Pine Chest of Drawers - Finished

[big soft moose]

Well Done Olly, I like it. I'm not wild on the handles, but then I'm not really into this style of furniture. But I do think you've achieved the look you were shooting for.

its a very good match to the blanket box too - once its in situ i'll post a photo of the pair.

really puts the pressure on me to build the matching wardrobe to the same standard - and you know what my flat skills are like - but that said i will definitely not be hand cutting the dovetails on the drawers.

 

[Beardo16]

I think it looks great Olly. I really like the handles.

And as someone else said, a brave man for posting a warts and all documentary.

Hope college is also going well.

 

[TheTiddles]

that's not too bad actually, I was thinking it was heading to be a bit of a shocker which I've done before on stained pine but the finish seems to have turned out quite nice. Are you making or cost/fun or turning a good profit? I make things for friends at just over materials cost so I get the enjoyment of making it but don't have to pay for it

Aidan

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, everyone.

Pete, you can have that spare bottle of stain at no cost, partly because of the few areas where the staining isn't as good as it could be. If I have any old fluorescent tubes going spare on Tuesday as well then, you're also welcome to those (probably two 5fts, if any)

Are you making or cost/fun or turning a good profit? I make things for friends at just over materials cost so I get the enjoyment of making it but don't have to pay for it

A good profit? What's that?! :wink:

I generally charge friends roughly double what I anticipate my material costs to be... Usually, I end up spending a bit more than I had hoped to! :shock: Another way to look at it (if you feel you should be getting more, even from your friends!) is to compare your price with what John Lewis and co. would charge for a similar item Yes, they are mass-produced but, if your friends are prepared to pay for that then they'd probably be happy to pay the same amount for a unique, hand-crafted design! 8)

As long as they don't feel they're being ripped off, they're usually happy. Therefore, I'm happy, as I get the satisfaction from making something for someone else. Family, on the other hand, seem to expect you to charge much less - I don't think I've yet made a profit on any item made for a family member... :?

 

[wizer]

Olly that forged timber yard receipt is in the post mate

 

[petermillard]

Might be interesting to work out how long you spent on this project in total, and reference that against what sort of hourly rate you'd hope to achieve if it was a 'real' commission i.e. not for a friend/forum member; I suspect it would turn out to be quite a pricey pine chest of drawers!

Cheers, Pete

 

[JonnyD]

Looks like a good finished job olly. Did you consider using Ash instead of pine for the construction? Ash can be bought for only a few quid more a cubic ft more than decent softwood and would stain to the same colour.

I used to work for a small furniture manufacturer not a mass producer and i often had to make chests of drawers like the one you have just done either in oak or mahoghany. I was expected to produce 3 per week. These were mostly solid wood construction but with router cut dovetails. So if you are hoping to work for yourself you may have to speed up or charge more money. This isnt meant as criticism just an observation.

Cheers

Jon

 

[devonwoody]

Nice to get a big lump out of the way I am sure. Looks good and useful to me.

 

[woodbloke]

After this job, I'm not keen to start hand-cutting dovetails again in the immediate future! :shock:

Good for the soul Olly :lol: - Rob

 

[newt]

Olly, thanks for providing all your WIP pics and commentry, I am sure Pete and SWIMBO will be happy with the piece. I also have had problems with staining pine and have tried both water and spirit stains. However there must be a way as if you look at some of the commercial stuff it is usually blotch free and a very even colour. Must be a well kept trade secret. keep up the good work. I wonder if they spray a coloured varnish.

 

[NewtoWood]

Thanks for posting this project complete with all problems, as projects with mistakes and challenges teach me more than those that go without a hitch.

 

[Boz62]

Thanks for the detailed posting Olly. Nice result. As usual, I have learned a lot from "watching" you work.

Boz

 

[devonwoody]

I reckon they use old tea bags.

 

[crazylilting]

That looks great!!! I wouldn't of chose pine myself for this project as it is hard to make hand cut dovetails in it and staining can be an issue. One thing you can try is using a weak mixture of Vandyke crystals in water which can help level out the blotching problem. I'm currently having the same problem with pine as I bought a whole bunch of it for some projects around the house.

Any how good job Doing dovetails in a hardwood will be much more easy for you now. I have enjoyed clicking on your thread and seeing you work on your project, thanks very much for the well documented and pictorial history of your project.

 

[OPJ]

Thanks again to everyone for the replies - keep them coming in!!

Today, I took a couple of shots of a finished drawer with the base fitted.

I doubt I would've bothered with the grooves here if I was producing a batch of these chests (perish the thought!! :shock: :wink but, I still think they're a nice touch for a one-off. Even if they'll never be seen.

This is how the underside turned out, which I feel would've been too dark for the show face anyway. No 'movement' issues to worry about with plywood so, the bases are held in place with a couple of small brass screws.

 

[OPJ]

Olly that forged timber yard receipt is in the post mate :wink:

Tom, I hope you sent it by courier otherwise, it probably won't get here in time with all the strike action...! :roll: :wink:

Did you consider using Ash instead of pine for the construction?

I used to work for a small furniture manufacturer not a mass producer and i often had to make chests of drawers like the one you have just done either in oak or mahoghany. I was expected to produce 3 per week. These were mostly solid wood construction but with router cut dovetails. So if you are hoping to work for yourself you may have to speed up or charge more money. This isnt meant as criticism just an observation.

Thanks, Jon.

The main reason I went with pine is because, as with the blanket chest before, this had to 'match' an Ikea bed, which is made from stained pine.

Don't worry, I'm well aware of what I would need to change if I were trying to make a living from this (I intend to, one day...) - for one, I think a Domino jointer, Rob, would come in to its own and do away the need for all those twin-tenons on the carcase. I did a fair bit of work with hand tools on this as I don't have room for a half-decent table saw or yet own an accurate enough sliding mitre saw... :? Also, as daunting as it may sound to have to produce three of these within five-days, I imagine it's not actually half as bad as it sounds as you can machine and produce components in batches.

If I was making a batch of these though, there are probably a couple features I wouldn't have included (most notably, the V-grooved drawer bases) and I would've used either ply or wider softwood panels (all V-grooved) for the end panels.

Working from a small space may save you on overheads but, unless you're specialising in very small items like toys and boxes, it's no way to work efficiently and, because of that, I don't think I could run an efficient business from this situation. If a business cannot run efficiently then... Well, I used to work for a firm like that so, I know the answer too well!! :shock:

For now though, I'm just happy to keep doing favours for other people, learning more about how to make certain items of furniture and making a little bit of money on the side - without too much pressure!!

 

[big soft moose]

Thanks for the detailed posting Olly. Nice result. As usual, I have learned a lot from "watching" you work.

Boz

next up on the set is a matching wardrobe - however for financial reasons i am making that myself - I too will be running a warts and all wip so you can learn even more - mostly how not to do it i suspect, and why its not a good idea to make furniture if you have the carpentry skills of a very small wombat :lol:

as if making one to match ollys fine craftsmanship wasnt taxing enough in order to get it through the doors and into situ this will have to be a modular piece made in three parts and able to be knocked down for when we move out

 

[big soft moose]

just a note to say that i collected this today from olly and swimbo is really happy with it, and the way it goes with the blanket box and bed.

I'll post an in situ pic later but swimbo says we have to tidy up and change the bed linen before i take any photos

i'm absolutely cream crackered as as well as picking up these drawers i also collected tha table olly made for my old dear (another very happy client) and delivered that - so i went from here to swindon to pick up the hire van , then to somerset, then to buckinghamshire, then back here, then back to swindon to drop the van off and then back here again - arround 7 hours behind the wheel. :shock:

I was supposed to go to bicester en route to pick up the chairs the old dear is buying to go with the olly table - but i decided i didnt have time - so world of oak can deliver those later in the week. ( once shes got them i'll get a situ pic of that as well )

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, Pete.

Glad to hear that SWMBO likes it and I look forward to seeing those photos!

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi Olly,

I always enjoy your WIP threads. Nice to see so many photos (no wonder your projects take so long :wink: :wink: :lol: :lol: )

Pine is a bi*ch to stain by hand like you found out, have you tried spraying the spirit stain? I use a Morrells stain, which is meths/spirit based and this spray stains beautifully, admitedly I haven't tried it on pine but it goes onto Beech really well and Beech tends to go a bit wierd and mottled when you hand stain, so it must be worth a go?!

You really ought to send one of your WIPs to Nick at British Woodworking, I'm sure he could make an article out of this material!!

Cheers,

Richard