Sapele Dresser


Cannikin

Recommended Posts

My wife and I are having our first baby in a little less than a week and, being a woodworker, figured it was my duty to build something for him. I found a nice dresser in the Dec 2008 issue of Wood Magazine - a six drawer tall dresser. We wanted it to double as a changing table so I modified the design in Sketchup to work as a side-by-side.

The top, sides, drawer fronts are Sapele. The drawer sides/backs are Douglas Fir (300 years old!) and Poplar for the drawer dividers. The drawers are NK style so they only ride on a small runner at each outside corner. I got lucky enough to get all the drawer fronts out of one huge 12' board of quartersawn Sapele!

For the finish I've got five coats of a tung oil/boiled linseed oil/varnish mix and then a buff of Feed 'n' Weed. I was thinking of maybe a coat of paste wax for the top in case of any changing accidents. :)

5087094052_700ffa4634.jpg

5087094130_65176a55fd.jpg

5087094438_1c416d10cd.jpg

5087094324_831aed960a.jpg

5087094526_984b9e7f13.jpg

Here's a quick video walkthrough:

And a series of photos of the whole construction here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cannikin/sets/72157624653668266

Final joinery tally: 16 dados, 8 mortise and tenons, 24 dovetails.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the photo gallery of the build. Very nice indeed. So what finish did you choose to resist nappy changing accidents? :o

Thanks! I updated the original post to include the finish: Five coats of a tung oil/boiled linseed oil/varnish mix and then a buff of Feed 'n' Weed. I was thinking of maybe a coat of paste wax for the top in case of any changing accidents. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cannikin, that is first rate work! Instant heirloom. Abit of advice being this will be your first, you may want to put a "thicker" top coat. I know that flies in the face of such beautiful work to put plastic over the top, but put poly on it! You are having a baby. It's not unlike raising a small animal. They will make messes, they will chew on things :blink: and if your work misses those abuses, surely the top will receive some damage from baby paraphernalia such as bottles of baby oil, ointments, etc... DAMHIKT :lol: Congrats on your family to be, best of luck and again great work :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   2 Members, 0 Anonymous, 59 Guests (See full list)

  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    422.3k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,777
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    walo47
    Newest Member
    walo47
    Joined