproduced inside. This edition is our own; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the original publisher.

It's rated intermediate, so it helps to have built something framed before, or to have a handy friend on the bigger lifts. Each step is a single job with its own drawing: the parts that step adds are shaded, the nails, screws and bolts it drives are marked where they go, and the hardware for that step is listed beside it. An exploded drawing at the front shows how the whole build goes together before you cut anything.

A 14-page print-ready PDF (US Letter) to download after purchase. It prints well at home or at a copy shop, and reads fine on a tablet in the workshop.