Popular Post derekcohen Posted April 24, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Lynndy and I were in Auckland, New Zealand recently for the wedding of her niece. We stayed with her brother and his wife. They have a wonderful home with some nice examples of arts and crafts furniture, one of which was an apothecary chest. I really love these pieces, and Lynndy especially has wanted one forever. So the order was placed and a spot lined up in the entrance hall. The design was mostly worked out in idle musing, and then I drew it up on sheets of 6mm MDF (I like this since the sheets end up as a story board and may be stored away more easily if needed at a later date). The orientation is vertical, rather than typically horizontal, more along the lines of a Krenov-styled cabinet. I’ve never built a Krenov-styled cabinet and, as far as I am aware, he never built an apothecary chest! In other words, this is a chest on a stand. As an aside, I am not enamoured with the spindly legs of Krenov designs, and something with substance is needed. More on this at a later date. The chest will contain 24 drawers, in 6 rows (so 4 drawers across and 6 rows down) … What has changed in the drawing above is the rows will be made to accentuate the vertical rather than the horizontal (by running the blades/dividers down first). This is more work, but is should create a different perspective. I have never seen a curved apothecary chest before, so this may be the first one … The wood is another first for me – black walnut from the USA. My local timber guy had a stack of 1” and 2” thick boards, all about 11-12” wide. (For those who see metric measurements on the plans and here is mentioned imperial sizing, be aware that this is my common practice. The jointer-planer/thicknesser I have is European, and metric. The hand tools, such as a plough plane, are imperial). The boards are thicknessed a little oversize, glued up, and then taken to final dimension with hand planes. The walnut is so easy to plane. I get why so many rave about working with it. Don’t you love it when the carcase parts are done. These are all 20mm thick … Starting to put it together Starting from the bottom up, the side panels are left a little long as they will need to be given a curved bevel to meld with the bottom panel … The dovetails are in the ratio of 6:1 – I felt the slightly extra wider base would add a little more authority. Here’s the first completed corner. It is important that the joints are tight (obviously) but also that they moved apart readily, since the cabinet carcase will be pulled apart, put together, and pulled apart many times as the drawer blades are measured and fitted ... Note, also, the area that will need to be bevelled away. This is marked. Now the dimension of the bevel is taken the length of the panel … I made up a template of the curve by grinding a piece of scrap steel (chosen because it was lying around) … … and the curve is transferred to the other end of the panel. The waste is planed away with, firstly, a jack plane (shop made) … ... and then a modified HNT Gordon trying plane … The reason for the trying plane is to keep the sides straight. A jointer plane could have substituted. The final step here is to smooth and fair the surface with a HNT Gordon mini smoother … Finally, we get to complete the basic carcase (the flash makes the walnut look light, but it is dark in tone). the dimensions are 700mm high and 300mm deep (at the centre) … Starting the vertical drawer blades/dividers These are made with merbau as a secondary wood, with walnut facing … Merbau is from northern Queensland (some is imported from Papua New Guinea). It is hard and heavy, and typically used in Oz for flooring or outdoor furniture. I am using it because it is cheap and hard. As cheap as pine and as dense and wear-resistant as jarrah. The boards are glued together and bound with blue tape .. Three vertical dividers for now … As before, they are also slightly oversize and will be planed to dimension to fit into 12mm wide dados. More later. Regards from Perth Derek 16 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Looking forward to watching this build progress. I'm hoping to build something similar in the near future, although there isn't a chance I'll even attempt a curved front 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Morse Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Beautiful pictures, and very nice work. I really enjoyed this post, and I'm looking forward to the next. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Looking good Derek! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 A journal by Derek! w00t! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan G Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Looks great so far! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Can we just retitle the thread to" check out the bad assery you're too scarred to even attempt, but D Cohen nailed" After seeing other examples of complex curved furniture from Derek, I'm super excited to watch this onee take shape 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Thanks for this ride Derek, it looks like fun, I'm in it all the way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim DaddyO Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Lookin' good. I will be watching along with many others. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Awesome, as usual!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmize Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Beautiful work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeslayer Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 great work Derek, count me in 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 26, 2018 Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 This should be fun to follow ! So is a bombe chest a possible future project ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post derekcohen Posted April 26, 2018 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 Steve, I have done one ... well, a modern version. Bow fronts, curved sides, and drawers that have compound dovetails ... The build is here. Just scan down to "Lingerie Chest". 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post derekcohen Posted April 26, 2018 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 Apothecary Chest - Part Two Wednesday was Anzac Day, a public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, and I had a few hours in the workshop to move along with the vertical partitions or dividers. The panels had been thicknessed a little oversize. They need to be brought down to their final thickness of 12mm. The panels need to be flat. The high spots are marked ... ... and planed away .... The base and the top of the cabinet is marked out for the stopped dados. The dados end 10mm from the lower edge. The upper section has a 12mm overhang to take into account. The ends are marked .. ... and then drilled to a depth of 6mm, which is the depth of each dado. The sides of the dado are scored deeply with a knife, and a chisel wall is made along the length. This is to guide a saw cut. The kerf is created with an azebiki saw. This is the traditional Japanese saw for cutting sliding dovetail joints, trenches and slots for sliding Shoji screens. The panel is flipped around, and the kerf is deepened so that it runs the full length ... Now zip out the upper layers of waste with a slick or paring chisel ... Remove the remainder to depth with a router plane ... And we are done ... More after the weekend. Regards from Perth Derek 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted April 26, 2018 Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 This is some nice clean work Derek. Good way to spend a holiday. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 26, 2018 Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 So those are straight sided dados ? I guess with the case being dovetailed the center dividers don't need sliding dovetails. It's a pleasure to follow such craftsmanship in action. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekcohen Posted April 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 Yes, straight sides rather than sliding dovetails. The extra holding is unnecessary as there will be many more drawer blades to add, and each brings with it more glue area. Regards from Perth Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 This is great. Waiting for the next posts, I feel like a kid just before Christmas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 1 hour ago, wdwerker said: So those are straight sided dados ? I guess with the case being dovetailed the center dividers don't need sliding dovetails. It's a pleasure to follow such craftsmanship in action. I was thrown too when he described the saw and mention sliding dovetails, not realizing he said dado’s. Really neat saw and chisel, not to mention beautiful work Derek. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 Beautiful to watch you techniques. I like it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 Ahh Derek, Derek, Derek, you have me standing here watching the ball leave the park. To impressive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 28, 2018 Report Share Posted April 28, 2018 Your lingerie chest is impressive. But I was thinking "Boston Bombe Chest like this . Not my pictures, found them on the web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekcohen Posted April 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2018 Hi Steve I spent a great deal of time studying Boston Bombe chests before building the Lingerie Chest. I used the same techniques and procedures. I am deeply appreciative of the amount of work and the skill level required in the Bombe. I consider this style to be the apex for most woodworkers. But one does not lie in my future since my taste in furniture is modern. The chest I built is as close to the traditional design as I will get. What it confirmed first hand was anything with a curve in it takes several times longer to build. Regards from Perth Derek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 29, 2018 Report Share Posted April 29, 2018 It's probably the most difficult shape I can think of. I admire the shape but can see myself building one or buying one either ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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