Finally: A chest of drawers!

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days but as you'll see I have made lots of progress.

Here is the picture I promised you in the last post. The case glued together with all the drawer runners.

I stained the drawer fronts before gluing leaving the inside parts of there drawer natural. I think it gives the piece a better look.

The deeper drawers require more clamps since the 1/2" poplar tends to cup a little.

Test fitting the completed drawers. Some of them require a little hand planing for smooth operation. I always wax the runners and bottom part of the drawers also.

I like this view.

I decided to put breadboard ends on the top. Not only does it look nice but it also helps keep the top nice and straight.

First you create the mortice and then the haunched tenon. The tenon is a little shorter than the mortice to allow for expansion across the width of the perpendicular top. The mortice is also a little deeper than the tenon is long.

This shows where I've marked for the square pegs on the breadboard. The pegs are functional since you use very little glue. Again for expansion and contraction.

First I drill a 1/4" hole and then square that hole with a chisel. Just the first 3/8" or so. I used a 5/16" peg,  rounded the end, then drove it in with a mallet.

After the glue dries I cut the pegs off then sanded them down. Makes a nice detail.

Here is the top stained and attached. I used 4 screws, one at each corner, again to allow for movement. The holes on the stretcher underneath were elongated. I also did a little edge treatment on the top with my shaper.

I used Watco dark walnut for the stain.

All done! I sprayed it with several coats of Sherwin-Williams Cab-Acrylic dull-rubbed laquer which has a satin sheen. I used their vinyl sealer as a sanding sealer. I ordered some new tips for my HVLP and the 1.0 worked great. Finishes have always been the toughest part for me but I think I have finally hit on the best combination of material and equipment. At least for me!

All that's left is the pulls which I ordered Wednesday. When those come in I'll post a picture of the chest in the house. Next up is Peggy's garden building which I'll start next week. Than Peggy's chest of drawers which is the same 'cept different. Stay tuned!

Bench final and something new

Here it is: stained with Minwax red mahagony and one coat of oil. Over the next 5 or 6 days it will get 5 or 6 coats of my homemade wiping varnish. Should be ready to deliver by next weekend. I'll have to check Peggy's schedule to find out the best day to go.

Pretty sweet looking, huh?

This is the next project. Actually 2 of them. They are small drawer units for bathroom in Fredricksburg. One of the cases will have 2 equal drawers. The boxes are pretty simple but there are some details in these.

I have to match or compliment an existing antique the customer already has. It will be out of some knotty pine.

The drawers have these rabbeted drawer fronts with some half-blind dovetails.

There is molding to duplicate on the bottom as well as some rollers that will go on the bottom of the case.

Molding on the top also. These units will replace the plastic drawers you see in the background. Tomorrow I'll get started by glueing some panels together.  I also have 3 medicine chests that will be out of knotty alder. I have to draw those up tomorrow. Stick with me! Lots of stuff to build!

All I lack is finishing!

It's an old joke but in this case it's true. All I lack is staining and finish. I spent Friday fitting all the slats to the holes and Saturday doing all the sanding on the slats. 

Here's the bench dry fit

And 10 of the sanded slats.

Saturday evening I got the the first section glued together. I decided it would be easier to do one section at a time.

We had guests at the B&B this weekend so after breakfast Sunday I glued the second section together. After cleaning the shop (it was a mess) I glued the third section. I guess I didn't take a picture of that.

Since I've been talking about bluebonnets I thought I would show you how big the plants are getting. Very unusual for January.

No blooms yet but it won't be long.

And in other news, we had our first baseball practice yesterday! I am so ready for baseball! We practice at Schreiner  University in Kerrville. They are a Division 3 program with a new coaching staff and they have been very gracious in allowing a bunch of old guys a place to train.

This is Sammy. He pitches and plays second base.

Johnny getting some BP.

And here it is! First thing this morning I started shaping the head crests in the back.

Try to make it all flow together in away that makes sense.

Another view of the back.

Rear center leg joint.

I wondered for awhile the best way to blend the front. I kinda like this.

Center legs protrude just a little and then rounded.

Good view of that detail.

Nice lines.

Front leg joint.

Rear leg joint.

All of this shaping is done in the same manner as we have already talked about. Grinder, die grinder, rasps, and sanding. If you enjoy standing in one spot sanding for hours and hours, you will absolutely love doing this kind of chair.

Front center leg through tenon. This would have looked great with wedged tenon but I didn't think of that until just now! Next time. Tomorrow I'll go to Kerrville and get some stain and hopefully get it stained in the afternoon. I'll keep posting pictures of this till it's done.

It's cold!!

Texas is not supposed to get this cold. I got up this morning and it was 23! I guess I'll have to turn the heat on in the shop in a few minutes. Today the dust collection system arrives! I hope to have it all installed by the weekend. I ordered from Onieda Air. They will provide a detailed layout of all the duct and fittings for free when you order a 3hp system or larger. If it's smaller they have a $200 charge. Not bad. I ordered the 5hp Pro 2000. I have to run a new circuit for the system. No problem.  I spent the day yesterday designing a new bed for us using Google Sketchup. This a really good 3d design program that is free. Free is good! Takes awhile to get to know it but the more you use it the easier it gets. I designed the latest project,a  kitchen and bath cabinet job, with it, and it came out nice. The ability to see your design in 3d is great. I finally finished the second dining chair. It's in the shop waiting to get more coats of finish on it. I also spent the weekend getting the shop cleaned out. Sometimes you hoard too many scraps and with the burn ban finally lifted I got the lumber storage pared down to a workable amount. Still have to build a sheet goods storage rack and some additional tool storage cabinets but I'm getting there.

This is the bed I designed with Sketchup yesterday. I was inspired by furniture maker named Mark Love. His studio is in Wimberly, Texas. He builds beautiful Asian and art-deco inspired furniture.