Korean Chest of Drawers

[woodbloke66]

Finished and installed, with the help of my neighbour, this massive Korean style chest of drawers.

The frame is in 40mm sq Euro Oak, domino'd and glued with Cascamite (owing to it's long open time in the hot weather last year). The panels are 2mm thick bandsawn Brown Oak veneers, glued over a 6mm mr mdf substrate with a 2mm pine backing veneer, again sawn on the bandsaw. A small round over bit was used to create a soft edge on all sections.

The back consists of three veneered panels, again made with 2mm oak veneers over a 4mm ply substrate and 2mm pine backing veneers, glued and pined in place.

All the drawer boxes are made from 7mm quarter sawn oak, using Cedar of Lebanon bottoms with drawer slips. Drawer fronts are made using a stack laminated pine core, which when re-sawn gives a quarter sawn pine board. These are then lipped and veneered with 2mm thick Brown Oak veneers and a 2mm pine backing veneer. Pulls are made using Indian Ebony, morticed into the drawer fronts. Each drawer runs on an oak runner underneath the muntin(s) and the fronts are fixed in place with 16mm Torx screws. For a full account of how this type of drawer is made (and it's advantages) see Rob Ingham's excellent tome 'Cutting Edge Cabinetmaking'.

The stand is made from Euro Oak and is located onto the underside of the chest of drawers with four 8mm dowels. Ten 60mm screws join the stand to the chest in counterbored holes. Finish is a couple of coats of satin OsmoPolyX with beeswax over the top. Handles are polished using shellac and Renaissance wax - Rob

 

[sammy.se]

That's really beautiful - well done! Really nice proportions and we'll made. Excellent.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[custard]

I like the way the inset drawers match the reveal on the panels, it really unifies the whole piece.

Great choice of timbers by the way, and the drawer pulls look terrific.

Smashing job!

=D>

 

[AndyT]

Wow that's an impressive piece of work! =D> =D> =D>

In case you are wondering whether to post the work in progress photos,

PLEASE POST THE WORK IN PROGRESS PHOTOS!

as I am sure everyone wants to know how it was done.

 

[HOJ]

Stunning... I for one would like to know more about the construction, especially your methods for producing the veneered panels, please.

 

[Glynne]

That’s a beautiful piece Rob.
A quick question, you say “The panels are 2mm thick bandsawn Brown Oak veneers, glued over a 6mm mr mdf substrate with a 2mm pine backing veneer, again sawn on the bandsaw.“
Is there any chance of veneer creep given the thickness is a lot more than standard veneer or have you factored some movement into the construction?
I asked a similar question some time ago and I think Custard suggested I might be taking a bit of a risk with anything thicker than the normal 0.7mm veneer.

 

[woodbloke66]

I like the way the inset drawers match the reveal on the panels, it really unifies the whole piece.

Great choice of timbers by the way, and the drawer pulls look terrific.

Smashing job!

=D>

Thanks Custard, appreciated. Drawer pulls were a complete pain to make but are probably (IMO) one of THE most important parts of any job.

That’s a beautiful piece Rob.
A quick question, you say “The panels are 2mm thick bandsawn Brown Oak veneers, glued over a 6mm mr mdf substrate with a 2mm pine backing veneer, again sawn on the bandsaw.“
Is there any chance of veneer creep given the thickness is a lot more than standard veneer or have you factored some movement into the construction?
I asked a similar question some time ago and I think Custard suggested I might be taking a bit of a risk with anything thicker than the normal 0.7mm veneer.

Many thanks Glynne. I've done quite a few pieces now with this method of construction and thus far there's been no veneer creep. The beauty of using your own thick veneer is that once it's glued and laid, the surface can be treated as solid timber so it can be finished with a smoother and then various grades of paper. I generally finish at 240g as it's open grained oak.

Stunning... I for one would like to know more about the construction, especially your methods for producing the veneered panels, please.

Thanks again. The panels are fairly straightforward to produce if you've got a largish bandsaw with a respectable doc and use a new blade every time some veneers are cut. Once the blade becomes even just a little bit 'tired' the cut tends to wander and the thickness of the veneers will vary. I acquired a Jet 16-32 drum sander a few years ago and this bit of kit is invaluable for finishing off veneers to an exact thickness, but even without one, accurately cut veneers can still be laid. The technique is to present a planed face each time to the bandsaw fence, so that when the veneers are sliced off, one face is smooth and the other bandsawn; it's the latter face which is glued. Any method can be used to glue (vacuum bag, cramps and cauls, heavy weights etc) but I use an AirPress vacuum bag. Once the panels (both sides veneered at the same time btw) come out the bag, I use my small bs to trim them to an approx. size and then shoot them in exactly on the shooting board - Rob

 

[Hornbeam]

Lovely piece of work.
Ian

 

[custard]

I think Custard suggested I might be taking a bit of a risk with anything thicker than the normal 0.7mm veneer.

I hope I didn't suggest that 0.7mm was the limit. There's a fairly broad group that regards 1/16" or 1.6mm as an upper limit for saw cut hardwood veneers on man made substrates. I've also discussed this with the guy who, when he was chief craftsman for John Makepeace at Parnham, ran some exhaustive tests on veneer thicknesses. He concluded that on harder tropical timbers 1.0 or 1.1mm would be his target thickness.

However, let's not forget that for this project the veneers were cut from Brown Oak. Personally I'd guess you'd get away with a significantly thicker veneer on Brown oak for two reasons, firstly the very slight punkiness of Brown Oak gives the timber a certain elasticity, and secondly the coarse grain structure won't show any micro cracking which is the chief penalty for excessive veneer thickness.

 

[rafezetter]

I think Custard suggested I might be taking a bit of a risk with anything thicker than the normal 0.7mm veneer.

I hope I didn't suggest that 0.7mm was the limit. There's a fairly broad group that regards 1/16" or 1.6mm as an upper limit for saw cut hardwood veneers on man made substrates. I've also discussed this with the guy who, when he was chief craftsman for John Makepeace at Parnham, ran some exhaustive tests on veneer thicknesses. He concluded that on harder tropical timbers 1.0 or 1.1mm would be his target thickness.

However, let's not forget that for this project the veneers were cut from Brown Oak. Personally I'd guess you'd get away with a significantly thicker veneer on Brown oak for two reasons, firstly the very slight punkiness of Brown Oak gives the timber a certain elasticity, and secondly the coarse grain structure won't show any micro cracking which is the chief penalty for excessive veneer thickness.

Could I ask you to elaborate on this custard please?

Also Woodbloke66 - you mentioned "stack laminating" the pine to be resawn as quatersawn for the drawer fronts - I'm not properly following that either. What I'm envisioning is you cut smaller sections and orientated the grain quatersawn, stacked them on top of each other, then resawed lengthwise - but I'm probably way off base - if so could you lay it out idiot style for me please?

Oh and did you also lip where the dovetail tails are as well? I'm guessing you did?

Lovely design, some might consider it a bit utilitarian, but the oriental influence is clear and timeless.

 

[woodbloke66]

Also Woodbloke66 - you mentioned "stack laminating" the pine to be resawn as quatersawn for the drawer fronts - I'm not properly following that either. What I'm envisioning is you cut smaller sections and orientated the grain quatersawn, stacked them on top of each other, then resawed lengthwise - but I'm probably way off base - if so could you lay it out idiot style for me please?

Oh and did you also lip where the dovetail tails are as well? I'm guessing you did?

Lovely design, some might consider it a bit utilitarian, but the oriental influence is clear and timeless.

I first read about producing quarter sawn pine boards in a Danish book on 'treen' back in the late 70's. It's easy to do, but time consuming; take a pile of reasonably clear (not too many defects) slash sawn pine boards as you'd buy in any decent builders yard. Pass each over the top and then through the p/t to produce boards planed flat both sides, then stack, glue and cramp together a number of these boards...say six to give for example a combined thickness of about 120mm. When the glue has set, pass one edge of the stack across the planer to form a pair of datum surfaces, from which you can now saw off quarter sawn slices. When these are edge jointed again you'll end up with a complete quarter sawn (and hopefully dead flat ) pine board.

This is the top of a Japanese tool box that I made for my son last year with a stack laminated, quarter sawn pine top. The process is time consuming and messy but does give reliable results.

The drawer fronts use a pine core made in the same way as described, then lipped all round and veneered with 2mm Brown Oak veneer; a complex and time consuming process but it did allow the grain to be slip matched on all the fronts as I was able to get all them all out of one chunk of oak - Rob

 

[woodbloke66]

Wow that's an impressive piece of work! =D> =D> =D>

In case you are wondering whether to post the work in progress photos,

PLEASE POST THE WORK IN PROGRESS PHOTOS!

as I am sure everyone wants to know how it was done.

Andy, this project took an age to do and the crucial 'glue up' took place during the hottest part of last summer, which wasn't the brightest time to do it. A couple of pics show the complexity.....

....which, no matter how I sliced it, had to be done in one hit using every available sash cramp. A fraught time in the 'shop and SWIMBO was banned for the day . Thankfully it all came together - Rob

 

[custard]

firstly the very slight punkiness of Brown Oak gives the timber a certain elasticity[/b/quote]

Could I ask you to elaborate on this custard please?

I don't want to divert from Woodbloke's excellent drawer chest, so I'll keep this brief.

Brown Oak is regular Oak that had a fungal attack, it's on the road to becoming spalted so all Brown oak is punky to some degree.

The problem with overly thick veneer is that the side that's glued down to MDF can't move, where as the thicker the veneer the more the show face can shrink and expand. This tension can cause micro cracking, tiny fissures that are visible on the surface of the veneer. It's more pronounced with very hard timbers like Ebony or Rosewood, so you'd cut these type of timbers a whisker thinner. But slightly soft Brown Oak has more give, so I'd guess Woodbloke's likely to be safe with his 2.0mm thick Brown Oak veneer, where as say a 2.0mm thick Macassar Ebony veneer laid onto a man made ground would be asking for trouble.

 

[woodbloke66]

I don't want to divert from Woodbloke's excellent drawer chest, so I'll keep this brief.

Brown Oak is regular Oak that had a fungal attack, it's on the road to becoming spalted so all Brown oak is punky to some degree.

The problem with overly thick veneer is that the side that's glued down to MDF can't move, where as the thicker the veneer the more the show face can shrink and expand. This tension can cause micro cracking, tiny fissures that are visible on the surface of the veneer. It's more pronounced with very hard timbers like Ebony or Rosewood, so you'd cut these type of timbers a whisker thinner. But slightly soft Brown Oak has more give, so I'd guess Woodbloke's likely to be safe with his 2.0mm thick Brown Oak veneer, where as say a 2.0mm thick Macassar Ebony veneer laid onto a man made ground would be asking for trouble.

Thanks for the 'heads up' on using thicker 2mm veneers Custard, much appreciated. I've done lots of stuff with this type of veneer in ordinary oak, American Cherry and English Walnut. Thus far, I haven't had any problems with micro-cracking but the timbers mentioned are relatively benign cabinet woods. If and when I'm fortunate enough to get hold of a few wide boards of exotics I'll prepare the veneers a little thinner.

Here's a question for you though. I have a stash of ancient Bog Oak, some of which (not all) is around 63 lbs cu'. I had intended to slice some of it up for veneers for a forthcoming project, so how thick would you recommend going? - Rob

 

[custard]

I have a stash of ancient Bog Oak, some of which (not all) is around 63 lbs cu'. I had intended to slice some of it up for veneers for a forthcoming project, so how thick would you recommend going? - Rob

Hamish Low is the premier expert on Bog Oak, he's the guy who finally figured out how to kiln it and through his network of East Anglian farmers has dug up and processed many tons of Bog Oak.

I know he believes (and who am I to disagree!) that properly dried Bog Oak is harder and denser than modern Oak. Consequently I'd want to go thinner than 2.0mm for veneering Bog Oak onto man made boards, maybe something in the range 1.2-1.6mm.

 

[MikeG.]

As an aside, if there is bog oak, how is it that bog beech, chestnut, ash or elm aren't a thing? Bog elm, in my imagination, would be quite a stunning thing.

 

[woodbloke66]

I have a stash of ancient Bog Oak, some of which (not all) is around 63 lbs cu'. I had intended to slice some of it up for veneers for a forthcoming project, so how thick would you recommend going? - Rob

Hamish Low is the premier expert on Bog Oak, he's the guy who finally figured out how to kiln it and through his network of East Anglian farmers has dug up and processed many tons of Bog Oak.

I know he believes (and who am I to disagree!) that properly dried Bog Oak is harder and denser than modern Oak. Consequently I'd want to go thinner than 2.0mm for veneering Bog Oak onto man made boards, maybe something in the range 1.2-1.6mm.

Thanks Custard. He's the chap we went to see over in Kent a couple of years ago and he personally selected a half dozen boards of well figured Bog Oak. I'd tend to agree that Bog Oak is pretty hard and dense stuff. His workshop though, is like the inside of a coal mine because he works with nothing but Bog Oak - Rob

 

[custard]

As an aside, if there is bog oak, how is it that bog beech, chestnut, ash or elm aren't a thing? Bog elm, in my imagination, would be quite a stunning thing.

It would have to be a species that arrived quickly in the UK after the ice age, and furthermore it would have to be a species that grew in the low lying areas that were swampy enough to capture the fallen trees in oxygen free conditions and preserve it. So that means East Angla or the West Coast of Ireland. I've seen Bog Yew from Ireland, and I think I've seen Bog Elm, but I can't recalls being anything else. That makes sense as even today if you leave the countryside alone then even today Oak will eventually become the dominant species.

However in other countries there's "bog wood" species that are far older than anything in the UK, for example New Zealand has a timber called Ancient Kauri Wood, I think it's in the region of 20,000 years old!

 

[woodbloke66]

However in other countries there's "bog wood" species that are far older than anything in the UK, for example New Zealand has a timber called Ancient Kauri Wood, I think it's in the region of 20,000 years old!

Just to clarify, Custard, you're spot on but the Kiwi's carbon date the age of the swamp, not the tree itself as it's way to expensive to do an individual log(s). Thus the swamp may have say, an age of 4000 years (and they do vary a lot, between 1 and 40,000 years) but that doesn't necessarily mean the log is that old as it may have fallen into the swamp much later. Incidentally, the Kiwis have now banned the export of all ancient or Swamp Kauri in raw board or log form unless it's been finished or part finished into an item. Blame the Chinese....
Just to illustrate how big they get, this is a single plank (sawn into four slabs)...

....from just one log! - Rob

 

[Quickben]

Lovely chest of drawers, Bob. That nice blue bandsaw had some use with all the veneer cutting !

Can you elaborate on the drawer runners and muntins ? Dovetail sliders, or a plain dado slot ?

I'm planning on making some drawers for various furniture pieces soon, and I'd rather avoid using bought in ikea style runners. Not due to woodworking snobbery, just because I don't like the look of them on the side of the carcass.

Gary.