Thread: 6 Drawer Chest

Looks nice Rob, as you say the handles will finish it off nicely

great job Flowie!

A solid unit with time honored joinery. That walnut looks pretty sweet in the close up of the drawer.
Is it for yourself?
Which timber are the handles being made from?
I do think though that the finish does look a little starved...

well made chest of drawers there rob, love the contrasting timbers in the drawers, definitely be a pleasure to open

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments. Martrix, the pulls are being made of the same timber (Peruvian Walnut). They will be turned across the grain and will only be about 25mm across, but they are being copied from an original pattern. It is for us, replacing a Freedom Furniture tallboy.
The picture doesn't do the front justice I'm afraid, maybe too much sun. Certainly it is a thirsty timber and chewed up nearly a litre of Scandinavian oil. I think once I buff it and bring it inside, it might look a little better in a photo.

Regards,

Rob

Thats a nice piece, well done FB.

Very nice job on the drawer chest flowboy, Love the way you described it

butter/honey colour against the chocolate of the Walnut

you make it sound so mouth watering delicious, well done.

Beautiful work, Rob. Really like that timber.

Recently got the Leigh jig for a couple of shaker blanket chests I will eventually finish. Haven't tried the half blind dovetails yet. Any tips?

Very nice work.

Tex

Nice work Rob. It's time to cut your dovetails by hand mate.

Rob - Beautiful chest. The walnut really looks like some good stuff. Nice work on the dovetail spacing too. Makes it really look custom.

Tex B. - I also have the Leigh jig. At first I only did thru dovetails with it with satisfactory results. For some reason, half blind dovetails intimidated me. After learning to do the half blind variety I can tell you that they are actually easier to make than the thru dovetails. When you get ready to build something, plane some scrap wood to the exact same thickness as you working wood. Use this scrap wood to get the bit depth setting correct. That's all there is to it. The only adjustment affecting joint fit is bit depth! Once that is set, you can crank out half blind joints all day provided you keep using the same thickness stock. After doing an amplifier cabinet recently I put the router away with the bit still in it. A few weeks later decided to make a cherry box. Not wanting to mess around resetting everything I simply planed the cherry to within .002" of the walnut I had done. No worries! It HAS to fit! Just remember to use a backer board when doing the pins to avoid blowout. Cheers!

Hi all and thanks for the comments .

Wongo, I really want this system to work as I'm basically lazy and also want to try some very small boxes with finger joint and doveys. That said, I also want to try some very thin pins, which even Leigh say are best done manually. Looks like Lie Nielson are in for another sale. I've seen DPB use their DT saw and its absolutey faabulous.

Tex, Cisco seems to have given a good run over, but I'll play Pancho and add my two cents. (rounded up to the nearest 5c of course).

1. When setting up use the exact measurements and timber you will be using in the final piece. As the front of the tail will be facing the jig, tear out is a problem both at the bottom and the top. A support board set tight to the face of the workpiece coupled with a scribed line at the depth of the cut, on both sides will help eliminate this. The degree to which this will be a problem will be dependant on the type of timber you are using. Whwn you do the test run, you can set the Router speed and also the feed rate, both of which can be important, particularly on soft woods.
2. I place an extra finger at the right hand end of the piece, just past where you will finish as I don't like having the router just hanging during the last cut.
3. I have found that it is possible for the work piece to slip particularly if it is only 100-200mm wide, so I make sure that it is clamped tightly at both ends of the jig.
4. I use both 6.35mm and 8mm shank cutters and have found that the 8mm bits can slip down in the collet, so you start at the first tail at the desired depth, but have dropped down to a deeper cut by the last. I have found on my router anyway, that using a 12.7-8mm reducer, tightened well gives reliable results. Pays to check the depth for each board until you are confident.
5. This is a tip I got from a serious woodworker at Mitre 10 in Heidelberg (Melb), which I haven't tried yet but most definitely will. Use a spiral upcut bit to remove as much stock as possible (gives a very clean cut to bottom and sides), then go back and use the DT bit to create the angles after.
Other than that, they're a piece of cake.