Big dresser drawers like these can get heavy when loaded with clothes, so I employed a couple of strategies to fortify them for long life and easy daily use. First, they ride on undermount ball bearing slides instead of wooden runners. And second, I beefed up their bottoms to 1/2″ plywood — they’ll never sag under load.

Making the Side Panels

In the drawings, you’ll see that the dresser’s skeleton consists of a pair of dadoed side panels that support five web frames. Start the construction process by gluing up two blanks for these two big panels (pieces 1), making sure they’re flat and square. In order to produce even 1/16″ reveals around the drawer faces of your dresser, this project needs to be accurate right from the start.

I used a slotted, shop-made router jig to guide a plunge router and a 1″ O.D. rub collar for milling the five dadoes in each of the side panels. A 3/4″ straight bit cut them to a final depth of 3/8″ and my jig kept it all straight and true. Notice that the dadoes stop 3/4″ from the front edges of the side panels; a stop block on my jig made these termination points easy to hit. Chisel them square. When the dadoes were tidied up, I cut 1/2″-wide, 3/8″-deep back panel rabbets at the table saw.

Building the Web Frames

The five web frames won’t benefit from a face frame to help true up their front stretchers, so be sure to surface your rails and stretchers (pieces 2 and 3) dead flat. It’s also important to match the web frame stock thickness carefully to the dado width on the side panels; you want a good friction fit of the frames in their dadoes to help strengthen the carcass.

Since I planned to use flame maple for the drawer faces, I made my five front web frame stretchers from flame maple as well, instead of the plain maple I used for the rear stretchers and rails. It’s a small detail, but one that helps to harmonize the overall face of the project.

I settled on mortise and tenon joinery to attach the frame parts — these stout connections will prevent the frames from racking and ensure nice, square carcass corners. I stepped to my mortising machine to cut 1/4″-wide, 1-1/2″-long mortises on the inside edges of the stretchers, 1-1/4″ deep. The rail tenons were easy to whip into shape at the table saw.

You could assemble the five web frames and then nibble their front corners to fit around the stopped side panel dadoes, but I notched the stretchers first at the table saw. I didn’t want to wrestle those big frames vertically against my miter gauge. Now glue up the web frames. To speed the clamping process, I pinned the joints with a few 5/8″ brads.

Next, I reached for my slotted routing jig again to plow dadoes across the inside faces of the four top stretchers; they hold the vertical drawer divider square and lock it in place. The front two stretchers on this pair of frames have stopped dadoes, just like the side panels. The drawer divider fits into and around them. Chisel these two dadoes square.

Wrap up the web frames with one final step: select one as the topmost frame, and outfit it with pilot holes for screwing the dresser’s top panel in place later. I drilled four evenly spaced holes along the front. Then I routed a series of 1/2″-long slotted screw holes in the rails and rear stretcher, all oriented parallel with the rails. This way, the top panel can move seasonally toward the rear but still show a consistent overhang in front year-round.

Assembling the Carcass

You’re nearly ready to turn some loose parts into a carcass, but not before making the drawer divider. It’s a two-piece assembly of a vertically oriented front edge (piece 4) joined by a tongue and groove to a longer horizontal rear member (piece 5). Again, my front edge was flame maple to match the web frame stretchers. But even if you build your dresser from plain-figured stock, make your divider’s “show edge” from edge-grain stock and not end grain. That would soak up more finish and stick out like a sore thumb between the upper drawers. Notch the top and bottom front corners of the divider to fit into the stretchers’ stopped dadoes.

Start assembling the carcass by gluing and screwing the drawer divider between the two top web frames to form a subassembly. While that glue dried, I made several long braces from MDF and outfitted them with dadoes that matched the dado placement on the side panels. Clamped in place, these would hold my web frames vertically as well as square and parallel to one another as I assembled the big case. They really helped, since this is a rather unwieldly assembly. You can see how I employed the braces in the photo.

To carry out the glue-up, I laid one side panel on the bench, set the drawer divider assembly in place in its dry dadoes and stacked the web frames on edge so I could install them one by one. Starting with the bottom web frame, I spread glue along only the first six inches of the dado (this allows the side panels to expand to the rear without cracking the panel or breaking a longer glue joint). I clamped the frame to two braces and pinned it to the side panel with several 1-1/2″ brads. These were driven through the frame and into the end of the side panel.

Continuing to work up from the bottom, the third and second web frames came next. Each was fitted into its dadoes in the MDF braces and rested in a 6″ bead of glue in the side-panel dadoes. The difference here, was that I drove shorter 1″ brads at a steep angle through the bottom edges of the web frames to pin them to the side panel. Three evenly spaced brads were sufficient. Last to glue and pin in place was the drawer divider subassembly. As you install each frame, make sure the front edge lines up flush with the front of the side panel. (Note: The web frames are actually 1/4″ narrower than the lengths of the side panel dadoes; this is by design to facilitate side-panel wood movement.) Glue and pin the other side panel into place.

Measure against your glued-up carcass to size and cut your dresser’s back panel to shape. I installed mine at this point when I unclamped the braces to help square things while the glue joints set. However, don’t install it permanently. I used six screws for temporary attachment. You’ll appreciate the ability to pull this panel off when mounting the slides.

Prepare your dresser’s top panel (piece 7) and set it aside for now. I routed the edges with a gentle bullnose profile.

Adding the Base

The dresser’s base consists of a front and two sides (pieces 8 and 9) joined at the corners by miters. Cut overly long stock for these three parts, and miter the corners to refine the fit of these joints. Once they’re airtight, cut the extra length off of the sides and follow the Drawings to create a template for marking the curved cutouts that form the foot shapes. I cut these out on my band saw and smoothed the edges on a spindle sander. Glue and clamp the three base pieces together; a miter clamping jig, square backup block and a few long pin nails will ensure tight-fitting connections.

The dresser carcass rests on three long cleats (pieces 11 and 12) glued and screwed inside the base. Make and install those next. Now, reinforce the miter joints from behind with four small triangular glue blocks (pieces 10) — one pair butted under the cleats and the other two located 1/4″ up from the bottom.

Mill a 1/2″-radius cove around the top outer edges of the base to add an attractive shadow detail here. Give the carcass and base a good sanding up through the grits to 180, and fasten the two components together with 1-1/2″ screws driven into countersunk holes in the cleats.

A last reinforcing step is to add triangular support blocks (pieces 13) behind the rear feet. I installed these flush with the back edges of the web frame stretcher, using a combination of pocket and countersunk screws driven into the feet and down through the stretcher.

Building the Drawers

The five drawers have straightforward designs. Half-blind dovetail joints bring the front corners together, and a 1/2″-wide dado allows the backs to slip into place in the sides. Cut your drawer faces (pieces 14, 18, 22 and 26) to carefully fit their openings.

Mill 1/2″ stock to make up workpieces for the side panels and backs (see Material List for part numbers). I used Leigh’s D4R Pro Jig to cut variable-spaced dovetail patterns to connect the faces to the sides.

When you study the Drawings for the dovetail layout, you’ll see that I set the drawer bottom grooves unusually far up in the drawer boxes — 7/8″. This extra clearance allows room for the 1/2″ drawer bottom panels, the slide hardware and shims that helped me adjust the vertical position of the drawers in their openings. Use a 1/4″-wide dado blade, raised 1/4″, to cut the bottom panel grooves across the insides of the drawer faces and sides.

You’ll need to mill rabbets around the front and side edges of your 1/2″-thick drawer bottom panels to fit them into their grooves. I adjusted my dado blade for 1/4″-thick rabbet tongues but made them 5/16″ long to give me a bit of slipspace when fitting the drawers together.

Assemble the drawers in the usual way, but check your drawers very carefully for square during the clamping process — there is so little clear space inside this dresser, given the nature of these inset drawers, that square boxes are absolutely critical. Be fussy and take your time!

Installing Slide Hardware

As I mentioned, shims (pieces 30 and 31) were my solution to “floating” the drawers evenly in their openings. I started the shims all at 5/16″ thick and stock long enough to span the web frames front to back. After attaching the hardware to the drawers, I removed the dresser’s back panel and laid pairs of long shims across each opening. Then I slid the drawers and slides inside to evaluate the top and bottom clearance. Some drawers had even reveals, but a few required me to shave the shims a whisper thinner.

When each drawer fit nicely, I sliced the shim strips into shorter segments to tuck behind the drawer faces and longer ones for the rear stretchers. I tacked them into place with CA glue. With the shims fixed, the slide hardware could be pulled apart and the carcass portion screwed down to the shims. Accuride outfits the slides with elongated holes that made it easy to tweak them left or right to give the drawers even side-to-side reveals in their openings. With the drawers hung, I could finally install the back and top for good.

Finishing Up

My challenge was to match the darker reddish quilted-maple top with the rest of the blonde flame maple. The finishing solution came in three parts: I polished the raw wood with 320-grit sandpaper to clarify the figure, then I applied Zinsser’s amber shellac thinned 25% with alcohol to help tone the two color variations. Six light coats of aerosol lacquer later and then wax made the figure dazzle. All that was left was to thread on the drawer knobs and fasten the top panel. This showy dresser was ready to begin a lifetime of practical purpose.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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The coffee table has one thing its predecessor didn’t: a glass top, something I couldn’t afford at the time. A custom-shaped piece of 1/2″ glass with a 15″ hole cut in the middle just wasn’t in the budget.

But back to the legs. I was sitting there at my bench looking at these nice sticks of maple, and I began to wonder what it would look like to form adjoining radii, constructing them in a manner not unlike cabriole legs. It’s a technique where you trace your pattern onto adjoining leg faces, starting by making a cut through one face to form the profile, then reattaching the waste wood with double-sided tape, rotating the leg 90°, retracing the shape and cutting the adjoining profile. In this case, the technique revealed an interesting and cool compound shape. It’s fun to do, but, as with traditional cabriole legs, be sure to complete your joinery first — it’s easier and far more precise that way.

I quickly settled on the shape of the legs and found a nicely figured maple board sized perfectly to make the ends and sides (which form the apron) of the table. I also had a nice stash of purpleheart lying around, and this helped hatch the idea of constructing a decorative cruciform shape that would present a “woven” appearance, but without actually weaving it. I just love making more work for myself, especially when it comes to joinery.

While the shape of each leg was very simple, it also needed to be precise, so I included making a leg template in the design process. I used a stick compass to make the curves for the legs, and in doing so I was quickly able to see that normally shouldered tenons (with the tenon in the center of the 3/4″ apron boards) would project beyond the leg curve. So I decided I would offset the apron tenons flush with their outside faces (called a barefaced tenon), locating their inside faces flush with the inside corners of the legs. This construction would form a clean, simple detail when seen through the glass top. I then shifted the mortises on the legs down about 1-1/8″, the thickness of the purpleheart leftovers that would become the cruciform centerpiece. With the construction details determined, I moved on to the machining steps.

Making the Parts

Shellac or poly, glossy or flat — which looks better? Tails or pins, mortises or tenons … which should you make first? Without taking time to solve all of woodworking’s raging controversies, I can tell you that I make my mortises first, and then fit the tenons to them. In this case, I used a benchtop mortiser to chop the apron mortises. I had to be careful not to cut too deep and chop through what would become the finished curved faces of the legs. You can find the details for the mortise and tenon dimensions in the Drawings. For overall joint integrity, I cleaned up the bottom of the mortise with a 1/4″ chisel to take out the roughness the mortiser tends to leave behind.

To minimize the amount of sanding required on the legs and at the same time ensure uniformity, I template-routed them using a two-sided jig (see the Drawings). I fastened the legs to the jig, using double-faced tape, and finished their shape on the router table using a pattern-cutting bit. The trick here is to rough-cut the legs to within 1/16″ of their finished dimension. This will give you less resistance, especially on the uphill climbs through the grain where the danger of kickback and chip-out are greatest.

Use a 3hp router for best results. After shaping one curved side (raising the bit step-by-step to smooth the entire surface), flip the leg over and re-tape it to the other side of the jig to shape the other face of the leg. Another option would be to use a stationary bench sander to smooth them, but be careful not to change their shape in the process.

Next, I cut the side and end aprons to length and width, and set up a shop-made tenoning jig on the table saw. I finished the tenons with a crosscut controlled by my miter gauge and stand-off blocks on the fence. It is a simple, two-step process, but I always check my setup on scrap lumber first.

One little trick on the tenons was that I cut a tiny micro-shoulder on the top of the tenon (see the Drawing details). Before I completed the final fitting for the mortises, I took a detour to the drill press and bored 3/16″-diameter dowel holes into the top edge. These will help secure the woven lattice.

Note the mitered ends on the tenons: they just miss each other within the mortise. You can cut those with a backsaw. Another trick I used when fitting the tenons was to remove just a smidge of material from the face of the aprons using my jointer. It worked well (but don’t take off too much!).

Test clamp the end and side subassemblies together without glue, using scrap that was cut away from the legs as clamping cauls (perfectly shaped!) and, when they fit, go ahead and glue the base section together.

Weaving the Lattice

What happened next could be described as multiple, maniacal bridle joint-mode. I set up an indexing system using the miter gauge on my table saw to precisely locate each small notch on the long and short lattice (again, look to the Drawings for details). I made an indexing key and mounted it on my miter gauge. I cut these one at a time.

The important thing is to make sure the cuts are all very accurate — if the cuts vary 1/64″ over a few of them, it’ll be a mess. If you cut these individually on the table saw as I did, you must consider everything you’re doing, even how you place your hands and push the stock through the saw. Use some sideways force to keep the miter gauge riding on the left or right side of the slot in the saw table for every single cut, 288 in all. Challenging but fun! My advice: practice with scrap, lots of it. And don’t sweat the breakage — those little pieces glue right back in and no one will know the difference except you, me and thousands of readers like you!

Earlier, I bored holes in the apron for the 3/16″ dowels that secure the lattice to the aprons. Now it was time to drill the reciprocal holes in the purpleheart. I set up stop blocks on the drill press, spending the necessary time (and supply of scrap) on setup to make everything go together right. After drilling, I then went back to the patterns to trace the irregular shapes onto the lattice strips.

When making these shapes, I incorporated high spots to bear the weight of the glass in the appropriate areas. I figured that a 9″ hole in the middle of a sheet of glass could be a major stress-riser (meaning, a weak place in the sheet that becomes the breaking point when subjected to load; ask the solid-surface countertop folks). After assembly, I would turn it upside down on my bench, locate the high spots and level them with a hand plane, belt sander or some other tool.

Now, for the most dreaded assembly of all — the cruciform lattice work. I’m not sure what kind of advice I would give regarding this arrangement, but I can tell you I did pull it off, and I only broke off three of the little short grain pieces while doing so. If you dry-fit the purpleheart together and it works, I say leave it without glue: it has little structural importance and the weight of the glass (50 lbs. or so) will keep everything in place.

How to smooth or treat band-sawn edges of the purpleheart was a dilemma. In the end, I simply scraped these edges using a steel card scraper, working downhill with the grain from all the high points. It was easier than I suspected it would be. The result is a rather burnished effect that works well on the edges of this freakishly hard, stringy wood.

Important note: use a straightedge to check that there are no high spots in the lattice assembly (they’d add stress to a glass table) — plane or sand them down to exactly the level of the ends of the legs.

The finish is shellac, sprayed on from an aerosol can. Very simple and easy to fix. It’s also easy to repair and, of course, with a piece of furniture like this you don’t really need bar-top durability.

Finally, I worked out the final shape of the top by looking at several MDF mock-ups. When I was happy with the shape, I debated whether to put the bevel on the edge — but in the end, I was happy I had. It adds an important shadow line that defines the edge of the glass very well. I ordered the glass 1/2″ thick, with the edges polished, except in the center hole, which was just sanded.

Well, there’s the short story, and it all started with a few pieces of scrap lumber sitting on my workbench!

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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Glass Top Coffee Table: Shaped legs, a cruciform lattice and a glass top add elegant elements to an after-dinner table

Shaker Dresser: An American standard is taken to the next level with the prettiest wood you’ve ever seen

Turned Multi-bit Screwdrivers: Turn your own tools and you can add a secret compartment

Techniques

An Exercise in Form and Space: The critical role of space — and how it can impact a design

Woodturning: Straight talk about chatter tools

Skill Builder: Optimize your jointer’s performance

Finishing: Color matching across different woods

Reviews

Tool Review: Top-shelf jigsaws reviewed

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The post Woodworker’s Journal – May/June 2011 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Catch you in the shop.

Chris Marshall, Field Editor

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Click here to download the pattern!

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