Can of worms

[Richard Hutchings]

I'm just getting my shop back together and my intention is to use hand tools as much as possible. My daughter asked if I would build her a vanity, then my other daughter said she would like one to. I know my wife is going to want one as well. Here's the style she wants, minus the paint.
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I've never built anything like this but I want to use hand-cut dovetails for the front of the drawers and frame and panel for the sides. I think I'm going to make myself nuts trying to build 2 of these, never mind a third. It's a lot of drawers and those mirrors should be fun. I'll probably use birch plywood for the drawer sides and back. I have no idea what to make the rest of it out of that won't break the bank but still look nice with a wipe on poly. Help Mr. Wizard.

[Brian Hale]

For me, drawers with hand cut dovetails would be maple or pine, plywood is hard on handsaws and solid wood just looks better.

[Richard Hutchings]

I thought about pine but it's so weak I'm not sure they will hold up. I love working with pine. Got one heck of a pile of shavings on the floor right now from tuning my planes and practicing squaring up boards.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I thought about pine but it's so weak I'm not sure they will hold up. I love working with pine.

I don't think you'll have an issue with it, honestly - a commonly-used species for drawers. As is the maple and also poplar.

My experience tells me it is a waste of my time to invest in dovetails for ply drawers. I would use butt-joint with dowels instead, and false fronts. Brutal on saws and something close to a demo derby on planes/chisels.

One other option, that may be off the table - - if all 3 are the same design, and you consolidate drawer sizes to just, say, 2 or 3 - you could consider buying the drawers already made, and concentrate your efforts on the rest of the project. THere's plenty of dust and shavings to be made without doing the drawers.

The real issue of course - you got outgunned on the testosterone front - wife plus 2 daughters, no sons?

[Brian Hale]

Pine will be plenty strong, I don't see that type of furniture taking a lot of abuse or having to deal with heavy items. Also, if left unfinished, there'll be that pleasant pine scent for many years to come. Pine was also the secondary wood of choice for several hundred years.

If this was shop furniture, plywood would make a good choice.

Just my opinion though......

Brian :)

[Richard Hutchings]

Sounds like pine is my best option. The reason I questioned it is I don't recall ever seeing drawer sides made of pine. I think I usually see poplar or maple. Poplar is actually cheaper then clear pine I think so I might go that way after doing some pricing. Plywood is now off the table for drawer sides.

[Chris Hachet]

I like using poplar or soft maple for drawer sides. I can usually find nice stuff with straight rift sawn grain at my local wood vendor.

As for the estrogen thing I have three daughters and two sons. Estrogen keeps life interesting in many ways!

[Richard Hutchings]

I don't think you'll have an issue with it, honestly - a commonly-used species for drawers. As is the maple and also poplar.

My experience tells me it is a waste of my time to invest in dovetails for ply drawers. I would use butt-joint with dowels instead, and false fronts. Brutal on saws and something close to a demo derby on planes/chisels.

One other option, that may be off the table - - if all 3 are the same design, and you consolidate drawer sizes to just, say, 2 or 3 - you could consider buying the drawers already made, and concentrate your efforts on the rest of the project. THere's plenty of dust and shavings to be made without doing the drawers.

The real issue of course - you got outgunned on the testosterone front - wife plus 2 daughters, no sons?

I have 3 daughters and one son but who's counting? Third daughter wasn't around for the conversation, but if I have to build 4, I'll just have to say no. I'll build one for the first daughter that actually asked for it and go from there. I'm not retired yet so it's going to take a while just to build one and I really don't like making duplicates to begin with. My head is spinning.:eek::eek:

[Richard Hutchings]

As for the estrogen thing I have three daughters and two sons. Estrogen keeps life interesting in many ways!

It sure does!

[Dave Anderson NH]

I'm about to commit heresy here. If you are being, or have been, coerced (gently of course) to build 3 vanities I would plan on making use of (horror of horrors) a number of power tools. Being employed you have limited time and with the exception of hand dovetailing the drawers, doing the final surface prep with hand planes, and a few other operations you will need to rely on power tools or the job will drag on for at least a year. Just staging all of the raw materials, keeping track of the parts for each assembly, and having space to do the final assembly will be a challenge.

[Mike Holbrook]

Richard, your profile does not list your physical location. Available woods and their cost vary according to location. Here in Metro Atlanta. SYP (souther yellow pine) and Poplar are easy to locate and easy on the budget as well. SYP is one of those "soft" woods that is harder than some "hard" woods. SYP is available in just about any home store (3/4" trim wood) and just about any wood/lumber store will carry it.

[Art Mann]

I agree with Dave Anderson. You are talking about drawer boxes as if they were the biggest challenge. I don't believe that is true. If you aren't already very experienced with hand tools or extremely patient, you are looking at years of weekend work (no exaggeration intended). Use power tools where the end result is indistinguishable.

[Richard Hutchings]

I'm about to commit heresy here. If you are being, or have been, coerced (gently of course) to build 3 vanities I would plan on making use of (horror of horrors) a number of power tools. Being employed you have limited time and with the exception of hand dovetailing the drawers, doing the final surface prep with hand planes, and a few other operations you will need to rely on power tools or the job will drag on for at least a year. Just staging all of the raw materials, keeping track of the parts for each assembly, and having space to do the final assembly will be a challenge. That's just it. If I want to build all 3, I will have to go power tools. I've got enough of them to make quick work of it.


Richard, your profile does not list your physical location. Available woods and their cost vary according to location. Here in Metro Atlanta. SYP (souther yellow pine) and Poplar are easy to locate and easy on the budget as well. SYP is one of those "soft" woods that is harder than some "hard" woods. SYP is available in just about any home store (3/4" trim wood) and just about any wood/lumber store will carry it.
I'm in RI. I just looked up a local mill that carries many species in rough form.


I agree with Dave Anderson. You are talking about drawer boxes as if they were the biggest challenge. I don't believe that is true. If you aren't already very experienced with hand tools or extremely patient, you are looking at years of weekend work (no exaggeration intended). Use power tools where the end result is indistinguishable.
The last thing I want is to drag this out. I guess I'll have to finish this project before I can have fun with hand tools. I quit building mandolins for exactly this reason. They take forever for me to make them.

[Mike Holbrook]

He could use semi- hand tools (Festool tools). They are designed to be used in one or two hands and taken to the work, so I call them semi-hand tools. They also can share jigs, tables, clamps... with hand tools quite well. I think they are some of the easiest to use tools. Festools are also very mobile which, like hand tools, is great if you work in multiple locations. Festool tools are about the only electron eaters I use. My band saw is the only full size machine I use these days.

[Richard Hutchings]

Yes I could use them if you'll mail them to me. I'll send them back when the project is done.:D Seriously, I don't have that kind of do re mi. I do have a table saw, band saw, thickness planer and assorted power sanders. So if you won't send them to me, I'll try to get by with these.

[Brian Holcombe]

If your plan is to use some powertools I would utilize hand tools for the delicate operations. The best tool for the job is often a hand tool when it comes to making delicate fits like drawers into a case.

[Richard Hutchings]

On the neander side of things, not having a jointer, I will get to flatten one side of all my boards with a hand plane before running them through the thickness plane. Hopefully I'll find other things that can be done by hand in this project.

[Richard Hutchings]

With that in mind. How do you guys feel about drawers without mechanical runners?

If your plan is to use some powertools I would utilize hand tools for the delicate operations. The best tool for the job is often a hand tool when it comes to making delicate fits like drawers into a case.

[Kent A Bathurst]

i have 3 daughters and one son but who's counting? Third daughter wasn't around for the conversation, but if i have to build 4, i'll just have to say no. I'll build one for the first daughter that actually asked for it and go from there. I'm not retired yet so it's going to take a while just to build one and i really don't like making duplicates to begin with. My head is spinning.:eek::eek:

OK - got it. :D :D :D




101010101010

[Jim Koepke]

With that in mind. How do you guys feel about drawers without mechanical runners?

If you mean without metal hardware I haven't built them any other way. All the drawers I have built ride on the shelf or frame under them.

jtk

[Brian Holcombe]

With that in mind. How do you guys feel about drawers without mechanical runners?

Without is preferred in my opinion.

[Richard Hutchings]

What do you do to insure they always glide smoothly? I find that a lot of furniture built this way have sticky drawers.

[Jim Koepke]

What do you do to insure they always glide smoothly? I find that a lot of furniture built this way have sticky drawers.

I round the bottoms and give them a good rubbing with a hunk of wax.

jtk

[Brian Holcombe]

Have to get the clearance right. I had one set I had to re-fit in the summer after that they were spot on.

I've built drawers with glides and drawers without and I prefer without metal glides. Well fitted wooden drawers have a nice feel to them that does not exist with even very nice metal glides.

[Jim Matthews]

I'm about to commit heresy here. If you are being, or have been, coerced (gently of course) to build 3 vanities I would plan on making use of (horror of horrors) a number of power tools. Being employed you have limited time and with the exception of hand dovetailing the drawers, doing the final surface prep with hand planes, and a few other operations you will need to rely on power tools or the job will drag on for at least a year. Just staging all of the raw materials, keeping track of the parts for each assembly, and having space to do the final assembly will be a challenge.

What Dave said. +1

http://scherrs.com/drawers/index.html

Build the three carcasses, with variations to fit each lady.
Make the drawer openings to accept one of the stock sizes.

Put overlays on each, for personalization.

[Ted Martens]

"Well fitted wooden drawers have a nice feel to them that does not exist with even very nice metal glides."

^^^^^
This.

For a long time, I used wax on the runners and bearing surfaces. Several years ago, Clyde Yost told me to use a couple coats of thin shellac on them, and sand them lightly.....that was a revelation. No more stiction from the wax setting up; just a nice, consistent, smooth pull.

Also, make your runners out of something harder than the drawer sides, if the runners & sides are of similar hardness, they will eventually ruin each other. And the sides are usually easier to repair than the runners. I usually use hard maple, but other harder woods will work just as well.

[David Dalzell]

If you are going to build 3, or maybe 4, of the same thing it could be helpfull to think along the lines of "semi production". Instead of building them one at a time, build them all at the same time. There is a definite time saving in this versus building the same thing 4 times. You do have to be more carefull of which pieces go with which vanity. This is especially so if the wood is not all from the same tree. By the way, I agree with not using plywood for the drawers.

[Chris Hachet]

I round the bottoms and give them a good rubbing with a hunk of wax.

jtk

It has worked for me on hundreds of drawers. I spent decades restoring furniture before I started building it from scratch. Wood drawers on wood runners or a wood frame are fine. In my bedroom is a 18th century piece of furniture and 250 years later the drawers all work fine!