Read all about Frank’s dresser project progress. Now that I have the whole dresser glued up, which by the way was a challenge! I glued up most of it with the help of my 9-year-old and then just in time, Jonathan Schwennesen came by the shop and offered me a hand to put some of […]
Some of you may have been worried in the last few dresser building posts that I may have rejected the use of hand tools. Well, this is definitely not so. Hand tools rule in this part of the dresser build. I don’t know how I would do without them. In fact this part would […]
Missed the first few posts on my 7 drawer dresser project? Read about the design and joinery phases. I started by hand planing the surfaces to remove any mill marks. I then started laying out to raise the panels. There are couple options here. You can put the raised portion on the inside making it a flat panel […]
Now that I have milled a fair amount of wood down to size I have turned my attention to the joinery of the case. I am going to make the frame and panels which comprise the sides and the back. The first step is to cut the parts to size and then I started by […]
I have begun building a 7 drawer dresser for a client and as always it starts out with a drawing. Sketchup is a wonderful tool that I have learned to use over the years. I especially like it because I can create the furniture in a three-dimensional drawing that the customer can relate to a […]
Just recently I spent some time getting a trailer load of wood for my next project (Mine is the small trailer!). Wood stores can be some what dangerous places when it comes to the wallet! (more on that in a bit). I picked up some really nice cherry and soft maple for a dresser and […]
Wow, we’re done! No it didn’t take 5 weeks, it’s just that I have finally recovered enough to write about it! It really was a great 2 weeks with 5 enthusiastic students. Each one completed a dresser with over 75 hand cut dovetails! The drawers were done with half blind dovetails in the front with […]
This past week we have been working quite hard on 5 handmade dressers. This week will be a dovetail extravaganza; as we have all the cases completed, our attention will be turned to the drawers. As the students worked on the cases side, planing, scraping and sanding, I hear the occasional, “Oh no, there is […]
We are well into our annual dresser course with 5 students, each making a beautiful 4-drawer dresser that they will take home at the end of this 2 week class. The week started by hand planing and scraping the insides of the chest sides, then each person hand cut 8 dado joints and then […]
Our first 2 week Dresser course ended quite successfully on Saturday, May 28th (I am getting a little behind with my posts!). Bob left around 4 o’clock with a finished dresser, complete with oil. He was quite happy! I turned some maple knobs for him which contrast nicely with the cherry. Here is Bob oiling […]