Synopsis: This guide to creating tombstone doors with a mix of hand and power tools is a quintessential lesson for any woodworker aiming to build furniture in the 18th-century style. Author Lonnie Bird illustrates the process as he builds doors for a reproduction Pennsylvania secretary. Find out how to create a flawless thumbnail edge with a router and a chisel, and a safe way to cut the raised panel on a router table. Also find detailed project plans for two standard-size tombstone doors; one for the upper case of the secretary, and one for the small prospect-box inside the desk gallery.

I’ve always been intrigued by the close ties between the furniture and architecture of the 18th century. Proportions, shapes, moldings and myriad other details were shared by both house joiners and furniture makers of the period. One of the most commonly shared forms was the arch. This simple, elegant…