The Devil lies in the details

[Derek Cohen]

I completed the Lingerie Chest this weekend, and moved it to our bedroom to recuperate from the cold of the workshop.


It was comforting to see the pieces still looking quite good …


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/9%20Drawers_zpsudsjrvte.jpg


Here it is in the nook that was always to be its home.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/15Presentation8_zpsqlkbx3qg.jpg


What I would like to share with you are the details that I have been working on over the past few weeks. These have been fun to do, especially as they were planned right at the outset, but left until the end.


The first task was not so fun, if I am honest. In fact I wanted to avoid the risk I needed to take, and enquired of a few people whether they could spot the problem. I was reminded that, if you have to ask, then there is an issue. What was the issue? It lay with the fitting of the handles.


Here is an older picture of the drawers taken after the handles were fitted ..


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/FinishingTheCarcase_html_162ae1f2.jpg


What is difficult to see is that the drawers are bowed, while the handles are designed for a flat drawer face. As a result, there are gaps at each end …


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/5-Handle1_zpsivogdvbl.jpg


I dreaded having to chisel into the drawers to seat the handles. In the end, I knew I could not leave them like this. Fortunately I came up with an alternate plan, which was to file the raised sections of the handle into a profile that matched to drawer fronts.


To do this I build a profile of the bow, taped on 120 grit sandpaper, and lapped the handles on this …


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/6%20Handle2_zpsk3af7vqp.jpg


Despite fantasies of the handles disintegrating, it turned out all good.


The second area involved the “jewelry drawer”.


Facing the chest (48” high), my wife is tall enough to look down into the top drawer.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/10%20Presentation1_zpsbyu9jbjo.jpg
Since this drawer is to hold jewelry, it needed to be locked. I did not wish to add more hardware than necessary and so, instead of a lock-and-key, added a Quaker Lock.


A Quaker lock is simply a spring-loaded wedge under the drawer. It is made of the following parts: thin, flexible (straight-grained) strip of wood, a thin wedge, and screws …


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/7%20Lock1_zpsn0fgq0zg.jpg


These are put together to create a spring wedge, which extends to the rear of the drawer blade ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/8%20Lock2_zpsk4xtymon.jpg


To release the Quaker lock, first open the second drawer, then reach underneath and push up the spring while simultaneously pulling out the drawer.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/11%20Presentation2_zpsaemalwes.jpg


The top drawer opens to reveal the upper jewelry tray (spaces for ear rings) …


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/12-Presentation3_zpssoouffcd.jpg


Sliding it back reveals the lower jewelry tray (spaces for necklaces and rings) ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/13-Presentation4_zpstkctdud9.jpg


The construction of these trays was based on a different design to the drawers. Slips were used in the drawers, but the trays needed to maximize the space inside, which left the 3mm (1/8”) thick drawer bottoms 3mm from the lower edge.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/1%20Trays-2_zpso5hrxffh.jpg


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/2%20Trays-3_zpsq7aqex5j.jpg


As can be seen below, the lower pin is not enclosed, which allows more space for the drawer bottom groove ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/3%20Trays-4_zps64kjuwed.jpg


The drawer bottoms were covered in 1.2mm thick leather. This was attached with contact glue (I used a brand that permitted some movement for repositioning up to 3 minutes after placement). The edges were tidied up with coved beading.


That coved beading was a real bugger to make and fit as it was so tiny. The drawers were for the most part easy to fit. However, the compound curves behind the drawer fronts and at the top of the mirror (which curves to match the bow drawers) required extra attention.


The jewelry trays are easy to lift out of the drawer. The idea for fitting them came from the sliding tills in tool chests. To do this with these drawers, the inside of the drawer sides was squared up with filler pieces. To ensure that the lower drawer does not slide away from the front position, clips were added to the rear (they are shelf rests and just push into the sides). These can be removed if needed. There is now hidden space behind the lower tray.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/14%20Presentation5_zpsqzjlodoe.jpg

[Derek Cohen]

The third area involves the mirror recess. This was also covered in leather …


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/16Presentation9_zps9gbkfmyt.jpg


Here is one example of the coved beading around the mirror (so difficult to photograph owing to the reflections) ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/17Presentation10_zpskpmedm4m.jpg


And so we come to the end of this build. All-in-all, it stretched over 18 months (closer to 14 months of actual build time on weekends), which is my longest project to date.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Linergrie%20Chest/Jewellery%20Drawers/18%20Final-picture_zpsnrpz2i74.jpg


Thanks for looking.


Regards from Perth


Derek

[Brian Holcombe]

The details make the product. Nicely done Derek!

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Derek, it looks very nice. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful chest Derek. Cudos on the details and ingenuity. 14 months is a long time to stay engaged in one project...good on ya. Should certainly give you a 14 months stay out of the doghouse pass!

[Pat Barry]

Congratulations Derek! Very very nice project. As Brian noted, the attention to detail really makes this stellar. What did you use for a finish though?

[Derek Cohen]

Thank you all. Barry the finish was Kunos oil for the Makore carcase, rubbed out white Shellac for the drawer fronts (and inside) - oil made the Jarrah fronts blotchy - and finished with Renaissance wax.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Frederick Skelly]

This piece looks just soooo great! Your wife must be thrilled.

I'm right there with you on the details Derek. Thanks for sharing your solutions to those details with all of us!

Fred

[Chris Hachet]

Absolutely stellar!

[Tim Cooper Louisiana]

Truly outstanding!

[James Pallas]

Very nice Derek. The work is well done as well as your write ups. I hope that all appreciate the work involve in both endeavors, I certainly do. I learned a good bit from the process. Thank you.
Jim

[Juan Hovey]

Derek - I second James' comment about your write-up. Clarity is the key to good writing - a one-to-one correspondence between thought and utterance. The goal is the same for the woodworker, with one more wrinkle on the prune: a one-to-one correspondence between thought and design and execution. Kudos!

[Jim Koepke]

Beautiful chest Derek.

Your wife will be proud of you when she is showing it off to her friends.

jtk

[Augusto Orosco]

Wow. Beautiful, and even more so by us knowing how much thought and precise execution this whole build required.

Thanks for sharing!

[Bill McNiel]

Derick,
As always - great design and execution. Solid solution to the handle issue (leaving the gaps would have driven me nuts).

One question - Isn't your wife a founding member of Wives Against Woodworking? Pretty impressive bribe but yet another reason to keep my wife away from The Creek.

[John Kananis]

Pretty awesome - I've been following this build; your work is really top-notch, Derek. Thanks for detailing it to us with such precision.

[Christopher Charles]

Fabulous effort Derek. All the early design effort and attention (worry?) to the details all the way through really made a difference! I do hope both you and your wife are pleased and will continue to be for years by a true heirloom piece.

Best,
Chris

[Simon MacGowen]

Very well done. The difference between a fine maker who can attend to details and leave no stone unturned and an average woodworker who may be equally productive (in terms of quantity) is illustrated here.

Simon

[Mike Allen1010]

Derek, absolutely gorgeous!

One of the many things I always admire about your work is how you combine design, stock selection and execution to produce a true heirloom quality piece that will undoubtedly be treasured for generations. For example, the blue leather you used for the jewelry trays is truly striking and the cove molding trim elegantly demonstrates a master craftsman working at the height of his powers. Lindy must be thrilled!

Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to share your work. Your pictures and comments do an outstanding job of clearly illustrating your design and the construction details. I always look for your posts and feel like I should be paying you for the privilege of learning from your online master class!

All the best, Mike

[Derek Cohen]

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words and support along the way. There are no questions - my work must be perfect! :D.

In a few weeks we have the Perth Wood Show, which is an annual event when all the toolmakers and manufacturers display, etc. I shall be on Chris Vesper's stand - he comes to stay with us, and we put on something fun together. I shall also be demonstrating plane set up and use for Lie Neilsen on their stand. The Show is also host to the annual furniture building competition, which has some quality entries, and is jusdged by local pros. I plan to enter the chest in this competition - it is always interesting what happens then ... the feedback is helpful in bringing one down to Earth, and finding some perspective for future builds.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

Tell Chris that I said hello.