Having glued and joined all T's and L's, the next step is to assemble these
joined sections together to complete the basic shape of the piece.
It is best to do this without glue at first, assembling the entire unit with
screws alone. Then, when it is together in good order and you are satisfied
that nothing is out of line, take it apart, clean and sand all the pieces to
prepare them for finishing, and reassemble the unit again, this time permanently
with glue.
Though this method imposes some extra time and effort on your part, it makes
the sanding operation easier and better, and reassembly goes fast and
accurate witheverything fitting back into place like a glove.
Furniture, in order to have good lines and smooth working drawers and doors,
must be squared up during assembly before letting the glue-joined sections dry.
In many cases, a large square will serve to check the accuracy of smaller
joined sections. On larger cabinets with big rectangular compartments, you
can check for squareness by measuring diagonally across the compartment opening
from corner to corner. Note this measurement and then measure the opposite
crossing diagonal in the same manner.
If the cabinet is square, the two measurements will be the same. If the
measurements differ, the piece is not square. To make it square, apply pressure
on the corner that has the longer measurement until the cabinet has been
forced into a square shape and both diagonal measurements are the same.
Having squared the cabinet, it is a good idea to tack the back panel on next
before making any doors or drawers, or doing any further work. The back panel
will serve to hold the cabinet in shape while adding the rest of the features
and, if necessary, it can be removed temporarily whenever it interferes with
work to be done.