Chest of drawers project. For cutlery

[pe2dave]

1. Customer requirement.

I've just bought this cutlery (actually in the process of buying). I want something nice to hold it. The canteen cost a small fortune, I'm sure you can do something.

6 big knives.
6 little knives
Ditto forks.
Soup spoons
Dessert spoons.

2. Outline design.

Available material from other projects.
Oak. 4in by 20mm. About 12 feet.
Oak faced ply, 4mm.

Ideas. Chest of drawers. Making a canteen like ours (40 years old) is not on with my
skills. Primarily because I couldn't figure out how to fix a really fine beize to the routed cut-outs.
So, ideas. 2 wide, 3 deep. Fixed width, variant heights.
After a month I had figured out how to create the cuts to hold the items.

Three weeks later. Oh, I might buy something else, can you leave me space for that.
Just add another drawer on to the bottom then I can fit anything in.

OK.

Drawn up on qcad, dxf format (as per Autocad). Drawings available if anyone interested.
Just too much for my little brain to hold without drawings.
I'd made two chests of drawers before, but the difference here is that I'm not joining
what are effectively panels, I want 4 'sticks' in each dimension, with panels rebated into each piece. I spent days (of evenings) staring at nothing working out what went where.

More to come.

 

[mailee]

Well Dave that is a coincidence! I have also been asked to make the self same thing also in Oak I decided on the chest of drawers theme too as I have made a number of them before as jewelery boxes. It sounds like my customers set is much larger though and I must do it justice as there is over £500 worth of cutlery :shock: I intend to make a start on it to be a winter project as the customer is in no hurry luckily. :wink:

 

[pe2dave]

Well Dave that is a coincidence! I have also been asked to make the self same thing also in Oak I decided on the chest of drawers theme too as I have made a number of them before as jewelery boxes. It sounds like my customers set is much larger though and I must do it justice as there is over £500 worth of cutlery :shock: I intend to make a start on it to be a winter project as the customer is in no hurry luckily. :wink:

Ditto. I'd have lost the contract with all my thinking time. It is paying off though. Having
glued up the sides to the front last night, I'm 1mm out on the diagonals in one directions.

Working out how to run the drawers through the saw to get the 'slots' was the initial block.
I'll post some pictures of those today.

Dave

 

[pe2dave]

1. Customer requirement.

More to come.

2. The drawers.

Photos on Flickr. http://flickr.com/photos/davepawson/set ... 311645879/

Method. Mitre slide set to 15 degrees on table saw, run over the wood. Very great care needed to cater for the 2.4mm kerf (yes, I got it wrong). Two marks on the table saw, one aligned to rhs of blade, one to the left. Then align the right one with the mark on the timber and feed into the blade.

Fiendishly difficult to measure the stand off height for the cutlery! Suck it and see was my final solution! Due care (aesthetics) needed for how they lay in the trays? Spoons in particular look odd if the handle ends aren't picked up off the ground.

The framework is for the front. Starting with 20x12mm I seem to have hacked more away than I left!

Rebates for 'roof', sides, shelves, base.

How would you have joined the three 'beams' at each corner? Noting that I had to leave room to work inside the carcass and not make it look daft when finished!




More to come

 

[mailee]

I have to admit Dave that my design was a little more simple than that. I didn't intend to have a face frame but use the ends of the sides and top.

 

[pe2dave]

I have to admit Dave that my design was a little more simple than that. I didn't intend to have a face frame but use the ends of the sides and top.

Then run bars across to support the drawers? Wouldn't that be just
the same thing... sort of viewed through different glasses?

Cut the 'runners' last night, except they aren't runners.

I'll post some drawings today.
Anyone interested in dxf or should I convert to images?

Dave

 

[pe2dave]

I'll post some drawings today.
Anyone interested in dxf or should I convert to images?
Dave

No responses so it's a straight image.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davepawson/2073636944/

Lots of practice using the table saw for 'nibbling'. Again accuracy was the key.
Dimensions were determined by the actual drawers - leaving a couple of millimeters
for slack. Runners will be needed to make up for the variant sizes.


Dave

 

[pe2dave]

Top corners. Rear.
http://flickr.com/photos/davepawson/2073659682/

I had to work at this one. This joint is used to close off the box. So

Slide in, and glue, the roof panel.
Slide in and glue the rear panel.

Slide the top bar onto the rear panel (4mm rebate).
Wiggle factor - slide the roof into the 5mm rebate.

That's the plan... I'll let you know if it works!
(I do have a contingency though. Can you guess what it is?)

Dave

 

[pe2dave]

All done.

Of course I can see all the faults!

shows the finished piece. Green baize inserts finish it nicely.

shows it closed.

This is the full set.

Enjoyable. Yes.
Lessons?

A good router table/fence really helps with fine work.
I'm sold on the bandsaw as a tool!

Avoid staining and polyurethene in one tin! Horrible stuff.
Fix the runs using a very sharp scraper with near zero pressure.

Ebony is great for knobs with just that little bit of difference.





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[mailee]

Ah, this is what I have been waiting for. Very nice work Dave. I like the idea of the drawers holding the cutlery on their sides rather than flat, makes building a little simpler. I may nick a couple of your ideas there if I may?

 

[pe2dave]

Ah, this is what I have been waiting for. Very nice work Dave. I like the idea of the drawers holding the cutlery on their sides rather than flat, makes building a little simpler. I may nick a couple of your ideas there if I may?

Thanks. Of course. Let me know if you need any dimensions.

Best wishes for Christmas.

 

[RogerM]

Nice one Dave. Those inserts must have been a real pain to cut accurately. I will confess that the finsh is not entirely to my taste, but that is an entirely subjective viewpoint and I guess is the responsibility of the customer.

 

[pe2dave]

Final comment, and a warning to others.

I delivered the drawers to the customer for Christmas and she duly
(tried to) load it with the cutlery.

Goodness knows why, but 2 of the forks were a couple of mm longer
than the one I'd used as a model and 3 of the spoons were more than
5mm longer!

She duly took these back to the shop and had them replaced, but by
the longer ones? Seems the pattern changed!

I'm now going to have to grind out this extra in the oak.

Lesson?

Leave 'enough' room (I guess I was being "tidy") for variation
in the length of the items!