Accidental Woodworker

15 drawer dresser pt IX......

 Noticed another glitch in blogger. I had a bunch of comments show up tonight. A couple of them go back to the 14th. Just when I thought blogger was smoothing out for me, I get a new to me headache with it. I still can't comment using my goggle account so I still have to respond anonymously. No idea what caused this nor if it will return to normal. I've been posting daily for 13(?) years so maybe blogger can't handle storing all those posts. My apologies to those whose commented and for the lateness of my replies.

 hmm.....

The 15 drawer dresser has an unusual kick base at the front. It is 3 pieces but the top corners of it aren't joined with 45's. Instead it is more like a 30/60 angle. I tried to make that and the first one didn't come out. This one is 48 and 42 degrees and looks nothing like CH Becksvoort's base. From the 3 tries I did I think the two pieces have to be different widths. I had to leave for the VA here so I'll have to figure it out later.

 3rd test

The difference in the width of the two is only a 1/4" but I think I'm on the right track with it. The angle needs to be more acute than it is now.

 I'll do battle with these later

Before I left for the VA I sawed the biscuits flush. 

 front diagonals are off

They are off by 1/8" but not what I would have liked. That 1/8" is spread out over 62" so it isn't that bad overall.

 ditto for the back diagonals

Both front and back are off the same amount.

 some twist

There is one line of twist from top to bottom. There is no twist from the top to the half way point. The bottom half of the left side has all the bow/cup to it. The right side has none.

 test piece

It took some fussing but I finally got the biscuit slot to be flush with the front rail.

 got bit on the arse again

I thought I had sorted out where the fence was referenced so the half lap would be in the rail half lap. The stile would line up flush with the front rail but the half lap was off.

 reversed them

The bottom one is the test piece and I double triple checked it 4 times before I made the slot in the stile. Somehow I lost the orientation of the half lap in relation to the jointer fence.

 loose back rail

I noticed this as I was moving the carcass around on the saw horses. I forced some hide glue into the gaps and clamped it. The next step was to toe nail some nails into it after the hide glue has cooked for a few.

 Bostich Brad nailer

I couldn't see any way to swing a hammer to nail this so I broke out the compressor and gun to do it. I had to contort the nailer but I was able to toe 2 nails from one side and one from the other side.

 found the problem

I just happened to look at the fence and noticed that it wasn't square to the body. That explains why I have such a headache lining up two slots. If they are both angled (and in opposite directions) there is no way they would be flush. 

 angle pointer

This was off almost 4 degrees. I know that these aren't meant to be dead nuts accurate but it was way OTL (out to lunch) IMO. I had to file one edge of it to get the pointer within a couple of frog hairs of indicating 90°.

Maybe I should have checked this a long time ago but I didn't. I assumed that dropping the fence down it would be 90° to the body. I was wrong but now the biscuit jointer fence reads and is dead nuts 90°.

Duh

Why didn't I do this yesterday? I have a boatload of thin scraps to fill in the errant biscuit slots. I think this is the 3rd time I'm gluing shut the biscuit slot on middle stile #4 and hopefully it is the last time.

 test piece

The top is flush and the biscuit is 90° to the end. Ready to start at square #1 with the remaining 3 middle stiles.

 success

I made some 'biscuits' and glued them in the rails and made a new slot once it had cooked for 30 minutes. One last biscuit slot in the middle stile and a test fit that made me smile.

 last three

These went together like they were supposed to. No fiddling or fussing or any serious butt scratching. Fitted like I thought they should have had I fixed the out of square BS first.

 one down, four to go

This the drawer guide and separator between the two drawer openings. After these are glued in all the woodworking on the carcass is almost done. All that is left is to dovetail the top and install the back.

accidental woodworker

15 drawer dresser pt VIII......

Didn't get everything I wanted checked off today. Came close but I didn't win the proverbial cigar. The last steps I needed to complete proved to be the most frustrating. After repeating the same me-steak three times I said No Mas. I'll finish up what kicked my arse today, tomorrow. Maybe, because after a good night sleep it may not be enough to over come the brain farts I repeatedly made today.

 drawer set #5

I didn't see or feel or movement in the carcass when I took the 4 clamps off the #5 drawer set. It looked to be flat and it was mostly. From the front to the rear around the 3/4 mark it is flat but at the outside back edge it curls downward slightly. Not too bad but still not what I wanted to see. At least the bow/cup is up rather than inwards.

 drawer set #1

Removed the clamps for drawer set #1 and noted nothing that raised any alarms. The top portion is still flat from the top edge down to drawer set #2. It is flat and straight from the front to rear edge with no humps, cupping, or bowing anywhere.

 no light

The top edge of the left side had the biggest amount of cupping and now there is none. I was expecting to have to deal with a bit of it but I don't have to. This will make the dovetails much easier to do.

 #3 was next

Drawer sets #1 and #2 have the clamps and cauls removed and both are flat and straight in both directions.

 all clamps and cauls removed

Starting at drawer set #3 I had some light under Mr Starrett. It was roller coasting some and got better with #4 and #5. From #3 to the bottom the back edge curled downwards a wee bit. Overall it was nowhere like it was before I glued it up. I don't think it is going to be too much of a headache to fit the drawers.

 Mr Starrett at #5

It is only at the back 4" or so that there is light under the blade.

 half way on the left side

I didn't think of it until now as I am typing this that I should have checked the left side for twist and the carcass for square. The right side is flat with no bowing/cupping on it.

 left side

The side runs out according to the square. I'm not sure but to my twisted thinking I would rather fit a drawer to this then one with the side running in.

 right side

Almost dead nuts perfect on all ten. 

 not much

I have a stile clamped in the dado and it pulled about 1/2 of the bow out of the left side at the #3 drawer set - roughly the middle of the side.

 better on the outside

I put another clamp on the stile and it got rid of 99% of the bow/cup on the outside. Every little bit the stiles can pull the bow/cup out will help a lot come time to fit the drawers.

 sneak peek

If Amanda doesn't want this I'll keep it. I don't need any more storage for the shop but I am sure not putting this curbside to be picked up. Who knows maybe the wife will take a shine to it and use it.

vertical dividers

Glued the vertical dividers in and headed topside while the glue set up. I made a new divider for #1 because there was a gap in the original one. After doing this I thought I would get all the rest of the bits on the interior glued and cooking today.

 #5 dado

This is the one that I noticed was off square. I thought I might have to fill it in at the back here but I don't. 

 frustrating part started here

I was able to make the slots on the front rails for the middle stiles with no hiccups. However, I did have repeated ones with the slot in the middle rails. I referenced the fence off of the same face but the slots didn't line up. The middle rail has to be flush with the top of the front rail because the two of them form the drawer guide.

while the middle stile fix cooked

Gluing in the side stiles. This is #1A stile and I glued it with hide glue and clamped it. All the other stiles I used white glue and no clamps. Most all them fit snug and didn't need to be clamped. I only applied glue to half the length of the stiles.

 ride side stiles

All the side stiles were glued and cooking. All that was left to do on the interior was to wash, rinse, and repeat for the middle stiles.

 UGH

I shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn't. All the single drawer fronts are either too snug or fit top to bottom. With all the double drawers, the drawer fronts are shy of the top to bottom by a 16th. Another couple of reasons why I like to wait and saw out parts. I can repurpose the double drawer fronts for sides and backs.

 close enough

I had already glued a biscuit into the middle stile slot twice because it was off flush with the front rail. This one is a frog hair below it and I going to use it as is. I only had 12 #20 biscuits and I had used three of them for this and I need at least 4 more. I didn't want to make a road trip to Lowes to get more.

 Why?

I couldn't figure out why the slots were off between the front rails and the middle stiles. Another me-steak I was making was figuring in the half lap joint. I got the #4 slots to line up but the half lap on the middle stile was facing up. It needs to face down to make with the half lap on the back rail. I did this boo-boo twice more.

 some progress

I got the middle stile installed on the #5 and #1. #1 is a wee proud of the front rail and the plan is to plane it flush after it has cooked.

 nope

I used a piece of scrap pine the same thickness as the middle stiles to dial in the slot before doing it on the real thing. That didn't go too well and I had to stop and glue biscuits in the slots on the #2, #3, and #4 middle stiles. I screwed up the #4 stile again and glued another biscuit in it. When I finally quit for the day I had 4 biscuits left and I need three for the last three middle stiles. Hopefully tomorrow fresh eyes and a pot of coffee will help get it done.

accidental woodworker

15 drawer dresser pt VII......

 My lack of adult supervision ends monday. My wife is leaving High Point on sunday and stopping in New Jersey and arriving home sometime monday afternoon. She is coming home at the right time because tuesday at 0722 I'll mark 69 years on this third rock from the sun. I've been thinking about that and how I feel and I can say I don't feel any different now than I did at 35. Are you supposed to feel old now? How does old feel? I'm a bit slower and I tire quicker but I can still do everything I could do so far. Maybe something will kick in on the age thing next year.

 it fits

The back end of the jointer clears the back rail in this orientation. There is more room with the jointer rolled 180 to the right but the back of it hits the back rail. If this hadn't fit I had a plan 2 which was mortising a loose tenon by hand.

 ready to unclamp

The board was still tight and flat on the bar clamps. The board came out flat and straight on an eyeball check sighting down the four corners.

 less than a frog hair

I was surprised to see how well the diagonals agreed. This is one part of the glue up that gives me the heebie jeebies. With all the clamps that will be on this there is no way to do a diagonal check. The drawer openings aren't big enough (IMO) to gauge how square the carcass is. Fingers crossed that come glue up the rails will be sufficient to square the carcass.

 half laps

The middle stile and the back rail will be half lapped. Rather then use a stopped half lap I am going with a through half lap. It will be easier to execute and I won't have to worry if the stop housing was deep enough.

 sawing out the first one

Made multiple saw cuts and removed most of the waste with a chisel. Got it to depth with routers.

 middle stile half lap

Sawed the shoulders and split out the half lap. None of the five ran in - sometimes you get lucky.

 snug fit

I purposely made the half lap in the rail smaller than the width of the middle stile. I planed them all to fit snugly and flush in their rails.

 last one

Not sure if I'm going to secure the half lap with a screw or a nail. My thinking is the half lap is designed to move in/out with the weight of the drawer keeping it together. Lots of time before a decision is needed on that.

 Walker Moore router

I have two depth stops for this router. The one on the left is a Lie Nielsen stop that I modified to fit the WM router. The round one is a WM depth stop. I'm not sure if they sell this anymore.

 
 WM depth stop

I don't like this depth because the screw tightens down on the threaded shaft for raising and lowering the iron. I can be ham fisted when tightening things of this nature so they don't slip.

Lie Nielsen depth stop

If I remember right I had to file this corner off to get it to fit. I like this stop because the screw for it bears down on the side of the iron shaft. I didn't use either one of them on the dresser so far. I used the WM to remove most of the waste and the Lie Nielsen router got everything to depth.

 going in stages

This was the most stressful glue up I have done in a very, very, long time. I decided the best thing for my sanity and blood pressure was to do it a little at a time. I wanted to do it on the workbench but I didn't have enough room underneath it to put the clamps on. I moved it to the shitcan and got the #1 and #5 rails glued and clamped.

I had to move this again from the shitcan to the saw horses which worked even better. If I didn't have this option I would have had to wait until these two had set up before gluing on the last 3 sets of rails.

 no light

The cambered cauls are doing their job. Here at the top and the bottom the left side is flat. Where I don't have any clamps it is slightly bowed but not much. The top and bottom being clamped flattened out the bow better than I expected it to.

 flat here too

I could see the cambered cauls flattening the bow out as I tightened the clamps. I still have to wait until tomorrow to see if the rails will keep the left side flat when the clamps come off.

 wee bit of light showing

This is where the #4 set of rails will be and it has a bit of a bow still. Rail set #2 and #3 are almost dead flat sans their rails.

 done

This took ??? I don't know. I had come back to the shop after lunch late because I fell asleep at my desk for over an hour. When I got to the shop I wasn't going to go the glue up but it happened. At the end I don't know how square the carcass is. I checked the ten openings and 6 were square and 4 weren't. Not sure if that is good or bad. Either way it is a moot point and I'll be fitting the drawers to their respective openings, square or not.

 stiles

I didn't glue the stiles in today. I will glue them in tomorrow and I plan on using white glue for them. I am thinking that maybe I can use the stiles to keep the left side flat by gluing half of it in the side dadoes.

 vertical dividers

I didn't glue these in neither. They are dry and I put them in to help keep the rails square to the sides. All the vertical dividers when checked were square. I'll glue these in tomorrow too.

 squaring the top

I went back and forth on whether or not to use dovetails or a stopped housing dado. I went with dovetails because I like the visual of them. I think either of them would/will do ok keeping the sides flat at least at the top.

 two reference edges square

I used the tablesaw to get the other two edges parallel to the reference edges.

 ready for dovetails

The glue joint on the top doesn't align with the glue joint line on the sides. I had thought of that when I was squaring this up. I had intended to ensure that the glue joints between the two were off set from each other. I read about this in making tool chests and doing that with the four sides.

accidental woodworker

15 drawer dresser pt VI.......

 I had my doubts today that I was going to get any time in the shop today. I spent the entire morning in quality time with my smart TV. It has been acting up for a couple of weeks and lately I haven't been to watch any cable TV channels on it. I have worked on analog and electronic computers since 1974. I can tell you what happens when you hit the enter key and what the computer does. Software is another story altogether and I am as smart as a box of pointy rocks dealing with it. I felt today that my IQ was in the triple digit negative range dealing with the smart TV hiccups. And no I haven't been able to find a TV that just accepts cable TV inputs (this one did) or an antenna feed.

mostly what I saw this AM

As near as I can figure it the Smart TV did an update and that was the downfall for me. I think this is the 4th or 5th time I was trying to reset the TV to factory defaults so I would have a solid starting point to make sense of the problem I was having.

Trying to input passwords using a remote sucks pond scum. If you make an input me-steak, you can't back up and input it again (if there was one I didn't know it). Nay, nay, moose breath, you have to cancel the whole thing and start over at the welcome screen. After an hour of doing these insane dance steps I hooked up a USB BT keyboard. The TV had a USB port and I was able to turn it on so I gave it a shot. It worked and life was so much better being able to input passwords with the keyboard. It did diddly for solving the channel problem I was having.

 this thing sucks

I still don't know how to navigate through the screens. The help menu tells you to use certain buttons that aren't on the remote. A favorite one is the back arrow. There is a back key, and a big down arrow for the Smart Screen, but no such 'back arrow'.

The only progress I was able to make on this was to get connected to Amazon prime. I can now watch prime videos and movies. I can also watch YouTube and there is an option for You Tube TV. I haven't looked into that yet but I might because Watch Free doesn't have any local channels and the TV accepts nothing from the cable box.

Just before lunch I said NO MAS. I went to the post office and mailed out the Aldren Watson books to Jason. Of course I had to be 3rd in line to two other people mailing out something to everyone on the planet it seems. The lady on the right was mailing international and the one on the right I heard her tell the clerk she had 49 pieces to mail domestically. Let's just say I don't do well waiting in any line for more than a nanosecond but I did because I wanted to mail out the books. 

original top

I had two rails/stiles left over that were the length of the top. I decided rather than glue up a new one I would add on one of these. I only needed about a 1/2" and this was 1 7/8" wide.

 caught myself

Before I did the glue up I checked the top against the sides and saw I was going to cry. Gluing on the extra stile wasn't going to increase the top in the necessary direction. I needed to increase the length going with the grain. Looks I would be gluing up a new top.

19" square

Or there about. I think the top needs to be 16 1/4" by 17 1/2". Other then having to use deep reach clamps to flush the joint line, the glue up was uneventful.

 glad I looked

The top of the board pulled away from the 3 clamps. The board stayed tight to the bar clamps on the opposite end. I had to use a quick grip to keep the board flat and tight to the clamp.

 need twenty

I need ten of these with a camber planed in them to glue up the carcass. The left side has a bow in it and I need the cambered battens to flatten out the bow when I do the glue up. The right side isn't bowed so I don't need cambered battens but I will use flat battens so I don't put unequal pressure on the sides during the glue up.

 done

The left ten have a camber in them and I did it by eye. I also ran a solid line from end to end on the cambered battens so I know which is which.

 MCLS band clamp

I got a couple of inquiries about this clamp and it from MCLS. I'm sure there are other import companies that sell it too but this is where I bought mine. This thing I'm holding is what was used to tighten down on the steel band and secure it. It is a major PITA and is/was constantly in the way. 

It is bad enough you have to deal with the inflexible steel band and the round canister that it winds up into. This clamp always managed to exacerbate the steel band hiccups and its canister and also once tightened to be in precisely the spot you most don't want it to be in. I replaced it with a hex head bolt. Pretty sure it was metric M6?

 the replacement bolt

With that you didn't need something to loosen and tighten the band with. I don't mind using a wrench or pliers to loosen or tighten the head. Haven't regretted replacing this in the least.

 getting quicker

Shaved about 20 minutes off getting the carcass dry assembled this go around. The glue up is going to a fun packed adventure but hopefully all the dry runs I've done will help when that time comes.

 I'm liking the look of this

I had 3 of the five vertical divider rails mislabeled. I thought I had mislabeled the stiles but I sorted that out. I got all the vertical dividers cut and fitted. I didn't get around to the half lap layout on the back rails so I'll do that tomorrow. I hope I don't forget but I also want to check to make sure I can get the biscuit jointer on the back of the front rails to saw the slot for the middle stile biscuit.

accidental woodworker

15 drawer dresser pt V.....

 I got asked in an email if I had plans for this dresser and I do not. I am roughly basing it on a picture of 15 drawer dresser that CH Becksvoort makes (he is retired now I think). I have a mental pic of it banging around in the brain bucket and that is all I have to go on. I've made a few me-steaks cutting stock ahead of time but other than that it is coming along ok. The joinery is fluid and is ever changing. What I thought I would do at the beginning has evolved into something else. I'm getting close on finishing the carcass with the lions share of the build being the dovetailed drawers next.

 clothes hamper lid

The thought was to get the hinges screwed onto the lid and put the final coat of paint on it. That was the intention but it wasn't smooth sailing. The first headache was cleaning the paint out of the mortises for the hinges.

 no gap

The lid was hinge bound and I know it wasn't that way before I put any paint on it. It is up a 1/4" at the front edge and tight fitting at the rear. I only got one screw in the lid because I had to fill the original holes. The screws were pulling the hinges askew and I had to fix that first. After that I put veneer in the mortises to build it out a wee bit.

 still hinge bound

I noticed that both corners at the back of the lid were binding so I knocked them off with the blockplane. That helped but the hinges were still hinge bound a little bit. The lid still wasn't laying fully flat at the front edge.

 this worked

Knocking back these areas helped and I now had some clearance here and the lid wasn't binding there anymore.

blurry pic to match my mood

What I thought was going to take a few minutes had now been over an hour. I wasn't expecting this to have gone this far south on me. Painting a project can throw some curve balls over your home plate.

 No Mas, No Mas

I conceded and gave up trying to get these hinges unbound and working. I like this hinge installation but I glued shims in the hinge mortises. I'll be surface mounting hinges on this now. I don't like that look but I spent almost 2 hours pissing into the wind trying to fix these hinges and 99% of what I did was doing diddly squat. When I started thinking thoughts of would painted wood make kindling, it was time to try something new.

 left stiles

Each one individually planed and fitted to its respective dado. I will be using hide glue for this glue up.

 washed and rinsed

Repeated for the right side. I replaced one stile because I planed too much and it was loose and not self supporting.

 early xmas presents to myself

The banding inlay tool from Lee Valley won't be available until Feb. These are chisels for doing inlay and they were available so I bought them. One of them is for cleaning the 90° corners.

The other toy I got is Lee Valley's version of Stanley's No 50 honing guide. This is the 11th sharpening guide gizmo that I have bought. My first one was the General No 810 honing guide over 40 years ago. This is the 6th Lee Valley honing guide that I've bought.

 25 and 30 angles

I only use the 25° because I don't sharpen anything at 30. There isn't a lot to this and even someone like couldn't screw it up. This honing guide will only do plane irons. The brass knob on the right fits over the round hole on the slot on plane irons. You slide the iron up under it and it screws down onto it securing it. I tried it on a Lie Nielsen, Miller Falls, and Stanley irons and all them fit. 

 Setting the angle is easy and foolproof. Of course I had to look at the instructions because I wasn't sure how to set it at first. I'll give this try for the next iron I have to sharpen and I can compare it to 25° setting jig I use with Lie Nielsen honing guide.

 jig with a Lie Nielsen iron

I think using this jig is going to be as close to hand sharpening that you can get. All you are getting with the jig is setting the bevel to 25°. It still up to you to sharpen it square across and you can do a camber with it too.

 ACE hardware

Made a short road trip to ACE and picked up this hinge to surface mount on the hamper. I replaced the screws because they were too long. When I checked them the screw point was too close to the bottom. I didn't have a warm and fuzzy that it wouldn't poke out and say hello.

 shiny brass

I shouldn't complain about this because the other clothes hamper has surface mounted hinges too. These almost cover all of the patches I glued in the old hinge mortises.

flushed

Planed the patches flush and now I can finish painting this. It will probably take two coats on all the 'new' wood spots.

 vertical drawer dividers

This is another joinery change. Originally I was going to use dovetails on this but I'm going with this. If my OCD needs any help with that I can add screws to it.

 last one

The vertical dividers are too long but all five are snug and self supporting. I'll do the final length after the front and rear stiles are glued and set.

 hmm.....

This is how I will do the two drawer guides. The center divider is the easiest part to figure out. How to attach to the front and rear rails are the tricky parts.

 tricky

The dado is right at the center of the thickness where the biscuit slot is going. I think I'll have to wait to install the middle stile until after the vertical divider is glued and set. I think I can get the biscuit jointer in there to make the slot in the back of the front rail.

 first choice

I was going to use a biscuit at the back too. No glue which would allow the center stile to move with the carcass. I don't like the idea of the stile resting on a dry biscuit that could fall out.

 better way

A housed half lap at the back. The housing will be 3/8" longer than the length of the half lap on the center stile. That should be more the enough allowance for expansion and contraction of the 16" deep sides.

I might get the carcass glued up with the front and rear rails tomorrow. If nothing else I'll have to do a dry fit up to check the layout of the vertical dividers and layout the half laps on the rear rails.

accidental woodworker

15 drawer dresser pt IV.....

I had to make a road trip to the VA this AM. I had to get one of my meds refilled and I thought I had reordered it but if I did I couldn't find it. I got there just as the morning rush hour traffic was going away. I was in and out of the pharmacy in about 10 minutes. That surprised me because it usually takes about 20-30 minutes to get a med refill. I lost less than two hours shop time taking care of this.

On a bright note, the weather is forecasted to be sunny through saturday. I was going to do the lunchbox planing today but I'm going to hold off on it. I decided that I want to get the carcass done first and then do the drawers. I have 15 drawers to dovetail, half blind and through, so I'll be busy for a couple of days doing that.

nope

Before I started to chop the dadoes on the right side I checked all of my knife lines were laid out square. I thought I was off on this one but I didn't have the square blade tight up against the edge of the side. I have to be on my best behavior using this square because it is so easy to go OTL (out to lunch) with it and not notice it.

 calling it done

6 coats of lemon shellac followed by 3 coats of blonde. Not particularly happy with this but I'll try something different on the next one. I'll still use the lemon shellac but I'll thin the pound cut to mostly alcohol and see how that does with sealing the pine before putting on a couple of 2 lb cuts.

lunch time

Made a dent in this. I got both walls on the dadoes done and sawn to depth. After lunch I used the routers to get them all to depth.

 front rails fitted

I only went 8 for 10 on the right side. Two of the rails aren't self supporting. The other 8 cooperated and fit snug and are self supporting.

 wasn't easy

Gluing this up is going to a major, royal, PITA squared and raised to the umpteenth power. Getting the front and back rails in the dadoes and getting it off the bench and on the deck took me almost an hour. I anticipated because of the snug fit of the rails it would be a cake walk but it wasn't. I would get two rails seated and two others would pop free.

 the top is toast

This is the biggest reason why I don't like precutting parts. The top is short. As is the OD of the carcass is 17 1/8". This top is short at 16". FYI - you can't stretch pine at all. I could shorten the length of the rails but that would decrease the width of the drawers, and especially so on the banks with two of them. I'll be making a new top and I'll repurpose this one for something else.

 big bow

The rails are doing diddly squat pulling the bow out of the top. They are fully seated in the dadoes but they aren't pulling the sides flat.

 

 flat and straight

This pulled the bow out of the top edge. What it didn't do was pull the bow out of the rest of the side. I could see it at each drawer bank section all the way to the bottom one.

 about an 1/8"

Without the clamps at the top the bow is twice this so it is helping some but not enough IMO. Ideally I want this side to be flat and straight. If not I'm in for some fun fitting the drawers to run in/out smoothly.

 right side

This side is flat top to bottom so it isn't presenting any hiccups to deal with.

 this helped

It looks like cambered cauls will help out with the bow. This will add some fancy foot work come glue up time. The downside is I am not sure if the bow won't come back once the clamps come off. I can't glue the stiles into the whole length of the dadoes as that would restrict expansion and contraction. I'll have do some thinking on this for a few days.

 hmm......

Rethinking the rail side connections. My original thought was to dovetail the the top 1/4" into the side with the bottom part of the rail in the dado. After this dry fit and the upcoming glue up, I'm rethinking it. The rail/dado connections are all on the snug side with no gaps. Looking at this it doesn't look that bad to my eye to use the joinery as is. I'll have to weigh this against the dovetails and any thing they might lend to pulling the bow out of the left side.

 vertical dividers/dadoes

While I had the carcass dry clamped I marked the rails that will need dadoes for the vertical drawer dividers. After looking over the carcass I don't think I'll put vertical dividers at the back. I don't see them imparting any strength to the rail and stile structure and they aren't necessary for the drawer runners in the middle neither.

 original stiles

The distance between the front and back stiles is 12 1/4" and these stiles are 12" long. I plan to glue and biscuit the front of the stiles into the rear of the front rails. I will also glue about the front 3-4" of the stiles into the dado too. That will leave about 3/4 w/o glue  to allow the sides to expand and contract as needed.

Changing my mind on the back too. I was going to put in a frame and panel - one made of pine with plywood panels. Instead of that I am now leaning in the direction of using 3/8 or 1/2 inch plywood. Another choice is 1/2" pine from Pepin Lumber. I'll have to check the $$ for both and I will probably go with the cheaper option. This dresser ain't cheap to make.

accidental woodworker

15 drawer dresser pt III......

I think this is pt III but it doesn't really matter. Had a good day in the shop and made some progress on the dresser. Thinking ahead to buying plywood for the drawer bottoms and that is going to be expensive. 1/4 sheets have more than doubled in price and I doubt there will be any post xmas sales on it. Oh well, it is what it is. 

On a brighter note I finally got through to Urology and I have an appointment on the 18th. I have my audiology appointment on the 18th too at 0930 and the urology at 1120. I hope that audiology is on time and it doesn't take a lot of time to do what they have to do.

 detour

Decided to whack out a quick frame. I shot all of them to same length and used the shortest one as the master to plane the other 3. I sawed them out on the tablesaw initially but the frame didn't fit.

 Yikes

I thought I had put all my 45 hiccups behind me but I guess it ain't so. This tells me that my angles aren't 45°. The miters were square to the face which was a big hiccup in the past for me. Mr Starrett said that the angles were 45°. I checked the 45s again and they still looked good.

2nd shooting

I shot all the miters again and it was still off. I shot them again making the sure the inside lengths were all the same. 

 parallel now

The widths of each leg were slightly off a few frog hairs. I ran them through the tablesaw again and shot the miters one more time. The frame closed up some but there was still a gap on the last two miters.

 off 90°

The miters were 45 according to Mr Starrett but the 90 on each of the four corners was OTL (out to lunch). This tells me that the toes need to shaved. It seems that I was forcing the combo square to read 45° - the frame is soft pine and I was forcing the combo square to read a 45 that wasn't 45. When I did it slow and easy I saw then it was off 45 by a couple of frog hairs.

 tricky part

Trying to correct the miter to close it up is something that I don't do good on. I usually have a problem figuring out if the toe or heel needs to move in or out. Then I have to set the 45 on the shooting board to open or close the miter. I got lucky this time and I picked the right way to change the 45 on the shooting board.

 dead on 90

It took three adjustments before I got 90 on the two miters.

 oh so close

This dry fit is a huge improvement over the first one. It looks pretty good but one corner isn't closing up 100% but only at about 99%.

 closed up
The frame miters are all tight and gap free but..... This corner here is off on the inside leg. The heels don't align and are slightly off. 


 

 third one from the top

I don't know if this leg was one of the legs with the heels off but it is proud of the other three. It is enough to cause the frame to be misaligned ever so slightly. I spent enough time and calories on this and set it aside to work on the dresser.

tools of the trade

I can't count. I thought I had 18 dadoes to chop but I have 20 of them. Because I had so many of these to do I sawed the walls of the dado. That saved me a lot of wear and tear on my wrists. I sawed all the walls on the left first and then I did the right ones.

 bit me on the arse again

This square is a PITA at times. It is so easy to bump/move it off 90 and not notice it. That is what happened on this last dado. I had already started to saw it out when I saw that it wasn't square.

 fixed

I was lucky that the out square boo boo was at the back and not the front. If it had been at the front this would probably be a 13 drawer chest. This pic is out of sequence and it has both the rail and stile snug fitted into the dado. All will be well in Disneyland come glue up.

 not pretty looking

This should have been the pic before the one above. The back left part of the dado is where the error is. I was able to chop the 'new' dado wall to the right of it without that one crumbling on me. Not sure if I will fill in the errant wall or not. Who is going to look inside at the bottom drawer opening to eyeball this?

 snug fitting dadoes

Getting much better at chopping these dadoes. All ten of them came out the same. I will take a shaving off each them when it comes the time to glue the stiles in place.

 ten little indians.....

I still have more dadoes to chop besides the ten in the other side piece. Every other drawer bank will have a center vertical divider for the two drawer openings. Not sure if I need to also put a center vertical divider at the back. I will have to think about that for a few.

 vertical divider
Definitely needed at the front but not really necessary at the back. It would lend a bit more strength to the drawer runner assemblies.

I am also going to need drawer stops. Nothing more annoying then pulling a drawer out too far and dumping its contents on the deck.

accidental woodworker

canceled again......

 My podiatry appointment for today was canceled again. The doc called in sick and luckily my wife told me about it before I went to the hospital. I rescheduled it for jan 18th and fingers crossed it won't be canceled again. I also tried to get an urology appointment rescheduled but I had no luck with that. I am still at a lost as to why I should have to reschedule an appointment that the clinic canceled. If I don't get an appointment soon my meds prescribed by the clinic will expire.

 too short

The front rail of the dresser needs to be the same length as the top. I don't want to make the side to side dimension any smaller so I will be making new front and rear rails.

 old stiles and rails

These won't be wasted or tossed in the shitcan. I'll repurpose these for picture frames. My wife has accumulated a huge pile of pics of the grandsons. It will be good practice and a chance to experiment making different types of picture frames.

 middle stile

There is only a 1/2" on either side of the vertical post for the drawer to run on. I decided to make the middle stile wide enough to allow a 3/4" drawer runner on each side.

 sneak peek

The drawer runners on the top left are for the 2 drawer level. The one on the right is for the single drawer. There will be five banks of drawers - a single over two.

 have 5"

I laid out the drawers from top to bottom and I have 5" left for the bottom base feet. Yesterday I had 4 1/2" which is what CH Becksvoort did on his dresser. Not a deal killer and I am extremely flexible about changing the dimensions of most anything.

 picking R and L

There is some cathedral grain on both sides and I ensured that it was pointing up on both sides. The left side is cupped (easily flattened) and I set the side so that the bow was facing out. I don't want to deal with fitting drawers with the bow facing into the interior. I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to flatten it and keep it that way once I have the rails installed.

 bow is gone

Laying out the drawer runners was in the batter's box. I was playing around with flattening the cupped side flat to the opposite side. I found that the clamps on the ends took out 99% of it and I didn't need the middle set up.

Miller Falls plane herd

I've been using these for several months now to compare them to my Stanleys. I don't have anything bad to say about any of these MF planes. The same hiccups I had with them I also have with the Stanleys. IMO both of the MF and Stanley planes are equal for working wood. The only quibble I have with the MF planes are the front high knobs which I don't like. I got used to them but I still don't like them. The second quibble is the rear handle. The MF handle is too upright and straight and lacks the curves of the Stanleys. The MF handle is also squarish (Stanleys are rounded) and doesn't feel as comfortable as the Stanley. I will say that after using the MF for a few minutes all the dislikes I had with knobs and handles didn't seem to matter anymore.

I would offer this herd for sale but the last few I have tried to sell didn't even get one nibble. I will pass these onto the grandsons. One of them will get Stanleys and the other will get the Miller Falls. I don't hold any hope out that it won't cause any hiccups between the two of them.

 1" Hake brush

I had forgotten that I had ordered this. It came today along with a poster I had ordered from LAP. The small pine cabinet on the big one is where I keep my herd of shellac brushes.

 hmm....

I had both of the brushes I just ordered. Out of sight and out of mind and I have more than I need now.

 latest poster

This was offered with free shipping so I pulled the trigger. I will try to find a spot to hang this in the shop somewhere.

 1/2" fillister plane

The plane spent over 4 days by a radiator in the living room and the putty still hasn't hardened. The plane is filthy and I didn't clean it before I packed the holes with putty. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the putty not setting up.

 drawer runners laid out

The front rails will be dovetailed in a housing dado. The back rails and the side stiles will be in dadoes. I have 18 dadoes in the sides to chop out.

 rabbets done

I plowed the rabbets in the sides now for one reason. It was to help me with keeping what is out and in on the sides clear in my head. I plan to put a frame and panel insert on the back. That way the back of the dresser can be visible.

 possibility

I planed a couple of different sized astragals in some cherry scraps. I like the size of the one on the inside of the frame. The one on the outside will have the square portion on the right side sawn off. I'm not sure about this one as I am not getting a warm and fuzzy about it.

 lemon shellac

I got four coats on this and I still see white spots that look to be bare of any shellac.

 more on the lid

I am going to put on one more coat after dinner and that is it for the lemon shellac. Tomorrow I will put on a couple of blonde coats and put a check mark in the done column.

 stickered

All the drawer fronts behaved and I didn't see any evidence of any stupid wood tricks. I got all the new rails and stiles relaxing too. I don't expect any of them to go nutso on me. Tomorrow I'll start on the dadoes after I plane the stock for the sides and back. The weather is supposed to be sunny and nice for tuesday and wednesday.

accidental woodworker

success......

 The trip to Norwich was uneventful. No rain, no wind, but it was overcast. My sister gave me a homemade loaf of bread and a jar of homemade jam. I had that for desert after lunch today. I'll say a collective yum for all of us. I didn't spend a lot of time there because I didn't want to chance getting stuck in the rain. Some nasty weather came after lunch but the real stuff is supposed to come tomorrow morning and go until about noon time.

 hmm.....

I did this wrong or at least to my thinking I did. I tried to square and straighten each side separately and that didn't work out for me. What I did was close but it was off enough that it would have caused a lot of headaches if I kept it as is.

I clamped the two sides together and aligned them as best I could. Used the 6 foot level to eyeball the near edge which is my reference. The two ends were off from each other. The bottom ends were closer to square and matching then the top ends. The far long edge is still wild and doesn't count.

 pencil line

I drew a pencil about an 1/8" from the outside edge. This is what I should have done on the first go around. The plan was to clamp the two sides together and plane down to the pencil line. Keep the sides clamped together and square the two ends. The last step would be to rip the long wild edges.

distraction

There was a post on SMC (Saw Mill Creek) this AM that John posted about making picture frames. Since I am making picture frames this piqued my interest and I had to make a sample frame. As you can see it consists of two parts - one vertical (inner frame) and one horizontal (outer frame). I can come up with a lot of different profiles and orientations without getting a headache. This is similar to the picture frame but easier than the one Paul Sellers did. This sample frame took me about 10 minutes to do.

 5 more minutes

Planed an astragal on the top of the horizontal member and plowed a groove in it for the vertical member. A second frame I was thinking of was to forgo any profiling on the vertical one and instead put another tenon on the opposite side. Put that into an identical horizontal member. I was getting excited about the possibilities that this post opened up for me.

 planing to the lines

I planed down parallel to the pencil lines but not removing them. When I checked it with the 6 foot level I had a hump. I had eyeballed down the length and it had looked flat and straight to me. However, the 6 footer was spinning like a helicopter blade.

 square end to end

This took a wee bit of fussing and cussing to get down. I was planing square on the entire length of the left board but I out of square for half of the right board - from about the middle to the far end. I didn't find out what the cause was but I was able to finally get it square end to end.

 my pencil line

The planed edge was parallel and consistent from end to end. I didn't see the need to keep planing and remove it. I was square and straight now so I felt it wasn't necessary. And there is nothing carved in stone about the depth of the sides neither.

 hump is gone

The level pivoted about a third of the way from the end. From watching machinist You Tube videos I know that this is an indication of flatness. The level pivoted about the 1/3 mark when I did this from the opposite end too.

 square

Kept the newly planed reference long edges clamped and squared the ends together with the router.

 big, long taper

The bottom board is proud of the top one at this end a strong 5/16".

opposite end

Not quite a 1/8" here. I ripped 3/8" off both boards.

 lost a 1/4 inch

I consider myself lucky that I only lost a 1/4" squaring the ends off the total length. I was shooting for a 62" height but 61 3/4 is good too. I can make up for that by trimming the second drawer from 3 1/2" to 3". That will make it a match with the single drawer above it.

 passed

The real test is/was do the boards still align on all four edges with one of them flipped 180. Spoiler alert it did on that 180 as well as flipping it 180 end to end. It was almost dead nuts perfect but the few frog hairs it was off here and there don't amount to diddly squat. Very happy with how this came out and I'm ready to move on to stretchers front and back.

As I was typing this up I thought I had made a me-steak on the length of the stretchers I had cut up yesterday. I think but I didn't check it, that they are short. They should be be the same length or slightly shorter than the top is. The front stretchers are the same size as the top but the back ones are shorter because they will be in dadoes.

I have sawn the top to length but I can saw it shorter if need be. That is dependent upon how long the stretchers are for the front. I'll find out in the AM.

accidental woodworker

expensive day......

 The weather for the ride out to Gurney's sawmill was pretty good. Sunshine and blue skies but it was dreary and overcast by the afternoon. I got what I think is enough to make the 15 drawer dresser plus extra for whatever tickles my fancy next. I spent more this time then I did on last trip there. Things are going to change tomorrow.

Lots of rain and gusty winds are forecasted for sunday afternoon into monday morning. Sunday morning is supposed to be dry which suits me because I'm bringing the printer's tray to my sister. At least it is rain and not the white stuff although I would welcome that on and around the 25th.

 5 twelve foot 1x12s

Sawn in half. This should be triple what I need even if I screw up more than once.

 3 ten foot 1x12s

I left these whole and I bought them because there weren't anymore 12 foot 1x12s. My last haul was around $200 and this haul set me back $282.09. Good deal as this is all D select pine for $2.95 a BF. FYI - Gurney had raised their prices in November. The first increase since 2009.

 ten footer

Decided to break all of them down to 6 and 4 footers. I rarely make anything over 4 feet and 5 footers sounded odd to me. I will use this stock for the the drawers sides and back. Not sure about the drawer bottoms at this point. Most likely I will use plywood and drawer slips.

 hmm.....

The dresser drawers aren't as large as I thought they would be. Especially so with the two drawer levels. I can see why CH Becksvoort says it is for keys etc - small items. It should work for lingerie and if not Amanda can use it for whatever.

 one shy

Went scrounging around the shop and found some pine to make 4 of the five needed middle stiles. I hate to cut out a single one out of the stock I bought today. I'll wait and get it from the pile of scrap that I'm sure is coming.

untwisting

I didn't go nutso on this. I concentrated on getting one face flat and straight. When I haul the lunchbox planer topside to do the sides and backs I'll flatten the opposing face then.

 stickered

I just removed the twist from the drawer fronts only. The rest of the pieces shouldn't need any work on them. I'll let these relax until next week. I want the stock I got today to acclimate to the shop for a couple of days. With the forecasted rain it will be tuesday at the earliest before I can work this any further.

 back is on

Got the screw in and the blow out from that has healed. I put on the last coat of shellac on the back and this is done.

 only one glamour shot

Since this doesn't have any hangers it can be positioned on the wall either this way (my preference) or 180. Of course I assumed that the longest dimension would be the top to bottom one. To my eye it would look funny hung horizontally.

 needs more help

It is getting better but it is getting tedious using the spackle. There is a divot to the right of my finger that I don't remember seeing yesterday.  This is the underside and I looked at the top and it needs more help too.

 ????

This defect looks like wire brush strokes but I know it isn't that. There is one other spot with the same look along with in bedded wood dust and spackle powder.

 the last one

I put the final application of spackle on both sides of the lid. Regardless as to how this comes out I'm done with spackle.

 almost forgot this

Out of sight behind the bench and I only caught sight of it when I killed the shop computer.

 show face

I am real happy with how the glue joint looks on this face. I had to stare at it here for a few before I could pick it out.

 where is it

The glue line is flush end to end. It took only a few minutes working with the #80 to do that.

 opposite face

This is going to be the inside and I can see the glue joint easily almost for the whole length of it.

 hump

Hump on this side and a slight cup on the other. The cup I could flatten with a feather and I'll have to plane the hump off. Especially so if it is on the inside as it will interfere with the drawers.

 squaring the ends

Squaring the ends and matching the length with the first side were the last dance steps for today.

 made an oops

I forgot to plane a reference edge before I routed the ends square.

 not square

I was trying to take off the minimal amount of wood to preserve the length and it didn't work. I had to do this end again and the length of this one is shorter than the first one.

 chasing my tail

I didn't realize it here but I squared this end up for the wrong reason. It was out of square but I wasn't checking it from the reference edge.

 from the non reference edge

It still hadn't dawned me that I was checking from the rough edge. I had only planed one long edge flat and straight making it the reference.

 the two are off

I placed the two sides together with the thought of squaring the ends of them to get the length the same. The plan was to clamp them as one and use the router to square the two ends together.

 this one is dead on

The diagonals matched dead on - 64".

 used the reference edge

The corner was a few frog hairs off throwing the square off. A few swipes with the blockplane and all was well in Disneyland again.

 square

Once I realized that I was checking for square off the wrong long edge I checked the square on both sides again. One side was square from both edges and the other only from the reference edge. I labeled the reference edge on the face by that edge so I wouldn't miss it again.

 off by a 32nd

This is side #2 with both ends square now off the reference edge. The diagonals are off just shy of a 16th. It was the same when I checked for it on both faces.

 another hiccup

I couldn't align the long reference edges. Towards the bottom one was proud of the other - a hump. At the top one had a slight hollow. I also couldn't get the square ends at the bottom to align. I didn't bother with the top because I was going to square them as one.

I had this problem when I made the dresser for Miles. Had a lot of see sawing trying to get the two sides of that to match 360. I fixed that by planing the front long edges of it to flat and straight as one.

 six foot level

This is the longest straight edge I have. With it up against the sides I can see daylight peeking by in a few spots. I killed the lights here because I felt like I was chasing my tail. I'll come back to this tomorrow with fresh peepers and sort it out.

 hows this for a miter box?

I was leafing through my Aldren Watson books because he explains how woodworking was done before electricity. There aren't any books that I know of that show and tell how to deal with problems like I am having with the sides of my dresser.

 this would work

What he doesn't show or write about was this done vertically or horizontal? Didn't come across anything about how to ensure long/wide carcass sides align and match.

As an aside, and this isn't click bait, I have two Aldren Watson books to pass on. Both of them are duplicates and were formerly library books. They are Country Furniture - mostly about the tools used and how to on joinery, dovetails, legs, etc.

The second book is Furniture Making Plain and Simple. This one has projects and how to do them the way the old masters did. It is this one that had the squaring aid in it. It has a lot of good and simple ways to do seemingly difficult things. 

Both are free to whoever wants them and the first email wins them (rjboumenot at gmail dot com). I'll mail them to you on my dime.

accidental woodworker

no hearing joy......

 The audiology clinic called me this AM at 0730 canceling my appointment. I can't hear on a phone so all the voice mails go to my wife. She saw it at 0815 and figured I had already left for the appointment (left at 0830). I found out when I checked in at 0910. Here's the kicker to this saga. The clinic canceled the appointment but it was up to me to reschedule it. I didn't know that and I just happened to ask if I could get another appointment. I get to go on this merry go round again on the 18th. 

I went on a post lunch stroll today. I think it is the first one in a month? My right heel feels a lot better and hasn't been hurting when I do the toilet trot races at night. I will try to do another stroll after lunch tomorrow to see how that shakes out. If after a couple of days it still feels ok I will add early AM strolling too. I have a podiatry appointment on the 11th (monday) and I'll ask the doc about the heel pain.

 ain't happening

The top board matches up pretty good on three sides. The left side on both boards are still wild. The hiccup with the top board is it is toast. It isn't flat from end to end but it isn't cupped like I thought it was.

 it is twisted

There is no way that I am going to attempt to use this as a side. The twist is over a 1/4" on one end and almost as much on the opposite end corner. It would be a nightmare trying to fit 15 drawers in a carcass that has twisted sides.

 two boards again

Sawed the boards into two on the joint line. The short width board is flat and has no twist to it now. The wider one has twist but not as much as when it was two boards. I'll repurpose these two for drawers fronts.

 new side

I checked the 3 boards I had left and picked the two flatest ones.

 flush glue line

I used my two deep reach bessey clamps to flush the glue line on either side of the bar clamp before I tightened it. I did this dance step for each of them for this glue up.

 squaring the top

I wish it was as easy to do the sides as it was the top. I planed a reference long edge first and then squared the ends to it.

 top R/L

The top's dimensions will drive the dresser size. I left this as big as I could so I can size it down if needed. 

 slight cup

The cup isn't that bad and I could flatten it out on the workbench with my pinkie. It is going to be a few days before I will get around to working on it. This is just to help keep it flat until I need it.

 oops

Attaching the back to the printer's tray and this screw split off a chunk. I glued it back together and I'll let it cook until tomorrow before I drive the screw home again.

 15 drawer fronts

I was able to get 9 drawer fronts out of the wonky sides and the last 6 from an off cut from yesterday. 

 fingers crossed

I don't like precutting stock and I would rather do it by measuring directly off where it will go. I thought I had made up all the rails/stiles and vertical dividers for all 15 drawers. Turns out I was 5 sets rails/stiles shy.

 revelation

This is wrong and it hit me as I was typing this up. This will work for the single drawer but not for the double drawers. The first drawer is a single with two drawers directly beneath it. This repeats 4 more times for 15 total drawers. I need a second vertical divider for the rear along with a middle stile as a drawer runner for the two drawers. Easy hiccup to fix without any need for wailing.

 

 splitting the drawer fronts
The first two drawers are 3" tall with the 2 drawers below being 3 1/2" tall. All the other drawer groups are the same size.

 15 drawers

The 5" fronts are the shortest length ones of the bunch. I had to cut around a big black knot but I think it is going to be ok. If I figured it correctly the drawer fronts should be 14 1/2" R/L and the 5" ones are 14 3/4" long with one end squared.

almost

I cut out the second set of stiles and rails for the drawers but I didn't do the middle stiles for the two drawers. I have extra vertical dividers so no need to fret about them. I got a few of the stiles and rails from the extra stiles and rails from ???? I can't recall what these were from but I used them all up.

checking for twist

I checked each drawer front and all of them had some twist. The drawer fronts will be inset so I need the face to be flat, straight, and twist free. I marked each drawer front and I'll untwist them in the AM. I don't have to go nutso on this neither because nothing will be married to it. So there is no need to make all 15 +/- two atoms alike in thickness.

 last board

The reason why I sawed all the drawer fronts, rails, and stiles was to get an idea on how many boards I need to buy at Gurney's. This board is cupped but I think I can get all the 3" drawer sides and backs from it. I am estimating one 6 foot 1x12 for 3 other drawers with the 6 1/2" drawers might need 1 and 1/2 boards. 

I hate to do it but I'll be planing them down to about a 1/2" thick. The thickness of the sides/back will be driven by how thick the drawer fronts end up being.

accidental woodworker

15 drawer dresser......

 Started the new project in the last part of the AM and stopped it on a good note in the PM. The Printer's Tray will be done tomorrow or maybe even tonight. I may get ambitious and trot my buns back down to the shop after dinner. The frames made it to the Frame It shop and Maria looked relieved when I told her I didn't need them for xmas. I doubt that they will be ready until after the new year dawns anyways. She had a lot of customer projects piled up on her work table.

I don't have enough stock to complete this dresser so I'll be making a run to Gurney's this saturday. It is supposed to be cloudy but no rain forecasted for the time I plan on going there. Fingers crossed because that build will go dead in the water if it is raining.

 been a couple of days

This putty still hasn't hardened. It isn't as soft and squishy as it was the day after I applied it but it hasn't set either. It doesn't feel wet so I'll leave by the radiator for few more days. It is going to be the chilly side (below freezing) so the heat will be on a lot too. 

 sides out of the clamps

One of these is flat and the other one has a slight cup to it. I can flatten that out with hand pressure but I'll be keeping an eye on it. Even I won't try to tempt the woodworking Gods by trying to using a cupped side. 

 close

This is the cupped board and the one yesterday that I had fits trying to flush the joint line on. It isn't that bad, maybe a 32nd off and it isn't for the entire length. The ends are flush for about 12" or so and then wider board is mostly proud between that.

 2nd side

The second one is almost perfect. Dead flat with no cup or bowing. This board has some pitch streaks on the faces but no pockets to deal with. Shellac has no problems covering this stuff.

 two swipes

This is going to be the top and it only took two swipes on each edge to marry the two.

 off cut from the top

I will use the remainder of this board to get rails and stiles for the drawers - or at least some of them. Been running the drawers through the brain bucket and decided to go with 1/2" for the sides and back and 3/4" thick fronts. Half lap the sides to the fronts and through dovetails for the rear.

 xmas present

This is the extra box I made last week and I'm going to give it away as a xmas present. I will fill it with candy and put a bow on it. I put splines in the mitered corners to strengthen them and secured them with CA glue.

 thumb catch

I planed a small chamfer on the sides and front edges of the box bottom and the underside of the lid. There was a sliver of wood missing on the right front corner and the chamfer covered it up. 

 new Hake brush

My current hake brush I use for shellac is contaminated with lemon shellac. It was my go to brush for blonde/clear shellac and now it leaves a bit of lemon when I brushed on blonde with it. That has slowly dissipated so I ordered three more brushes. I will designate each of them for a specific shellac. I have two 1" hake brushes coming tomorrow?

 many, many moons old

I would like to use this on my boxes but I waited too long. Lee Valley is out of the string inlay tool until Feb. I knew I should have bought it when I saw it was in stock. Lie Nielsen doesn't sell any inlay tools at all. All I could find on their site were DVDs on how to inlay.

 ready for shellac

I am going to put on 2-3 coats of lemon shellac and 3-4 coats of blonde. I have to do some final sanding before I do that.

 needs one more

I had a divot from the saw when I cut off this bung. This will be the 3rd time I'm applying spackle to it and hopefully it is the last time.

one more for the lid

Most of the planer washboard is gone but a few plane tracks are being stubborn. There is no dead line for this so I can keep this up for a while yet.

 reference edge

#8 to establish the reference edge. After that I squared one edge to it and went on from there.

 awkward

I would have liked to clamp this to column and stood on step ladder to plane the ends square. I don't have the height in the cellar for that so I'm stuck doing it this way. It was slow going because I couldn't plane for a long distance. I couldn't even plane to the middle. Played with it using the Lee Valley bevel up jack and the LN low angle blockplane.

 flexing

I thought I had planed the edge square and Mr Starrett said it was square. Big Red disagreed and said it was OTL (out to lunch). I could see that it was not square as there was a hollow in the middle.

 these two agreed

The sliding head on the Starrett was causing the hiccup. That and the board has a slight cup in it. Put Mr Starrett away and used Big Red to square the ends.

 didn't work

It was easier to plane the end in this way but it wasn't hiccup free. The squaring across was ok and better then having it in the face vise but and there is always a but. I couldn't plane the edge square to the face. Went back to planing it in the face vise.

 still not working for me

I stood on stool which helped some planing the edge. I could plane about 3/4 of the length before I had to flip the board and plane from the opposite edge. I could keep it square to the face but not square to either edge. I was see sawing with it being square from one edge but when I flipped it the square would go south. I ate up almost a 1/4" trying to square this edge without getting any joy.

 this worked

I used to square up a lot of stock using this technique. I was getting frustrated trying to hand plane it square. No hiccups squaring the ends - after squaring one end I squared the opposite end to length.

 confirmation

Big Red says both ends on both sides are dead square to both long edges.

 hmm.....

My first drawer layout didn't work. I ran out of length with no room for the base. I had to rework my numbers and lay it out again. I am going to attach the front and back rails to the sides with a housed dovetail. It is the same way I did the dresser I made for my grandson Miles.

 this is done

I can't see any blemishes waving hello through the paint.

 underside of the lid

I wasn't going to fill any of the sins under lid but I changed my mind.

 yikes

One bad thing about filling in one defect is two more pop up. It ends up being you might as well do them too. Thinking now that I should have bought a quart tub of sheet rock mud.

 couple more to go

I am done putting shellac on the interior of the dividers. The last coats will be for the show surfaces. I sent my sister a sneak peek of it and she loves it. I will email her tomorrow and set up a delivery date.

accidental woodworker

at the finish line.......

 I have a couple of projects at the finish line and two that crossed it. The printer's tray has a couple of coats of shellac on it and I think one more coat on the hamper and I can call that done too. I got two picture frames done and I'll bring them to the Frame It shop tomorrow. Now that these  three are almost done I've turned my short attention span to the next project. I started that in the PM session today.

 last night

After dinner I glued in the 3 long dividers. The short ones felt solid and the long ones didn't need any clamping at all. There was sufficient friction with the half laps and the dadoes to keep them in place.

I let them set up for 20 minutes and I then glued in the short horizontal dividers. One last check to make sure things were flush where they should have been and I killed the lights.

the final sneak peek

This changed but it was a minor one. The far right cell, 3rd one down from the top, I originally had that one divided into four compartments. Not using that one saved a few headaches with fitting the half laps and dadoes it needed.

 one of three

Another reason to fit the main dividers after the frame is glued and cooked. This is the widest of the 3 and I planned on filling it in somehow in the AM.

 final sneak peek

The grain on the plywood back runs side to side. To my eye I think it would look better running top to bottom. I doubt anyone will notice it though.

 spackle

Along with the buns in the screw holes there were a few pockets of tear out on the top edges of the hamper part. They would be something you would see every time the lid was opened. I would have rather used dry wall mud for this but I didn't have any.

 lid got a bath

There were two rows of planer washboard on the lid. It probably would have taken 4-6 coats of paint to fill them in. 

 happy with this

I have seen a lot of You Tube vids where CA glue was used to bond wood. I didn't have any confidence that it would work on these vertical dividers. It was an end grain to long grain gluing too. The next day I couldn't budge them and I tried to push them as hard as I could and none of the four moved. One end of them is glued in a dado and the other end is secured with CA glue. This is a Knick Knack holder so the CA glue won't be stressed and hopefully will stand the test of time.

 the other two gaps

I was able to fill in the right one but not the left one. I couldn't get anything in the gap to clean out the Piggly glue. I didn't want to use wood putty as I only had cherry or pine to pick from.

 set back

I like this look and it solves a problem I had with the other dividers.

 the other dividers

There is a line in the sand with these. Another one of the things to add to the don't do list on the second one. If I choose not to round over the front edges this won't matter.

 first coat of shellac

The sanding of this potential nightmare wasn't that bad. I didn't go nutso sanding the interior of the compartments. I just made sure that I sanded any glue squeeze out and spots. I concentrated my sanding efforts on the tops of the dividers and sides, top, and bottom.

 done

Two coats of lemon and 5 coats of blonde shellac. When I bring these to the Frame It shop I'll tell her there isn't any rush on them. I don't want her to feel pressured to get them done for xmas. In fact I would be ok with getting them next year. 

 next project

This is one of CH Becksvoort's signature pieces. 15 drawer chest or dresser in cherry. I will be making it my own using his as an inspiration. One of the readers of my keyboard diarrhea (Joe) is making one in cherry and that was the prodding I needed to start mine. This has been on the to do bucket list for years and it got promoted to head of the line.

 pine

I would like to make it out of cherry but maybe the second one. CH Becksvoort wrote that he has made 17 of them. Doing a first one in pine I can work out all the kinks and get the order of operations. I'll be making a run to Gurney's because I don't have enough pine for this.

I have 7 six foot 1x12 pine boards. I used 3 of them just for the sides. I'll have to thin the 3/4" down to 5/8"-1/2" for the drawers and that is going to eat up a lot of BF. As I am typing this I realized that I forgot to glue up stock for the top, none needed for the bottom. 

 quick and easy

This dry fit only took 3 plane and trims dance steps. The two boards are almost dead flush on the joint line and there wasn't a any light on the joint line neither.

second one

This one was a PITA to get the joint line flat and straight. I see sawed back and forth between the thin one and the wider one having gaps. I clamped the two together and planed the two edges as one. The glue up was struggle too. The joint line on this wouldn't flush up for me no matter how much I cussed it out. I finally had to settle for good enough. 

 the good one?

I wasn't expecting any glue hiccups with this one. This was the one with the joint line that was flush from end to end. All that went south as soon the glue went on. I was able to get the joint line flush but the clamps wouldn't behave. I couldn't get them to lay down flat on the boards across the width. I had to clamp the clamps in order to seat them to the board. 

I am making my dresser 62" tall, about 15-16" R/L, and about 16 1/2" front to back. I am also kicking around doing an asymmetrical drawer layout. I am keeping the 1 over 2 but whereas CH did his 2 drawers equally, I am leaning in a 1/3 to 2/3 ratio. Plenty of time to decide on that.

accidental woodworker

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