# Elm Chest WIP



## woodbloke (10 Jan 2007)

Have been making a little progress on my winter project so I thought I would post a couple of WIP pics. Seven of the ten drawers have now been made and have been fitted to about .13mm tol each side, a little less at the top. The first pic shows the front of the chest with a 0.11mm feeler gauge in place. All sorts of scribblings on the carcase, 'specially on the drawer dividers to show which way to plane to clean up the front. What is interesting is that each time I come out to the shop in this wet/dry weather the fit of each drawer alters a fraction, nothing drastic but I can detect it - 







The second pic shows the rear of the chest with the rebate to receive the back, which will be a framed two panelled job in elm sitting flush with the carcase...I'm inclined to think that I may square out the rebate but am not sure....Opinions or advice?

Drawer dividers were planed fractionally narrow by about .5mm so that the drawers wouldn't bind and as the drawer sides are so narrow (6mm) I may glue an additional fillet onto the drawer back at the bottom to increase the thickness so as to make screwing the bases (C of L) in slightly easier. There is plenty of room before the back panel would foul the drawer backs. Again, this is not strictly 'by the book' so your views appreciated - Rob


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## superunknown (10 Jan 2007)

Thats looks amazing. That will look stunning when its polished. Hope you post more pics


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## Thallow (10 Jan 2007)

Wow what can I say....this is just the sort of thing on this forum that has inspired me to start Woodworking; absolutely fabulous - bet it will be worth a fortune when its done  

Are u planning on selling it or is it 'just' :shock: a project for the house?

More pics pls  

J


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## Paul Chapman (10 Jan 2007)

WOW Rob, that's looking fabulous 8) 8) Having seen those individual pieces of wood when I visited you, it's nice to see how it's all coming together.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## DomValente (10 Jan 2007)

Is that point one three millimetres?


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## Alf (10 Jan 2007)

woodbloke":199tntk7 said:


> ...*about* .13mm...

















Sorry, Rob.  Looking great. I'd vote heavily in favour of squaring up the back rebate, fwiw.

Cheers, Alf


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## Anonymous (10 Jan 2007)

Looks great, congratulations your the first person i've ever heard of working to 1/100mm in wood.


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## woodbloke (10 Jan 2007)

Been out to check that I havn't made a goof in reading the vernier....I have, its not 0.11 but 0.12mm. Sorry - Rob


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## Jake (10 Jan 2007)

You'd better repeat that in imperial for Jonathan, et al


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## wrightclan (10 Jan 2007)

woodbloke":3tlwarq7 said:


> Been out to check that I havn't made a goof in reading the vernier....I have, its not 0.11 but 0.12mm. Sorry - Rob



There's probably been that much movement since you last checked. :lol: 

Brad


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## Fecn (10 Jan 2007)

It's already beautiful and stunning.

I can't wait to see it when it's all done and got the finish applied.


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## wrightclan (10 Jan 2007)

Jake":393cu1zq said:


> You'd better repeat that in imperial for Jonathan, et al



.0043 and .0047 respectively. :wink: 

Quality work, Woodbloke. =D> 

Brad


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## Lord Nibbo (10 Jan 2007)

Now I see what all the bur elm was for, it's looking fantastic now without a finish, I do hope your not going to do a Norm and plaster stain and poly all over it, may I suggest just danish oil wiped on with fine wire wool. It's gona look amazing


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## Jake (10 Jan 2007)

I agree that it looks fantastic now, but I wonder whether oil will darken and muddy it too much. I'd be tempted to try a bit of nitro lacquer on a spare bit of the burr.



(Yes, I know anything but "natural" oil is bordering on heresy in these parts.)


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## Philly (10 Jan 2007)

Wow! Looking great Rob!
Once you seal it is should help tame the burrs movement. A little, anyway.
Look forward to seeing it done,
Philly


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## John McM (10 Jan 2007)

Terrific Rob, inspirational. I can't wait to see the finished pics. I vote for squaring the back too. Roll over Kevin Ley there's a new boy in town.

Regards
John


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## promhandicam (10 Jan 2007)

Wow - not sure I want to post my WIP now  My only thought, FWIW, is that the tolerances seem a bit tight _before_ there is any finish on it. I guess it depends on what you are going to use but in my ignorance I'd be concerned that once it had a finish on it the drawers would bind.

Steve


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## Colin C (11 Jan 2007)

=D> =D> 
Rob that is a beaut and will look soo much better when it is has the finish on it  
I cant wait for the pic's when it is.

I also would say square corners on the back


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## Waka (11 Jan 2007)

Rob

Your making really good progress, its going to be a gem when finished.

I agree with Alf re squareing of the recess for the back.


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## Anonymous (11 Jan 2007)

That's going to look stunning! =D> 

I love oiled finishes, but I have a hunch that lacquer would work best with this piece.

Definitely square up the back rebate - much easier & neater than shaping the back.

I'm a bit concerned with the .12mm gap to the drawers, particularly at the tops. The smallest amount of swelling across the drawer front is going to bind them up - no question about it.

I've no idea what gap I leave - I use the leaf of a flush hinge. About .8mm?

Cheers
Brad


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## dedee (11 Jan 2007)

Rob, it's all been said already - excellant.

Are all the same size drawers interchangeable or will they only fit in one place?

Andy


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## CYC (11 Jan 2007)

This looks fantastic already. I can't wait to see it with a coat of danish oil to bring the wood out :wink:


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## woodbloke (11 Jan 2007)

Many thanks for all your replies and advice - please keep it coming. General consensus is to square out the back rebate so that's what I will do once I start on the back..I was only a little concerned about the short grain in the corners on the top and bottom of the carcase that would be the result.

Dedee - each drawer fits only one opening and each is numbered in Roman numerals cut with a 6mm chisel on the underside thus:







Drawer pulls and stops will be in ebony...haven't yet decided wether to carve (Krenovian style) or to turn the pulls

Regarding eventual finish, I don't have the facilities to spray but have considerd a couple of coats of matt acrylic (applied with the very fine lacquer brushes from Axminster) cut back between each coat and then waxed or this which had a good review in F&C or again I could use one of the propritry finishing oils.

After the main chest has been done and dusted there is a stand to make for it with raised (where the tennon is not flushed off but is left proud) and wedged M/T with wedges in ebony to match the drawer pull detailing - Rob


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## dedee (11 Jan 2007)

Rob, 
Your numbering system is far more elegant than the scribbled diagram on the back of each drawer that I used in similar circumstances. 


Andy


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## woodbloke (11 Jan 2007)

Andy - I've always used this method for numbering joints and drawers - provided you don't make any mistakes in the numbering its easy to do and can't be erased. To mark a M/T I just inscribe the tennon and the timber adjacent to the mortice, both get covered when the joint goes together so its pretty foolproof...works for me anyway - Rob


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## Jake (11 Jan 2007)

The PolyX will darken it more than lacquer, about the same as danish oil etc, I would think. If you have an offcut of the burr to post to me, I'd post it back to you with a couple of coats on it.

You can get nitro in a spray can, or even brush-on (I think).

Depends what look you're after, I suppose.


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## woodbloke (11 Jan 2007)

Jake - that would be marvellous, many thanks. If you send me a PM with your address I'll get a small lump of the burr in the post and will also enclose an SAE for the return - Rob


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## Philipp (11 Jan 2007)

Very well done, Rob, congratulations!

One question: the drawer sides are 6 mm in thickness, right? Did you make grooves for the bottoms (and if yes: how deep?), thus perhaps weakening the drawer sides considerably, or do you have another solution?

I am currently working on drawers made from service tree (?; Sorbus torminalis), sides shall be about 11 mm. Already quite thin for my experience, and I am pondering whether I can allow them a groove for the bottom or whether I rather should glue strips of wood onto the sides that carry the bottoms.

Would appreciate your comments.

Regards
Philipp


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## woodbloke (11 Jan 2007)

Philipp - each drawer has a 4mm groove which is 3mm deep, so yes the drawer is a little weaker than normal as the sides are so thin. I could have used drawer slips that are glued in place and will have to do so along the front as the joints are through dovetails. Howerever I don't anticipate that the piece, when finished is going to get a serious hammering (children are all grown up now... :-k hmm, will that make a difference) so I'm quite happy with the grooves in the sides as they are...'tis a bit late to change it now if I'm not :lol: - Rob


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## dedee (11 Jan 2007)

woodbloke":18hedmvy said:


> I don't anticipate that the piece, when finished is going to get a serious hammering (children are all grown up now... :-k hmm, will that make a difference)



My father know concedes that his grandchildren cause far more wear and tear on him and his furniture than I was ever allowed to get away with. :lol: 

Andy


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## Paul Chapman (11 Jan 2007)

I love the way you've marked the drawers with Roman numerals, Rob 8) 8) 
It's rather like the way they used to number the joints in the oak beams of old timber-framed houses.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## wrightclan (11 Jan 2007)

Paul Chapman":p28v8kum said:


> I love the way you've marked the drawers with Roman numerals, Rob 8) 8)
> It's rather like the way they used to number the joints in the oak beams of old timber-framed houses.
> 
> Cheers :wink:
> ...



You gotta love the juxtaposition of Roman numerals and metric feeler gauges. :lol: :wink: 

Brad


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## woodbloke (11 Jan 2007)

Good innit :lol: ...don't tell others tho' on a different forum about mixing them up :lol: - Rob


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## Paul Chapman (11 Jan 2007)

wrightclan":v43vrt84 said:


> Paul Chapman":v43vrt84 said:
> 
> 
> > I love the way you've marked the drawers with Roman numerals, Rob 8) 8)
> ...



It gets a bit messy writing fractions with Roman numerals :lol: :lol: 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Evergreen (11 Jan 2007)

Hey, guys! I'm not getting the pictures! Just little red crosses in boxes.

What am I not doing right?

Regards.


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## JFC (11 Jan 2007)

I cant see the pics on page two  Looking very good from the pics on page 1


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## woodbloke (12 Jan 2007)

Pics have gone, will repost -Rob


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## woodbloke (12 Jan 2007)

Pics reposted......











Rob


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## Evergreen (12 Jan 2007)

Aaaaaah, now I can see what all the cheering is about. That's very, very handsome. An heirloom piece in the making, without doubt.

Regards.


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## lucky9cat (12 Jan 2007)

Lovely. What sort of size is it? I'd guess the drawer fronts are about 3 inches square and the main case just under 3/4 thick? It's going to be a really beautiful piece.

Ted


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## woodbloke (12 Jan 2007)

Thats about right, smallest drawers are about 85mm square and the main carcase is 15mm thick - Rob


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## Anonymous (12 Jan 2007)

Deceptive, I thought it was bigger than that, lovely work.


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## woodbloke (13 Jan 2007)

Almost a disaster.....the large middle drawer went together well and I started to fit it... it went in about half way and no further, despite continued checking. :-k :-k :-k . So I measured the front and then the back openings.....back was smaller than the front by about .5mm. This doesn't sound allot but its *DEATH* to a drawer if the back is smaller than the front. Got round the problem by taping some 60g paper to a longish length of ply (about 50mm wide) and gradually opening out the back each side so that its slightly bigger than the front by about .5mm Once I'd finished with the 60g I replaced it with some 120g to get a reasonable finish inside. I don't know if this is an accepted method of solving this particular problem....its a long, slow, fairly tedious process and I skinned my knuckes on the dividers but it does work...for me anyway. Drawer fits now beautifully - Rob


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## Paul Chapman (13 Jan 2007)

:shock: :shock: Blimey, Rob, bit of a heart-stopping moment :shock: :shock: Glad you got it sorted 'cause we are all dying to see the finished masterpiece  

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## woodbloke (13 Jan 2007)

Paul - thanks for that.....nearly made a serious, big time goof  - Rob


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## RogerM (13 Jan 2007)

woodbloke":2b7jh8ms said:


> I don't know if this is an accepted method of solving this particular problem....its a long, slow, fairly tedious process and I skinned my knuckes on the dividers but it does work...for me anyway. Drawer fits now beautifully - Rob



Hey! If it works then it's got to be acceptable! =D> 

I bet you can't wait to wipe on that first coat of whatever finish you're going to use over the front of the drawers. I can scarcely contain myself either. Lovely work.


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