A&C Coffee-Table Build Pics – Part 3

[Mike Allen1010]

This is the third part of building and arts and crafts inspired coffee table of white oak (50” long x 25” wide x 20” high). The build pictures of the carcass and tabletop are in two previous posts.

BTW, how should I post build pics for projects will that will take multiple posts to complete? –just keep adding subsequent pictures to the original thread, or create a new thread with each set of pictures?

Current effort is building/fitting the 6 drawers (3 from each side of the table). Half blind dovetails to white oak drawer fronts and through dovetails for Poplar sides/back. Here are all the drawer parts dimensioned and plowing the grooves for drawer bottoms. I have an old record plow plane and always struggled to take smooth shadings and leave clean grooves. I flatten the skates that serve as the sole of the plane (they were pretty rough) and what worked for me was not putting any downward pressure on the plane at the beginning of the stroke. That seems to prevent the gouging and digging in.
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Sawing the tails. I have been trying to get a little more expeditious with dovetailing. A couple things that help me speed things up this time were making a conscious effort to saw out the waste between tails as close to the layout line as possible. I sprung for a Kew Fret saw and I’m a big fan. Also sawing the outside shoulder to get a good fit right off the saw, without having to spend time cleaning up with a chisel.
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Here’s the layout for the half blind DT’s in the drawer fronts. My usual practice is to complete set of DTs first to see how tight the fit is off the saw, and then fine-tune where I saw the rest of the pins relative to the layout line for the rest of the drawers from there.

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Here’s the completed pins
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[Mike Allen1010]

Here’s the completed pins and glued up drawers.
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Cleaning up assembled dovetails is always one of my favorite parts of any project – kind of the “reveal” to see what the fit looks like after all that time and effort.
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These drawers are flush fit in their openings so I put in some stops- which took forever to get them where I wanted! There must be a better way when you need them flush w/ opening - would be great to be able to "dial in" the stop with some kind of screw? Once stops were in place it was easier to plane drawer fronts to a decent fit.
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Doors are frame & panel with haunched M&T’s. I pinned the MTs with dowels but covered their ends with Rosewood squares. I use the same on the breadboard ends on the tabletop and M&T's on the carcass sides.
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[Mike Allen1010]

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Chopping out mortises for door hinges and the initial fit with the doors hung. I’ll add stops for the doors and probably some kind of a bullet style catch. Final fitting for flush door/doors always takes me longer than I think it’s going to. These are good for now. Once the stops/catches are in place, I’ll use a card scraper to even up the reveal.
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The only thing left before I put the tabletop on is putting a small “hidden” drawer through the top rail on one of the sides. This table is for our 24-year-old son, and even though he’s older now, I still think the thing he likes the best about furniture I build for him are the ”hidden” compartments.

Thanks for looking.

All the best, Mike

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks for posting Mike. I think adding to a single long string or multiple posts both work, no strong preference here.

I have the same plow plane and am working to get good grooves too and have considered pre-scoring with a mortice gage to get clean grooves, but haven't yet tried (could turn into more trouble than its worth).

Somehow there's something very satisfying about a stack of newly constructed drawers, no?

The cloud lifts on the door panels look great.

And i'm almost twice the age of your son and secret compartments are still my favorite part too. Not sure what that says about me (or secret compartments...)

Cheers,
C

[Chuck Hart]

Nice work Mike. Someday I will have the skills to build like you. I am beginning to understand how its done I just need to learn to take my time and enjoy the process. Secret compartments are great and make the search a joy.

Chuck

[Kent A Bathurst]

.......... I put in some stops- which took forever to get them where I wanted! There must be a better way when you need them flush w/ opening - would be great to be able to "dial in" the stop with some kind of screw?

I have done that. You could anchor your blocks to the side rail, then put a screw in from the side - adjust the screw in and out. Maybe a thin bit of dense rubber on the drawer to stop the "bang" of wood to metal, but without any giving way.....In your specific case, there are some dimension problems because you don't have the room, but the point is the same. Less complicated when you don't have the back-to-back drawer issue.

[Brian Holcombe]

Awesome, really enjoying this build.

i like the idea of fitting the stops with rubber bumpers to absorb some of the noise.

[Mike Allen1010]

Nice work Mike. Someday I will have the skills to build like you. I am beginning to understand how its done I just need to learn to take my time and enjoy the process. Secret compartments are great and make the search a joy.

Chuck

Chuck, relaxing and enjoying process is great insight. I've built plenty of crap over the years and enjoyed those just as much as this project. Don't sell yourself short, none of the skills for this project are particularly difficult. What changes over time is one's ability to perhaps execute those skills to a higher standard with less effort.

I encourage anyone to try projects/skills their interested in - you'll learn something, likely end up with something you'll enjoy and the next time everything will be just that much easier. IMHO, All the mistake we obsess over during the build are invisible to anyone but us!

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks Chris, Kent and Brian I do very much appreciate your feedback! I'm not afraid to admit it's nice to know folks have an interest and I appreciate the suggestions. I know personally I really enjoy build threads, but maybe that's just me.

I've gotten so much from SMC, my intent is to try to give something back. My worst fear is that maybe my build post could come off as self aggrandizing, which is absolutely not my intent. I've got no agenda - the Cave for me is a friendly community I truly enjoy to escape from the day to day concerns.

Best, Mike

[Kent A Bathurst]

............maybe my build post could come off as self aggrandizing.......

Nah. Ain't gonna happen. For various reasons, including:

1. We like to see what other guys can do. Benchmarking.
2. We get to steal ideas. Out-and-out, blatant theft. ;)
3. And then, take credit for them elsewhere, without attribution. :p
4. There are always second-tier and third-tier results: "Hey -- I'm not interested in doing that, but they way he did it could apply to how I was going to ........."

Keep those cards and letters coming...........

Especially helpful for an electron-burner to see how Neanders go about it........