Thread: A George III Mahogany Cabinet-on-Chest

Originally Posted by bsrlee

Don't knock it - the Hotel Sacher in Vienna will send genuine Sacher Torte, by mail, anywhere. It is delicious & the wooden box with the hotel's logo branded on is always worth leaving where visitors can see it.

I know, I've had some, but I didn't get to have the box.

Maybe we all toss in and get one sent to WW if he ain't gonna perform without his cake Probably be worth the wait till it arrives

The fronts of these drawers are mahogany, but the sides, backs and bottoms are pine. The quality of the original cabinet-on-chest would suggest the linings would have been oak; however, good oak – let alone quarter-sawn oak – is virtually unobtainable here in the quantities required for these drawers or at a feasible cost. Good pine is no discredit though; many fine mahogany pieces from this period were lined with deal.

From the latter half of the seventeenth-century, the grain direction of drawer bottoms ran from front-to-back; side-to-side bottom boards didn't emerge until around 1760. The 5/16" pine drawer bottoms for this chest run side-to-side and are glued (they were occasionally nailed too) into rebates in the drawer sides – as was the practice from around 1725.

After rubbing the drawer bottom boards together with glue and tidying them up, each bottom was planed to size, glued into the rebates in the drawer sides, and nailed to the undersides of the drawer backs. The thin drawer runners were then rubbed up against the rebates and bottom boards.

Back of drawer showing drawer bottom and runner glued into rebate in drawer side.

Rebates were cut across the ends and along the bottom edges of the drawers to accept narrow cockbeading. The top cockbeads are wider, covering the entire thickness of the top edges of the drawers.

Cockbead rebates in drawer front.

I made a quantity of 1/8" thick cockbeading from off-cuts and mitred them around the peripheries of the drawers.

The cockbeading glued around the drawer fronts.

To complete the chest, a pair of drawer stops was rubbed onto each drawer divider and second grade pine back boards were nailed into the rebates in the back of the carcase.

Drawer stops glued in place.

The back boards are attached with cut nails.

The chest in-the-white.

Outstanding workmanship and outstanding speed, which we've come to expect from you WW. The chest has lovely proportions too.

Oh I forgot to ask... What you called drawer dividers, are they what you have sometimes referred to as dust boards? And if it is not a silly question, how do you position your drawer stops? Do you take a measurement off the drawer and refer it to the divider?

Originally Posted by mic-d

Outstanding workmanship and outstanding speed, which we've come to expect from you WW. The chest has lovely proportions too.

Oh I forgot to ask... What you called drawer dividers, are they what you have sometimes referred to as dust boards? And if it is not a silly question, how do you position your drawer stops? Do you take a measurement off the drawer and refer it to the divider?

See post #13 for details on drawer dividers/dustboards.

The drawer stops are rubbed on – a little too close to the front – and then the drawer is inserted and positioned using a bridge against the carcase (with a notch to clear the cockbeading).

Originally Posted by Woodwould

See post #13 for details on drawer dividers/dustboards.

Awww geez . I think there was a lot of noise in class that day

thanks for detailing the fitting of the drawer stops.

'Cockbeading in Low Sun' should catch on. A lovely photograph.

Almost an impertinence to comment on such work but the cockbeading has such elegance.
Cheers,
Jim

The raking light is very critical of ones work. I posed the picture so the shadows would show up the slight variances in the cockbeading.

Hi Woodwould,

drawer stops rubbed on to ...

Does that mean the drawer stops are glued and pushed into place? Is that what rubbing means?

thanks
Wendy

Originally Posted by RufflyRustic

Hi Woodwould,



Does that mean the drawer stops are glued and pushed into place? Is that what rubbing means?

thanks
Wendy

Yes, I slow the glue down so it doesn't gel too quickly. The drawer stops are rubbed onto the dividers with a dab of glue, slightly closer to the front edge than desired, and the act of inserting the drawer actually positions the stops in their final location. The drawers are left in the carcase until the glue has set to avoid disturbing the stops.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Yes, I slow the glue down so it doesn't gel too quickly. The drawer stops are rubbed onto the dividers with a dab of glue, slightly closer to the front edge than desired, and the act of inserting the drawer actually positions the stops in their final location. The drawers are left in the carcase until the glue has set to avoid disturbing the stops.

interesting, thanks for the explanation.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Yes, I slow the glue down so it doesn't gel too quickly. .

Hi WW
How do you slow the glue down so it does not dry too quickly?

Originally Posted by Phil Spencer

Hi WW
How do you slow the glue down so it does not dry too quickly?

To slow the glue down, I add urea in varying quantities depending on the task at hand.

With you around WW I learn something new every day!

The Cockbeading is beautiful. I'm afraid if I tried that it would lead to frustration of the sort usually seen in a tantrum throwing two year old!