Pair of Dressers

[gee-dub]

The hook and loop soft pad works very well for edges you have already established a (non-complex) profile on but still need to smooth.

I get results that only require a little more hand work; sometimes none.

I check my progress with a wipe of DNA and a raking light. If I have a larger or longer surface to inspect I use mineral spirits as the effect last longer. The downside is that if everything is fine you still have to wait for the MS to off gas.

I get my first look that looks something like the Sketch Up drawing.

I have edge finished the other top, marked fastening locations, and will proceed after a short break . . . I seem to take those more often lately.

[gee-dub]

I usually favor figure 8 connectors or shop made "buttons" to secure tops. I've had some Z clips in stock for years and thought I would use a few. Even though there is an attachment point at each corner, people like to lift things by the tops so I will add 3 more connection points. I chuck up a slot cutter and set the height. I clamp a block of wood to the member to be cut to give me a greater bearing surface for the router base.

A none-too-specific length slot gets cut on each upper drawer divider and one at the back rail.

Between designing the dressers and getting them installed we decided to go with plantation shutters for the windows. The dressers were going to be a smidge taller than the lower ledge of the window frames. With the addition of the shutters these dimensions changed. Time for everyone to get a little shorter.

I'm going to use the guided circular saw for this. I found that using a pair of rail connectors gives me a more solid pair of guide rails. One on one side . . .

. . . and one on the other. YMMV.

I find yet another use for the cabinet door holder jig thingy.

And presto. Everyone is an inch and a quarter, shorter. And I'm a poet, and didn't know it .

I re-profile the bottoms of the feet and I'm ready to move on.

I was worried that this leg shortening would blow the look. I did a "what if" test in Sketch Up before committing and we decided it was OK.

[Von]

I probably have used my biscuit joiner for making slots for Z-clips as often as for aligning boards for panels.

Sounds like you are content with connecting your saw tracks (as opposed to an 8' track)? I know the day will come when I need to cut longer than my 55-inch track... TIA

[gee-dub]

On 4/19/2024 at 3:13 PM, Von said:

Sounds like you are content with connecting your saw tracks (as opposed to an 8' track)?

It's been a while but I believe that was a money decision.  I got the saw, clamps and one track in a kit on special.  Adding an additional track made more sense for me than having one short and one long.  Truth be known I would like a shorter track for odd jobs.  I also picked up the Lee Valley low profile clamps which are quite handy if you are working on a flat surface.  IIRC, the additional track, connector and clamps were less than a long track so that made the decision for me.  At least that's the way I remember it 

[gee-dub]

Time to mix up my witch's brew for cherry. The first thing I do before starting to mix up high VOC materials is to put about 4 inches of water in a pail with a lid. I also don a respirator and open the doors .  The pail is for the discard of anything that has the oil based finish on it. We have all seen the videos of what happens when oily rags get carelessly discarded.

The finish simply put is; 3/4 oz. of McCloskey's 7509 Spar Gloss, 1/2 oz. Mineral Spirits, 1/4 oz. BLO, and some Transtint Reddish Brown. In the winter I will add a bit of Japan Drier to speed up the curing but, we are already full-on into spring out here so I carry on.

I always filter EVERYTHING. I have found the few minutes of extra effort and the few cents for the filter are paid back in full through the absence of finishing issues.

The mix looks like the jar on the left until shaken for about a minute. Then it looks like the jar on the right.

We all know that when using multiple sources for our finishes we have to homogenize them to avoid disappointment . I dump the existing mix into a tub with the new mix and stir, stir, stir . . .

I then filter the material yet again into a couple of glass jars.

The resulting mix yields the look shown on cherry, freshly sanded to 220 grit.

OK you beasts . . . I'm comin' for ya!

[Mark J]

13 hours ago, gee-dub said:

The finish simply put is; 3/4 oz. of McCloskey's 7509 Spar Gloss, 1/2 oz. Mineral Spirits, 1/4 oz. BLO,

These are the ratios, and obviously you made up more than 1 1/2 ounces. 

I'm curious what you use to measure out these thick, sticky liquids, and how you clean up the measures.

Another question, after you put your finish rags in a can of water, how do you then dispose of the wet & oily rags?

[gee-dub]

@Mark J - Thanks for calling that out Mark.  I tend to blather on a bit so I have developed a sort of "stop talking!" alarm in my head.  This means sometimes I talk too much about things no one cares about and sometimes miss things that may be important.

These are indeed ratios.  I use mason jars that have 1/2 oz marks up the side.  This saves me the cleaning of measuring cups and spoons which is what I used to use.  It took a few years but I have managed to get things broken down into standard increments that make my life easier.

Somewhere I have a thread about using a marking stick in any straight-sided, clear container.  You mark a stick in your required increments, set the stick in the jar and pour in materials to meet the marks.

As to the rags.  The bucket is merely a safe holding area during the finishing process.  This can take a few days for me.  Once I am done I carry the bucket outside, use a stick of scrap to lift the rags out of the bucket and lay them flat in the dirt.  I then pour the toxic water onto whatever weedy area is nearby.  By the next day (remember I'm in SoCal so the weather report is sun, sun, sun) the rags are dry and cured and I just throw them in the trash.

[gee-dub]

Not a lot to show for the last few days.  I got a couple of coats on the tops.

 

I go in for a minor hand surgery tomorrow so I was glad to get the first color coat on everything else.

 

 

The recovery period should give the finish plenty of time to cure

 

[Von]

Hope all goes well and you have a quick recovery.

[pkinneb]

Another awesome build thread!! Good luck with your surgery!

[wtnhighlander]

May your recovery be as smooth as your finish, @gee-dub!

[Mark J]

Good luck!  Let us know how you're doing.

[gee-dub]

Trigger finger fix.  All went well.

[Mark J]

Good to hear!

[gee-dub]

I don't usually use the word "thrilled" but I am thrilled to get back to work on these.

I was happy to get the base color coat and sealer coat on before my hand surgery. I anticipated a couple of weeks recovery that turned into four. At any rate; I sand the sealer coat to eliminate any irregularities.

I keep an eye out for clearance on shower curtains of a good weight. I have picked up quite a few for a couple of bucks over the years.

They make good heavy drop cloths that last a surprisingly long time.

The "arc wedges" I am using to give me ground clearance are actually the cut outs from my DC pipe hangers from years ago.

I have tacked (a rag squirted with mineral spirits) all the parts and am ready to start in with the film coat. I am still not 100% so we will see how far I get. I plan to take the process in bite-sized chunks so I don't get myself into trouble .

[comp56]

I'm working on a bedroom "collection" that started with a Blanket Chest a few months back. It's been a slow but enjoyable process, and I'm aiming to finish the pieces around the same time the room remodel is done—although we all know how plans like that can go! I'm making a pair of them, and I'm really excited about how they're shaping up.

[gee-dub]

A little disappointment yesterday. I noticed that I had failed to properly surface some of the top. I guess this had to happen since I was taking breaks in the middle of this project even though I "thought" I was being pretty diligent . A sort of a snipe-like dip in the center section of the top glue-up  . I should have snapped a pic before I tore into it. The fact is that there is no real way to fix this . . . the top is simply not flat.

I card scraped a bit of material off to asses the problem. The finish is only a few days cured so I will wait another 48 hours before I repair it completely. I will strip, repair, and refinish the entire tops. Thankfully at this point I am only making furniture for myself so it is about enjoying the work, not about getting "done".



Also, due to the size of the project I have plenty of other stuff to do while I wait.



The hand surgery is recovering on schedule per the doc. I would prefer a little faster but have learned the time-suck cost of ignoring doctor's orders so I am well tempered in being patient. I hope to get a 3rd and 4th coat on the drawer fronts today, carcasses tomorrow, and then the errant tops. Certainly a long and winding road on this one but . . . life happens .

P.S. had a great visit yesterday with the grand-kids so that certainly takes the sting out of my own petty problems.

[gee-dub]

I use a hardened card scraper to pull most of the finish off.

Then I use a 6" ROS to dress the whole surface.

I know this has got to be getting boring by now but . . . whether anyone else sees it or not; I feel much better about the look now .

The first base color coat.

[Coop]

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Well done bud! 

[Von]

I really appreciate you including the corrective process. I didn't know about hardened scrapers.

[gee-dub]

The last coats of finish have set overnight so I am OK to make sawdust. While I wait for more cure time on the finish I will work on the pulls. Got the boss to give me the OK on a pull style I have used in the past for other people's dressers although never for ours. Here is one on a child's dresser from about 7 years ago.

She likes the dark pull against the cherry color so that's where I'm going with this. Amazingly I still had the old trammel I used to make those pulls in the previous pic. It's nothing very sophisticated since I never thought I would use it again. The pulls for the current project are of a different scale so I use the previous face plate as a jig to drill the mounting holes for the new plate.

I use 8-32 inserts for these types of pulls so I drill mounting holes for the pull that match the new spacing.

I need to know the pivot point to achieve the arc I am after. Sketch Up is good for figuring things like this out.

The base plate just has to be wide and deep enough to cover the range of motion of the trammel. The right side rests against the fence to keep things aligned when adjusting depth. The trammel is attached at the pivot point found via SU. The final desired depth is marked with a pencil line on the sander's aux table. I start in a position that takes about 1/16" off the bandsaw cut blank and step forward until I am at the desired depth.

Note - - - Always swing IN to the abrasive. Having a blank (and the jig) ripped out of your hands by climb sanding can be really unpleasant.

Once the front is shaped I need to clean up the grip opening. The opening is roughed out by drilling a couple of Forstner holes at your desired spacing and band-sawing the waste out. This leaves a rough surface that you will constantly be putting your hands on so I smooth it.

You guys have seen me do this before. I just use a fence on the spindle sander to limit the travel of the piece.





This leaves me a pretty smooth surface.

And the pull looks like so.



And position-wise it looks like so.

The actual pulls will be very dark per SWMBO's request.

[Mark J]

Do you chamfer the edges of the pull?

[gee-dub]

On 6/2/2024 at 6:37 AM, Mark J said:

Do you chamfer the edges of the pull?

I have done chamfers and round overs for past versions of this pull.  1/16" or 1/8" on the show edges to match the piece.  1/8" or softer where the fingers close against it.  For things people will lay their hands on I like the edges to not be harsh.

[gee-dub]

The mock up went well so I cut some Peruvian walnut blanks.

I rip them to width and cross cut them to length. The next few operations are done assuming the pieces are all well milled and properly dimensioned.

The mock up makes layout on 10 of the blanks quick. There will be two top drawers in each carcass that will have short pulls.



The mock up makes setting the drill press easy.

Time to drill some holes.





Using a sharp bit and a good speed (about 500 RPM) makes the holes quick and clean and keeps the bit wear down.

Even after 28 holes in a row the bit is still comfortable to touch.

The mock up helps set up the DP once again.

Holes for inserts.

The lipped brad point bit is very sharp. The speed is about 1500 RPM for these holes.

This is my setup to get through the arc shaping.

I'm pretty happy with the consistency so far.

[gee-dub]

I typically lay finish on at the end of the day so I am not tempted to go into the shop and stir up dust. The weather last night and today is quite humid for us and the finish was still tacky until after noon. While I waited I put a couple of pull outs under the sink in the new master bath. Once I felt OK about making some dust I dealt with the shorter pulls that will be on the narrow top, outside drawers. They are shorter in length with all other attributes being the same.

This means I need to shorten the trammel length for the face sanding step by moving the pivot point. Once again SU comes to the rescue on figuring this out.

I should also mention how nice it is to have at least one deep reach clamp on hand.

Here is an old tip I got from Charles Neil (RIP). He referred to it as "bump cutting". I just applied the same technique to spindle sanding.

This removes material and makes your final pass easier on the tool and the material.

I was able to get all the pulls roughed out and ready for edge profiling.

I am happy with the "fix" on the tops following the final top coat.

More fun tomorrow.