Project Of The Day : Lingerie Dresser

[shilala]

While I'm taking a break I thought I'd share this project with you guys. I have a few going, but this one is front and center because it's a Christmas present for my beautiful wife, Lisa. She already has a lingerie dresser but it's old and cheap and nasty and the drawers fit poorly. It looks nice, but it's a little small for all her stuff.

This one is going to be bigger, I'm thinking around 21" X 11" X 48" high. It's 3/4" rough cut kiln dried cherry that I planed and finished for this project and I'll stain it to match the bedroom furniture. It'll be easy to match it to the bed because I was told it's time for me to make that when I'm done with this.

Since I've started this project I've read, crammed, practiced, and learned a metric ton of new stuff. I bought a number of specialty furniture tools that I've been putting off, but I needed them to get this done the way I wanted it done. I've made it super heavy in Old English tradition, all wooden hardware, it'll last forever. It'll certainly be an heirloom piece that'll stay in the family for as long as I can imagine.

I can't think of much more to say, so I'll get to the pics and if you guys have any questions on the how's and what's, I'd be happy to answer. The obvious is for new guys is "Do you build humidors?" The answer is yes, I've built lots and lots. The reason I've pushed my workshop ahead to where it'd at is so that I can make some very exceptional humidors unlike anything that anyone has seen out there. As my skills progress I pick projects that take advantage of those skills so I can employ them in my goal at a later date.

So anyways, off to the pics...

Here's the drawings/schematics of the dresser. I designed it from scratch. With the software I use I can pull up the dimensions I need whenever I need them. The left center pic is with the drawers in, the right center is with drawers out so I can see the face frame parts...



This is the 3D model of the drawer fronts. It was more or less to get a look at what they'd look like and to make sure Weeze liked the design and look. The design is inpired by the dresser she had, sort of. I started with mimicry and then went off on a complete tangent, but in the same vein.



The top is a drawer front I ran in poplar to see how it turned out. From there I made adjustments to the model height and placement, among other things. It was a good move. Had I not done it I'd have made a bunch of drawer fronts that were no good. The bottom front is the real deal. There are five more just like it.



A couple pics of the drawer fronts being made...





More coming...

[shilala]

This is a shot of some of the face parts being cut on the Shopbot. I made most all the parts on the cnc, they turn out perfect. It takes a bit more time and there's a lot more head work and time spent in software on the computer, but it's really no different than cutting the parts on the table saw when you get right down to it.



This is a pic of what I think is most of the parts sitting on my rolling bench. I believe I have two more base parts to cut to finish the carcass, then I'll begin the drawers when my tools get here. I'll need to cut a lot of pieces for inside the carcass, mainly drawer glader and support hardware. I'll need to make some support corners for the base, too.



This is the last pic. This big piece will be the back of the dresser. I used biscuit joinery to put it together. The face parts will be mortise and tenon, while the drawers will be box joints (square dovetail). I may use some crazy geometric joints on the drawers if I have time to mess with the files I have for creating them. I may save that until later, it'd something I want to do with humidors.



I'll try to remember to update this thread as I put the dresser together. It'll take me a few weeks at least, I'm hoping I can have it done before Christmas.

[Zane]

Looks good!

[maninblack]

Looks awesome Scott! Very beautiful!

[shilala]

A couple more pics to show the wood. It's Cherry, borderline Gummy Cherry. The dark streaks are what make it "Gummy". I threw some water on the wood to show the figuring and whorls and all the stuff going on in the grain, but it doesn't show up real well.
These pics are of the same spot, just a different exposure to show different stuff.
Point is, the wood is absolutely gorgeous. I was thrilled when i found it as I was digging through piles at the sawmill.

[CRIMPS]

Just awesome work, Scott.

[iaMkcK]

Looks intense from that grain. Very awesome find indeed! I hope everything turns out perfect, I'll be watching for updates! :-)

[Eleven]

I am extremely dissapointed in the lack of lingerie in this thread!

[hammondc]

Originally Posted by eleven

i am extremely dissapointed in the lack of lingerie in this thread!

this! Rad CNC thingy though.

[14holestogie]

Originally Posted by Eleven

I am extremely dissapointed in the lack of lingerie in this thread!

Don't make Scott wear his teddy while working on this. Nobody wants to see that.

[Nelenea]

I saw those drawer fronts and the first thought that came through my head was... man those would look GREAT in a wineador!

[Blak Smyth]

Originally Posted by Nelenea

I saw those drawer fronts and the first thought that came through my head was... man those would look GREAT in a wineador!

Wow, some custom drawer front would be killer in a nice Winador!

[Ogre]

Awesome work brother.

[Dave128]

Awesome looking project, Scott.

[shilala]

My new mortising machine came yesterday. I put it together and made a couple square holes. Today my tenoning jig arrived. I'm going to go put that animal together and see if I can make it work. That's gonna be a bit more challenging, I do believe.

[ucla695]

That's quite a set-up you have there! It's coming along nicely.

[sofaman]

Looking Great man I cant wait to see it when you are finnished

[Tallman]

Wow! In the words of my youngest son..."you got mad skilz!" Excellent!

[IBQTEE1]

Very cool Scott!!

[shilala]

These are the very first mortises and tenons I ever made. I just ran a couple practice sets to give me a feeling for which way I should "cheat". With wood, you can't rely so much on measurements as you do on feel, or guesstimation, or experience, or some odd combination of all those things. I don't really know what you'd call it.
You get a feel for how your machines and jigs act, then use their "way" to your advantage, knowing they may push, pull, roll, or shove the wood. For instance, the mortising machine pushes the wood away from the fence, so I need to use a clamp. But that clamp can't be real tight or it warps the workpiece.
Anyways, the first two tries turned out perfect on the first shot. A little tighter than I wanted, but perfect.
I got overly concerned about maintaining this tightness and made all the next tenons too big and the mortises too small. I had to spend some time chiseling the mortises and ran the tenons through the table saw again.
These little tiny joints are much harder to make than bigger joints, so as I do more and more I'll get better and better.

The first pic is of the first mortise and tenon joints I ever made, my practice ones.



This is the assembled front of the dresser, the area that will receive the drawers. Each crossmember has a tenon on each end (male joint) and the long side pieces have a series of mortises (female joints) to accept the tenons.
The math was furiously difficult initially, so I changed up and worked from center, relying on my schematics to make things a lot easier.