Building Yeoman Furniture (Part 1)

(click on pictures to see larger views)

Back in 2006 I wrote a blog post about a piece of “Yeoman” furniture that I made. As I was contemplating this Trad-Man’s Daily post I did a Google search to find my 20-year-old essay. Google gave me the right link and more… to my amazement, Google AI provided a concise and accurate definition of Yeoman Furniture…

This post will show you the steps I went  through recently to build a custom Yeoman freestanding cabinet. The cabinet was sized and made to fit in a particular spot in the master bathroom in my house.

Note: The cabinet color will match the Yeoman mirror in that picture. I have a YouTube video showing how to make the mirror.

Since I no longer have a woodworking shop, I made the cabinet outdoors on a nice fall day.

I purchased two 10ft. long 1x12 pine boards at my local lumberyard. My old Whizbang Garden Cart makes an excellent portable workbench. I began by cutting the shelves and sides to length. Then I moved my portable workbench to the other side of my house where I have my outdoor table saw (Outdoor Table Saws Are A Thing).

I used the table saw to rip the boards to the desired width. And I also used the saw to make a rabbet along the back edge of each side. A plywood back will fit into the rabbet.

This next picture shows the shelves and sides assembled. The shelves are not fit into dadoes or dovetail slots. They are simply butted to the sides and secured with three 1-5/8” trim head screws through the cabinet sides, into the end grain of the shelves.

The next picture shows the 1/4” plywood back as it fits into the rabbets. The plywood is glued and secured with fasteners into the sides and back of every shelf. 

This next photo shows two pine stretcher pieces set into notches (cut with a jigsaw) in the cabinet sides at the top…

Next up, I used my old Kreg Jig to assemble the face frame. The frame was then attached to the front of the cabinet with glue and trim screws. 

Then I cut out the bottom wood to form the cabinet legs…

All the countersunk screw heads were filled with Bondo and sanded smooth…

I did not have enough pine to make the top, so I used a piece of the cherry top that I salvaged off an old bureau…

Once cut to size, I used a cove-and-bead router bit to put a decorative edge around the top. The edge detail matches the cove-and-bead edges I put on all the windowsills in my house…

The following photo shows how I attached the top. Four sheetmetal screws with fender washers fit through a drilled hole in the top stretchers. The holes are much larger than the screw shank. This allows for the top to move some with seasonal humidity changes…

A cove molding fits under the top and covers the stretcher ends…

This last picture shows the cabinet with the inside stained and the outside ready for milk paint. But first, I need to make the door. I will show how I make the door in Part 2 of this little series. Stay tuned...