- 1). Get the tansu-building plan. There's a free PDF plan for a tansu-looking cabinet available on the Popular Woodworking Magazine page in the references, by contributing editor Chris Schwarz. Download his detailed instructions and diagrams for the cabinet.
- 2). Choose your matching hardwood and plywood. Use decorative plywood and a hardwood with an interesting grain pattern reminiscent of Japanese fine woods. Schwarz's plan suggests using decorative maple plywood and hard maple, but you can use other types which may be more readily available in your area, like mahogany, teak or rosewood.
- 3). Cut out all items according to the plan's specified dimensions, for both lower and upper cabinets. The hardwood forms the cabinet's frame, while the plywood is for its panels. Apply veneer edge tape onto the plywood's exposed edges.
- 4). Create the cabinet's frame. Cut and mill out all grooves and rabbets on the cabinet frame's stiles. Take note of Schwarz's description of which groove the side panels or back panels will go into.
- 5). Assemble the frame and cabinet carcase. Screw, nail and glue each assembly and partition into place.
- 6). Create the lower cabinet's two sliding doors first. Note that in Schwarz's plan, the interior stiles are glued into place after the doors are assembled, glued and clamped up.
With the interior stiles in place, cut grooves at the top and bottom of each door. Then cut the matching runners, top and bottom. Make sure these allow the doors' grooves slide smoothly along them, before finally attaching them onto the top and bottom parts of the lower cabinet. - 7). Build the upper cabinet drawers. First, cut all the needed rabbets or L-shaped channels at the ends of each drawer's sides, bottom and front, as specified in Schwarz's plan. Then glue and nail the sides to the drawer's front face. Attach the bottom, then glue and nail the backside. Attach each drawer's handle, and slide them all into place.
For smooth drawer movement, Schwarz suggests cutting dadoes or centered channels on each drawer's side, and nailing runners on both the cabinet's inner drawer partitions and sides.