Dressing table - newbie project - need help

[sbi85]

Hey everyone,

Hope you all had a great day.
Small introduction. I'm a real newbie at the whole woodworking business. All I did so far is building a simple stand for my projector. I don't have too many tools yet to build complicated things but I'm eager to learn.

Now I am looking at building a dressing table for my girlfriend. I am thinking of something simple. A table, with some drawers, shelves and a mirror.
Looked around for inspiration and these attached pictures are the ones that I felt I like and might not be too difficult for me. Please check them.

I would appreciate if you guys would give me some pointers or preferably even blueprints to something similar. I am happy to receive any other recommendations if you have some.
I am living in London right now so I would buy all the materials in a local D&Q (although you can recommend good places to buy materials also.

Thanks you in advance in any help you can provide.

Balint

 

[bellringer]

For materials you could got to S L Hardwoods in croydon

 

[heatherw]

By far the easiest to make is the last one. What tools do you have?

And what materials would you like to use? The last one is made entirely from sheet materials so you could make it from melamine chipboard, veneered chipboard or MDF, solid wood strips glued up to make a sheet (sorry, don´t know how you say this in English, but you buy it in sheets already glued up, usually available in pine and oak, don´t know whether there are any other woods available) or make your own sheets gluing up boards.

 

[sbi85]

hey guys, thanks for the responses so far. Yeah probably the last one is the winner so far due to simplicity.

@bellringer - is it possible to have the materials cut at SL Hardwood? I would probably end up with less scraps and with a handsaw I have in the apartment it would take a while. Though I like a good challange

@heatherw - I checked the materials you mentioned and to be honest saw no difference between the melamine and the veneered chipboard. But I think either would do fine.

anyone has any guides I could use for building it? for example what sort of joints should I use, screws, glue etc.
Even better if there is a complete blueprint of something similar. (of course I will have to change the dimensions)

yeah I know I'm really a beginner, but I have to start somewhere, right?

 

[heatherw]

Melamine chipboard is basically veneered with plastic, so you don´t need to varnish it. The other kind is veneered with real wood, so you are touching wood and you do need to varnish it. Both of them need to have edging put on to hide the chipboard edges. Another possibility would be to use MDF and paint it.

It depends a lot on what skills you already have and what tools you have. Do you have any power tools, a drill, a sander for instance? Do you have a set of wood drill bits? Do you have chisels, screwdrivers, marking equipment (square, metal rule, sliding bevel, marking gauge).......

The cheapest way to join the pieces invisibly if you have to buy everything is with dowels. You could buy some wood dowels and dowel markers for instance http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8-Pc-Dowe...ies_Carpentry_Woodwork_ET&hash=item35ca9d2f2c or http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wolfcraft...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item2ecd66203aalthough I would buy just the 8mm ones to begin with, and look for a deal with at least 4 of them. There are also deals with dowels included, but you´ll need to buy more dowels anyway.

For something like this you can do without plans, you can draw something out for yourself. Remember that the standard height for a table is around 75cm, decide how wide you need it and the depth and go from there.

You could decide the size of the top, then the sides, then the strip at the back, bearing in mind that the top has an overhang which would normally be 2 or 3 cm. The mirror assembly would be separate, and the little stool as well, normally about 45cm total height and the seat more or less 30 x 30cm though you could make it bigger.

 

[sbi85]

I think I'm gonna stay with veneered one just to keep it simple.

For tools, have a powerdrill that have an attachment with sandpaper. Probably not the same as a proper sander though. Have standard drills, not wood specific. Screwdrivers yes, metal rule yes, but not any of the sliding bevels or marking gauges. (to be honest I had to google some of these :S). Hammers, screws, nails, hand saw, wood glue, sandpaper. BUT I'm willing to invest into more tools if necessary.

For skills... well as I said I've only done one real project recently but that was only an easy stand for a projector (see attached). So not much so far, but I'm willing to learn more.

The dowel solution seems great and easy. I'll probably just buy that 8mm kit you sent plus a pack of dowels. Check around how to use the kit and it seems pretty straighforward. Good call.

Yeah I guess you are right about the planning. I will have a deep talk with my girlfriend to get the specific dimensions she would prefer and make a couple of sketches. I would probably start with building the table part and then adding the shelf and mirror bit. Stool is not needed yet.

The difficult thing I see is the drawer. Shall I look around for something pre-made or is there a simple solution for that? (if pre-made I probably need to have the dimensions based around that I guess)

For cutting the chipboard do you think I can handle with just a handsaw or shall I have it cut at the place of buying it?

thanks a bunch for the great tips heatherw

 

[bellringer]

S L hardwood i think they do offer cutting service and sell everything from what i remember

 

[nathandavies]

maybe ask grayorm to have a look at it for you. if you could get a router, this would change your woodworking world. adapt different designs into what you think you are capable of. no.1 is the prettiest, and changing this to a square mirror and non angled front would make it more achievable. whatever you do, a few years down the line, you'll look back at your previous makes and want to remake them. but learning and development is joyous and your initial learning curve is huge. enjoy yourself and make all those things you can't afford in the shops (or adapt ideas to a personally more suitable design)

sorry I've been on some birthday wine

nathan

 

[heatherw]

It´s true, no.1 is gorgeous. However, there is no way the OP has the skills to make it at the moment. If he were to wait a little and make a couple of other smaller things to build up his skills in the meantime, then maybe.

Another way to advance more quickly would be to join a community workshop or an evening class,( and the piece could then be made out of solid wood) time and work permitting. But learning on your own at home has to be done step by step.


Definitely get the sheets cut to size, melamine chips easily at the edges as it's so brittle, and the saws at the shop should be set to avoid this. Be careful of the edges while handling them as well.

The drawer shouldn't be too much of a problem providing you can find a way to make a groove for the bottom. You can use kitchen drawer runners.