Pine Chest of Drawers - Finished

[OPJ]

It's fair to say that the Blanket Chest I made for big soft moose earlier this year went down very well, despite the fact that it took me the best part of three-months from start to finish... I've since been 'commissioned' by Pete to build a Chest of Drawers in the same style (you may have seen the Design thread a few months ago). Due to various reasons (one being the workbench build, others being personal), I haven't been able to get started until now.

This is the design we agreed on for an eight-drawer chest with graduated heights on the drawer fronts. Overall, it's 1200mm long x 800mm tall x 500mm deep.

This morning, I managed to collect my first ever order with Robbins Timber, near Ashton Gate. All cut to length and nicely taped together, ready for me to throw in the back of my "van"...

It seems that, even when you e-mail through an order, people have trouble with double-barrel surnames... :roll:

Almost got it right the second time!

I won't begin the proper build until Monday, once this wood as had a few days of brief acclimatisation. I do want to show off the quality of these boards - even the wide ones are (currently) split free and I haven't seen an inch of pith anywhere! 8) This is what 'unsorted' redwood should be like; unlike some of the 'fifths' I probably had at Bristol City Timber last time.

This next shot usually provokes a reaction from Mike Garnham, telling me I've bought too much wood... Don't forget the small pile of brown oak in the background, Mike! :wink: I've stacked this lot methodically, so I can pick straight from the top in line with my scheme of work - 'frame, top, drawers', for example.

Because my cutting list was produced from much longer stock, I have a few leftovers, just in case. The whole lot cost just over £100 including VAT, which I'm quite pleased with.

Yes, I am using brown oak for the runners, muntins, slips and front drawer rails. I wouldn't normally 'give' this sort of timber away but, it will make for a better job and I've got too much of it in my workshop. It's also cheaper than buying more redwood, which I can barely afford right now. I did some test staining on a couple of scraps (the other was a piece of beech) and, although this photo isn't perfect, the stained brown oak should be a reasonably close match for stained pine.

With my new 'bench built and the workshop generally in a better shape that it has been for the last four-years [though, there's still much work to be done!], I'm feel confident that I can get this job finished by the end of the month. Building the carcase shouldn't really take too long, it's only hand-cutting the drawer dovetails that I'm not looking forward to. :? My Earlex spray gun should help to apply the stain and lacquer so, that's less of a worry this time around.

I will need to buy a sheet of 6mm plywood. The scraps I have are in two different colours, which won't do for the drawer bases. Funnily enough, at Robbins earlier, I noticed they now do sheets of 6mm ply with V-grooves running down the length... I'm not paying £80-£90 a sheet though when I can do it with a router for much less!! :shock: :wink:

 

[Mattty]

I will need to buy a sheet of 6mm plywood. The scraps I have are in two different colours, which won't do for the drawer bases. Funnily enough, at Robbins earlier, I noticed they now do sheets of 6mm ply with V-grooves running down the length... I'm not paying £80-£90 a sheet though when I can do it with a router for much less!!

Hi Ollie,

What is this ply for? I'm maybe being stupid here but i can't imagine what the use is?

 

[woodbloke]

Yes, I am using brown oak for the runners, muntins, slips and front drawer rails. I wouldn't normally 'give' this sort of timber away but, it will make for a better job and I've got too much of it in my workshop.

Olly - if you're using oak for all the wearing parts, don't forget to glue a 6mm slitherino onto the bottom of the pine drawer sides (assuming that you're going to use it for the sides?) so that you obtain an oak/oak running surface. I did this recently with my daughter's 'puter table...works very well - Rob

 

[head clansman]

HI

Timber looks good , good price as well .hc

ps keep the pics coming.

 

[OPJ]

Mattty, the 6mm hardwood ply will be for the drawer bases and back panels of the main carcase - both of which will be V-grooved to match the boarding at both ends of the unit. I do have enough ply for the back panel but, I still need another two-thirds of a full sheet for the bases.

Rob, yes, the drawers sides are also pine. But, I'm adding oak drawers slips. These are mainly to take the bases so I don't 'weaken' the sides by cutting grooves. It should be fine.

 

[woodbloke]

Rob, yes, the drawers sides are also pine. But, I'm adding oak drawers slips. These are mainly to take the bases so I don't 'weaken' the sides by cutting grooves. It should be fine.

Sorted then...good :wink: - Rob

 

[TrimTheKing]

...of 6mm ply with V-grooves running down the length... .

I might not be reading this correct, but won't vee grooves leave you with the stripes of the plys on show? Or is this going to be a feature?

 

[OPJ]

You're right, Mark, but, I'm going to try to keep them shallow (mainly to retain the strength in the 6mm ply) and it will be stained anyway. I think this was Brad's idea to make a feature of the drawer bases.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Hmm, will be interesting to see how it turns out. Can't picture it in my head at the moment, look forward to seeing it progress

 

[OPJ]

This build is now officially under way. 8) I made a start this morning at 9-ish and prepared this lot up for the plinth and end frames of the carcase. Notice how I'm working from a 'proper' (MS Excel) cutting list, this time!

I'd also like to exhibit my extraction setup when using the thicknesser of my machine - if I don't do this, the hose only gets in the way and becomes a right nuisance!

This part didn't take too long, as you can imagine. It was the steps to follow that meant the plinth construction dragged on until after lunch...

My Bosch 12in. mitre saw simply isn't accurate enough for most cuts, let alone mitres. I wasn't sure my Hegner disc sander would be up to cutting 90mm mitres either - at least, not without ruining the discs due to all that sap. So, I sharpened I dug out this old donkey's ear shooting board, buried somewhere behind my lathe.

Although I do own a couple of longer planes, I'm using a no.4 here because it's the only one I have so far 'modified' to take a thick Clifton iron, which is unbeatable when it comes to planing end-grain. At some point, I'll also widen the mouth on my no.5. The longer the plane, the more accurate the mitre, here.

I'm glad this chest is no longer than 1200mm otherwise, I'd have really been struggling here! :shock: Rob's made a nice donkey's ear-type attachment on his Bloke Blog - I may have to borrow this idea some time! :wink:

Eventually, the mitres were cut and things were looking up. Even biscuit jointing was fairly smooth, although I needed to sit the Makita jointer on a scrap of 4mm MDF to get the cutter in the right place.

Next, I wanted to add a similar 'relief' detail to the lower edges of all four lengths. I didn't bother looking for the old templates as I know I cut them up months ago - I knew it was a mistake, even then!! :x So, I lost some more time cutting two new templates before moving on to the router table for a bit of shaping.

A dry-run proved that my persistence with the tired old shooting board had payed off as all four mitres came together neatly. 8) Release the straps, add some glue and that's the plinth out of the way (for now). After taking this photo, I added a 5ft sash cramp to hold it square. The sheet of MDF is only there because the 500mm width is a bit tight on my new workbench.

By this time, I was about ready for a cup of tea and the dog was begging for some food. Some time later, I made a start on the end frames and made room for my mortiser in this far corner. Pine cuts easily and the freezer below sets the machine at a comfortable working height - no need to try and squeeze a stool in front any more!

I'm taking a slightly different approach to the panelling this time around... Last time, as you may remember (?), I cut the grooves first, followed by the mortises and then tenons. Now though, I'm cutting the joints and will cut a groove later to fit the boards once they've been sanded down - by my own admission, they were a little bit sloppy on the blanket chest... Fingers crossed on this one!

There was a nice little benchtop Multico mortiser on eBay not long ago and not far away either. It had a front clamp as well and only sold for £130 - why didn't I bid on it?!? :evil: I love the capacities on my Fox machine, it just seems to slow me down having to move the work along by hand, even with the rollers and bed I added.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to make a start on the rest of the frame in the afternoon (once I've finished the two ends, of course). Planing all those narrow bits of timber up isn't going to be 'fun'... :? I'm hoping to have all the frame components ready for staining in a couple of days. I don't have the space to do some and carry on with something else; I would prefer to do the lot in one go.

Oh, I apologise for some of the photos - I'm still playing around with the white balance on my camera. :roll:

 

[big soft moose]

. Now though, I'm cutting the joints and will cut a groove later to fit the boards once they've been sanded down - by my own admission, they were a little bit sloppy on the blanket chest... Fingers crossed on this one!

does that mean we get a discount this time to compensate

only kidding - you may have thought they were sloppy but we honestly couldnt tell - and the customer is always right

 

[OPJ]

:-k

I tell you what, Pete, I'll make sure it's done within three months this time!! Two, if you're really lucky! :wink:

For anyone wondering about the gloves [no-one has asked yet but, I'm sure someone is going to...! ] :roll:

...I can't seem to hold a bench plane for this kind of work without getting blisters in the palm of my right hand. I must be doing something wrong but, I cannot find a naturally comfortable way to hold a plane on its side... :?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Paul Chapman]

I cannot find a naturally comfortable way to hold a plane on its side... :?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Yes, Olly, get one of these

You can plane for hours with that without getting blisters 8) Expensive but well worth the money if you do a lot of shooting.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[woodbloke]

Olly - ref the long mitre shoot on the Blokelog. Credit must go to Pete (Newt) who came up with the idea and I copied it. The one shown in the blog was made for Waka, hence my run down to Weymouth last week. If Paul C's pic is what I think it is, then the LN No9 is definitely the bad boy to use on a shooter - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

If Paul C's pic is what I think it is, then the LN No9 is definitely the bad boy to use on a shooter

Got it in one

 

[OPJ]

I'm actually thinking of one day investing in something like Philly's Skew Mitre Plane. :wink: Looking at my bank balance though, I'll have to make do without either for a while.

Many thanks to Pete, then!

I also remember seeing one from Chris (waterhead37), where the timber sits horizontally along the workbench and the plane is set at a 45° angle - I think this is the one for me!

Bare with me; update on progress to follow...

 

[Chems]

Olly how are you making the draws, dovetails or box joints or other?

 

[OPJ]

With a delayed start, I got all the boards prepared for the end panels, down to a thickness of 8.5mm, which would provide me with some leeway for sanding later. Didn't come across any pith, splits or shakes in this lot, which was very pleasing. 8) The odd dead knot is acceptable, in my opinion (this is pine, after all). Robbins were able to supply boards sawn to ¾in. thick, which helped me out no end. I would've preferred to have bought 1¼in. stock and resawn it myself but, at least this way, I don't need to worry about internal stresses as much.

These were prepared on the router table in the same way as before (rebates and chamfers). This was a chance to try out a V-grooving cutter I bought from Wealden. The finish was excellent, although I still had a bit of breakout on two of the boards! :x Fortunately enough, I will need to trim a couple of boards and planed up exactly two spares anyway! :wink:

After seeing Shultzy's router table build [I think?], I'm now reconsidering my options for securing the fence on mine. Bristol levers with sliding nuts work very well. But, they're a PITA to get to on a small table when you need to remove the fence. You can buy 2in. and 3in. G-cramps for a few pounds at Toolstation - I think that's the answer for me, although I may have to re-make the main supporting fence... :-k

As I mentioned last night, I thoroughly sanded each board down to 180g, ensuring all marks from my thicknesser were removed. Then, I could use this to gauge the final width of my grooves, cut in two passes on the router table with a slot cutter. After a bit of final sanding and the stain, sealer and lacquer to come later, this will probably be about right for a tidy fit.

Back on to the frame and I was cutting tenons on the router table - yes, again, using Steve Maskery's excellent jig! :wink: I haven't yet found anything better than this for cutting small tenons in my workshop.

With a base of 18mm thick ply though, this is too much for the height of my 50mm wide tenon cutter. So, I had go back to using a straight cutter with greater length, which also leaves an irritating fluffy edge. :roll:

I can see two options here... One is to build a new jig with a thinner base. The other would be to invest in a collet extension, which would generally make bit changing much easier on my Freud router... :-k

I have suggested a 6mm ply base with 18mm ply on top (creating a recess in the middle for the work piece) but, Steve doesn't seem to think this will be enough for the cam cramp. And a 50mm wide cutter spinning another couple of inches further away from the collet leaves me feeling a bit uneasy... :? I'll ask Wealden and see what they think.

I lost a couple of hours after lunch having to run around and do other things. Tomorrow, I've got a lot of planing to do as I "look forward" to working on the rails and runners! :?

 

[OPJ]

Chems, at the moment, I'm looking at hand-cut dovetails for all eight drawers! :shock: I am watching a couple of Leigh jigs on eBay, just in case but, I still need to do a bit of research on those before I consider about bidding... I think I'd prefer a WoodRat in the long run anyway.

Box-joints may be okay at the rear... I'd have to check with Pete. Even then, I'd have to build a jig (lots of trial and error, etc.) for that... Come to think of it, I don't have any kind of track on my router table so, I'd have to look at adding at least one of those as well!

Good news for you, personally - that 32mm adaptor turned up yesterday inside a box full of other things which had gone missing!

 

[Chems]

Good news on the good news!

I have a leigh jig as you probably know, its brilliant really is. Once you get the hang of it a draw takes seconds. With careful use of a backer board and a good quality its easy enough to do them with very little to no breakout on the pins. Also there are the Isolock templates that I have to try out sometime.

I think with your new bench thou you'd knock through 8 draws of dovetails in now time. Maybe use a draw lock joint for the back of the draw and only dovetail the front as thats where the mechanical pressure is?