Ladies chest of drawers

[Don Kondra]

It's about time for an update

Glue up of the carcass, I decided on multiple dowels for the top and bottom joints, the gables are mortice and tenon.

Carcass in clamps.jpg

Carcass glued.jpg

Drawer material ready for veneering, the baltic birch cores are edged with 3/8" solids.

Drawer parts.jpg

In the bag...

Drawers in vac bag.jpg

Edges trimmed and ready to fit.

Drawers veneered.jpg

Getting a feel for the final look.

Carcass plus drawers mock up.jpg

Closer..

Drawer mock close up.jpg

Now the fun begins, I spent an hour figuring out how Blumotion slides work and what the critical dimensions are. The advantage of using these is there is no metal showing when they are open, smooth gliding and soft self closing. But the math makes my head hurt

Since each drawer is a different width, height and depth I've decided to dovetail and fit each one seperately starting at the top.

The slides are meant for a specific depth so I will dovetail a stretcher across the bottom in order to install the front clips.

At this point the drawer handles are going to be double pole turned/tapered ebony rods.

Cheers, Don

[Wally Schneeberger]

Looking real GOOD Don!!! You'll love the Blumotion slides once you get used to them. As for a stretcher do you mean across the front of the cabinet under each drawer?? The clips don't require anything but the bottom & front of the drawer to screw to. Please enlighten me. LOL.

[Don Kondra]

Thanks Wally,

Because the front of the cabinet is tapered, my drawer depths vary from ~ 13" to just under 14".

I'm using 12" slides so the front clips need to be mounted 11 1/2" from the back of the drawer.

On second thought I may just glue in a filler strip on the bottom front of the drawer and forgo the dovetailing

To make it even more interesting the sides of the carcass are tapered too. That means I will have to cut wedges to install under the side mount so the mechanism is square to parallel

Cheers, Don

[Wally Schneeberger]

See -- I made you think about it!! LOL. The filler strip sounds better to me and also less fiddly.

[Don Kondra]

You should have seen the look on my face when I realized the clips screw to the front and Not to the side of the drawer, he, he...

Cheers, Don

[phil williams]

Wow, Don, that is some beautiful veneer. Can't wait to see this when it is finished.

-phil

[Bryan Cowing]

Looking good so far!

[Tim Regis]

Don,

I assume the veneer is BEM, what is the frame made from? I'm gonna guess and say walnut? It looks beautiful, I have to say you are a creative person and it shows in your work. Thanks for sharing

Tim

[Don Kondra]

Thanks Phil, Bryan and Tim...

Tim - the panels and drawer fronts are Curly maple, the walnut frame has a coat of Benjamin Moore Danish Walnut penetrating stain.

I stained/oiled before the glue up..

Cheers, Don

[Gord Graff]

Hello Don,

When I look at your work, I can't help but stand in amazement at how graceful your work is.

It is no wonder that you are one of Canada's premier woodworkers and your list of accomplishments and awards shows just how talented you are.

This current piece is an example of not only craftsmanship but also an example of how a well executed simple graceful design begs one to just sit there and drink it all in, visually.

Well done my friend, you've amazed me once again and have inspired me to new heights.

Many thanks for documenting this build for all to see.

All the best
Gord