I'm working up plans for my next project, a Sideboard modeled after Gustav Stickley's #732, and am having some difficulty figuring out how to build in the webframe interior structure.
The design has four small drawers in the center, flanked by a cupboard on each side. Below this assembly is a single large drawer running the length of the piece.
The sides will be traditional frame and panel (~1" thick rails & stiles), set into mortises centered in the legs (~2.25" thick square). The back will be shiplapped boards in a rabbit. Front dividers likely dovetailed into the legs from the back.
I obviously need a webframe to support the drawers, and also to provide the solid sides for the cupboards. Many webframes get placed into dados down the side panels. However, there are no solid side panels to dado in a frame and panel design.
For the bottom and top frames, I can put a dado in the side rails. However, for the middle frame (runs between the bottom drawer and the upper drawer/cupboard section) I can't figure out how to anchor it to the piece. It seems like putting dados on the inside of the stiles or notching the legs aren't the best ideas structurally. I could float the middle frame between the top and bottom, but need to do so securly so it doesn't sag into the bottom drawer.
Can anyone point me in the right direction here, either with an example (sketchup drawing or description) or a magazine article that describes how to lay this out?
Thanks!