Pair of Dressers

[gee-dub]

These are part of the bedroom "collection" that started with the Blanket Chest several months ago. I will take my time on these since I would like to finish them up about the time the remodel of the room where they will go gets done. Ah . . . the best laid plans . There will be a pair of them and this is the general thing I am shooting for.

As always it starts with material selection. I had used up much of my 4/4 cherry on other projects over the last couple of years and was surprised when I didn't have enough stock I liked when I went to start this project!?! Off to the local yard for some stock for the drawer fronts and end panels.

I made this leg template over a year ago. Common story . . . I never knew it would take this long to get started on the remodel. At any rate, I use it to layout leg blanks on some thicker stock.

I cut the blanks to length with the jig saw and bandsaw the basic shapes out. I then joint one face and plane to thickness.  The extra block of scrap is milled along with the parts to give me something at dimension in case I need to test anything later.

Since I will be doing a fair amount of 1-1/8" tall template routing I do a touch up on the bit I plan to use. Remove the bearings and give each face 2-3 swipes of fine and extra fine.



I use the same Template Jig I made back in 2011. It seems to cover most of my template routing needs and hasn't required a rebuild yet .

Here's a tip many of you may already use on burn prone woods. Run a piece of tape along the template edge and make your cut.

Pull the tape and make a second pass. This often gives you nice, clean, burn-free edges even in difficult materials.

This is with both faces and the long edges done. Ready to crosscut to length.

One thing about template routing is that it can generate a lot of spoil no matter how close you bandsaw to the line. My router table catches a lot of the spoil but in these types of operations a lot of spoil flies off the cutter well above the throat collection area. As you can see in the previous pics I add a vac collection point on top of the table. The little man in my head tells me I should check the vac collection tub. I loosen the little green wing doo-jobber on the 4" hose.

This lets me slide the tub out.

Yep, that needs to be emptied.

In contrast here is the filter box showing how much spoil gets past the Dust Deputy . . . almost none .

I use the same router template like a story stick to set the cross cut location at the top of the leg. I then just use a stop block to set the overall length.

And I end up here.

On to the other parts that make up the end panels.

[wtnhighlander]

That's a good tip about the blue tape on the template!

[Coop]

In pics 6&7, not including the drawing, I’m betting that the flex tube holding the dust collection port, is not a store shelf item? 

[gee-dub]

On 12/24/2023 at 4:41 PM, Coop said:

In pics 6&7, not including the drawing, I’m betting that the flex tube holding the dust collection port, is not a store shelf item? 

Actually that is a Rockler product from back when Nordy Rockler was still running the show.  Darned handy.  Rockler is a different kettle of fish today.  To quote Chrissie Hynde "Some things change, some stay the same".

End panel frame parts . . . same old, same old. Break down blanks, joint, plane, rip, crosscut.

I dry fit the panel frames to lay out the joinery. It will all be tongue and groove along with floating tenons on these. As with most joinery it is all about the reference surface.

These parts are all the same thickness and there is no offset between any parts. This makes things pretty straight forward. I will use the show face as the reference surface. The back of these assemblies will be hidden for all time so I can mark on them pretty freely. The trick is to make your marks in a location that won't get milled or sanded off.

This is the same Woodcraft bit I wish I would have bought more of when they were clearing them out. The smaller diameter combined with a 3/8" cutting depth makes it great for cutting grooves close to joinery areas without removing too much tenon supporting material. A brass setup bar lets me quickly get a 1/4" set back from the reference surface that will ride the table top. The block of wood was milled at the same time as the actual parts. I use it here to make sure I am going to get what I want.

This just shows how once you do something for a while you start to figure out what is important and what is not. Laying the vac hose across non-sharp stuff long enough to cut some joinery is a-ok with me.

Just testing that making the full 1/4" x 3/8" cut in this material at this speed is good.

I'm happy with that.

The stop block at the right end of the fence is for safety. When levering into a spinning cutter I like to be sure that my blank isn't going to try to become a projectile. Things generally go well but there is always that one time . . .

OK. So now I just have to do this a whole bunch more.

Unfortunately I have to go in and do the final prep for St. Nick so these will have to wait.

[roughsawn]

This is a fun ride. Thanks again for sharing. On your table saw sled...what size are those dovetail slots?

I'm getting ready to buy one or two sizes for just that, but don't know if I should buy 1/2", or 3/4". Or both.

I'm a dovetail rookie, and any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated!

Sorry for getting you side tracked.

[gee-dub]

@roughsawn - It is a 1/2", 14 degree bit.  The dedicated bit also eases the edges and I found this much easier than easing them myself on my first version of the sled.  I run a 1/4" or 5/16" straight bit at near full depth first.  This gives the dovetail bit less work to do and extends the life of the profile.

[Von]

Quote

Actually that is a Rockler product from back when Nordy Rockler was still running the show.  Darned handy.  Rockler is a different kettle of fish today.  To quote Chrissie Hynde "Some things change, some stay the same". 

FYI, they still have this product, or at least something similar: https://www.rockler.com/rockler-t-track-flex-hold-arm

[roughsawn]

On 12/24/2023 at 11:25 PM, gee-dub said:

@roughsawn - It is a 1/2", 14 degree bit.  The dedicated bit also eases the edges and I found this much easier than easing them myself on my first version of the sled.  I run a 1/4" or 5/16" straight bit at near full depth first.  This gives the dovetail bit less work to do and extends the life of the profile.

Thank you. The bit and clamps are in my cart! Versatility is almost unlimited.

[gee-dub]

Got a little time in today. I rip the floating panel blanks to final width.

I resaw them and plane them to final thickness.

I use a flat-top-grind blade and run a 3/16" deep x 1/8" wide groove all around the panels.

Most of this groove gets planed off when I raise the panels. There is a nice shoulder left to register the shoulder plane against. I failed to get a picture of the "in between" result of this maneuver . 

The profile ends up looking about like this . . .

 

. . . you then shoulder plane off the part colored orange.  Hopefully that makes sense.

A couple of swipes with the shoulder plane and I end up with this profile.

Still rough and just slapped together but you can get an idea of what the end panels will look like.

Three more to go.

[BillyJack]

On 12/25/2023 at 6:00 PM, gee-dub said:

Got a little time in today. I rip the floating panel blanks to final width.

I resaw them and plane them to final thickness.

I use a flat-top-grind blade and run a 3/16" deep x 1/8" wide groove all around the panels.

Most of this groove gets planed off when I raise the panels. There is a nice shoulder left to register the shoulder plane against. I failed to get a picture of the "in between" result of this maneuver . 

The profile ends up looking about like this . . .

 

. . . you then shoulder plane off the part colored orange.  Hopefully that makes sense.

A couple of swipes with the shoulder plane and I end up with this profile.

Still rough and just slapped together but you can get an idea of what the end panels will look like.

Three more to go.

Looking good. Did you change the ends compared to the original photo?

 

 

 

[gee-dub]

On 12/26/2023 at 8:20 AM, BillyJack said:

Looking good. Did you change the ends compared to the original photo?

 

 

 

Yes, good eye.  That was a goof on my part.  I was getting ready to cut the blanks for the floating panels and the material I selected was not wide enough .  I then realized that I had not fully framed the panels in the drawing and therefor in the exploded drawing with the parts and their dimensions.  This is a good goof to find early rather than late .  They are supposed to echo the blanket chest end panels.

 

[gee-dub]

Mortises, mortises, mortises . . .

The arch on the end panel rail is not a fair curve it is just a basic shape. A few simple layout tools make this pretty easy.

The first lower rail gets roughed out on the bandsaw.

Then I use the spindle sander to clean up the saw marks. Remember to baby powder your sleeves. It makes them so much easier to change.

I showed this trick before. A piece of scrap clamped to the spindle sander table sets a specific distance. You make a couple of passes . . .

. . . then use your high-accuracy adjustment tool to set the piece of plywood back a smidge for a couple of more passes. Blend in the curves and you have one rail done.

I now use this rail as a pattern to draw out the path on the other three rails. I rough them out on the bandsaw and use the same first rail as a template at the router table.

Now everybody matches.

Time for a bit of lunch.

[gee-dub]

Not a lot of visible progress here. I dry fit, profiled, and hand sanded (touch-ups here and there) a bunch of parts.

Put the pre-finish on the floating panels and the hard-to-get-to parts of the frames.

[gee-dub]

I don't want to say that I'm a cheap skate but I save a lot of the packing that comes in whatever gets delivered.

I lay it down when I want a barrier between the work and the work surface. Here's how I stage things to glue up these end panels sections. The little blue rectangles are spacers to help me center the panels. Not shown is a little plastic paddle (its in a bucket of water on the floor). I use this to massage the glue around in the mortises to assure there is glue on all the sidewalls. I also use this to spread glue on other mating surfaces.

I glue the parts up in a standing position in this case. Given the size and locations that require glue it just worked better. I've mentioned before that I use blobs of silicone glue instead of space balls. This lets me center the panels and when the silicone sets I have custom rubber spacers. Ah . . . there's the little orange plastic paddle on the right hand corner of the work surface.

Once all the parts are assembled I lay the assembly on its back. I check for square, apply the clamps and adjust the floating panels if required.

I then set these aside for a couple of hours. The blue tape assures that the panels don't move until the silicone sets up.

I have plenty more to do so letting these set a while is not a problem.

[Mark J]

On 12/28/2023 at 12:20 PM, gee-dub said:

Ah . . . there's the little orange plastic paddle on the right hand corner of the work surface.

I have found those little glue spatulas to be useful for scraping off glue squeeze out, as well.

gee-dub, at glue up, do you usually go for generous squeeze out, tiny squeeze out or none at all?

[gee-dub]

On 12/30/2023 at 6:52 AM, Mark J said:

I have found those little glue spatulas to be useful for scraping off glue squeeze out, as well.

gee-dub, at glue up, do you usually go for generous squeeze out, tiny squeeze out or none at all?

I shoot for tiny squeeze out.  I get bummed if I get a lot to deal with but I get even more bummed out if there isn't any and I have to worry if I have starved the joint .  I would rather scrap some off than have none but that is just my persnickety personality.  Mortise and tenon joints and their ilk are my favorite because if I get a good glue film on the mortise walls and the tenon I don't panic if there is really minimal squeeze out between the other mating surfaces.

My ideal situation is a little bit of squeeze out all along the joint, wait about 20 minutes for it to get leathery, and run a chisel along the glue line to pare it off.  I will have a rag in a small bucket of water around in case of emergency but don't use the wet rag as a rule.  It drives the glue too deep into the fibers for me and can cause finishing issues.  For others, not so much.

[gee-dub]

I had paired up these legs for the best look before. I just want to see it again and be sure things are labeled well so I don't goof.

Sanding . . . lotsa sanding . . . I'm not usually a power sander guy but there's a lot of sanding to do.

I layout the marks on the leg for the panel and check the angle. The top of the panel needs a bevel to fit correctly.

I was looking at the Blanket Chest build and wondered why I assembled the panels before cutting the arch in the lower rail. Now I remember . . . I needed a reliable bearing surface for the bevel cut. I add some extrusions to the tablesaw fence to get me out of my boo-boo. They don't need to be this long but one was too short.

Now the junction where the top will set is flat.

I go through the process of these mortises in the Blanket Chest thread so I will not belabor it again here.

You end up here.

Three more to go.

[BillyJack]

Looking good.. surprised you didn’t dado these..

 

 

[gee-dub]

There are some plywood structural elements inside the carcass. I cut them at the tablesaw with a sled and sled support.

There is a stopped rabbet on each leg. Funny, I rarely use these extrusions and now I've used them twice on one project. I needed some extra reach to put the stops where I needed them sp these help out.

One leg profile.



Flip the flip stops and do the other leg profile.



And I end up here.

I square the ends.

The plywood panel will lay in like so. This provides support in several directions and gives me a vertical surface to mount drawer glides to.

[wtnhighlander]

@gee-dub, did those extrusions come from somewhere like Rockler (as they are blue), or an online order? Seems like an excellent way to extend a TS fence for better control of long pieces.

[gee-dub]

@wtnhighlander - These happen to be Rockler.  Like with many of their products of late they have gotten a little too proud of them in the price department IMHO.  Others offer similar products.  The important thing is that the slot shape fits with what you already have or intend to do.  The Rockler ones take 1/4" "T" and hex bolts as well as 5/16" T" bolts.  The others may as well.

I have put these same extrusions on the tablesaw fence for some operations.  The Saw Stop fence design makes changing faces quick and easy.  I don't leave them on for long as the slotted face does not seem to work well for a lot of things that I do.  The slots often seem to be in just the wrong place .

[Chestnut]

On 12/24/2023 at 7:12 PM, gee-dub said:

Things generally go well but there is always that one time . . .

It's only been one time for you ??? I remember that one time than the other time, then the time after that... i must not learn as fast.

Great project really enjoying the steps and detail. I like the plywood inside the legs That's a good idea for drawers and something that I should borrow.

[gee-dub]

Not much going on this morning. I crosscut some long members to length.

People ask about how much glue or how much squeeze out I try for. This is about right for me.

If I can get to most of the glue line and I can get there within a fairly short time of clamping I will use a straw. This is a method I picked up from Tim Rousseau. You can see him use this technique at 10:10 in this video. I also keep an acid brush cut short for scrubbing nooks and crannies as he shows in the same video. My primary method is to set a timer for about 20 minutes and come back and pare off the leathery glue with a chisel. The straw is my choice when I have easy access, and a wet rag is my last choice. To each their own . . . or multiple "their owns" .

With well milled, wide bearing surfaces things tend to self-square when clamped. I use a small machinists square just to be sure before I walk away.

For now all the end panel / leg assemblies are in the clamps.

I need to go get the car smogged while these set up a bit.

[Mark J]

20 hours ago, gee-dub said:

car smogged

Emissions testing?

[gee-dub]

On 1/6/2024 at 6:33 AM, Mark J said:

Emissions testing?

Yes. I wonder if “Getting the car smogged “ is a regional phrase. I always find it interesting how we say things or what we call things based on where we grew up and other experiences.