How to Build Display Cabinets for Knives

Building the Cabinet

• 1

  Hold two 1/2-by-4-by-18-inch plywood boards upright on their long, thin sides to be the front and rear boards of the display cabinet. Make them parallel to each other, about a foot apart. Set a 1/2-by-4-by-12-inch plywood board against one end of the side boards as a side board.

• 2

  Drill two holes through the side board and into both the front and rear boards for a total of eight holes. Screw 2-inch wood screws into each hole until the three boards are completely fastened. Repeat on the other side of the front and rear board with another 1/2-by-4-by-12-inch board, as the other side board.

• 3

  Settle a 1/2-by-12-by-19-inch plywood board on top of the frame and make sure it rests evenly. Consider this board the bottom board of the display cabinet, which will rest on a display surface when displayed horizontally or on the wall when displayed vertically. Drill holes every 6 inches into the bottom board and through to the frame boards. Screw 2-inch wood screws through each hole.

Building and Attaching the Glass Lid

• 4

  Run two 1/2-by-2-by-18-inch boards through a table saw to cut a 1/8-inch groove down the center of one long, thin side. Make the cut 1/2-inch deep, and do not cut the last 1/2-inch on each end of the boards.

• 5

  Repeat with a pair of 1/2-by-2-by-8-inch boards, making the cut along one entire long, thin side for these two boars.

• 6

  Position the pair of 1/2-by-2-by-8-inch boards parallel to each other with their grooves facing inward and about a foot and a half between them. Slide a 1/2-by-2-by-18-inch board onto one set of the parallel boards' ends, with its groove facing inward. Adjust the three boards, so the edges line up. Drill two holes through the longer board and into each of the shorter boards' ends, keeping the holes away from the groove. Attach the three boards together with 3-inch wood screws.

• 7

  Slide a 1/8-by-9-by-16-inch glass pane into the rectangular space edged by the grooves in the boards. Position another 1/2-by-2-by-18-inch board against the glass pane with its groove facing the glass pane. Drill two holes in the 18-inch board and into each of the 8-inch boards, remaining careful not to hit the glass pane. Set 3-inch wood screws in each hole and tighten them to attach the boards together.

• 8

  Flip over the cabinet frame. Position the assembled glass lid against the cabinet frame. Set two side-mount cabinet hinges between the lid and the cabinet frame. Mark the locations of the screw holes, lifting the glass lid if necessary. Drill out each of the screw holes into the lid and cabinet frame, remaining careful not to hit the glass pane. Attach the hinges to the lid and frame using 1/2-inch wood screws.