Small walnut side table with drawer

[AndyT]

Well, I've now watched the Roy Underhill video - not for the first time, either. To add to my embarrassment, I have the very same book he refers to, so I have now looked properly at Plate 44 in it.

On a more positive note, I do seem to have slowly been approaching the sort of mushroom shape he was making. 8)

I could even do the morse taper trick he demonstrates as my lathe has a similar headstock and I have a suitable reamer if I wanted to have a tapered hole to fit it into. It's one little aspect of the long discussion we had about hand tool efficiency. Clearly, "back in the day" a tapered hole all the way through was acceptable, quick and effective. But this piece is a bit more of a Sunday job - planed and finished on all surfaces - so I will probably go for a tidier looking blind hole and a closely fitting parallel tenon. I'm not planning to keep the table anywhere damp, so I think the glue will hold well enough.

 

[custard]

I'm hoping to learn something here Andy, because turning drawer pulls is one of my weakest "weak links". And I've already learned plenty thanks to Pete and his Roy Underhill video!

I tend to produce shaker drawer pulls in batches, generally in three or four different sizes, in both Maple and Cherry. I try and speed things up as much as possible by first using a matched plug and hole cutter set to make blanks like this,

Which I then trim down on a bandsaw like this,

To produce my final turning blanks like this,

I'm a pretty rubbish turner so things go slowly and not particularly well from this point on! But this is what I usually end up with,

The main thing I'd say is that personally I prefer a much smaller drawer pull than the ones you're experimenting with, and I think I'm being reasonably authentic in that preference. There's a world of difference between a Shaker pull which you grip between a finger and thumb, and a typical Victorian drawer pull which you grip with your fist. On a side table like this my drawer pulls would have a maximum diameter of about 3/4" to 7/8", and the little collar above the glued in shaft would be quite a bit smaller than that, maybe about 1/2".

I'm just putting in my 2p's worth here, I don't claim any special expertise. Like I said, turning is an area in my own work that I've identified for improvement, and there are loads of people on this forum who are way better turners than me.

 

[AndyT]

Thanks Custard, more food for thought there.

In case you haven't seen it already, have a look at this video of how a professional turner makes small drawer pulls in very little time, with real mastery of the skew chisel.

https://youtu.be/Oi0hE9NcMAY

I wish I could make them like that, but I haven't spent all my working life practising. Still, it's nice to watch someone who really knows what he's doing. His other videos are just as impressive, even the party trick ones where he turns with a spade or a spoon!

 

[Racers]

I like the second one Andy, apart from the foot, a outward taper I feel would look nicer more shaker.

Pete

 

[custard]

Andy, I searched on the Fine Woodworking archive, it's behind a paywall but there was an article by Christian Becksvoort who seems to have plenty of experience with making Shaker style furniture. He talks about spindle turned drawer pulls having maximum diameters ranging from 5/8" to 7/8" in drawer fronts that range from 2 1/4" tall to 5 1/2" tall. That's fairly consistent with the dimensions I work to. Pulls above 1 1/2" diameter for larger cabinet doors would be face turned, everything smaller is spindle turned.

 

[AndyT]

Thanks Custard. That will look better and also opens up the choice of timber even wider, since a bit from an inch board will do. I think it's time to try something dark and dense.

 

[AndyT]

This is what I like about this forum. Not only do I get encouraged to stretch myself a little bit making stuff I haven't attempted before, I get constructive feedback from people who don't think it odd to spend several hours thinking about how a drawer knob ought to look. You'll be pleased to know that I think I have cracked it now, and after this post I can move on to something else. But here are some notes from today.

In the bumper fun box of exotic offcuts that I brought home from Custard's place there were several pieces of dark, solid timbers suitable for making a drawer knob. Having practised on ordinary wood, I thought I had better have a go with some good stuff. So here's a little bit of African blackwood, sawn in two on the bandsaw, with the corners planed off, ready to go on the lathe.

This stuff is wonderful to turn! Shavings come off like loose leaf tea.

The wood responds beautifully to being scraped, which is good for a non-expert turner. I managed to make long wispy threads come off with the scraper and was enjoying myself, but still suffered from a couple of accidental cuts which were too deep. :evil:

This my first go, just before it got a bit too small to be any good.

The wood seems to be naturally waxy - it gummed up the cutting edges a bit, which was probably a good thing, as it forced me to resharpen them.

Encouraged by my near-success, I had a second go on the other half of the piece. Here's the second knob, shaped

and here it is again after sanding and burnishing with some of the shavings

The tenon measured half an inch in diameter when I decided it was finished and sawed it off from the bit in the chuck. It was a snug fit in a half inch hole in softwood, but using the same Forstner bit in an offcut of walnut it was too tight - which is what I was hoping for. I carefully reduced the diameter by filing the tenon and now it fits in this offcut. I don't want it to be too tight - the glue will need somewhere to go. I think this will be suitable.

The front is ⅞" diameter and it is 1¼" long overall.

In some ways I am glad I'm not making a huge chest of drawers which needs a dozen or more matched or graded knobs - if I was, even I would not have spent so long on just this one - but I don't want to skimp on something which could look wrong and spoil the project.

 

[AndyT]

A tiny bit more progress today.

When I cut the legs to length, I deliberately left them a touch long at the top, so I could even them up accurately later. So before I can attach the top, I needed to trim them. There's not much to remove.

This is one of those times when a block plane is the best tool to use. This somewhat clumsily posed photo shows why - I can hold the table still on the bench with my left hand and arm, while carefully trimming a few slivers of wood away with the plane in just my right hand. As I didn't need to clamp the table down to free up my other hand, I could move around and change direction easily.

To test for flat, I used a known good piece of veneered MDF

That will do.

Working at the leisurely pace I enjoy has benefits. One is that I can stop and look at what I am doing. Occasionally this is just to admire it but sometimes I find a problem that I can fix before it's too late. Here I noticed that one edge of the top had a little flaw in the wood.

A few plane strokes later, the top is a tiny bit narrower, which doesn't matter at all, and the problem has gone.

I keep reading posts that say you don't need a low angle block plane to smooth end grain, but I find this one really works well for the job.

The underside of the top needs to be bevelled. Before I could do that, I needed to get it lined up symmetrically on the frame. The most practical way I know to do that is to use a combination square to get the projection equal at both sides. Actually, this job needs two squares, since the overhang is greater side to side than it is front to back. Best done when not holding a camera.

I thought about how to mark the depth for the bevelling. I knew not to use a marking gauge (planing at an angle won't make a cut line disappear) so I decided to keep it simple. I just used the combination gauge again, with a pencil. It's not easy to see these pencil lines but they are nice and definite.

Then it was time to wedge some thick blocks in the well on the bench and start planing. I considered making up some sort of guide to show how deep to go or what angle to hold the plane, but in the end I decided to keep it simple again and just get on with it. After all, I know now how nicely this walnut planes, even going across the grain with the plane straight.

I did most of the work with a No 4, cleaning up with a 4½ or the little 60½.

When it came to the long grain bevels, it was a distinct advantage to switch to the No 7, since the toe forward of the iron is so much longer - it made the job feel more stable.

So, after what felt like quite a work-out I think I have the top good enough to fix down. It's hard to see and hard to photograph, but the bevels do just about line up at the corners.

Next time I can fix the top to the frame, which means I can then go ahead and make the drawer, with confidence that fixing the top won't introduce a twist and spoil my work.

 

[AndyT]

I hope you can all stand the breakneck speed this project is now running at - updates every couple of days!

Here's a view of the underneath, with the top fixed on as promised. Don't worry about the cheap looking crosshead screws - I have some smarter slotted brass ones for the final fitting but I don't want to mess them up or enlarge the holes too much by taking them off and on when I get to putting finish on.

Starting to fit the drawer was a session of careful planing.

Following the same methods I used in my little chest of drawers, I planed the bottom edge, then the left hand end, then the top edge, then the right hand end. With lots of looking and trying it in place, it got to this stage.

The sides were cut to length, ends shot square, and then planed to width until they would slide in most of the way.

The back was cut to the same length as the front.

Today I tackled the dovetailing of the drawer. This is all pretty standard stuff, so I didn't stop to take photos of every step - I concentrated on enjoying it and trying not to make too many mistakes.

Here are the sides marked and sawn out:

Marking up for the lap dovetails, using a specially slimmed down 2H pencil

For cutting out the waste, I stuck to my pedal powered fretsaw - it's in the way so it has to earn its keep.

Oblique cuts are easy - it's safe enough to just lift up the work with my fingers to the right angle, or rest it on an offcut.

For the lap dovetails I like to add some oblique saw cuts, though I'm not sure if it's worth it.

[Seeing my work up really close with the macro photos on a big PC screen is a bit of a shock here - I thought I had sawn straighter and closer than that!]

Next, some conventional chopping and paring

leading eventually to the satisfying stage where a dry fit can be done.

In case you think the sides don't go properly flush, there is a good reason. Having got the drawer front sized, I don't want to reduce it very much at all. I have deliberately left the sides fat by a little bit, so that when I plane them back flush with the front and back, the whole thing fits.

That's the theory anyhow. I need to sort out some nice thin cedar for the drawer bottom first.

 

[marcros]

I am not able to see the images on the last post Andy. They are displaying fine on the previous threads in the post.

 

[AndyT]

I am not able to see the images on the last post Andy. They are displaying fine on the previous threads in the post.

Yes, same here. I think it must be something wrong on the forum settings, as I have done nothing different on this update. I've reported it to the mods.

If you really want, you can select the proper urls which are displayed and browse for them directly.

 

[AndyT]

Fixed it!

I must have accidentally turned off BBcode in the editing window. (First button below the text box.) Turning it back on made all the difference!

 

[El Barto]

This is looking great. The blackwood knob is unbelievably cool, I think you nailed it there. It really pops when you see fingers next to it for scale. Tres cool. And the knob discussion in general was interesting in itself

Thanks for posting it all in such detail!

 

[custard]

I need to sort out some nice thin cedar for the drawer bottom first.

I tried to send you a PM, but I haven't figured out how to use the new forum format yet. If you can't find any Cedar then PM me and I'll put some 3/8" Cedar Of Lebanon in the post for your drawer bottom.

Incidentally, the method you're following for drawer making is pretty much exactly the process I also use. One tiny point, I normally finish the top edge of the drawer back about 1/4" to 1/2" lower than the sides. It doesn't matter for this single drawer design, but on a multi drawer piece you find that with the piston fit drawers you'll end up with, when you close the drawer it pushes a cushion of air back which then opens other drawers! A shallower drawer back helps prevent this.

One further point, by using drawer slips it means the lower dovetail at the back should have the lower edge at 90 degrees and the top edge sloped normally (ie 1:7 or whatever you prefer), this gives a fair surface with no gaps for the slips to butt up against. If you thought the discussion about drawer pull design was arcane then there's an even fussier debate to be had here! Should the top dovetail then have a symmetrically opposite layout, ie a flat upper surface, or should it be a normal dovetail? I'm of the symmetrical camp myself, but many other makers don't agree. Whatever the verdict, it's a pleasant change to be discussing fine details like these rather than sharpening!

 

[AndyT]

Hi all, and especially Custard, with a very timely post.

While you were posting, I was in the workshop, attending to the very same things - which makes me pleased that I must be doing some things right!

On the cedar, you are, as ever, very generous - but I have some nice cedar left over from my earlier drawer making, where I went into detail on how I found some offcuts of cladding in a skip, deep ripped them by hand and planed them down. This time, I merely took a piece off the rack, cut two pieces from it avoiding some damaged parts, skimmed the edges and glued them together. Here they are, smelling sweetly of pencil shavings:

This simple board + wedges is all you need for lightweight glue-ups like this. I put some parcel tape on the base board under where the join will go, to make sure that the work doesn't stick to it. It's now on top of a cupboard in a warm room while the glue dries.

I agree with you about the nice drawer back detail, so before I glued up the drawer, I rounded off the top edge. I know you can do this with a block plane or sandpaper, but I have a shelf full of old moulding planes including a mixed set of hollows and rounds, so I took a hollow plane down and used that. It literally took just four passes to go from a shaving on each arris to a single wrinkly one from the full width.

The plane is an over-restored one which a previous owner sanded back to bare wood and polyurethaned. That's a shame, as it's probably by Madox and could easily be 250 years old. Never mind, it does the job.

I'll bevel the back corners of the sides once the drawer is assembled and sized.
As for the dovetails on the back ends, I hear what you are saying. I've made my upper dovetail with ordinary angles, not mirroring the straight one below.

I realise that I have not taken a proper picture of the backs and can't do now while the cramps are on, but will do next time.

Another thing done this morning was to sand the insides of the drawer parts. As usual, I used the brilliant dust-free Abranet system. If you are reading this and haven't used it, do a forum search to get convinced and then treat yourself. The inside of the drawer won't have any finish on it, so it's important that it feels smooth to the touch.

I also drilled a hole in the front of the drawer to take the knob, using a battery drill and a ½" Forstner bit.

and then I tickled up the front with a smoothing plane. It will get a final sanding after assembly and fitting of the drawer, but it makes sense to plane now while it's easy to do so.

Then it was glue and cramps time. I started out using two cramps on the front and two on the back but it seemed to make it harder to get it all square, so I switched to a single cramp each side, with bits of softwood spreading the pressure.

One little tip in case I've not mentioned it before - for keeping the pins in place on cramp heads or sash cramps, small fat O-rings work better than loose pins that fall out.

Apologies if you posted that tip on here - I can't recall where I learned it.

 

[AndyT]

Well, the glue has had time to dry, so I have gone back and looked at what I have, and I am now more than somewhat cross with myself.

Despite having checked the internal angles for squareness, using the plastic setsquare you can see here

I have a severely wonky drawer. :evil:

I guess I must have just been not looking properly. Maybe I should have just pulled the joints together with the cramps, then taken them off? I can't remember if that is what I did last time.

Anyway, it's embarrassingly crooked. Hard to photograph clearly, but I have had a go.

Here's the whole thing

and a close-up of the right hand side, which is the better of the two

and of the left - it's nearly ⅛" out over the whole depth of the drawer.

So what to do?

As far as I can see, I have three choices.

1) Dismantle the drawer and assemble it again, properly.
2) Plane the sides and fit the drawer as well as I can. The sides won't be the same thickness along their length, but I will find out how bad it looks.
3) Start again on a new drawer.

For 1), although I have used hide glue, I have never tried to undo a joint. I think I remember reading about a lot of hot water being needed. I don't imagine dovetails would respond well, but I could try it.

At the moment, my preference is for 2). It won't be perfect but I will be able to see just how bad it is and then decide what to do. It won't be necessary to take all the crookedness off to get the drawer to work. When I have got it moving I can assess how sloppy it is. If it's really bad, then I can move on to 3).

I know 3) is the right answer really. I do have a nice lump of walnut with some interesting grain in it which I could resaw to yield another nice front. I may be able to salvage the sides by sawing their ends free and then chiselling away the remnants of walnut. If that fails I can probably find some more oak.

Apart from cursing, what would you do?

I'm out and about this week so I have some time to chew this over before I get back to the workshop.

 

[Racers]

You are going to have to dismantle it and rebuild either with new sides or the existing ones if you can get the glue apart.

Looks like the dovetails didn't bottom out.

Pete

Reminds me of this.

Cutting it apart by Pete Maddex, on Flickr

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Thanks for the O-ring tip. Trying to hold the workpiece, two clamping cleats and the clamp with one hand whilst doing up the clamp - always the instant the pin falls out of the other end :evil:

The clamping up - one of the ways I've managed to cock up a glue up with dovetails is to be deceived about square by the sides (of the drawer in your case ) being bowed inwards by the clamping pressure being applied with the centre of the clamp head being inboard of the actual joint. Measuring diagonals rather than using a square is a good idea (happily Secret Santa made me a tool for just this purpose). Using narrow cleats with a castellated edge to apply pressure to just the tails whilst avoiding the pins worked really well.

Now, before you do anything in a rush, I was wondering whether your plan was to fit the drawer:

1: with the drawer guides, and the drawer sides, exactly parallel. Hoping nothing moves ...
2: with the drawer tapered to be slightly narrower at the back, so that the drawer will still open if the guides aren't spot on parallel
3: with the guides tapered so that they are slightly further apart at the back, to allow for imprecision again, but keeping the gap between the
front of the drawer opening and the drawer sides constant as the drawer opens.

You might be able to trim the better side, and pretend the other was intended taper ? You don't want to take much off the front, or it will be gappy.

My guess though is you are too much of a perfectionist and will shortly be finding out how well hide glue actually does come apart.

 

[AndyT]

Thanks guys. If I do try to plane it, there will be compromises all round, though I don't want to mess with the internals of the framework as I think the space for the drawer is nicely parallel, which is how I want it if I make a fresh drawer.
The dovetails pulled up ok - the excess visible was deliberate, but probably twice what was needed, which doesn't help matters.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Actually, as a quick thought, although dismantling the dovetails might be tricky, perhaps you don't have to. I wonder if, by wrapping hot, wet rags around each joint you might just soften the glue enough to "adjust" it without disassembly ?