CaptainBudget
Established Member
This is something I've been working on for just over a year, and I can definitely say my skills improved over the course of this. I actually finished this around mid October but I never go round to taking pictures. It is a monster, and I can just about see into the top drawers (I'm 5ft 10).
The casework was finished around the start of 1st Lockdown, and the drawers finished about September. Staining and finishing took the rest of the time.
The casework was made from B&Q/Wickes "whitewood" and needed some degree of hand-planing to make them fully straight. I did discover most of the way though making this that my workbench was badly dished so the members ended up thicker in the middle and thinner at the ends, which caused issues later on with drawer making. Despite my best efforts the cases are also slightly out of square (you can see this in some of the drawer fronts. Doesn't impact functionality. This was the first time I'd worked with Solid Wood frame-and-panel construction. I am pretty happy but they are a bit sloppy on the fit vertically so they can move a bit.
This was also the first project I've done involving half-blind dovetails (and dovetails generally). These are all hand-cut, and when you look at it you can see the joints getting better as you move down the case (All are solid though). The rear joints are hand-cut Through dovetails, and there are more gaps than I would like but given the effort it took to fit these together they aren't coming apart without a fight..
The drawers are made from reclaimed palletwood. We get large pallets at work for sheet metal so the pallet timbers are often ~3-4" square bricks. I got a bandsaw for Christmas and made the boards for the drawers by feeding these through it and edge-joiniting the pieces with hand-planes (a bandsaw, cheap mitre saw, router and orbital sander were the only power tools used on this). Drawer bases are 4/6mm plywood with Muntins in the full-width drawers for strength.
I've stained the drawer fronts, bases and casework with diluted Mann's Classic Pine Stain and finished everything in Fiddes Hard Wax Oil. Beeswax has been rubbed onto the drawer sides and runners for lubrication. I decided not to stain the drawer sides and backs because it shows off the dovetailing (and admittedly any gaps), and I actually like a lot of the colours and patterns that appear in these boards so I wanted to preserve them (the stain has destroyed all these on the drawer fronts).
I've greatly improved my hand tool skills, and I know I need to work on squaring cases more accurately. The drawers were far more square than the case was, and needed modifying to not bind in normal operation. I also now have a far more substantial collection of hand planes, and have got much better at tuning them. I love using them.
I think in hindsight I was far too ambitious starting out, and I look back at the first parts of it I made and I can see all the faults I missed at the time (fractionally out of square, poor tolerance on thickness, minor twist, slightly sloppy joints etc. It does mean the next big project I do will be a lot better though (hopefully!)
I welcome comments and criticisms.
The casework was finished around the start of 1st Lockdown, and the drawers finished about September. Staining and finishing took the rest of the time.
The casework was made from B&Q/Wickes "whitewood" and needed some degree of hand-planing to make them fully straight. I did discover most of the way though making this that my workbench was badly dished so the members ended up thicker in the middle and thinner at the ends, which caused issues later on with drawer making. Despite my best efforts the cases are also slightly out of square (you can see this in some of the drawer fronts. Doesn't impact functionality. This was the first time I'd worked with Solid Wood frame-and-panel construction. I am pretty happy but they are a bit sloppy on the fit vertically so they can move a bit.
This was also the first project I've done involving half-blind dovetails (and dovetails generally). These are all hand-cut, and when you look at it you can see the joints getting better as you move down the case (All are solid though). The rear joints are hand-cut Through dovetails, and there are more gaps than I would like but given the effort it took to fit these together they aren't coming apart without a fight..
The drawers are made from reclaimed palletwood. We get large pallets at work for sheet metal so the pallet timbers are often ~3-4" square bricks. I got a bandsaw for Christmas and made the boards for the drawers by feeding these through it and edge-joiniting the pieces with hand-planes (a bandsaw, cheap mitre saw, router and orbital sander were the only power tools used on this). Drawer bases are 4/6mm plywood with Muntins in the full-width drawers for strength.
I've stained the drawer fronts, bases and casework with diluted Mann's Classic Pine Stain and finished everything in Fiddes Hard Wax Oil. Beeswax has been rubbed onto the drawer sides and runners for lubrication. I decided not to stain the drawer sides and backs because it shows off the dovetailing (and admittedly any gaps), and I actually like a lot of the colours and patterns that appear in these boards so I wanted to preserve them (the stain has destroyed all these on the drawer fronts).
I've greatly improved my hand tool skills, and I know I need to work on squaring cases more accurately. The drawers were far more square than the case was, and needed modifying to not bind in normal operation. I also now have a far more substantial collection of hand planes, and have got much better at tuning them. I love using them.
I think in hindsight I was far too ambitious starting out, and I look back at the first parts of it I made and I can see all the faults I missed at the time (fractionally out of square, poor tolerance on thickness, minor twist, slightly sloppy joints etc. It does mean the next big project I do will be a lot better though (hopefully!)
I welcome comments and criticisms.
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