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by
Jerry Weber
photos: Roger Yip
illustration: Len Churchill |
PLATE RACK |
| Put
your plates and bowls right where you need them: on your kitchen
counter |
Sometimes
less really is more, and that’s the philosophy behind
this simple kitchen plate rack. At home on the countertop or
mounted just above it, you can keep your dishes close at hand,
just an arm’s reach between the stove and the dishwasher.
The rack’s crisp, bevelled edges and open-concept design
keep the look clean and help it take the rough-and-tumble of
kitchen life in stride. Designed for quick cleaning, the internal
dish racks can easily be removed.
Working
from the materials list, begin by edge-gluing enough wood to
make all the large panels you’ll need, including the top,
bottom, inside gables and shelves. If you have wide boards on
hand, save time by making these parts from one piece. Otherwise,
laminate the panels and let them dry overnight before surface
preparation and cutting. Many of the newer thickness planers
can accommodate even the widest of the parts required (e.g.,
the top), so wait until after glue-up to do your planing. Ensure
you remove all glue squeeze-out from the wood before you mill
it.
 |
| Premium
lumber is not required here: this great- looking
project uses inexpensive materials. |
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| Open-concept
design allows you to store a lot of plates and bowls.
What’s more, you can remove the rack face
quickly so you can clean with ease |
|
When
it comes to making the columns, you have two options. You could
glue up standard 3/4"-thick pine for these parts or mill
thicker wood down to size. For the amount of wood you need for
this project, consider using construction-grade lumber. A 2x6
is really 1 1/2" thick (just right for the 1 1/4"
finished size you need), and with careful selection you can
find some nice wood. Choose kiln-dried material and you’ll
be able to use it with minimal drying time.
Start From the Top
Begin by cutting the top and bottom to finished dimensions.
First, joint one edge true, then rip the wood to final width.
Finish up by cutting the ends square. Take your time: clean,
crisp surfaces are essential to an attractive project. The all-important
bevels come next, and you have a couple of options for preparing
them.
The first is to tilt your tablesaw
blade to 45º, then cut the bevels required along the longest
sides of the top and bottom pieces. Bevel widths differ for
the top and bottom, as shown in the plans. Repeat the same operation
on the ends of these parts, using either a tablesaw or sliding
compound mitre saw. Both the top and bottom members are too
large to handle accurately on a typical tablesaw’s mitre
gauge, so use something more substantial. Many workshoppers
build a wooden cross-cutting sled for themselves, and this can
do a terrific job.
You can also cut bevels with your
router. A large and sharp bearing-equipped 45º chamfer
bit does a good job on most wood species. Begin by routing one
of the short ends first, taking a series of passes when creating
the larger top bevel. Work your way around to the adjacent long
edge, followed by the second short end. This order of events
automatically removes any splintering that would occur as you
round that first corner with your router, helping to create
the crisp bevels that make the project look good.
Next come the four columns, which
you can create from either thick stock or glued-up laminations.
Mill them to final size, then sand them with up to 150-grit
abrasive. Instead of bevels on these parts, ease each corner
of the columns with sandpaper wrapped around a wood block. Your
micro-bevel should be just 1/16".
Now cut the inner gables and shelves
to the finished width and length. For best accuracy while preparing
the corner cutouts in the shelves, place one of your columns
on top, flush with the outside end and side of the gables, then
trace the column and cut on the waste sides of the lines.
Get Sanding
It’s time to make some sawdust. Most planed lumber comes
from the mill smooth, so unless your wood is really rough you
can start your sanding campaign with a 120-grit abrasive, moving
up to 150-grit. Regardless of your starting point, a random-orbit
sander is best for this work.
If you’re planning to stain
your dish rack, apply only light pressure on the sander. Random-orbit
sanders don’t create a lot of cross-grain scratches, but
they’re not perfect. Wood that looks and feels smooth
when bare will show unsightly swirl marks after staining if
you apply too much sanding pressure. A light hand gives the
best results. Just to be safe, use only a handheld sanding block
to smooth the bevels themselves. It’s too easy to ruin
the bevels with a power sander.
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PART 1 | PART 2 |
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