# Burr Elm Cabinet



## woodbloke (20 Jun 2006)

Having just finished off all the little bits and pieces in the workshop, I finished sawing a small piece of burr elm the other evening, and am about to decide what drawer fronts I can obtain for a smallish cabinet, which I think may be in the style of Alan Peters with through dovetails on drawer fronts, ebony handles.
As can be seen, I have started to chalk out rough outlines. I'm thinking that I should be able to have couple of larger drawers with some of smaller square ones.
Carcase work will be in elm, shown in the second pic on top of some oak. I bought the elm from Yandles some months ago and its been in the workshop for quite a while now and should be suitable to use, however....I'm still a little bit worried as elm is notorious for movement, so I think I'm going to have to be very careful in allowing the stuff to readjust after initial machining.


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## Tarkin (20 Jun 2006)

Like the look of that burr elm, should make for some lovley drawer fronts, and the ebony hanbdels will look great I'm sure.  
Not sure about the through dovetails, but thats just my opinion.


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## Paul Chapman (20 Jun 2006)

That sounds like a really interesting project, Rob. Hope you are able to post some WIP pictures :wink: 

Paul


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## woodbloke (20 Jun 2006)

Tarkin wrote:



> Not sure about the through dovetails,



Peters and Krenov are fond of using through d/t's on drawers, as in the example:

http://www.furnituresociety.org/awards/ ... ters2.html

The reason that I'm using them is that some of the burr elm pieces are less than 18mm thick, which is the min for half lapped d/t's. Making the drawer fronts with through d/t's will enable to use more of the wood.
Will post some pics of this project when under way - Rob


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## Paul Chapman (20 Jun 2006)

I really like the look of exposed joints 8) The way people like Alan Peters and James Krenov do it, it is a part of the visual design of the piece as well as the structural design - and, hey, why hide all that craftsmanship :wink: 

Looking forward to seeing it progress Rob.

Paul


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## Philly (20 Jun 2006)

Rob
I've bought a fair bit of Elm from Yandles-it is pretty easy to work but does move a little. Give it a break between roughing out and final dimensioning to let it stop moving. Once happy it will be stable-I made a barristers bookcase a few years ago and it hasn't moved at all.
Look forward to seeing your cabinet,
Cheers
Philly  
P.s. Put your Krenov and Peters books away once you start sketching out your design or you'll constantly keep refering to them and change your design to copy one of theirs. DAMHIK :wink:


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## woodbloke (17 Oct 2006)

After doing umpteen smallish projects over the summer months, I've been able to get going on my winter project, the burr elm chest, so these are really WIP pics. First pic shows the number of drawer fronts I was able to get out of the burr. Nine in all, 7 about 90mm sq and two a bit larger.






This pic shows the drawer dividers being biscuited together. The elm at the front has been left oversized all round for eventual planing to size later on.






Had a small problem with the elm as the legs moved :shock: in the final conditioning in the workshop so I guess its another trip to Yandles to get some more dryish elm, hopefully - Rob


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## RogerM (17 Oct 2006)

Rob - this looks like a really interesting winter project. Please do keep the WIP photos coming. And thanks for the link to the "Furniture Society". Lot's of inspration there!


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## woodbloke (17 Oct 2006)

Roger - I like the work produced by Alan Peters - my kind of stuff. If you can get hold of a copy of his book 'Cabinet Making, the Professional Approach' its well worth it, but sadly now out of print, so you would need to have a trawl around the 2nd hand bookshops - Rob


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## Anonymous (17 Oct 2006)

Looking forward to seeing more Rob - beautiful wood


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## dedee (18 Oct 2006)

methinks this is going to look gorgeous - can't wait.

Andy


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## John McM (22 Oct 2006)

Rob,
Did you see Kevin Leys's burr elm apothercary's chest in F&C mag iss 107 Oct 5. Stunning. Yours looks like it will work out the same way. Have you got a moisture meter ? as he warned in the article that elm was very prone to moving. I will be very interested to see how it turns out. Best of luck
John McM


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## woodbloke (22 Oct 2006)

JohnMcM wrote:


> elm was very prone to moving


The burr was collected from a field about 30 years ago (I was out with a mate in his motor and we saw a farmer lopping down this elm, so we screeched to a halt and I ran over to the guy and asked him if I could have a couple of lumps of the burr)... the burr has been drying out in a warm workshop for the last 30 years, so there shouldn't be too much damp in it. I have every copy of F&C and yes, I was very much taken with Kevin Ley's piece. This smaller chest is loosly based around that concept with a bit of Krenovian/Peters influence thrown in for good measure - Rob


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## woodbloke (27 Oct 2006)

Have done a bit more to the project, as shown below






The pic shows one of the drawer runner assemblies. The side runners have been glued in place with a square in situ to ensure that it goes together correctly. Very little pressure on the cramps, just enough to pull up the joint. Oak veneered dust boards into the slots and then the rear rail can be glued in. Its taken about three different glue up stages to get this far, I couldn't really glue up in one hit as the frame is too delicate at the mo. Have a look at the blocks supporting the sash cramp, very useful to keep them on an even keel and to support the job, worth making a barrow load. Also the cramping blocks each end of the job, the one at the far end sits over the sash cramp bar, have made a load of them as well - Rob


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## Paul Chapman (27 Oct 2006)

I recognise that, Rob  Good to see it coming together - I'm sure it's going to look fabulous when finished :wink: Great idea using those squares as part of the clamp-up - I'll pinch that :wink: 

Cheers

Paul


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## woodbloke (28 Oct 2006)

Paul - thought you'd recognise that  - using the squares as part of the glue up was the only way I could think of to ensure that the kickers were true as I couldn't use one during the glueing process - Rob


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## Anonymous (28 Oct 2006)

Just a thought, I heard somewhere that theres a market for tiny little bits (like 3x1x1 etc) of burr woods for folk who make there own knives, they use it for fancy handls; might be worth selling on ebay (only tiniest bits that would otherwise be useless)
Cheers Jonathan 
PS nice concept for chest, I have always liked burr elm, english exotic, used it for a saw handle, possibly not the best specis for that purpose!!


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## woodbloke (28 Oct 2006)

Jonathan - it is a bit of a problem knowing what to do with the offcuts tho' SWIMBO has done some long walks for which she has medals and these have been mounted on some odd bits - I dare say that I'll be able to find other uses for the oddments - Rob


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## woodbloke (2 Nov 2006)

Have done some more on the chest... this pic shows one of the two drawer panels with dust boards in place an the dividers glued up. The glue up is with small loose tongue ply offcuts from the dust boards as the timber is too thin even for the smallest sized biscuits. The dividers have been planed about .25 of a mm narrower at the drawer back so that the opening _ought_ to .5mm smaller at the front - Rob


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