Medieval and Renaissance Furniture

by Daniel Diehl

  Framing the Case

  Now that you have a general feel for how to construct the chest, building the coffer should simply be an extension of the work you did on the lid. Be careful to mark the proper location of each piece, and be aware that the dimensions of the rails and panels are slightly different on the chest’s front than on the sides. Lay out the rails and stiles for the front of the chest in the same way you did for the lid. The top and bottom rails sit inside the end stiles, which also serve as the chest’s legs. Allow extra length for the tenons on both rails and the center stile. Cut the mortises and tenons as described above; use your palm or a wooden mallet to tap them together gently but firmly. Repeat the process for the chest’s back. You can simultaneously make the component parts for the front and back, but unless you are confident that your pieces are fully interchangeable, it is best to construct one frame at a time.

  When the frames are complete, cut the rabbets for the panels. Note that the sizes and locations of the grooves for the panels differ from those in the lid. These panels require 3/8-inch-wide, 5/8-inch-deep rabbets located 3/8 inch from the chest’s inside face. The rabbets are the same size and depth on both the front and back panels of the chest. Also cut the rabbets to receive the panels on the ends of the chest. Although they are the same width and depth as the rabbets for the front and back panels, those for the side panels are ½ inch taller; this additional length is at the top of the panel.

  Decorative Molding

  After the panel rabbets have been cut, reassemble the front frame, making sure it is square and plumb. The bottom rail is ornamented with a simple chamfer of the same dimensions as that around the panels on the lid. This chamfer also stops ¼ inch short of the panel’s corners. The sides and top of the panel frame are decorated with an incised bead. The center stile has both a chamfer and a bead. The front detail and panel section drawings show how the beading and chamfering are configured. Cut both the chamfers before you begin to work the beading.

  Cut the beading with a molding plane, a molding cutter attachment for a saw, a router, or carving gouges. If you use a router, avoid selecting a bit that would round over the edge of the wood along the bead’s outside edge. Note that the beading on the top rail and outside stiles stops ¼ inch short of the panel frame’s corner, but the double bead and chamfer both run the entire length of the center stile.

  Bottom

  You may want to cut the rabbets to receive the bottom panels at this point. If you wait until the front and back are assembled, you will have to cut them with a router, whereas now you can still use a table saw. On the bottom rails of the front and back panels, mark out the locations of the ½-inch-wide rabbets 1 inch above the bottom edge, as shown in the section B drawing. Cut the rabbets along the entire length of each bottom rail. The rabbet’s top will probably open into the bottom of the mortise into which the center stile will fit, but this will not affect the strength of the finished piece.

  Also run the rabbet into the end stiles; this is best done with chisels or a router to prevent cutting through the stile’s outer edge. Temporarily reassemble the frames of the front and back, and mark the locations of the rabbets across the backs of both end stiles. The rabbeting on the stiles should be 31/8 inches in length, bringing them 7/8 inch from the stile’s outside edge. If you used a router for this part of the work, square off the edges of the rabbet with a small chisel.

  Panels

  The chest’s back has simple ¾-inch-thick flat panels that are fitted into the frame of the back with an offset lip. Cut the lip as shown in the panel section drawing. Be sure to install each panel so that its rear lies flush with the frame’s interior surface. The grain in the back panels should run horizontally, rather than vertically as on the front panels. Fit the back together and dowel the mortise and tenon joints in the same manner as described above for the lid assembly.

  Carving the Linenfold Panels

  The linenfold panels are cut from a 1-inch-thick board. Begin by cutting the lip around the edges of each panel. You will have to cut away excess wood around the edges of both the front and back of the panel. As was true of the back panels, the lip is 3/8 inch wide and 5/8 inch deep. After you cut away extra wood around the face, remove a 5/8-inch width, as you did on the back. This leaves a raised face that is ¼ inch high, 8½ inches long, and 8 inches wide. Make sure the wood grain runs vertically along the 8½-inch length of the face. Now carve the panel, following the instructions on page 6. When it is finished, the panel should fit snugly into the frame, the linenfolds just touching the stiles on either side. Assemble the front of the chest in the same way that you assembled the back and top. After the glue has dried, remove the clamps.

  Interior Tray

  Before you lay aside the front and back panels, you need to allow for the small interior tray, shown in cross section at the top of the section B drawing. On the back of each panel, mark the locations where the rails on the end of the chest will be situated. Now mark the locations of the two boards that form the tray. The bottom of the tray should just touch the inside face of the side rail. With a router or small chisels, cut ½-inch-deep rabbets to receive the ½-inch-wide boards of the tray. Neatly square up the corners of the rabbets with a small, sharp chisel.

  Sides

  Cut the top and bottom rails for the coffer’s sides. The top rails are only 3½ inches in width, ½ inch narrower than the top rails on the chest’s front and back. After cutting the rails to length, and cutting the tenons, cut the rabbets that will receive the panels. These rabbets run the entire length of each rail. Mark and cut the mortises in the interior face of the front and back panels to receive the side rails. The exact locations of the mortises are shown in the section C drawing. Next, cut the beading along the bottom edge of the top rail and the chamfered edge along the top edge of the bottom rail, as shown in the end view drawing. Note that although the beading on the top rail runs the full length of the rail, the chamfer stops ¼ inch short of the ends of the bottom rail.

  The lips around the edges of the end panels are similar to those on the coffer’s front and back, cut so that the interior of the panel lies flush with the interior surfaces of the top and bottom rails. The grain on the end panels runs horizontally, as it does on the back panels. After the panels have been cut to fit snugly into the top and bottom rails, temporarily assemble the chest. Mark the locations of the rabbeting that will hold the bottom of the chest onto the side rails, disassemble the chest, and cut the rabbets along the full length of each rail.

  Bottom

  The original chest bottom is made of two separate boards. These boards are not doweled together; they simply butt against each other near the chest’s center. Cut a lip around the outer edges of the bottom boards to fit into the rabbets as shown in section B.

  Final Assembly

  Lay the back of the coffer faceup on a worktable and insert both top and bottom side rails into position. Set the end panels, bottom panels, and two boards of the interior tray into their appointed rabbets, and tap the front of the chest into place. If the box fits square and plumb, disassemble it and coat the interior of the mortises lightly with glue. Then clamp the chest together and dowel the mortise joints into the end rails. After the glue is dry, remove the clamps.

  Lock Plate and Hinges

  Following the instructions on page 10, make two hinges from 1/8-inch-thick strap metal according to the dimensions shown in the hinge and hinge detail drawings. The hinges are located 15 inches apart on the chest’s back and 5 inches from each end. After determining the proper positions for the hinges, file a ¼-inch-wide flat spot, called a shoulder, on the top outside edge of the back. File a corresponding shoulder on the bottom rear edge of the lid. Note that the lid is slightly longer than the chest; be certain that it is positioned properly on the chest before you mark the shoulder’s location.

  Cutting the narrow slots into which the hinges seat may be this project’s most challenging aspect. Begin by drilling away as much of the wood as poss
ible with a 3/32-inch drill bit. With the drill at a 45-degree angle, bore a series of holes next to each other along the shoulder’s width. The holes should be slightly more than 1 inch deep. With a sharp chisel or carving knife, remove the remaining wood from between the holes. Square up the corners of the slots with a small, fine chisel. Working in these small holes will be time-consuming and frustrating.

  Be sure the hinges fit snugly into the holes in the lid and case, and that the spines of the hinges rest low enough in the shoulders that the lid lies flush on the chest’s back edge. Then insert the hinges into their slots, and with a 3/16-inch drill bit, pierce through the case and lid as shown in the hinge detail drawing. Press the drill bit gently against the hinge to mark the position of the pin. Remove the hinges from the coffer and drill 7/32-inch holes through the hinges, preserving the angle of the pilot holes as shown in the Hinge Detail illustration on page 216. With the hinges still off, replace the drill into the holes in the lid and chest, and continue drilling until the holes are slightly more than 1 inch deep. Replace the hinges in the lid and chest, and tap 3/16-inch steel pins into the holes to secure the hinges.

  The front detail and lock plate cross section drawings show this simple plate’s dimensions. The wedge-shaped keyhole and surrounding metal ornament form an almost floral-looking design on the plate’s face. The raised metal ornament is cut from the same 1/16-inch sheet metal as the lock plate. Cut the ornament from a ¼-inch-wide strip of metal. It is probably easier to form this small piece before tapering the top edge, as shown in the lock plate cross section drawing. After heating and shaping the metal, use a grinding wheel to taper and shape the top edge. Then weld it into place on the lock plate’s face and clear away any excess weld. Drill four small holes in the corners of the plate, and attach it to face of the chest with four small nails.

  Finish

  After the coffer is completely assembled, sand it lightly. A deep oil finish, enhanced by the addition of a little wood stain, will give you a lovely period-looking chest—almost indistinguishable from the original except for the lack of wear.

  PROJECT 25

  Monastic Canopy Bed

  Monastic Canopy Bed replica; original, English, fifteenth century. Oak, iron, and wool, 6 feet x 35½ inches x 20½ inches. Replica in collection of Mount Grace Priory, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England. Photo by Mark Parnaby.

  Severity, humility, and dedication to God were the cornerstones of medieval monastic life. The furnishings in monks’ cells reflected their Spartan existence. This monk’s bed is part of a re-created cell at Mount Grace Priory in North Yorkshire County. Unlike the majority of monastic orders, where the brothers lived communally, Mount Grace was a monastery of the Carthusian order, where monks lived in almost total isolation. Here, each monk’s cell was actually a small house that contained all the brother would need to live and carry out his appointed work. The cell had an entry passage, living hall, study, work room, and bedroom.

  In the bedroom were a simple canopy bed, storage chest, and stool. The bed was no more than a box made of oak with a floor only 3 inches above the plank floor of the cell. The interior of the bed was fitted with a large, rough-woven cloth sack filled with straw. The canopy, with its coarse cloth curtains, helped keep out the biting winter winds and snow that undoubtedly swept through the shuttered, glassless windows of the cell during the cold North Yorkshire winters. With the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII, virtually all physical remnants of English monastic life disappeared, along with the monastic structure itself.

  Construction Notes

  This monk’s bed is no more than a paneled box chest without a lid, and its construction is approached as though it were a simple chest. The bed is made completely of wood and is put together without the use of either glue or metal fasteners.

  Materials

  The monk’s bed is made of oak, although the pegs may be maple or birch. Do not use oak veneer plywood for the panels; the raised surface of the panels faces toward the outside of the bed, and the layers of the ply would be plainly visible. Most of the wood called for on the materials list will be readily obtainable through a lumber mill, though it may have to be specially planed to width and thickness. The raised panels, however, will probably have to be glued up from two or three boards. Only the overall dimensions of the floor of the bed are given on the materials list. This is not to say that it is one solid board. It would have been constructed of whatever width boards were lying around the shop. The goal is simply to provide a level floor.

  Getting Started

  Cut the four upright corner posts, the long bottom rails, and the long top rails to length. Because the top and bottom rails are different dimensions, the tenon positions need to be marked out carefully to prevent making any mistakes in cutting. Lay two corner posts, a top rail, and a bottom rail in a simple rectangular shape on a level work surface. The ends of the rails should fit inside the posts. The top rails should be situated so that one of the 3-inch sides is lying facedown on the work surface. The bottom rails are square, so their orientation does not matter. Viewed from above, the surfaces of the posts and rails fall on three different planes. This uneven face will be the inside of the bed frame. The bottom of the rectangle, the face lying on the work surface, will be the exterior face of the bed.

  Top Rails

  Keeping this arrangement carefully in mind, remove the top rail from between the corner posts and mark the location of the tenons so that they will intersect the corner posts in the manner shown in detail C in the drawings. The tenons should be centered on the top rails so that there is a ¾-inch-wide tenon centered on the 2-inch-wide face of the rail, with a 5/8-inch-wide shoulder on either side of the tenon. Cut the tenons to this width and trim them to the height indicated in details A and B. Repeat this process on both ends of all four top rails.

  Bottom Rails

  The tenons on the bottom rails are situated off-center. Here, as on the top rail, the tenons are ¾ inch wide and have a 5/8-inch-wide shoulder on the outer face, but because of the width of the bottom rail, there is a 21/8-inch-wide shoulder on the inner side of each tenon. The tenons on the bottom rails should be the same 1¼-inch length as those on the top rails. Unlike the tenons on the top rail, however, they are not stepped down from the height of the rail and are the 3½-inch height of the rail. Once they have been laid out, cut the tenons on both ends of all four bottom rails.

  Corner Posts

  Into the top and bottom ends of each corner post, cut mortises to receive the tenons of the top and bottom rails. Although the tenons on the top rails are centered, the mortises in the corner posts will be slightly off-center because the top rails and corner posts are different widths (see detail C). Be certain that the tenons fit snugly into the mortises. You should be able to seat the tenon into the mortise with several firm taps with the palm of your hand or one or two taps of a wooden mallet. The joints must also fit squarely.

  Mark all posts and rails as to their position, and also mark the outside faces (those that fit flush with each other) of the rails and posts. It is wise to mark each mortise and tenon joint as it is finished, as the parts will not be interchangeable. If the parts are not marked, it can take hours to relocate each piece in its proper place. Make all markings with chalk or on pieces of masking tape so that they can easily be removed from the wood.

  Frame Assembly

  When all the mortises and tenons have been cut and finished to a snug fit, assemble the frame of the bed. Because the bottom rails are wider than the corner posts into which they are tied, you have to cut a notch into an inside edge on one of the bottom rails at each corner (see drawing labeled bottom rail from above). Cut these notches in the short rails on the ends of the bed. The assembled bed should be essentially the wooden outline of a six-sided box.

  Stiles

  Set the bed frame on a level surface, and check that the structure is square and plumb in all directions. Locate the panel dividers, or stiles, on the l
ong sides of the bed frame. The stiles are 2 by 3 inches and should be positioned so that the exterior face is 3 inches in width. In this position, the stiles should be the same thickness as the top rail, 2 inches. Mark the locations of the stiles on the top face of the bottom rail and the bottom side of the top rail. Inside the outlines of the stiles, mark the locations of the mortises as shown in detail C. Cut the tenon ends on all four stiles.

  Disassemble the bed frame and cut the eight mortises that will receive the stile tenons. Again, fit each stile into place one at a time and mark its location with chalk or on masking tape, so that you will be able to easily reassemble the entire structure. When all the mortises and tenons are cut, reassemble the bed frame. There should now be a total of sixteen components, all of which must join square and plumb with each other.

  Locating the Panels

  Around the interior circumference of all eight panel frames, scribe locator lines to mark the rabbets that will hold the raised panels (see detail D). These lines should be marked in pencil and run continuously around the edge of each panel. One line should be ½ inch from the outside edge of the frame, and the other should be ½ inch inside the first line, or 1 inch from the outside edge of the frame.

  Now disassemble the frame. Using a mallet and chisel or a table saw, cut a ¾-inch-deep rabbet between each pair of lines scribed on the frame. The rabbets can run the entire length of the top and bottom rails without regard for the location of the stile mortises. They should also run the entire length of the stiles. If they clip away a bit of the tenons on the top and bottom of the stiles, this will have no effect on the final assembly of the bed. The rabbets in the corner posts, however, should not extend above the mortise for the top rail; in other words, do not cut the rabbet through the top of the corner post.