Thread: Bench Drawers

Okay, the timber for the drawers is now milled to size and is square.
I routed out some ¼” stopped grooves along the drawer bottoms and at the same time cut the rabbets in the main carcass for the back panel.
DSC00038011.jpg
Time to mark out the tails. I have gone with through dovetails for the back corners and half blinds for the front –Why? I need the practice and shop furniture is a good place to practice….

Tails are cut, but I still have to clean them up.



I started to use my 1” chisel here and it was slipping a bit on the slopes, ie the edge wasn’t biting into the wood. It was still sharp, just not SHARP – so time for quick hone. I used some of the Veritas honing compound on some scrap MDF – wow. This was the first time I have ever used it – normally I only sharpen to 1200 or maybe 1500 wet and dry depending on what’s lying around. Using the compound was as simple as drawing some green lines on an MDF scrap, then a quick polish on the back and the edge of the chisel – it was quick to polish to a mirror shine and so sharp! No more getting out the paper now – what a time saver.

Next job – clean the tails and mark the pins. Hopefully without tagging myself – again…..



I had a thought this morning while trimming the tails – because I am using soft close slides for the drawers, I will have a 12.7(ish)mm gap on each side. Guess I will have to use facia for the drawer fronts to hide the gap. A lack of experience and the time to think, and research, the problem through to conclusion is highlighting weaknesses. Though to be absolutely fair – I chose to move forward with the build without thinking the problem through completely – I could always have delayed the start…..it seems I make too many excuses that tend to blame a lack of time, when time wasn’t the problem. Oh well – we live – we learn…….. hopefully- if I have the time.


In doing the trimming on the tails, I was getting annoyed at the thickness of the chisels to penetrate and cut into the fine pin holes. Solution was to use an old(er) plane blade to do the trimming work. Thin enough to get in, sharp enough to pare the wood and it also allows you to check for straightness through the entire hole, with the added benefit of checking the angles match.

So the last of the tails are finally completed, and while I was preparing for the pin marking I realised I hadn’t dimensioned the front and backs for the top two drawers – from 89 to 85mm. Bugger.

Getting there slowly – but still getting there.


Now that I am at this point, I wish I had done some of the planning a bit different. Or at least read a book or two. Specifically, I am talking about the grooves for the drawer bases, and how they are used/applied. The backs should have been a bit smaller to allow for the base to slide in. Oh well…………… (my forehead is starting to get sore)
I finished dimensioning the top two drawers then marking, cutting and chopping out the pins for all four drawers. That leaves the fine tuning for the weekday mornings; ie to make sure the joints are clean and drawers are all square when assembled to dry fit. I will also have to mark out, and potentially do an initial fit for where the slides will go on the drawers and the shell.
DSC00039012.jpg
Just when I thought I could see the light – somebody shut the door.

The back and drawer bases were all cut and squared. The drawer slides were measured and screwed – and here is where today’s mistake was identified.
DSC00041014.jpg
The slides were measured and marked at the appropriate places. I pre drilled some holes then screwed in the carcase pieces. Then I measured, marked and screwed in the drawer elements.
I put the whole lot together to test for fit and the damn things were crooked.
DSC00042015.jpg
Oh bugger, I thought – how in hell did this happen. I pulled it apart looked at everything, and on close examination of the carcase slides I noticed that some had crawled to the top of the marked line and some had crawled below the line.
I assume it has something to do with on which side was the harder grain. Maybe the problem would not have been as great with a different timber? Either way it was back to the drawing board.

I trimmed up the drawers and glued them, then trimmed the dags off the ends.

I cleaned up the inside of the carcase and oiled it with Danish oil. Next morning I looked at the damn thing again and proceeded to measure and clamp everything in place until it was screwed down. Over the week I completed this task. In the end the greatest degree of difference of about 0.5mm. So it is locked in now.

I will also have to BLO the drawers, and allow them to dry.
Weekend task is to put on the drawer slides and glue up the carcase. Hopefully on Sunday I will complete this piece and start to fill it.

I made some handles for the drawers out of some scrap timber recovered from an old two seater lounge. Put the carcase together and glued it up. Sanded and oiled up the carcase and put the back on. Inserted the drawers and completed.
DSC00043016.jpg
There are a couple of errors in the work – but that is how I learn.
Do something – make a mistake, investigate the error and why it occurred - don’t make the same error again. Can be painful – but it works for me.

It is not completely finished yet. Over the next few weeks I will make up some internal compartments for the drawers, to keep the tools apart and separate, but also to stop them sliding around. Overall I am pretty happy with the outcome and the lessons learnt.

I see you have mastered the art of the most important tool in your kit.... your sense of humor
Without that, nothing's worth doing

All looks good to me

Thank you Rwbuild for the generous comment.

I think you are correct about the sense of humour.
If i can't laugh at myself, I can hardly laugh at someone else.


Cheers

norm

Thanks for a bloody entertaining post. Well done.

What was the original tool you wanted to purchase?

Hi Christos
not so much an original tool - more an original mess to clean up.. I just finished my bench build and didn't have room on it for excess tools and a piece in progress.

The drawers are phase 1. Once completed they will hold the smoothing and sharpening (touch up) gear along with the measuring and marking gear.

I will also build (well i am at the moment) a small wall unit to hold the saws, chisels, etc. Much of everything is built on a tight budget while i scrabble and save for a tablesaw, then a bench drill, then a.......

In between these projects I try my hand at building my own tools. FWIW I am about to start on a small bow saw (12"/300mm blade). I just finished fabricating some blade hardware from bolts (I am so glad worksafe wasn't around) with an angle grinder. Not overly happy with the outcome - but they will do for the POC prototype.

Cheers

Norm