Popular Post Chestnut Posted March 18, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 One of the projects to do after the dresser was a closet remodel. Some how i came up with the bright idea to make a unit that had 8 drawers in it with closet rod above and below.... I HATE making drawers. Before. Just had a single rod that was about 6' up with a shelf on top. The shelf was wasted space it just catches junk and wasn't very useful. The shelf and rod were removed but this illustrates it well enough. I scored some cherry MDF a while ago for $25 a sheet. Decided to use some of that to make this. I used birch ply for the rest to keep weight down and offer a bit more strength than MDF. I started by edge banding everything with thin strips of cherry. I clamped it on with green tape and was able to get 4 8 foot sections done in short order. I flush trimmed the banding with my router. This method works really well and quite quick. It's easy to adjust the banding if it's not strait, which mine wasn't even close to being strait. After i had everthing edged i joined the top and back together with a single domino to keep them in line. This way i could clamp a guide on both the top and the back and cut mortises for loose tenons at the same time. While i was working the domino would hold things in place so i wouldn't have to worry about bumping the piece and causing a misalignment. Vertical dividers got a dado for the middle shelf. The bottom shelves were attached with dominoes in to the sides of each vertical divider. I didn't want to just glue the bottom on to the dividers because the bottom would hold the weight of the clothing hanging and the weight of what ever is inside the bottom drawers. I figured having just the glue contention wasn't as strong as having to sheer a domino off and break the glue connection. This might be more visible in follow pictures. Case was glued up with epoxy, even with 45 min of time i was running on the ragged edge. I ran out of epoxy and had to use yellow glue for the back. In hindsight I'm glad i ran out because I'd not have had near enough and i'd have probably just tried to go thin with the epoxy and strength would have suffered. I used a couple clamps and probably should have used a couple more. I wanted to hang the closet rod from under the drawer unit but in a way where the hangers would slide with out interference from one end to another. So i devised a hook that would support the closet rod with out interference to the hangers. I made them from scrap so they don't really match but you don't see them ever. I did some strength tests on them to see if the grain direction would be problematic. I almost had to put my entire weight on 1 bracket to break it. So i figured 7 brackets should be strong enough. Drawers are all birch ply. I did cherry veneer for the faces just like for the walnut dresser i just completed. I had a 4' board so the outside 2 drawers are continuous grain that book match over the center. I then book matched the top to the bottom so it's a 4 way match. It looks real good but the closet isn't big enough to see the detail so forever only i will ever know what it looks like..... Oh yeah i used some curly cherry as well. It was one of my not so curly pieces the pictures make it look better than it really is. Mostly finished and loaded up. Some how i hit the drawer depth perfectly. I didn't need to put stops at the back. This never happens and if anything i call it a mistake because i usually try and make them a bit short so i have to install stops. The only other issue is because each drawer is in it's own tight box there is a heavy piston action. Pushing the drawers in and out is difficult on a few of them so I'll have to find a fix for that. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankstick Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 That is classy! Good way to take advantage of the space. We have two wire closet organizers that came with the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodbutcher Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Looks great dude. That curly cherry is beautiful. What did you finish it with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Turned out great Drew! Nice score on the cherry plywood Curious how did you mount it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chestnut Posted March 18, 2019 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 10 minutes ago, woodbutcher said: Looks great dude. That curly cherry is beautiful. What did you finish it with? Everything is Shellac for speed of just getting it done and also because it's goign to see very little hard use. 26 minutes ago, Bankstick said: That is classy! Good way to take advantage of the space. We have two wire closet organizers that came with the house. Yeah we tossed around those ideas but i wanted something a bit more custom. I've become opposed to shelves for storing clothing and prefer drawers. I might in the future take a few of the drawers and do the sliding treys that Marc showed on his main channel a few months ago. All of the drawers are 7" deep with is a bit deep for some if the items I'll store in there. 8 minutes ago, pkinneb said: Turned out great Drew! Nice score on the cherry plywood Curious how did you mount it? The top bottom sides and back are all 3/4" ply so i just used some cabinet screws in to the studs. By my calculations kitchen cabinets weight more and are fastened to the wall with 6-8 cabinet screws so i have this guy hung with about 12. Also the paint on the wall was still slightly wet when i hung it so it's kinda glued in place as well . It's amazing how good of adhesive latex paint is. I should also note that the dresser for Megan wasn't big enough. After this was installed she stole a drawer..... At the moment i don't' care cause 3 are completely empty. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Great job and very inspirational. One of the people in my house uses an enormous amount of closet space. This gives me some great ideas. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 24 minutes ago, gee-dub said: Great job and very inspirational. One of the people in my house uses an enormous amount of closet space. This gives me some great ideas. LOL I was thinking the same thing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdie Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 We talked a bit about this after the Lee Nielsen event. Great result. I still think you need to go with the pipe organ solution on the drawers. Seriously, one smallish hole into the bottom and into the center horizontal in each drawer compartment should allow enough air movement to solve the trapped air issues. Nice job and, as others have stated, inspirational. Gives me an idea or two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 2 hours ago, gee-dub said: One of the people in my house uses an enormous amount of closet space. Does SHE have a name? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted March 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Megan wanted me to point out to you guys that i enabled us to downsize from using 3 closets between the 2 of is down to 1.25. We still have our formal wear in another closet solely because the dresses are too long. She would also give me a dirty look if i didn't clarify that I take up probably 40% of the space. So I'm not innocent in consuming a lot of closet space. The big thing that i attribute to consolidating as much is the ability for the hangers to slide from one end to the other. Not having the stops allows larger clumps while still leaving room to remove items. They do make standard brackets that allow for this if you want to go the easy route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 19, 2019 Report Share Posted March 19, 2019 12 hours ago, Chestnut said: After this was installed she stole a drawer..... At the moment i don't' care cause 3 are completely empty. Empty drawers never stay that way for long! Nice work, Drew. Good design, nice materials, and an outstanding job on fit as a "built-in". Those are always the worst. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted March 19, 2019 Report Share Posted March 19, 2019 Great job Drew. I like it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankstick Posted March 19, 2019 Report Share Posted March 19, 2019 Just thought- your project verifies the idea that one cannot have too many clamps. Again, nice project with outstanding wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeslayer Posted March 19, 2019 Report Share Posted March 19, 2019 Great work Drew, i can't say anything beyond what others have said, i only have one question, when do you SLEEP? on my best day 30 years ago i couldn't keep up with you in the wood shop. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 19, 2019 Report Share Posted March 19, 2019 Great idea and execution nut! Are you serious about the mdf being cherry or the cherry being mdf? Didn't know they made such an animal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 @ChestnutJust have to let you know. I have come back to this a few times in anticipation of a closet retrofit. Thanks again for posting it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted March 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 2 minutes ago, gee-dub said: @ChestnutJust have to let you know. I have come back to this a few times in anticipation of a closet retrofit. Thanks again for posting it. If you need any details just ask. I'll gladly measure and post what ever additional info you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted March 22, 2019 Report Share Posted March 22, 2019 For the piston action, you can shorten the top of back piece to allow air to escape. Eric recommended that to me a few years ago. I have a cabinet with the same issue, though I never got around to doing anything to address it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted March 22, 2019 Report Share Posted March 22, 2019 On 3/18/2019 at 1:14 PM, Chestnut said: The big thing that i attribute to consolidating as much is the ability for the hangers to slide from one end to the other. Not having the stops allows larger clumps while still leaving room to remove items. I have those horrible wire closet racks & words cannot describe my hatred of them. They have stops about every 12" & it just kills the usability. Not to mention the ugliness of them. I have a major master suite reno in the planning stage & can't wait to get rid of those awful things. I am sure that the wood I use won't be a gorgeous as the stuff you've used. Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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