Hi all,
This is my 2x6 challenge entry that I couldn't finish in time.
No... Seriously though it took me a while because it was my first chest-o-drawers I've ever made, and from scratch to boot! No plans, just a big box with lots of littler boxes that go in it. It's mostly maple (what you can see) and Baltic birch.
The top and sides came from a $.51 piece of HD cull lumber (someone screwed up), and then there was about $150 in other materials to compliment that 51 cent piece of wood.
The inlay is a combo of purple heart, blood wood, and paudak. I used a Milescraft Spirocrafter (/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19266) to route the inlay recess and inserts. It's a wonderful little template thing for your router. I highly recommend it.
It's no small item either. Its 4 feet high, 3 feet wide and about 17 inches deep. It looked the right size in the shop. Once I got it inside it seemed kind-a on the large side. Oh well, LOML STUFFS dresser drawers so I really wanted to create a challenge for her.
This dresser should be sponsored by Harbor Freight. I used my HF dovetail machine, HF BS, HF HVLP, and HF sanders during its construction. The HVLP sprayer (self contained unit) was REALLY nice to use. The water based semi-gloss poly cleans up easy and looks good. 4-5 coats later, I was finally happy. 5 coats would have taken me forever with a brush but the poly dried almost as fast as I could clean up the sprayer between coats.
The drawers are machined dovetail 1/2" Baltic birch with a 3/4 maple ply front and BB 1/4 bottoms.
I was going to turn the knobs but I decided to stop torturing LOML because I was taking so long to build the whole thing. Otherwise yet another HF tool, the lathe could have been used.
I really routered the heck out of this thing. Aside from the dado's for the dust frames and the back panel. I did some decorative beading on the upright "stiles" for the sides. All the edging for the drawer fronts and upright stiles are rounded over and rabbetted. The rabbet on the edging looks better than just flat edging on the side of the plywood. It lets the edging wrap around the front of the plywood just a little and hides any little tear out along the edge of the plywood. But what a slow process! Took me an afternoon just to mill and apply the edging for the drawer fronts! Then there was the inlay to route.
The top has 1 inch thick edging on the sides and a 45 deg. chamfer to make it look beefier than just 3/4 plywood.
The top left drawer has a secret compartment in the back of it. When you take the drawer all the way out, you can get to it. Otherwise you don't see it. I love furniture with a secret compartment.
My son Liam has been "helping" me in the shop during the entire process. I've been telling him it's his dresser all along. He got very excited when I told him it was time to bring it in to his room because it was finished. He couldn't wait to pose for pictures next to his latest creation he and dad made. I wrote him a little message inside the secret compartment in pencil, so did LOML. Someday when he can read and finds it, well, you know...
Thanks for looking (this far down..)
Bill
This is my 2x6 challenge entry that I couldn't finish in time.
No... Seriously though it took me a while because it was my first chest-o-drawers I've ever made, and from scratch to boot! No plans, just a big box with lots of littler boxes that go in it. It's mostly maple (what you can see) and Baltic birch.
The top and sides came from a $.51 piece of HD cull lumber (someone screwed up), and then there was about $150 in other materials to compliment that 51 cent piece of wood.
The inlay is a combo of purple heart, blood wood, and paudak. I used a Milescraft Spirocrafter (/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19266) to route the inlay recess and inserts. It's a wonderful little template thing for your router. I highly recommend it.
It's no small item either. Its 4 feet high, 3 feet wide and about 17 inches deep. It looked the right size in the shop. Once I got it inside it seemed kind-a on the large side. Oh well, LOML STUFFS dresser drawers so I really wanted to create a challenge for her.
This dresser should be sponsored by Harbor Freight. I used my HF dovetail machine, HF BS, HF HVLP, and HF sanders during its construction. The HVLP sprayer (self contained unit) was REALLY nice to use. The water based semi-gloss poly cleans up easy and looks good. 4-5 coats later, I was finally happy. 5 coats would have taken me forever with a brush but the poly dried almost as fast as I could clean up the sprayer between coats.
The drawers are machined dovetail 1/2" Baltic birch with a 3/4 maple ply front and BB 1/4 bottoms.
I was going to turn the knobs but I decided to stop torturing LOML because I was taking so long to build the whole thing. Otherwise yet another HF tool, the lathe could have been used.
I really routered the heck out of this thing. Aside from the dado's for the dust frames and the back panel. I did some decorative beading on the upright "stiles" for the sides. All the edging for the drawer fronts and upright stiles are rounded over and rabbetted. The rabbet on the edging looks better than just flat edging on the side of the plywood. It lets the edging wrap around the front of the plywood just a little and hides any little tear out along the edge of the plywood. But what a slow process! Took me an afternoon just to mill and apply the edging for the drawer fronts! Then there was the inlay to route.
The top has 1 inch thick edging on the sides and a 45 deg. chamfer to make it look beefier than just 3/4 plywood.
The top left drawer has a secret compartment in the back of it. When you take the drawer all the way out, you can get to it. Otherwise you don't see it. I love furniture with a secret compartment.
My son Liam has been "helping" me in the shop during the entire process. I've been telling him it's his dresser all along. He got very excited when I told him it was time to bring it in to his room because it was finished. He couldn't wait to pose for pictures next to his latest creation he and dad made. I wrote him a little message inside the secret compartment in pencil, so did LOML. Someday when he can read and finds it, well, you know...
Thanks for looking (this far down..)
Bill
LCHIEN
Loring in Katy, TX USA
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