Shaker Styled Welsh Dresser

[Chems]

I asked for some design help on the design forum the other day as I was getting no-where with a design. But I decided to take a different approach and utilize another space and fancied making something shaker esq.

Here's my design. It will be a light blue egg shell painted finish with a solid walnut top. I'd appreciate any finishing advice as I'm planning to spray a few coats of primer then spray an oil based egg shell colour coat. Upper unit doors will either be glass or frosted glass.


I treated myself to some new clamps as the sash cramps I had from axminster like 3 years ago have seen better days. I got these from rutlands in their sale, they were already reduced but with the 10% off they were something like £66. They seem to be really good, a lot of pressure and don't leave a mark unless you apply super human strength level clamping pressure and then they will. The plastic on the body is showing a few signs of whitening as if the metal underneath is really pushing on it as I did do some super human clamping strength (you regular people won't need to worry) but I wasn't planning on been easy on them as they come with a lifetime warranty so if I manage to break them hopefully rutlands will sort it out. But as it is they are just showing some plastic stress points to the casing which is fine as long as everything else is still working. Will probably get another pack on the next 10% day and start building up some decent clamps.










That's as far as I've got. Faceframes doors and drawers next then the painting.

My little 1/4 router plunge lock broke today so I may have to invest in a new one for the next project, just something small like an OF1400.

 

[adidat]

thats a nice looking project look forward to seeing the end result, are you using pre-laminated boards??

adidat

 

[Chems]

Yeah the fixboard stuff from Build Centre. Been using it for years really nice stuff to work with.

 

[mailee]

Looking like a good start Chems. I have a set of those clamps too and they are great. (I recently had one slipping but there is a small allen screw to adjust this...I did and it has been fine since) What happened to your sketchup drawing? it seems to be drooping on the top corner? Is this a fish eye lens in Sketchup. LOL

 

[Chems]

You always ask me this, its just cause I don't like it in perspective view! Glad your getting on well with the clamps. They do seem to be an exact copy of the much more expensive bessys, so if they last I'll be well chuffed.

 

[Chems]

Little bit more done this weekend at very leisurely pace.

The laminated board I use is stacked at the warehouse one on top of another and this usally means they are fairly bowed. So I always try to leave them a few days before I work them as they straighten right out once stood up or stacked properly. But this time I didn't as I got the stuff on friday and machined it etc on the weekend. So heres the movement back to straight. You can see the rebate put it and the gap that has appeared as the woods come back to straight. Hopefully the blurry straight edge in the background shows that is infact gone to straight not to bowed. But gluing this up and forcing the dominos in was really hard with the boards having a slight bow! Re ran the rebate again to get it all level.

 

[barkwindjammer]

Thats looking well good James, what make are those cramps ?

 

[Chems]

Dakota from Rutlands, they seem to be identical to the much more expensive Bessys. Got the 4 of them for £62 something on one of rutlands 10% days. After a few more days of use I can highly recommend them.

Thats probably not a very helpful answer, these ones: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/cl ... jaw-clamps

Mine are the 31" ones, I don't really have need for the larger ones in my cabinet making.

 

[Chems]

Made some more progress this weekend, leisurly progress.









I need to buy some nice hinges now tonight to carry on with it. I'm leaning towards Iron Mongery direct unless anyone has any better ones. I don't want to spend the earth on hinges but would like some nice ones.

 

[Mark A]

I saw that trick with the table saw on an old norm episode on the website last week - but he made the cornice in one pass so it looked dodgy!

The dresser looks really good. Are you going to use Farrow and Ball paint?

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

Hi Chems, just wondering as to why you didn't use Tulipwood as opposed to pine as it's being painted?

Looks great by the way, loving the Walnut top and the proportions look spot on.

Cheers _Dan.

 

[Chems]

Did he use a dado set, on one pass I raised it a little to high and it wasn't a nice feeling so backed off but can't imagine what it must have been like for norm doing the whole thing. Don't know how he still has all his fingers!

Hoping to use Farrow and Ball.


Well tulip wood as far as I know has to be machined etc, my local timber yard does it under the Uk name of poplar wood. Its cheap but nowhere near as easy to use as these pre laminated boards. Minus the worktop which was £50 delivered and I have a good chunk left over, its cost £62 so far. I think they should paint ok I've never painted it before so will be interesting to see. When I've sprayed it in the past with stain it raises the grain a bit but after a few coats of lacquer its silky smooth so I'm hoping it will be the same with the paint.

 

[Mark A]

No dado just a normal blade in one pass.

A couple of times he's been close to loosing more than just his fingers!

 

[Chems]

I watched one the other day, he was making a butchers block, one of the ones on his website each week. Made me flinch watching it how close his fingers came!

 

[Mark A]

I think the TV woodworkers are bad influences on people who may not know the right way of doing things and who accept that "if he does it that way then it must be ok" I know the programmes have disclaimers at the start but it's no excuse for bad working practices. That's how accidents happen. Should they show a video of kickback impalement or an arm amputation at the start? There's no more important safety rule than to have these - blood type cards.

Norm isn't the only culprit though - Anton Fitzpatrick from Woodworks.... he ripped a narrow strip of wood on the table saw - no guard, blade at full hight, no push stick and stood directly behind the blade. His fingers were so close I couldn't believe it. And Rico Daniels from The Salvager - but don't let me start on him...

Mark

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

Well tulip wood as far as I know has to be machined etc, my local timber yard does it under the Uk name of poplar wood. Its cheap but nowhere near as easy to use as these pre laminated boards. Minus the worktop which was £50 delivered and I have a good chunk left over, its cost £62 so far. I think they should paint ok I've never painted it before so will be interesting to see. When I've sprayed it in the past with stain it raises the grain a bit but after a few coats of lacquer its silky smooth so I'm hoping it will be the same with the paint.

Cheers Chems, I've never worked with either, I just wondered as to your decision making process why you'd chosen the pre-lam boards.

Cheers _Dan.

 

[mailee]

Ah :roll: yes Mark but remember Anton tells you to wear thick rubber gloves when using the table saw.

 

[Chems]

I'm nearly ready to start painting tomorrow. Got a little sanding to do on the doors. Used filler to really get a smooth transition from the crown moulding and touched up some tear out. There are pluses to painted furniture!

 

[billybuntus]

Looking good, my only suggestion (thats far better than I could do by the way) would be to proportion the bottom panels so they are larger than the top to make it look 'right'

 

[Chems]

I'm not sure how I'd do that, the top is a lot larger than the bottom from the off, it could be that it looks a little out of perspective in that photo as I had to block the extreme sunlight we had today with my body and took the picture from an odd angle, I'll try an get a better picture tomorrow. Thanks