Pair of Dressers

[glenn bradley]

Moving along I cut some drawer bottoms out of BB ply.

Gluing up more drawer box parts.

Sand and shellac the drawer bottoms, both sides.

Glue up the last four drawer boxes, two bottom drawers for each unit.

Time to start cutting out some false fronts.

Still waffling on the pulls; shop made or commercial.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

Still waffling on the pulls; shop made or commercial.

I know a guy that does these on his CNC.

 

[glenn bradley]

I know a guy that does these on his CNC.

View attachment 129202

And they look great! I am walking the line between LOML letting me go full-G&G in the previous master bedroom (that will become the guest room) and design choices for the new build out. She gets "designer" status for the new MBR. Like I always say . . . I got the shop, she gets the house. . . and the yard . . . except for maintenance. Somehow that falls back to me???

 

[glenn bradley]

I selected all the fronts from my stock and laid them out with chalk. After a second look (which is my habit) I drew layout lines and broke down the fronts to oversized blanks.

Then I proceeded to joint one face.

I keep a small square on the jointer to allow me to quickly verify the fence after moving the carriage.



All blanks face jointed and the opposite face is planed parallel.

My dad used to keep odd little items around and I would tease him about it. Shame on me . . . I now do the same.

Small wedges let me center false fronts or the piece of scrap I am using to confirm my dimension.

Feeling confident I rip all fronts to final height.

I really wanted to have the fronts in position before I stopped today. Sometimes I win . . . sometimes my back wins. I will cross cut to final length tomorrow and carry on.

 

[glenn bradley]

Here's another look at those small wedges in use. They really let you confirm your reveal.

This is the profile and reveal I am after. It is a variation on what Sam called the "Maloof Round". Sam was a graphic artist before everything else and this softening of the intersection at the reveal made things, according to him, more visually consistent throughout the year. I have found him to be correct and am using it here.

I'm pretty sure I have shown this simple router table push block before. It stabilizes long narrow pieces against the fence while feeding.

It also acts as a backer block. You can see all four corners on the one side have been used a decent amount.

When they become too chewed up you just flip the block and start in on the other side.

I keep a few of them on hand made up from stock that might normally be thrown out (or left by the side of the road). I am down to my last one. I'll have to keep my eye out for someone throwing out some old IKEA cabinets I can cut up to make some more.

At any rate, despite still being rough blanks, I get a drawer front "field" that looks like so.

Time for the other seven . . .

 

[Darren Wright]

and the yard . . . except for maintenance. Somehow that falls back to me???

Yup, I think I got the same negotiator as you. LOML did say she was going to help with weed eating though, so had to buy her a battery powered unit. Her definition of weed eating was around the house and a few flower beds only, the Shop, Garage, guest cabin, barn, any outbuilding for that matter, and the ponds are excluded from being her area of responsibility.

 

[glenn bradley]

I know I have been dragging tail on these but with the intent of completing them based on someone else's schedule . So far, so good.
When I am looking to standardize something like a screw hole positions on multiple pieces I will use things at hand. Kind of how you use a coffee can to define a corner round off. I have these cabinet hardware layout templates that a lot of people sell. I am using one designed for centered pulls as a marker for my through holes.

These holes will be used to attach the false fronts along with the through holes for the pulls. I will use something like these oversized washer head screws although I don't recall where I got my gazillion of them years ago.

Here's an odd bird. Lee Valley clearanced these clamps some time ago. A gear clamp with a post that can be swapped in for the fixed jaw clamp pad as required.


Obviously something for a special clamping situation but they work out great on this piece. I think my original intent was to clamp things to the DP fence . . . but I digress.


Once I have the face centered via the wedges and clamped via the step-over clamps I drive the pre-drilled and positioned washer head screws to anchor the drawer face position.
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Now I just have to do this 13 more times

P.s. Interesting to see the difference between the raw frame components that I milled up a couple of months ago versus the drawer front from the same batch of cherry but milled a few days ago.

 

[glenn bradley]

I warned you guys that this one was going to drag on a while. . . . Finally got all 14 drawer slides, drawer fronts, and drawer boxes fitted.

I had picked out material for the tops before starting this project. I wasn't happy with my previous choices. You would think that I could find a couple of tops out of this cherry.

Heck with it. I ran to the lumber yard.

Now I am happy. My usual breakdown method works quickly to get me some blanks.

I will be using material that is wider than my jointer. I have not used the planer sled in a while so I had to drag it in from one of the out buildings. This is an old Keith Rust design built in 2007. Still going . . .

Here is one of my modified roller stands. There has been discussion here about fixed tables versus fixed motors on planers. If I did this a lot I would opt for a fixed table. As it stands I think I have used the planer sled twice in the last 5 years. Just some data for your decision-engines.

Despite this floor not having a garage style slope it is still only just so even. I keep fiberglass wedges stuck to the sides of them with magnets.

Once leveled out I run a test piece of material through the operation before I commit to my new material.

OK, looks good.

Here's the 13" wide "keeper" going through.

With 1/32" removed it is close.

Another 1/32" removed leaves me witness-mark free.

I still have a solid 15/16" to work with to get me to the desired ~7/8" thickness for the tops.

 

[glenn bradley]

Continuing to work through the tops. I face joint those boards that are 8" or less. Ya gotta love those long infeed tables.

For wider boards one remembers that ANY extra material only adds to the deviation from flat and square that we are after.

I remove any waste that I know will be removed anyway.

This is done at the abdnsaw for rip cuts.

Plenty of kindling for the marshmallow toasting evenings.

cordless jig saw does duty as a cutoff saw.

I have had an issue with the planer hose for some time. I finally decided now is the time to deal with it.

I use a plumb bob to find the location in the ceiling that will serve my purposes.

Since there is no stud close enough to serve me I will use the leftover hardware from hanging the DC duct work.

Since this connecting point will have a bit of swing to it I want a goo, large bearing surface for the drywall. I'm going with this. I do not remember what the bell shaped washer was from but I am glad I have it in the "misc" box.

The Strong Tie toggle connector goes through a 1/2" hole into the ceiling drywall.

You slide the collar up and snap off the feeder bar.

The 1/4" x 20 screw eye feeds in and washers and a nut take care of torquing things down. Care is take here as you do not want the eye to twist but, you are anchoring to a sandwich press in drywall.

This lets me hold the hose out of the way when required (which isn't often).

When not in use it is just a bungee hanging from the ceiling.

This is just a repeat of the planer sled use previously shown.

I will use the drum sander to finish off the dimensioning while prep'ing the surface for later.

I use one of the bandsaws as a supply surface for the drum sander.

And a cart as the exit support platform.

I layout the rough-width but near-final-thickness parts to double check figure and color matching.

Good thing I did since I mixed up some part orders . . .

My back is screaming at me so I will just let these rest and come back tomorrow to final width and glue up the tops.

 

[glenn bradley]

Not much going on here. I am using the KP blocks or generic equivalent here.

Just your typical panel glue up.

Once the glue is set I can card scrape things relatively smooth.

Then jointer plane the surfaces.

This guy is ready to cut to final dimension.

This one still needs some prep work.

I'll keep you updated as I go along.

 

[glenn bradley]

Doh! A high spot at one end that I missed.

Now I'm feelin' pretty good about it . . .

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate these carts as I enter my declining years

You have all seen my little helper that levels long stock when using the sled. Usually either the magnets (if on cast iron) or the rubber 'paint' are enough to hold things. I also have counter bore and through holes for oval flat nuts that allow me to fix the board to a slot. Nothing worse than something heavy moving sometime during a cutting operation when you do not expect it.

I just fix it with a nut driver.

Ta-Da!

Now that the blanks are at final dimensions I can layout the curves.

I cut off the waste with a jig saw. By the way . . . when you are reaching for the jig saw to put it away, look in that direction. I was blind reaching and found the pointy end. I guess if you have to get cut on a power tool it is always better if it is not running.

I use a ball-tailed block and a spoke shave to fair the curves. I track my progress with a steel rule with a stop affixed. The spring clamp is just for the photo.

I will put a thumbnail edge on these. I will do this with a pass from each side using a large router round over bit partially exposed at the router table. To be sure that there are no subtle irregularities that will telegraph spectacularly via the bearing guide on the router bit I use a flexible sander to assure a fair curve. If I was better at it I would do this with a shave but I know I can get there this way

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I very lightly clamp a long rule to the edge and peek under looking for any light getting through.

Once I am happy with one of them I will use it as a template for the other one. I double stick tape them together and use a top / bottom bearing flush bit at the router table.

I clamp them temporarily to assure that they stick together well.

Yet another example of the benefit of a co-located router table and tablesaw. Both tools benefit from the increased table surface area.

Ta-Da!

Ironically I use the off-cuts from the end curves as wedges to part the blanks.

I am now at a consistent thumbnail profile and can continue fairing things in.

Time for lunch.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

LOVE the flexible sanding block!

 

[glenn bradley]

Speaking of flexible sanding thingies. The hook and loop soft pad works very well for edges you have already established a (non-complex) profile on but still need to smooth.

I get results that only require a little more hand work; sometimes none.

I check my progress with a wipe of DNA and a raking light. If I have a larger or longer surface to inspect I use mineral spirits as the effect last longer. The downside is that if everything is fine you still have to wait for the MS to off gas.

I get my first look that looks something like the Sketch Up drawing.

I have edge finished the other top, marked fastening locations, and will proceed after a short break . . . I seem to take those more often lately.

 

[glenn bradley]

I usually favor figure 8 connectors or shop made "buttons" to secure tops. I've had some Z clips in stock for years and thought I would use a few. Even though there is an attachment point at each corner, people like to lift things by the tops so I will add 3 more connection points. I chuck up a slot cutter and set the height. I clamp a block of wood to the member to be cut to give me a greater bearing surface for the router base.

A none-too-specific length slot gets cut on each upper drawer divider and one at the back rail.

Between designing the dressers and getting them installed we decided to go with plantation shutters for the windows. The dressers were going to be a smidge taller than the lower ledge of the window frames. With the addition of the shutters these dimensions changed. Time for everyone to get a little shorter.

I'm going to use the guided circular saw for this. I found that using a pair of rail connectors gives me a more solid pair of guide rails. One on one side . . .

. . . and one on the other. YMMV.

I find yet another use for the cabinet door holder jig thingy.

And presto. Everyone is an inch and a quarter, shorter. And I'm a poet, and didn't know it .

I re-profile the bottoms of the feet and I'm ready to move on.

I was worried that this leg shortening would blow the look. I did a "what if" test in Sketch Up before committing and we decided it was OK.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

I usually favor figure 8 connectors or shop made "buttons" to secure tops. I've had some Z clips in stock for years and thought I would use a few. Even though there is an attachment point at each corner, people like to lift things by the tops so I will add 3 more connection points. I chuck up a slot cutter and set the height. I clamp a block of wood to the member to be cut to give me a greater bearing surface for the router base.

I vacillate between the Z and 8 clips also.

I use my biscuit joiner to cut the slots for the Z clips. No need for the additional bearing surface for the router. (When access allows)

 

[glenn bradley]

Time to mix up my witch's brew for cherry. The first thing I do before starting to mix up high VOC materials is to put about 4 inches of water in a pail with a lid. I also don a respirator and open the doors
The pail is for the discard of anything that has the oil based finish on it. We have all seen the videos of what happens when oily rags get carelessly discarded.

The finish simply put is; 3/4 oz. of McCloskey's 7509 Spar Gloss, 1/2 oz. Mineral Spirits, 1/4 oz. BLO, and some Transtint Reddish Brown. In the winter I will add a bit of Japan Drier to speed up the curing but, we are already full-on into spring out here so I carry on. I always filter EVERYTHING. I have found the few minutes of extra effort and the few cents for the filter are paid back in full through the absence of finishing issues.

The mix looks like the jar on the left until shaken for about a minute. Then it looks like the jar on the right.

We all know that when using multiple sources for our finishes we have to homogenize them to avoid disappointment . I dump the existing mix into a tub with the new mix and stir, stir, stir . . .

I then filter the material yet again into a couple of glass jars.

The resulting mix yields the look shown on cherry, freshly sanded to 220 grit.

OK you beasts . . . I'm comin' for ya!

 

[glenn bradley]

And so it begins . . .
First coat.

Second coat.

 

[glenn bradley]

Nothing much to show for the last few days of effort.
. .
I go in for a minor surgical procedure to my hand tomorrow so I was glad to get the base color coat applied, at least. The recovery period will give the finish a good long time to cure

 

[Ryan Mooney]

Good luck with the hand surgery!

These are coming along nicely, definitely liking the look of this set.