# Shaker Styled Welsh Dresser



## Chems (28 Feb 2011)

I asked for some design help on the design forum the other day as I was getting no-where with a design. But I decided to take a different approach and utilize another space and fancied making something shaker esq. 

Here's my design. It will be a light blue egg shell painted finish with a solid walnut top. I'd appreciate any finishing advice as I'm planning to spray a few coats of primer then spray an oil based egg shell colour coat. Upper unit doors will either be glass or frosted glass. 




I treated myself to some new clamps as the sash cramps I had from axminster like 3 years ago have seen better days. I got these from rutlands in their sale, they were already reduced but with the 10% off they were something like £66. They seem to be really good, a lot of pressure and don't leave a mark unless you apply super human strength level clamping pressure and then they will. The plastic on the body is showing a few signs of whitening as if the metal underneath is really pushing on it as I did do some super human clamping strength (you regular people won't need to worry) but I wasn't planning on been easy on them as they come with a lifetime warranty so if I manage to break them hopefully rutlands will sort it out. But as it is they are just showing some plastic stress points to the casing which is fine as long as everything else is still working. Will probably get another pack on the next 10% day and start building up some decent clamps. 






















That's as far as I've got. Faceframes doors and drawers next then the painting. 

My little 1/4 router plunge lock broke today so I may have to invest in a new one for the next project, just something small like an OF1400.


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## adidat (28 Feb 2011)

thats a nice looking project look forward to seeing the end result, are you using pre-laminated boards??

adidat


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## Chems (28 Feb 2011)

Yeah the fixboard stuff from Build Centre. Been using it for years really nice stuff to work with.


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## mailee (28 Feb 2011)

Looking like a good start Chems. I have a set of those clamps too and they are great. (I recently had one slipping but there is a small allen screw to adjust this...I did and it has been fine since) What happened to your sketchup drawing? it seems to be drooping on the top corner? Is this a fish eye lens in Sketchup. LOL


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## Chems (28 Feb 2011)

You always ask me this, its just cause I don't like it in perspective view! Glad your getting on well with the clamps. They do seem to be an exact copy of the much more expensive bessys, so if they last I'll be well chuffed.


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## Chems (14 Mar 2011)

Little bit more done this weekend at very leisurely pace. 

The laminated board I use is stacked at the warehouse one on top of another and this usally means they are fairly bowed. So I always try to leave them a few days before I work them as they straighten right out once stood up or stacked properly. But this time I didn't as I got the stuff on friday and machined it etc on the weekend. So heres the movement back to straight. You can see the rebate put it and the gap that has appeared as the woods come back to straight. Hopefully the blurry straight edge in the background shows that is infact gone to straight not to bowed. But gluing this up and forcing the dominos in was really hard with the boards having a slight bow! Re ran the rebate again to get it all level.


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## barkwindjammer (14 Mar 2011)

Thats looking well good James, what make are those cramps ?


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## Chems (14 Mar 2011)

Dakota from Rutlands, they seem to be identical to the much more expensive Bessys. Got the 4 of them for £62 something on one of rutlands 10% days. After a few more days of use I can highly recommend them.

Thats probably not a very helpful answer, these ones: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/cl ... jaw-clamps

Mine are the 31" ones, I don't really have need for the larger ones in my cabinet making.


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## Chems (3 Apr 2011)

Made some more progress this weekend, leisurly progress. 

























I need to buy some nice hinges now tonight to carry on with it. I'm leaning towards Iron Mongery direct unless anyone has any better ones. I don't want to spend the earth on hinges but would like some nice ones.


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## Mark A (4 Apr 2011)

I saw that trick with the table saw on an old norm episode on the website last week - but he made the cornice in one pass so it looked dodgy! 

The dresser looks really good. Are you going to use Farrow and Ball paint?


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## goldeneyedmonkey (4 Apr 2011)

Hi Chems, just wondering as to why you didn't use Tulipwood as opposed to pine as it's being painted?

Looks great by the way, loving the Walnut top and the proportions look spot on. 

Cheers _Dan.


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## Chems (4 Apr 2011)

Did he use a dado set, on one pass I raised it a little to high and it wasn't a nice feeling so backed off but can't imagine what it must have been like for norm doing the whole thing. Don't know how he still has all his fingers! 

Hoping to use Farrow and Ball.


Well tulip wood as far as I know has to be machined etc, my local timber yard does it under the Uk name of poplar wood. Its cheap but nowhere near as easy to use as these pre laminated boards. Minus the worktop which was £50 delivered and I have a good chunk left over, its cost £62 so far. I think they should paint ok I've never painted it before so will be interesting to see. When I've sprayed it in the past with stain it raises the grain a bit but after a few coats of lacquer its silky smooth so I'm hoping it will be the same with the paint.


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## Mark A (4 Apr 2011)

No dado just a normal blade in one pass.

A couple of times he's been close to loosing more than just his fingers!


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## Chems (4 Apr 2011)

I watched one the other day, he was making a butchers block, one of the ones on his website each week. Made me flinch watching it how close his fingers came!


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## Mark A (4 Apr 2011)

I think the TV woodworkers are bad influences on people who may not know the right way of doing things and who accept that "if he does it that way then it must be ok" I know the programmes have disclaimers at the start but it's no excuse for bad working practices. That's how accidents happen. Should they show a video of kickback impalement or an arm amputation at the start? There's no more important safety rule than to have these - blood type cards.  

Norm isn't the only culprit though - Anton Fitzpatrick from Woodworks.... he ripped a narrow strip of wood on the table saw - no guard, blade at full hight, no push stick and stood directly behind the blade. His fingers were so close I couldn't believe it. And Rico Daniels from The Salvager - but don't let me start on him... 

Mark


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## goldeneyedmonkey (4 Apr 2011)

Chems":3fp7m7dd said:


> Well tulip wood as far as I know has to be machined etc, my local timber yard does it under the Uk name of poplar wood. Its cheap but nowhere near as easy to use as these pre laminated boards. Minus the worktop which was £50 delivered and I have a good chunk left over, its cost £62 so far. I think they should paint ok I've never painted it before so will be interesting to see. When I've sprayed it in the past with stain it raises the grain a bit but after a few coats of lacquer its silky smooth so I'm hoping it will be the same with the paint.



Cheers Chems, I've never worked with either, I just wondered as to your decision making process why you'd chosen the pre-lam boards. 

Cheers _Dan.


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## mailee (4 Apr 2011)

Ah :roll: yes Mark but remember Anton tells you to wear thick rubber gloves when using the table saw.


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## Chems (20 Apr 2011)

I'm nearly ready to start painting tomorrow. Got a little sanding to do on the doors. Used filler to really get a smooth transition from the crown moulding and touched up some tear out. There are pluses to painted furniture!


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## billybuntus (20 Apr 2011)

Looking good, my only suggestion (thats far better than I could do by the way) would be to proportion the bottom panels so they are larger than the top to make it look 'right'


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## Chems (20 Apr 2011)

I'm not sure how I'd do that, the top is a lot larger than the bottom from the off, it could be that it looks a little out of perspective in that photo as I had to block the extreme sunlight we had today with my body and took the picture from an odd angle, I'll try an get a better picture tomorrow. Thanks


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## barkwindjammer (20 Apr 2011)

Thats looking great Chems, like the mottled glass in the doors, what paint finish have you settled on ?


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## Chems (20 Apr 2011)

Thanks. I picked up some Farrow and Ball palmer grey from a nice little shop in nottingham. Two little 750ml pots should do it. Hoping to be ready to start spraying by the end of tomorrows work.


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## Chems (24 Apr 2011)

All finished nearly. Got to fit the handles, I ordered 18mm handles but should have ordered 36mm ones so will fit them later.

Farrow and Ball paint was excellent to spray.


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## goldeneyedmonkey (24 Apr 2011)

Looks great Chems. Very crisp. Am I right in thinking that materials were £62 + Paint + Handles? If so  . I'd have wanted the skirting board profile cut out so that it was flush to the wall, but that's just me, I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea. 

Cheers _Dan.


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## Chems (25 Apr 2011)

Thanks Dan,

Yeah price was, £62 for the wood plus a little mdf I had laying about and some T+G for the back. £19 for the glass, £30 for 2 750ml paint and another £20 for handles and hinges delivered. Thats not its final home there I should say, just a temp home before its moved later in the week to my house. I can easily trim it in to the skirting board as the base of the bottom unit is 170mm from the floor, but my house the walls are very un level so its likely not to sit flush no matter what as the walls tip out a bit.


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## woodbloke (25 Apr 2011)

Nice job of that Chems...chunky look n'est pas? Looks good, what's next? - Rob


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## Chems (25 Apr 2011)

Thanks Rob, chunky oui, I think I hurt my back lifting the top unit on the other day. 

Next up is a cutting board today from the off cuts off the worktop. Then an oak desk for someone else. Then over the summer months I'd really like to finally make myself a roubo bench so just looking at sourcing the PAR timber at the right price.


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## Richard S (25 Apr 2011)

Very nice work Chems, what sort of glass did you use. I'm planning a dresser for later this year and was thinking about restoration glass with air bubbles and imperfections as a feature. personally I'm big into distressed painted finishes but i'm well impressed with the standard you have achieved. Nice thread, entertaining as always keep up the good work.

Richard


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## barkwindjammer (25 Apr 2011)

Thats a very nice piece James and a great WIP post =D> , looking forward to your next inspiring project.

Jim


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## Chems (25 Apr 2011)

Thanks Jim. Next project shouldn't be long!

Thanks Richard, as a fellow Northamptoner I can tell you exactly where I got it from. It was from Impact Glazing based in Daventry. It is called Minster glass. As a company can't recommend them enough, I've used them a lot and they are so helpful:

http://www.impactglazing.co.uk/glass_patterns.php


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## softtop (26 Apr 2011)

Very nice job and love the finish. Great work!

Henry


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## Chems (27 Apr 2011)

Thanks very much Henry.

I also made yesterday a chopping board with the off cuts from the work top. Ripped to 40mm flipped and glued back together and planed it flat. Here it is fresh from a slathering of vegetable oil:


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## Chems (2 May 2011)

Handles arrived today, all finished


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## mailee (2 May 2011)

Excellent job Chems. I do like the cornice and the endgrain top makes it really stand out.


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## barkwindjammer (2 May 2011)

An honest piece of furniture there James =D> and an inspiration, hope you've kept the Sketchup drawings in a safe place :wink:


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