Assembling the carcass
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
Counting the frame and panel ends, 68 joints and 70 parts come together. The frame and panels were assembled first. The carcass assembly involved 60 joints and 60 parts. The dovetails were glued in the sides with hide glue. The runners are held in place with floating tenons pinned but not glued.
Assembly was all at once. Bringing it all together at one time ensures it will be square if the joints are well made. In this case diagonals measured 1450 and 1449 mm, good enough.
Step 1 is to find a level place on the floor!
The whole of the case was dry fit. Next, all but the top and bottom parts were removed. These dividers were stacked in order to minimized screw ups during reassembly. One at a time glue was painted on the dovetail and socket. A front blade was installed and flushed with the front, runners inserted and the back divider slid into place. An optimum fit of the dovetails leads to smooth assembly. Bindy joints were fixed in the dry fit. The top and bottom pieces that had been left in place after dry assembly were removed in turn, glue applied and reassembled. The whole process took about 25 min.
Vertical dividers need to be fit in place next and molding applied. Then it is on to the tedious task of making drawers. But it is less tedious to fit drawers into a square case 