Popular Post Chet Posted February 28, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 We have had this corner in the shop/laundry area in our Not A Garage Anymore part of the house that constantly collects stuff you don't know where to put such as containers of rags and drop cloths, containers holding bike helmets and other items that go with you on bike rides. A chest of drawers that had spare parts for the DC and mostly just a place to catch junk. Also there is a hamper from the 70's that has served us well but need to move on. And on the floor was a random selection of household cleaners and a big oak block that I use as a door stop. So this is what I started with - So I wanted to build a storage unit to replace all of this. This turned out to be almost 99.9 percent Baltic Birch Ply. It was two sheets of 3/4 for the case, drawer fronts and web frames, two sheets of 1/2 for drawer boxes and two sheets of 1/4 for drawer bottoms and case back. A real good track saw project. A pretty simple project and not really journal worthy but for my own personal education I decided to try some things I had never done before. I was planning on running down to the hardware store and spending a small fortune on mechanical drawer slides but instead I thought it would be good time to try my hand at dovetail slides, turns out its a pretty easy process but something I had never done. Here are the two parts in their final places Made from some poplar I had on hand- Male portion mounted in the web frame and finger in the picture And the female part mounted on the bottom of the drawer. After the finish was applied and some wax to the glides and edges of the web frame I am really pleased with how they slide. The other thing I did was instead of some real basic down and dirty drawer construction, I had recently seen a different joint used on a drawer and and thought it would be fun to try. When I first saw it I was really kind of flummoxed at how to go about cutting it. But after a little research and a couple of trys it is really pretty easy. In the whole process of cutting the two parts you never have to move the fence on your table saw and only on blade adjustment. In Tage Frid's book it is called a Half Blind Tongue and Rabbet. One cool feature of the joint is when you glue and assemble it, it is naturally end up at 90 degrees. I checked every corner as I went but they were all dead on. Heres a close up - And here is the corner of the shop all cleaned up and organized... Threw a lot of stuff away in the process which was a benefit in itself. So there are 10 drawers and on the lower left is a hamper and the upper left is a pull out shelf for the household cleaner stash. These two are on mechanical slides. The hamper is made out of scraps and a couple of panels for florescent overhead lights. It cabinet is 48 inches wide and 46 inches high 18 inches deep, mounted on casters because the dryer vent is behind it and if I have to get to that it will be a lot easier to move also there is two adjustable feet in the center between the casters for extra support. Oh and for you that care, all 48 screws for the drawer handles are clocked even though you can't see them. Not fine woodworking project worth of praise but it was fun and I was in the shop. 10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Nice addition to that space Chet! I know we had some conversations about that corner and it looks like you made a wise choice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Nice work Chet! That should provide a lot of functional storage. If you ever need more, you could build a drawer under the washer and dryer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Well that made a huge difference, nice job Chet!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 As you said , it's not fine furniture, but it's a damn "fine" piece of work. Ya done good young'un. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Great addition. You gotta be lovin' that upgrade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfitz Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Nice project - looks great! 9 hours ago, Chet said: all 48 screws for the drawer handles are clocked even though you can't see them Nice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Heck of an improvement, Chet, nice work ! I really like the dovetail slides. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisG-Canada Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 I like it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyoak Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Nice work Chet! Well executed. If you went all out and added a fine woodworking unit, That would be over kill. And a waste of your skilled labor. What happened to the small 4 drawer unit in the first picture? Looked like some of your good work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 12 minutes ago, curlyoak said: What happened to the small 4 drawer unit in the first picture? Looked like some of your good work. It's headed for the dump. That was slapped togather in what can be referred to as nothing less then a hurry years back out of crappy ply scraps a dab of glue and a handful of screws. It severed a purpose but needs to go to the big compost heap in the sky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Nice job! How did you mount the female part of the dovetails to the drawers? Are them glued to the bottom? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 32 minutes ago, Immortan D said: Nice job! How did you mount the female part of the dovetails to the drawers? Are them glued to the bottom? Two screws in each end. I wasn't sure how this is/was going to work out so I didn't want to do anything as permanent a glue at this time. I wanted to leave removal and adjustment in the equation because I am a newb at this dovetail drawer slide thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Good work sir i love the look of BB ply. I don't use BB ply as much as i should, i can get domestic good quality ply so i usually go that route. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 My yard has both the domestic and the baltic, but the baltic is more cost effective in the long run. All of the baltic birch is in 5 X 5 sheets which makes it easier to move around the shop. From my understanding the 5 X 5 sheets are some kind of hold over from the aviation industry. Some times there is a stamp on the sheets having to do with aviation but in a language that I am not familiar with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 I thought it was originally based on the lengths of clean straight trunks from the Birch logs. It's a little over 1.5 meters square.They grow Birch like we grow yellow pine trees in the south. It's a crop. I think the highest grade is certified for structural aviation use. Some of the differences are the number of football shaped patches in the faces, although I have seen some other shaped patches. Maybe that varies by the different mills that make it ? Another thing they limit is the size and number of voids in the core, even the lower grades have very few voids. I use 30-40 sheets a year and my suppliers seem to buy from different mills on occasion. 5/8 Baltic works well with 5mm dominos to make very sturdy drawer boxes. 1/2" Baltic is a bit to thin for a 5mm Domino in my opinion. I usually have plenty of 6"-7" x 60" 1/2 Baltic scrap around if anyone needs some it's free to Forum members, picked up in Atlanta. Maybe 20 pieces currently. The grain runs in the 6" direction , still strong stuff. Great for jigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan G Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 2 minutes ago, wdwerker said: 5/8 Baltic works well with 5mm dominos to make very sturdy drawer boxes. What is the corner joint detail? Do you just butt them with domino and glue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Nice work Chet. Looks like you will have a lot of room for everything now.. I also like the look of the Baltic Birch but don't use it often. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted March 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 3 hours ago, Alan G said: What is the corner joint detail? Do you just butt them with domino and glue? The top and bottom of the case have rabbets on the end that the sides are glued into, all of the web frames are in dados. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 I can't let my wife see that.....Nice work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Quiet a transition Chet! I’ve used that drawer construction before but to my embarrassment, I’ve never seen or heard of the dt slides. Really cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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