Master Bedroom Vanity

[gee-dub]

On 12/23/2025 at 5:35 PM, Coop said:

Stair gauges. Those are pretty cool. I can see where they would come in handy as you suggested and other un-intended purposes. And inexpensive as well make them my after Christmas gift to myself! 

Right.  Other than their intended use they can be stops on a framing square, layout aids, and apparently ad-hoc bar gauge clamps.  I just didn't feel like making another set of bars and the dimension I needed was between steel rules on hand.  Pause to scratch head . . . presto.  Custom scrap bar gauges  

[Mark J]

12 hours ago, Coop said:

Stair gauges. Those are pretty cool. I can see where they would come in handy as you suggested and other un-intended purposes. And inexpensive as well make them my after Christmas gift to myself! 

Yeah.  I've never heard of these "critters" before, and now they've come up twice in three days.

[Von]

On 12/24/2025 at 9:03 AM, Mark J said:

Yeah.  I've never heard of these "critters" before, and now they've come up twice in three days.

Ditto. I think I've seen them at the hardware store and wondered what they were used for, but since I wasn't building stairs, I didn't wonder too hard. I expect they are used more by carpenters in the field than furniture makers, the latter tending to dominate what typically constitutes woodworking content in my experience.

I'm sure at some point someone on YT will do a video using them and we'll see a rash of them being featured.

[Beechwood Chip]

On 12/24/2025 at 9:12 AM, Von said:

I'm sure at some point someone on YT will do a video using them

 

[Dave H]

I was a carpenter for most of my adult life, square nuts are an essential part any carpenters tool kit. Whether your cutting roof rafters, stair horses and, come in handy in a lot of finish work. I keep a set square nuts ( what we carpenters call them, what you're calling stair nuts ) carpenters are not as sweet, politically correct or, even sensitive as everyone thinks of us. Except me of course 

 

[gee-dub]

More structural parts going on. The bowed caul works well for applying pressure along the splined front trim joint.

Cutting up some maple for drawer box parts.

I need a little more maple (of course). Getting things like this 10' x 8/4 piece of maple out of the overhead rack is getting hard for me.  I have a scale in the shop and the board is only 55 pounds but feels much heavier today . The bow in this piece has kept it in the rack waiting for a short parts requirement. The short sections will reduce the impact of the bow in this board.

Lotsa drawer box parts.

I use clamping squares, shop made and commercial, to assure things remain true and perpendicular during glue up.

Next phase will be drawer boxes, drawer fronts and the glue up of the top.

And we're starting to get the idea.

[gee-dub]

I think I just put this one in here to show how you can use hand screws to lock larger items down to barely fitting work platforms(???).

I am using some tape as a story stick for the drawer heights and spacing.

I couldn't bring myself to spend the measly $20 for the Kreg 720 bench clamp when I had these Bessey Corner Clamp clamps available. Our shops tend to get crowded with one-trick-ponies. Sometimes they are necessary but I try to avoid them. At any rate, I bought the small pocket hole jig insert for 1/2" material and lo and behold the cam-clamp won't fully lock down . . . it hits my non-official clamp. Field Modification!!! Ground a bit off the top of the Bessey clamp.

Chiseled out a bit of the plastic grip pad . . . So, now we all know I would have been better off just paying the $20.

Presto, works great. I put in the bottom shelf undermount slides. For people who use these often I am sure they are a no-brainer. I only use them a few times a year so I find I have to re-learn a lot of things; face frame versus frameless, inset versus overlay, there are different calculations for all of these.



I make a bottomless drawer box and amazingly it worked out the first time. Now I have my actual dimensions and can carry on.

I go on the search for drawer front material that looks nice. Board number 5 wins the bake off. You can see that this board has been hiding at the top of one of the wall racks for a half a dozen years. It's finally his turn!

I use poster board "L's" to frame views of wood grain. This helps me isolate what I am looking at and make the decision process easier . . . for me . . . Of course I am out of poster board so I just grab a couple of framing squares and some tape.

The "window" let's me look at the figure in a more focused way. The material is thick enough that each blank will yield two drawer fronts. This view is OK . . .

But I like the aesthetic of this figure better.

Just a bit to the right is a nice bit of figure that will fit in the smaller upper two drawer front dimensions.

They may or may not end up being used as bookmatched.

Resawing material from the same board does give you color consistency and I am never sorry about that.

[gee-dub]

I add some more slides.

I should mention that I use something we have probably all seen . . . a blank to set the slide position.

You set the lowest slide as close to perfect as you can get it. Then you use a piece of scrap to set the next slide's height, rip the scrap for the next dimension, rinse and repeat.

I wanted a certain appearance from the front on this guy. that left my internals a bit offset from my "show" trim. I just add some spacers to set the slides where I need them. A spray of fixative, a drop of CA on a piece of hardboard and there you go. The tape acts as a fine-tuning shim to set the position. This is not structural. The slide screw goes right though it and into the plywood.

The scrap spacer serves to position these little blocks as well as other things.

This is just showing the shim in place.

I have a block plane with an add-on handle. I often use this to true up the tops of drawer boxes.

I love having these KliKlamps for tasks like this.

Anyway, one drawer to go.

Then I will take the fronts off, profile them and surface prep the drawer boxes for finish. Then I can mill and glue up the top!

 

 

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

This has been a great ride so far @gee-dub. Now bring it home!

[fcschoenthal]

On 12/31/2025 at 12:15 PM, gee-dub said:

You set the lowest slide as close to perfect as you can get it. Then you use a piece of scrap to set the next slide's height, rip the scrap for the next dimension, rinse and repeat.

I've always done this from the other way. I get the height of the top slide for the scrap and use it for both sides. Then rip to fit the next slide down, rinse and repeat. I guess your way uses a little less of the scrap, since the slides are now part of the measurement. Also, if the slides are evenly spaced, you'd only need one. Hope I remember to try it the next time I install some drawers.

[gee-dub]

@fcschoenthal - I would say you are on track.  For most drawer layouts I do a little more work at the drawing board and start at the top.  This way if I need the lower drawer to be 1/16" taller or shorter it goes pretty much unnoticed.

For some reason I really struggled with the layout for these drawers.  I generally do inset drawers so the opening controls the size (no overlay).  This design called for overlay and I wandered around a bit before I figured it out .

It worked out in the end but I was more comfortable building up from the bottom on this particular build.  Top down is also my usual method 

[Von]

I do the top-down method because I usually choose to make my bottom drawer larger, so the drawers are not evenly spaced. Thinking about it, I could do it bottom-up ripping the scrap to adapt to the drawer heights as I go.

I admit there is a little voice in the back of head mumbling about compounding errors if the scrap isn't parallel, but I think I have to trust myself that if I were screwing up the scrap by enough for that to matter it would be obvious.

[gee-dub]

Moving along . . . Walnut can sometimes have blemishes in the areas of the most interesting figure. I prefer Timbermate for a filler when required. It is so forgiving, easy to work with and accepts finish well. I keep walnut, cherry and neutral on hand. It may seem pricey but a small container will last you for years.

Once the final surface prep is done and the base color coat goes on this will disappear.

Always, always, square your boxes, casework and carcasses.

I have developed the habit of weighting drawer boxes to a true surface during glue up. Probably not necessary most of the time but . . . that one time . . .

Lee Valley offered these KliKlamp clones with an additional extended foot at some point in time. They were one of those "special buy" things that you get in their emails. At any rate they have come in handy more than once since I got them

They can do this.

I use my "don't drill that hole too deep" doo-jobber when drilling the false front attachment screw holes.

I will use part of this bit's profile for the false front edge treatment.

I fool around a bit and end up liking this result.

There is a lot of reversing grain pattern on these false fronts so you have to keep that in mind when machining. I run the router about half speed and use a feed rate that is just shy of too slow (burning). This seems to give me a good result. Here are the drawer fronts right off the machine.

There will be some hand work (as always) but this gives you the general idea.

[gee-dub]

Boy I am really baby-stepping this thing along. I had selected the top material before I selected any other material. I marked it and set it off to the side. Now it's time.

I dig out the planer sled I made in a few hours back in 2007. Boy has this thing earned its keep. I give it a wax job since it has been a while.

And there she is in all her hideous beauty.

You "zero" the cleats; that is, you make sure the wedges are not in play to start. You place the material on the cleats and lift up on each one, teeter-totter the board and all that stuff we do when jointing a face.

I do each end first so that there is no teeter-totter. Then I lift the remaining cleats, slide the wedges to remove the slop and lock them in place with the wood screws built into the ends of the cleats for that purpose.

I measure from the top of the material to a reference surface so that I know about what thickness to start with.

Witness marks . . . . always . . .

The DRO really helps with this. I have come to trust it implicitly.

Almost got it on the first pass.

One more 32nd and I'm there for side one of board one.

I do the other two, edge joint them and I am all set for the next step.

I will rip three boards from these "about" 10 inch wide boards to yield an "about" 23 inch deep top. It will be 48 inches long but will have arcs on the ends and front.

[curlyoak]

When I make slab face drawer fronts I locate and drill 2 holes, sometimes 3 holes, with a bit that is a little tight for a 6 penny nail. Clamp the Drawer face where I want it then the nail gives me where I want the pilot hole to go. Then I drill the hole larger. From memory 1/4" or 3/8". I use # 14 stainless phillips oval head with stainless grommets. The screw is smaller than the hole in the box face so I have a lot of adjustment to dial in the perfect location for the faces. 

[gee-dub]

@curlyoak - Great solution.  Similar function here although I realize I didn't describe it.  The #8 washer head screws drop into 5/8" counter bores with 3/16" through holes.  This gives me some decent wiggle for adjusting the false front.  Once aligned I snug them down.  Next step are the snug through holes for the pull mounting screws (#8 x 32 truss head machine screws) which lock things in place.

[gee-dub]

I am a stickler for exposed end grain; it has to look good. Several of the styles I work in have exposed end grain as a design detail so over the years I have gotten used to dealing with it.

Here is a front (on the left) right off the machines. The one on the right has had the edges prepared. The face is not quite done in this picture.

The glue up of the top is done and cured. I use shop made and commercial drawing bows to layout the curves. Oddly the fiberglass commercial bow has warped and may get tossed. The tempered hardboard one I made decades ago is still fine (???).

At any rate, you layout your curves and head to the tablesaw.

Ripped to final depth; this is the bottom side.

Those silly Huskey adjustable tables never cease to be useful. I hope some of you picked them up cheap during the Christmas deals. They work for arcing the crosscut.

And for arcing the rip.

I fell asleep at the switch and didn't take pictures of fairing the curves at the edge sander. An edge sander makes fairing these longer curves really easy. You test your curve by rocking the part on edge on a known flat surface. If it rocks smoothly, the curve is fair. If it stops or stutters, go back to work.

I have not done the edge profile treatment yet but wanted to get a look at this before I broke for lunch. I am going to run to the local deli, then pick up one of the grand kids who wants to spend the night, then hopefully get back to work. Sometimes after I stuff my face with a nice Italian grinder sandwich I will take a nap. It's a known hazard and I just have to deal with it.

[curlyoak]

Will this piece be free standing or on a wall? Isn't the back finished also? Either way I am enjoying your work AS ALWAYS!

[gee-dub]

It will be against the wall and I took advantage of that to some degree. The back slats that will be hidden from view by the drawer case are not well matched color-wise. I still used walnut but for 3 or 4 slats they are basically a secondary wood. There is also a bit of sapwood in the wall facing right rear leg. I guess because the piece is for ourselves I did some things I would not normally do.  

[curlyoak]

If I am for hire, I would specify 1/4" veneer. I must be careful how I spend a clients money. Price is frequently a big deal to get the work.  The project freestanding costs a lot more. Working for myself I do some things different.

On 1/3/2026 at 3:05 PM, gee-dub said:

I am a stickler for exposed end grain

Me too! The trained eye knows immediately it is not veneer. For a stack of drawers I like the end tooled with a roundover. I like the look of thin reveals on the horizontal. No tooling the horizontal edge. Personal preference.

PS. the above is obviously for slab face drawers only.

[gee-dub]

I use a portion of a large round over bit to make the top edge profile.



The additional support surface of the tablesaw comes in handy.

I spoke shave the long edge of the top but choose sandpaper for the cross-grain edges. I have shown this shop made flexible sanding block before. It rides the curves well and is pretty easy to use.

I ran a bit of mineral spirits on the long edge to check my progress.

A raking light makes getting the surface of the top error free. Trust me, there were some that surprised me and I had to go back and dress them out.

I will use Peruvian walnut for the pulls to match the other pulls in the room.

I drill the hole for the insert the diameter of the barrel. I only want the teeth cutting into the wood. I do not want to force the fastener into the wood like a wedge.

I use the insert to set the depth and the fence to help position the blank.

I kind of cheat and use one of the previous pulls as a setup guide.

The layout helps me double-check what I am about to do.

So here's the holes for the inserts and the holes that will set the width of the hand-grips.

Years ago I bought a toilet ring as someone had recommended it to me as a screw lube. Good call. Still using it.

I have an insert driver. I put it in the drill press check and disengage the motor.

This lets me use the quill while turning the chuck by hand to drive the insert home while well aligned.

I will load the remaining inserts and then proceed to shape the pulls.

[Mark J]

12 hours ago, gee-dub said:

have an insert driver. I put it in the drill press check and disengage the motor.

This lets me use the quill while turning the chuck by hand to drive the insert home while well aligned.

Love it.  As I've often said, just because a machine has a motor doesn't mean you have to turn it on.  

[Von]

I've used the drill press similarly to guide taps (both with and without a tap follower, which I'm on the fence about). I had not thought to disengage the motor, which would help. Thanks for the tip (and others).

[gee-dub]

After the inserts are put in to the squared up blanks I cut out the grip openings at the bandsaw.

I then use the spindle-sander-fence trick to make the openings smooth and consistent.



I made this silly trammel jig out of scrap several projects ago. Despite setting in the scrap pile it keeps getting dug out again for "just one more" use.

The upper/lower round over bit makes profiling these odd shapes much easier. I do a lot of Greene and Greene and those curvy / wavy challenges brought this bit to my attention.

Once a little hand work is done they are ready for finish.

Fortunately the client happened to drop in and decided on a "more brown" color for these pulls than the blue/black that are on the other bedroom fixtures.

[fcschoenthal]

On 1/5/2026 at 2:07 PM, gee-dub said:

The upper/lower round over bit makes profiling these odd shapes much easier.

I like that and may look into one. Does the setup for the different stock thicknesses between projects become cumbersome? Especially when you're only running two pieces through it.