Hey, I’m wanting to make a piece like one of Garret Hacks creations. I want to make a cabinet with a coopered back. I was wondering how he connected the shelves, tops and bottoms to the staves. Whether it was simply screwed or nailed and plugged or grooved(dado for non New Zealanders) and the odd corner block where it wasn’t seen. Or of course some other way I haven’t thought of. Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
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I’d refer you to a bookcase made entirely of hardwood where the grain runs in the same direction as yours:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=60RqbbQPhVY
The short of it is, the shelves sit on pins and the carcass bottom fits in a shallow dado and tenoned into the sides of the case.
I made a similar style cabinet and fit the shelves into dados, the subtop and bottom into rabbets. I cut all of the dados and rabbets on the individual staves before doing a multi-step glue up. All four of my legs came up through the bottom of the cabinet and attach to the interior surface (like Garrett Hack did for the back two legs in that picture) so they support the bottom since the bottom is only in a rabbet, if that makes sense.