Master Bedroom Vanity

[gee-dub]

Moving right along after the slab hallway table, it's the master bedroom vanity project. As usual I am starting the journal early so as to keep myself moving forward. The vanity will have a family resemblance to the MBR blanket chest and dressers but will be made from walnut. This is version zero which has passed muster with SWMBO.

The plan is for a wall mounted mirror over the top and a magnifying mirror for all of those mysterious things that our loved ones do when getting ready to go out . The drawers are still under discussion. This is a simple Hambridge graduation scale that may or may not get adjusted. Drawers will be overlay, not inset. Same height drawers got vetoed and I cannot say that I am unhappy about that. Graduated drawers have always looked better to me but, what do I know?

[Beechwood Chip]

I'm designing a dresser for my bedroom, and I ended up measuring all the clothes that I wanted to store in it.  Then I created a spreadsheet so I could try out different drawer combinations (2 rows of 3?  3 rows of 2?  3 rows of 3?)  Started out with same height drawers, but ended up with 12", 9", and 6" drawer fronts.  I figured that those ratios would look OK.  I'll have to check out the Hambridge method.  Thanks!

[wtnhighlander]

Same height drawers tend to look more like a file cabinet. I like the graduations.

[gee-dub]

On 11/2/2025 at 10:37 AM, Beechwood Chip said:

I'm designing a dresser for my bedroom, and I ended up measuring all the clothes that I wanted to store in it. 

I totally get that.  This dresser was designed to hold two stacks of jeans in the two lower drawers and stacks of t-shirts and tanks in the ones above.  The smaller top drawers were for socks.  Form follows function  .

[gee-dub]

OK, one of my favorite parts . . . material selection. Checking the north wall rack.

Checking the west wall rack.

Checking the west wall vertical area.

I think I have a couple of good contestants for the top. I would turn this into four boards and glue up the 48" x 23" top.

I am also considering resawing from a single board to get a figure match.

I better go have a cup of coffee before I get ahead of myself.

[Mark J]

19 hours ago, gee-dub said:

Moving right along after the slab hallway table, it's the master bedroom vanity project.

Wow, not gathering much moss between projects!  Is this a vanity with a sink, or a makeup vanity?

[gee-dub]

On 11/3/2025 at 5:28 AM, Mark J said:

Wow, not gathering much moss between projects!  Is this a vanity with a sink, or a makeup vanity?

Make up vanity.  LOML doesn't do much make up but, likes to know what she looks like for the day .  When we built out the new MBR I had an outlet put where the vanity will go so she can power a lighted magnifying mirror that will stand and can be moved about on the top surface.  Rather than build an overall mirror frame into the vanity I plan to mount one to the wall.  This will probably make more sense as I move along.

[gee-dub]

Already got a drawer modification request from the client.

Here is where I usually start; an exploded diagram with general dimensions. This helps me select material and mark out blanks.

I keep a chalk holder in my apron.

This leg template is serving on its third project.

Legs have insides and outsides and lefts and rights so I'm generous with my layout info.

I am able to get the four legs . . .

. . . and I only leave this much spoil. Nearly all of it will be useful for something else.

Sometimes the trick is using the shape of the part to eliminate defects.

All bandsawn out; not perfect but, close enough to template route.

[BillyJack]

Be careful with the panels. Ove4 time they will shrink…

[gee-dub]

@BillyJack - Yep, I always pre-finish the panels so I don't get any peek-a-boo bare wood when things move seasonally.

[gee-dub]

So, a little template routing.

When one side is done I tape the template and the blank to keep things aligned. Remember these are not cut to length yet. The length to the floor and to the top are set by the "shoulder" of the arc.

Here everyone is template cut.

The stop block references off the shoulder of the arc.

And now everyone is happy.

Oh sure, I feel all saucy right now but pretty soon the frame and panel and mortise and tenon work will start and things will really slow down

 

[fcschoenthal]

On 11/3/2025 at 11:34 AM, gee-dub said:

Already got a drawer modification request from the client.

Did you tell her that a change in scope will increase the price and lengthen the build time? 

Sometimes works with my wife. Most of the time she says "just shut up and do it."

[gee-dub]

On 11/3/2025 at 2:04 PM, fcschoenthal said:

Did you tell her that a change in scope will increase the price and lengthen the build time? 

Sometimes works with my wife. Most of the time she says "just shut up and do it."

She definitely has a threshold.  I definitely use it to my advantage at times .

I ask her for her input at the initial design stages. She will then eventually tell me “just build it and surprise me”.

So far, so good.

[gee-dub]

I am trying to pull a lot of these smaller parts out of scraps from the off cut bin. I don't like to just mill usable material into saw dust so I will resaw wider pieces. The off cut can be used for inserts in "scrap boxes" that I often make between projects; especially near Christmas.

I was getting some sluggish feed rate at the planer. I realized I could not remember the last time I waxed this baby. Of course we ALWAYS unplug our machines prior to sticking our hands in the ugly parts.

I replaced the serrated outfeed roller on this machine with a rubber one some years ago. Just a bit of DNA and a paper towel take care of cleaning that up. Some Johnson's Paste Wax takes care of the bed.

All working well now. I finish milling the stiles for the side F&P sections.

Everybody cut to final dimensions. Time for the tenon and groove joinery.

The end tenons will interface into the upper and lower stiles. The grooves will accept the side panels.

[gee-dub]

And on and on we go . . . My usual use of set up blocks for marking gauge settings.



The shop made depth gauge makes setting bit heights easy.

We were discussing this type of push block a while ago on another thread. Sorry, I lost track of it.

At any rate it makes keeping narrow pieces square to the fence easier.

I always have a dummy block or extra part to use for set ups.

Once I know where I am going I can run the balance of the parts through with confidence.

Same goes for opposing joinery cutter set up.

Always important to remember which face is your reference face.

That way everything lines up.

[gee-dub]

Just a side note here.  The contactor plate under the centrifugal switch in my dust collector failed. 

If I had gotten a little farther along in the milling process I could continue.  As it is I am waiting on a replacement part for a few more days.  This unfortunately means I am available to do some non-woodworking related things around the house .  Just wanted to let you all know I hadn't just wandered off and got lost.

[gee-dub]

Dust collector is back up and running so we're off . . . This is my typical setup for resawing things up to 8" or so.

I am resawing some spoil off of some 5/4 stock. I will use this spoil as veneer for the leg area of the vanity. It will be laminated to a plywood slab that will support the left side of the drawer guides.

Even though the stock I have is not what you would call rough-sawn it does vary in thickness more than would be usable as-is. Once resawn at the bandsaw I take the off cuts and drum sand them to a reasonably consistent thickness. I will vacuum these to a plywood substrate for the left side of the drawer carcass.

A few passes and I think I have enough for my needs. If I need a few more pieces or a better color match I have a rack of thin off cuts that I can draw from. This is where I am for now.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

Is that a 1/2" blade on your BS?

[Coop]

I know that I should know but, what is the device in the dog hole? 

[wtnhighlander]

Looks like a conveniently-stored marking gauge to me. 

[gee-dub]

On 11/14/2025 at 7:59 PM, wtnhighlander said:

Looks like a conveniently-stored marking gauge to me. 

Quite correct.  It is the Veritas Anniversary wheel gauge.  My favorite although I have a few.

[gee-dub]

On 11/14/2025 at 12:56 PM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

Is that a 1/2" blade on your BS?

Sorry, apparently I forgot to click "submit".  It is a 1/2" Laguna Resaw King.  I have used blades up to 1" but find that with the saw well tuned a 1/2" blade works great up to full height of resaw. I do use the low-tension flutter method for setting the blade tension and have for nearly 20 years.  This lets me saw veneers (or other boards) with little effort.

[Mark J]

16 hours ago, gee-dub said:

I take the off cuts and drum sand them to a reasonably consistent thickness.

I'm curious why choose to use the thickness sander as opposed to the planner? 

[gee-dub]

On 11/15/2025 at 5:11 AM, Mark J said:

I'm curious why choose to use the thickness sander as opposed to the planner? 

The veneer is only 1/16" thick.  There are ways to do this on the planer using an auxiliary base but, I have the drum sander so I used that.

[Mark J]

I thought that might be the answer.