East Fork Map Cabinet / Occasional Table

Instructions

1. 1. Rip stock and cut the joinery

   Tools: Table Saw. Materials: 1x4 board, 12 ft

   Rip every 1x4 down to 2-3/4" wide before cutting anything to length — every solid-wood part in this cabinet shares that width. Then cut the rabbets and dadoes in the case frame parts and side/top panels: a rabbet along the back edge of each frame vertical to house the plywood back, and a dado near the bottom of each frame vertical and the underside of the top frame to house the drawer-guide rails. There's no single universal depth here — set your dado width to your actual 3/8" plywood thickness and your rabbet depth to match, then cut a test piece before committing to the real parts.

2. 2. Laminate the legs

   Tools: Table Saw. Materials: 1x4 board, 12 ft, Wood glue

   Glue up scrap 1x4 offcuts face-to-face until you have four blanks roughly 2-1/4" square, clamp until dry, then cut each to 2-3/4" long. This is the standard way to get a leg thicker than dimensional lumber without buying thick stock — the glue line is invisible once it's on all four faces.

3. 3. Build the five drawers

   Tools: Brad Nailer, Drill / Driver. Materials: 1x4 board, 10 ft, 3/8" plywood, 4x8 sheet, Wood glue, Finish nails, 1-1/4"

   Glue and nail each drawer's front, back, and two sides into a box, then nail the 3/8" plywood bottom on square and flush. Attach the drawer guides to the outside faces now, while you can still get a square and clamp on flat parts. Build all five before you install any of them — with five drawers, small dimensional drift compounds fast if you build and fit one at a time.