Cheap Chest of Drawers

[Kevin Post]

I recently finished this chest for my son's bedroom. It's not terribly remarkable except that it was constructed mainly from free or cheap wood.

The case is made from a sheet of 3/4" oak plywood that I got from Menard's for $5 because it had a big gouge on one side. I filled the gouge with body filler and placed it on the inside of the case where it cannot be seen.
All of the oak parts, except the top and drawer fronts, were made from pallets and scraps.
The top was made from a 5/4 peice of oak given to me by a friend who does custom work because it had checked and split in several places. I used a grain filler made by Sherwin Williams to fill in the checking on the ends and some splits in the wood that remained after I had cut and glued it up. After the grain filler was applied, I sanded it down and reapplied several times to get the splits filled. You can only see them if you look very carefully.
The drawer fronts were made from some oak boards I purchased at an auction for $1. They were in a barn and covered with grime so nobody bid on them. As you can see, the boards cleaned up nicely.
I made the drawer boxes from 1/2" baltic birch with 1/4" birch plywood bottoms. (The boxes cost more than the rest of the dresser.)
I stained it and finished it with some water-based poly I was given by the local Sherwin Williams store to try out.
The pulls were on sale and cost $2.59 each.


Start to finish, this thing cost about $60 to build. Even though he is still too short to use the top drawer, my five year-old son was thrilled when I moved it into his room.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Very well done, Kevin. Not only was the price remarkable, but the clean, simple lines show off the wood nicely. I'll bet your son will be even more thrilled with it when he's handing it down to his own son someday.

- Vaughn

[Norman Hitt]

Really Nice, Kevin. This just proves my theory that when some folks say they price their work for customers at two to three times the cost of materials, itr can REALLY come up short sometimes. If you were making this for a paying customer, you would have to charge AT LEAST 11 times the cost of materials. :D Good job of getting the most out of cheap materials.

[Dan Forman]

Sure turned out nice considering it's humble origins.

Dan

[David Wilson]

Great job on the dresser. Norm would be proud.

[Mark Cothren]

Love it - the whole story is impressive. Very nice piece of furniture!

[Mark Singer]

Excellent! Nice simple design....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Kevin.....beautiful dresser! Only thing better is the story and the price! Great project. I'm sure your son will get many years of use.

[Shelley Bolster]

The dresser looks wonderful Kevin...something your son will no doubt use for many years and like Vaughn said,
I'll bet your son will be even more thrilled with it when he's handing it down to his own son someday.
OK, I am not cheap but I am most definitely frugal and I have to tell you Kevin - you did the rest of us "recyclers" proud! ;)

[Bob Winkler]

Excellent job! In my mind, your use of "found" and bargain materials makes the dresser that much more valuable. I suggest that you type up your story, date and sign it, laminate it, and place it somewhere in the dresser for posterity.

Great work.

Bob

[Bob Oehler]

Hi Kevin:
Great job on the dresse. I will be posting some pics of a few projects that were made from free wood. A small saw mill by me closed and sold the land several years ago. I was allowed last fall to raid the piles of stacked lumber for goodies. More on that story later.

Great work and a very eye pleasing piece of furnature.

Bob Oehler

[Keith Hooks]

A wonderful piece of work with a great story to go along with it. Thanks for posting.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Kevin, I like the clean lines. And the finish turned out very nice. Great project - and cheap! Wow, $60 bucks? Good for you. My mind would be thinking, "Man I should subtract this from what I would have spent and buy a new tool!" Is that just my mind or is that a gender issue? :D :p

[Scott Coffelt]

Man there'll be a story to tell in them drawers for years to come. Nice use of resources to minimize costs and maximize gains.

[Jim Becker]

That's really sharp! Nice job...and it proves one can do good work and still be economical about it.

[Jim Hinze]

Very nice... And the price was right. Great work!

[Von Bickley]

Kevin,
That is a great looking piece of furniture... :)

[Andrew Ault]

That is fantastic! Very handsome dresser.

I usually pause when walking past pallets because sometimes you will see some interesting wood there.

Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars has built a few first class Pallet Guitars out of the stacks behind the shipping docks. They currently have a new Pallet Guitar production model:

http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/models/pallet.html

So, you are in good company in...Fine Pallet Woodworking.

(Mmmm...pallet infill plane...)

-Andy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Kevin that is a beautiful piece of furniture. It is amazing what one can make with scraps and seconds.

[Steve Beadle]

Kevin, I like your can-do/make-do attitude! You made something really beautiful and useful out of materials that many others would not have recognized for their potential. I like those drawer pulls, too, even though you paid a fortune for them :D

[Keith Christopher]

I don't see anything wrong with that dresser. Looks good to me. awesome job.

[James Ayars]

My brother in law bought a chair then used pallets to make the other 3 pieces that were in the set the furniture store had for sale. Until he told me, I couldn't tell which one of the four was the store bought piece.
James

[Kevin Post]

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone.

[Jules Dominguez]

Damn nice! The expertise that went into it sure isn't cheap!

[Peter Pedisich]

Kevin,

You should be proud of your resourcefulness, skill and hard work. It really is a interesting story that should be documented just like Bob Winkler said.

Not to mention the fact it's a terrific piece of furniture.

Thanks for sharing the pics and story.

Pete

[Bill Fields]

Great planning--great frugality--and a great looking piece!


I try to use second hand lumber when possible. In my case, that usually doubles or triples the time to finish a project.

Thanks for the pics and the story!

BILL FIELDS

[John Hart]

Great use of the wood Kevin! The Dresser is beautiful. Just goes to show that it is the craftsman...not the wood store!