Dresser top WIP

[mickthetree]

Been working on this on and off between other things for some friends. Time for a WIP whilst I pop the kettle on.

Dresser top to sit on a kitchen worktop.

Its supposed to look like this.

Take a couple of old pine wardrobes. (strimmer optional)

Plane back the varnish and paint and rip to rough width.

Joint ripped edges.

Did try using a router and guide to square the ends, but what a noisy messy business!!

Back to the number 7 and shooting board instead.

Ready to mark up for dovetails. May as well do two sides at once.

A few key items.

Quick pare back to the scribed line.

Then a tap with the chisel away form the base line and they pop right out.

Pare to the line then clean out any waste, then onto the pins (forgot to take any photos here).

Route stopped housing (did start doing this by hand but this is just so much quicker and easier with a router).

Time for a test fit to see how its all going. Too big to put together in my shed, so the dining room table it is! But aarrgghh dropped the top! Fortunately the pin that broke off is the far back corner so wont be seen. Still plenty of strength.


I am now cutting the shelves to size, then need to route the housings for those, then onto the two drawers.

To be continued.......

 

[chill]

nice design Mick, may nick that as swimbo wants something similar in our kitchen :lol:

 

[mickthetree]

Cheers Chris

There are a few modifications I would make if I were doing it again. The bottom shelf (which is also the top of the drawers) I have lapping over the L shape of the sides.

I would extend the bottom curve down to the front and sit the whole shelf inside. I'll see if I can adjust teh sketch up to show what I mean.

 

[AndyT]

I like your practical mixture of hand and machine methods and the use of recycled timber.

Those drawers at the bottom will be fine for anyone who always keeps the worktop in front of them clear and tidy!

 

[mickthetree]

Cheers Andy. Some times its just quicker and easier to do it by hand isn't it!

Yeah, I wait to see how long the drawers are used.

I planned on fitting the drawers straight in rather than on runners. Still undecided on that bit as yet.

 

[mailee]

Looking good Mick but fancy cheating with the router for the trenching! I really expected to see you use a hand router for that. :roll: Seriously though it is looking really good so far and I am looking forward to seeing the finished article. There certainly wouldn't be enough room on our worktops for those drawers with my SWMBO! :lol:

 

[mickthetree]

Cheers Mailee

Yeah the router just seemed too easy not to use on this bit

I did them by hand on thisone, but the oak cut really nicely with my record router plane. The pine just tends to tear.

Looking forward to getting all of the wood from this one out of the shed, I can hardly move!

 

[chingerspy]

Very nice! I picked up a Silky Dozuki today lovely cut, shame it appears to have a wonky blade that doesn't cut too straight. I'm sure it will get better with use though

With that I'm off to try some dovetails!

 

[OPJ]

Looking good Mick but fancy cheating with the router for the trenching!

Don't forget that he also used the router to square the ends!!

Looking good, though.

 

[mickthetree]

Yeah, I did have a go with the router to square the edge. I dont think I did it right though as it was blowing out at the end as the router exited. Also so noisy and dusty!

Once I got into the ends with a saw and shooting board, I raced through them.

chingerspy - my Dozuki also has a bow in it. I do find it hard to get used to and I think I'll be getting a western saw at some point as well. I find if I just let the saw do all the work and dont force it even slightly it cuts straight.

Also, I find I have to make two cuts then cut out the small section with a fret saw, so I can get my coping saw in, which is just a faff. With a western saw I reckon I could get the coping saw straight in there.

 

[chingerspy]

Nice tip with the double cut. Inspired by your results I was just in the garage having my first go at DT's. It wasn't all that great but I did it and once all the gaps were filled with glue and dust they looked half presentable

Yes the kerf on these saws is very thin, I too tried with my fret and coping saws to get in there when doing the tails and found i was starting the cut with them about half way up, no good really. Ended up just chiseling out the bottoms on the pins. This was in a couple of MDF scraps though, easy chiseling.

They are great saws though, I also got the Silky Hibiki. Very nice. I think I will get the Big Boy for chunkier cuts next time I have money.

 

[Chems]

Looking good! You need a good vacuum for the routering then?

I like the look of that rebate jig for the router, where did you get the idea, looks sort familure?

 

[chingerspy]

I saw and made a small one like that from pictures in Woodworking Plans and Projects. I'll be making a larger one soon for some shelving.

 

[mickthetree]

Cheers Chems - dust extraction? whats that? :roll:

hmmmm not sure where I got the idea for that square jig.

Chingerspy - I'm sure my poor technique is just down to practise. it didnt help that I was extremely cramped for space in the shed as this is a big build. Need to feel good and comfortable when cutting things like this I think.

When planing them after fitting, the end grain kind of splays out to fill any small holes I find. Obviously I try not to make any in the first place though :lol:

 

[chill]

Hi Mick, I think i understnd what you mean with the curves, looking good will adjust and change the design to that required by the head architect
(swimbo) :lol:

 

[mickthetree]

As I mentioned to Chill I should have extended the bottom curve down to the top of the next shelf.

As a consiquence of not doing that I'm trying to work out how best to deal with the bottom shelf which is also the top of the drawers.

This shows what I intend to do. Create one long shelf which sits directly on the sides and around the centre upright.

You might be able to see that I intended to recess this shelf into the side.

But i'm thinking it might just be better to sit it directly on the sides and not rebate it in.

Just cant decide on how to tackle this. Any ideas?

 

[Chems]

I like your recess idea, will add strength as well to the whole construction.

As its old pine you don't need to worry about expansion to much at all, I guess it will have done its moving since been machined years ago.

Looks good and I want more pictures!

 

[mickthetree]

.....cont

cut the first curved bit on the bandsaw, then realized that theres not enough clearance in the throat to cut the others!! so I made a series of cuts close to the line and chiseled the waste away.

Then used the spokeshave to get down to the line.

Once I had the curves all cut in the sides and in place I moved onto the housings for the shelves. Cut one set first using the router and square

Can leave a bit of a rough line (cheap bit and well used)

but a light touch and a sharp chisel quickly gets rid of the fluff.

put the backs together and copied the lines onto the other side

did the same with the fronts

then joined these new marks together and routed as before.

Router bit isn't wide enough to do the whole thing in one pass so I have to move it, before I do the other side I chamfered the edge to stop it blowing out (had this troubloe before, lesson learnt)

Pic of the stopped housing. I was extending the lines in this shot onto the edge so I could copy them onto the other board. I used the ruler held up against the routed edge and extended the line

I then routed the edges of the shelves which are 5mm over length at each end so fit to the housing.

then cut the front end to fit over the front of the housing

I now have to finish fitting the shelves, then cut the bottom shelf then assemble.

Then onto the drawers!!

 

[mickthetree]

Finished the rebates on the shelves this morning and thought I'd have a trial fit.

All comes together nicely. The top and bottoms are dovetailed and ready to fit. I need to work out how I'm going to do this bottom shelf now and then it can all go together.

 

[Chems]

Looks really good, its difficult working with pine. What finish are you going to use?