Hallway Console
Walnut and maple, hand-cut dovetailed drawers and not a single screw in sight: the console that greets everyone who walks into your home.
A hallway console with cabinetmaker's drawers.
A solid-wood hallway console pairing walnut in the frame with maple or beech in the drawers and shelf. Two dovetailed drawers glide on runners routed directly into the legs — no metal hardware — and below, a shelf of eleven slats gives you room for baskets, books or shoes.
How you'll build it.
Seven stages and a cutting list from A to O. The guide has you practise the delicate cuts on a test piece before touching your good timber.
Rough boards, chalk marking, 20 mm of margin, then through the jointer, thicknesser and panel saw until every board is flat, square and at final size.
Knife lines against a rule, hand saws to within 2 mm of the line, then waste cleared with chisel and brass mallet. Tails first, then pins, and a dry fit to fine-tune.
With a bearingless bit you rout the grooves for the drawer bottoms and the runners in the legs. Then the Domino joiner — and the corner dominoes get sanded to 45º so they don't clash with each other.
Floating panels in their grooves, the back, a glued-in central divider on dominoes and the top. The drawer guide strips complete the module.
Rails joined to the front and back legs with dominoes. The legs already carry the routed drawer runners and the housings for the shelf.
Eleven light-wood slats fitted one by one between the rails, closed off with the front strip. All on dominoes, without a single screw.
Drawer box and shelf joined to the legs, drawers on their runners, a thorough sanding and Rubio Monocoat oil: spread it, let it work, wipe off with the grain.
What you'll learn.
Hand-cut dovetails
Knife marking, sawing, chopping out with a chisel and dry fitting: cabinetmaking's signature joint, cut by you.
Drawers without hardware
Runners and grooves routed with a bearingless bit, straight into the legs: the drawers run on wood.
Dominoes with a twist
Joining with the Domino joiner and dialling in depths — including the corner dominoes sanded to 45º.
The result.
Before you even ask.
Do I need previous experience?
The dovetails and the 45º dominoes do ask for a bit of hand skill. Never touched a machine? Don't worry: before using each one you're taught the safe technique, and the guide has you practise on a test piece before you go anywhere near your good timber.
How long will it take me?
The guide estimates around 50 hours of workshop time. You come at your own pace: the wood will wait for you — in fact, the guide recommends not preparing more pieces than you'll use in the next 48 hours.
Do the drawers use metal runners?
No. They slide on runners routed directly into the legs and have their bottoms housed in a groove. The whole piece goes together with wooden dominoes: no visible hardware anywhere.
Is it safe to work with these machines?
PPE is compulsory and every machine has its own rules; none is used without first being taught the safe technique, and there's always a Made de Madera technician on hand to answer questions.
What if my wood has knots or cracks?
The guide teaches you to clean it up: knots are avoided, around 20 mm is trimmed off end grain with defects, and a margin is left past any cracks. That's why you buy roughly 20% extra material.
What does the price include?
The guide, the walnut and maple, the dominoes, the glue and the finish, machine use, PPE and your workshop time. You leave with the finished piece.
If you need any adaptation to take part comfortably, tell us when you sign up and we'll have it ready.
Llévate solo la guía, en PDF.
La misma guía paso a paso que seguimos en el taller para construir «Hallway Console»: planos acotados, despiece, orden de montaje y los trucos de ebanista. Por 15 €, tuya para siempre — bueno, el enlace de descarga dura 30 días, así que no lo dejes criar polvo.
Start whenever you like. The clock doesn't tick until your first day.
Buy "Hallway Console" today and come to the workshop when you genuinely can: your access time starts the day of your first QR check-in, not the day you pay. You build with our machines, our wood, and the team close by to lend a hand.
- The wood and all the project materials
- The complete guide in PDF, yours from minute one
- Workshop access: 1 full month or 2 months of half-days — you choose, same price
- The workshop team close by whenever you need them
Interested in this project?
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