Serpentine chest of drawers

[Mark Rainey]

Doing another serpentine chest of drawers with more hand tools - had Phil Edwards make a convex plane for the cove rather than using a table saw.437084437085437086437087

[Mark Rainey]

more pictures of work437088437089437090437091

[Mark Rainey]

more pics with results of hide glue hammer veneering

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[Jim Matthews]

This thing is wikkid.

The stealth *flex* of both Philly and HNT Gordon planes, too?

Thou doth suck, mightily.

[Derek Cohen]

Beautiful work Mark! That is very advanced stuff. Fun to do, or just masochistic :)

I love to look at the planes, but I love the joinery shots even more. Those are where the money is.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Eisenhauer]

Very good stuff Mark. Thanks for starting up an interesting looking build. I am looking forward to it.

[Ron Selzer]

Very nice work. I enjoy looking at this type of work SOMEONE else does. NO way do I have the skill set or patience to do it.

[Mark Rainey]

This thing is wikkid.

The stealth *flex* of both Philly and HNT Gordon planes, too?

Thou doth suck, mightily.

Thanks Jim, as a fellow hand tool enthusiast, you know the joy of the unplugged experience. I see some serious resawing in your avatar. Perhaps I could ditch the bandsaw and have you resaw my serpentine drawer fronts from my 8 inch thick glued up lamination of poplar/pine.

[Mark Rainey]

Beautiful work Mark! That is very advanced stuff. Fun to do, or just masochistic :)

I love to look at the planes, but I love the joinery shots even more. Those are where the money is.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks for the compliments Derek! Yes, some of the detail work can be a bit taxing. I take frequent breaks by visiting the HNT Gordon website and drooling over his moving fillister. Stay safe in Australia. Mark

[Mark Rainey]

Very good stuff Mark. Thanks for starting up an interesting looking build. I am looking forward to it.

Thanks David!

[Mark Rainey]

Very nice work. I enjoy looking at this type of work SOMEONE else does. NO way do I have the skill set or patience to do it.

Thanks Ron!

[Jim Matthews]

I see some serious resawing in your avatar. Perhaps I could ditch the bandsaw and have you resaw my serpentine drawer fronts from my 8 inch thick glued up lamination of poplar/pine.,

I just completed my last sojourn into that trackless wasteland. 14" wide QS Sycamore and 10" wide QS White Oak.

The Jet 18" arrives Tuesday.

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful work Mark, as usual. Look forward to seeing the rest of the build. It’s going to be a stunning piece.

[Mark Rainey]

Beautiful work Mark, as usual. Look forward to seeing the rest of the build. It’s going to be a stunning piece.

Thanks Phil. Slowly but surely...

[Mike Allen1010]

Mark, I’m very excited to follow your build and really appreciate the challenges of the serpentine drawer fronts - Makes the joinery for vertical elements of the case a bit of a handful. I recently completed a much smaller serpentine front box and you may have just inspired me to try a larger version! In that spirit, I hope you don’t mind if you questions:

Any tips for how to lay out the serpentine curve of drawer/case fronts?

I did a Bombe chest with laminated popular glue up similar to yours for curved sides. As I recall cross grain planning of the poplar was much tougher than I anticipated. Any thoughts on the virtues of using pine versus popular for these types of curves?

I admire the consistent reveal you get with the cock beading on your drawer fronts - something I struggle with. Do you sort of rough it in and then try and plane to consistent reveal height after assembly, or Focus more on achieving consistent width of rabbit prior to assembly?

Thanks again for sharing. Really looking forward to seeing the rest of your build!

All the best, Mike

[Mark Rainey]

Mark, I’m very excited to follow your build and really appreciate the challenges of the serpentine drawer fronts - Makes the joinery for vertical elements of the case a bit of a handful. I recently completed a much smaller serpentine front box and you may have just inspired me to try a larger version! In that spirit, I hope you don’t mind if you questions:

Any tips for how to lay out the serpentine curve of drawer/case fronts?

I did a Bombe chest with laminated popular glue up similar to yours for curved sides. As I recall cross grain planning of the poplar was much tougher than I anticipated. Any thoughts on the virtues of using pine versus popular for these types of curves?

I admire the consistent reveal you get with the cock beading on your drawer fronts - something I struggle with. Do you sort of rough it in and then try and plane to consistent reveal height after assembly, or Focus more on achieving consistent width of rabbit prior to assembly?

Thanks again for sharing. Really looking forward to seeing the rest of your build!

All the best, Mike

Glad you are interested in a serpentine chest Mike! I really enjoy your projects and your focus on hand tool use. Your generous sharing of your techniques is appreciated by us Neanderthals!

As far as tips on laying out the serpentine curve, I think a free hand sketch is very helpful. I do not consider myself artistic, but pushed myself to just start drawing a curve. I did find drawing a half a drawer less intimidating, then just doubling it for the other half of the drawer. I also started knowing my whole drawer length was about 39 inches, so my curve was half of that, or 19.5 inches. I also thought about the depth of the curve, that is, the middle of the drawer sticks out the most, and then, going from the middle towards the end of the drawer, the concavity at its deepest, is about 3.25 inches. The first one I did was more, perhaps 3.75 inches, and it looked dramatic, but maybe a bit too much. Look at these pics. And it is always good to start with a model, so I would be very glad to send you a copy of my basic curve in the mail. Just PM me on that.

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As far as laminating poplar and pine, I did have a mix of both, mostly poplar. After bandsawing ( I know I should have used a bow saw ) the serpentine curves, the cleanup was accomplished mostly by spokeshaves. That was laborious, but not involve cross grain work. The better you stay to the line, the less work.

As far as the cockbead, it turns out to be relatively easy and fun to do. I do not rabbet the top or bottom however, just cover the whole top and bottom of drawer. ( Error - I suppose it is a rabbet, but it goes the whole thickness of the drawer front ) And I cover the whole sides ( that is I cover the dovetails ) - easier, and I do not like the look of laminated half blind dovetails. By tracing the front of the drawer, I am able to saw out the serpentine cock bead, then use a spokeshave and scratch stock to get the rounded profile.
I have an extensive pictorial instruction on how to do this process and would be glad to share it with you ( just PM me on that also ).

Thanks for your interest in the project Mike. I have tried to use mostly hand tools on this project, and I know you would enjoy it. I am very glad to share any constructions details - this is my second one and I can share my mistakes so perhaps you can avoid some.

[Mel Fulks]

Mike, I think NE white pine, Pinus strobus, would be best. But might not be available on your end of the map. It works
easily and is about as stable as anything. Sugar pine is good too, but tends to have more pitch,but since it will all be
veneered anyway ,that might not matter.

[Phil Mueller]

Mark, if you have a bandsaw, by all means use it! Your comment reminded me of a curved front table I did a few years back with laminated pine and a bow saw (still don’t have a bandsaw:mad:). Since I was new at using it, it left a pretty wild surface to smooth with spokeshaves. Persistence was the order of the day.

I’ll admit I needed a few breaks...but in the end it worked out. But, trust me, stick with your bandsaw! Just saying.

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[Mark Rainey]

Mark, if you have a bandsaw, by all means use it! Your comment reminded me of a curved front table I did a few years back with laminated pine and a bow saw (still don’t have a bandsaw:mad:). Since I was new at using it, it left a pretty wild surface to smooth with spokeshaves. Persistence was the order of the day.

I’ll admit I needed a few breaks...but in the end it worked out. But, trust me, stick with your bandsaw! Just saying.

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Phil, impressive bow saw work! In Neanderthal land, we drool over cuts like that. But thanks for the advice!

[Mike Allen1010]

Phil and Mark I very much appreciate your comments and have a conceptual construction question:

When I've made serpentine drawer fronts in the past, my approach has been to glue up stock that would cover the the entire width/height of all necessary drawers and shape the serpentine front. After the shaping of the serpentine curve is done, I would rip them into appropriate weights for drawer fronts. My thought was given the vagaries of try to shape the curve in thick stock to a layout line, shaping the curved wall stop was glued together would being that even if the shaping of my curve wasn't "consistent" with the layout line, at least it would match the adjacent drawer surface.

I recognize the downside of my approach is it doesn't allow for using the bandsaw to rough out the curves that would be possible if each drawer front was built separately. I would really appreciate your thoughts about achieving consistency from drawer front to drawer front when building each drawer front individually and using the bandsaw to rough out the curves. Were you able to saw/shape close enough to the layout lines so that adjacent drawer fronts all matched? If so, definitely better than my approach.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments. Really appreciate your feedback.

All the best, Mike

[Phil Mueller]

Mike, I’m going to have to defer to Mark on this. The bowed front/back table I made did not have drawers in the bowed front. The curved parts I sawed became the front and back apron. I put drawers in the side. This was a project inspired by a table Derek made. I look forward to Mark’s input also.

[Mark Rainey]

Phil and Mark I very much appreciate your comments and have a conceptual construction question:

When I've made serpentine drawer fronts in the past, my approach has been to glue up stock that would cover the the entire width/height of all necessary drawers and shape the serpentine front. After the shaping of the serpentine curve is done, I would rip them into appropriate weights for drawer fronts. My thought was given the vagaries of try to shape the curve in thick stock to a layout line, shaping the curved wall stop was glued together would being that even if the shaping of my curve wasn't "consistent" with the layout line, at least it would match the adjacent drawer surface.

I recognize the downside of my approach is it doesn't allow for using the bandsaw to rough out the curves that would be possible if each drawer front was built separately. I would really appreciate your thoughts about achieving consistency from drawer front to drawer front when building each drawer front individually and using the bandsaw to rough out the curves. Were you able to saw/shape close enough to the layout lines so that adjacent drawer fronts all matched? If so, definitely better than my approach.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments. Really appreciate your feedback.

All the best, Mike

Mike, I think I understand your method, and why you were concerned about cross grain planing. The method I am using for this chest is Jeff Headley's from Fine Woodworking which you referenced at the beginning of your miniature serpentine chest project. Using the bandsaw, I was able to get reasonably close to the line, but not perfect. I had to clean a lot up with spokeshaves. I was not sure of the right blade to use, and ended up using a 3/4 inch 2 TPI Lenox flex back blade on my Rikon 10-326. I think next time I will try a 1/2 inch 3TPI blade. One thing to consider is that with the cockbeading, the drawer shapes do not have to be an exact match, the cockbeading hides irregularities. Even Jeff Headley, who teaches classes states that he never gets everything perfect. On my first chest I used bent laminations, and the last drawer not as curved and I was worried. Upon completion, the eye could not pick it up.

[Will Blick]

just amazing...
inspirational...
thx for sharing...
talent, patience, design skills,
hope it ends up on FWW magazine

[Mark Rainey]

just amazing...
inspirational...
thx for sharing...
talent, patience, design skills,
hope it ends up on FWW magazine

Thanks Will! It's hammer time with hammer veneering with hot hide glue. Last time I left too much hide glue on the surface and it was a big pain to remove. Now I am now scraping it off with a plastic card and then wiping it off with a moist warm towel right after veneering, and liking the results.

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[Mark Rainey]

Time to work on curved molding on bottom of chest of drawers. Unplugged and molding planes do not work on curves.

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[Phil Mueller]

Coming along well, Mark. Nothing like a good sharp carving tool to zen the hours away, huh? I hope at least you were able to justify a few new carving tool sizes to work through that piece! Almost always makes it worth it. Gonna look great in the end.

[Mark Rainey]

Coming along well, Mark. Nothing like a good sharp carving tool to zen the hours away, huh? I hope at least you were able to justify a few new carving tool sizes to work through that piece! Almost always makes it worth it. Gonna look great in the end.

Yes Phil, it is calming to carve away for hours, shaving after shaving. Thanks for the encouragement!

[Jim Matthews]

"After bandsawing ( I know I should have used a bow saw) the serpentine curves..."

Only if you don't actually want to finish.

[Mark Rainey]

"After bandsawing ( I know I should have used a bow saw) the serpentine curves..."

Only if you don't actually want to finish.

very true Jim...I suppose that's when a Neanderthal has gone too far...we all have been there and it is a sad scene. How is that 18 inch Jet bandsaw working out?

[Mark Rainey]

I needed a marking gauge that follows curves, and all i could find was Woodjoy which stopped making them, and some do it yourself ideas. I saw this "Newkiton" marking gauge and it works for me. Surprised that with all the quality marking/cutting gauges available, none follow curved surfaces.

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[Mike Allen1010]

Mark, your work on the curved mouldings is fantastic! Is that Maple? if so you are truly a masochist. Also what type of veneer did you use for the drawer fronts? Often I end with with some kind of light/dark contrast, but really like the overall "lighter" look of your complementary primary wood and veneer combo.

Thanks for sharing- really enjoying progress!

Cheers, Mike

[Mark Rainey]

Thanks for the feedback Mike, the molding is figured cherry. It is enjoyable to do it with carving gouges & scrapers, but I admit I am having dreams at night of a power router. The veneer is commercial veneer from Certainly Wood. It is thin but it makes it very easy to bend over curves. I imagine 200 years ago they must have used sand bags to keep the thicker veneer in place after hammering with hide glue.

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful job on the molding, Mark. I’ll just throw in my two cents on routers. I don’t use much power in my work, but I’m pretty sure a router is my most used power tool. Great tool for inlay and moldings, although the more curved work is done by hand.

The molding you made could have been done with a template, or it could have been routed first, then bent. And that all depends on if you can source the proper profile bits. But here’s the thing; it can screw something up real fast. Plus, I avoid using a router when working with cherry. It’s easy to burn cherry. And any sanding or scraping to remove the burn marks can flaw the work. Especially small detail work to the point of needing to start over. I guess my point is that I think you made the right call to do this by hand, especially because it is cherry and you have the skill and tools to do it.

Thanks for the updates; enjoying following along.

[Mark Rainey]

Beautiful job on the molding, Mark. I’ll just throw in my two cents on routers. I don’t use much power in my work, but I’m pretty sure a router is my most used power tool. Great tool for inlay and moldings, although the more curved work is done by hand.

The molding you made could have been done with a template, or it could have been routed first, then bent. And that all depends on if you can source the proper profile bits. But here’s the thing; it can screw something up real fast. Plus, I avoid using a router when working with cherry. It’s easy to burn cherry. And any sanding or scraping to remove the burn marks can flaw the work. Especially small detail work to the point of needing to start over. I guess my point is that I think you made the right call to do this by hand, especially because it is cherry and you have the skill and tools to do it.

Thanks for the updates; enjoying following along.
Phil, thanks for your insight into methods of work.

[Mark Rainey]

Serpentine molding carved with gouges fitted to case - the miters are challenging - they measure less than 90 so I divided the angle by two and cut.440554440555

[Phil Mueller]

Lovely detail, Mark. Nice job on the hand gouged moldings. Love the little molding detail going up the side. I’m still struggling with bending some cherry...but this old dog doesn’t give up easily. Thanks for the continued inspiration!

[Mark Rainey]

Thanks Phil, I created the fluting by filing a scraper. I remain very interested in your bending of cherry. Michael Fortune has a plans for a unique Adirondack chair in a past Fine Woodworking. It involves bent laminations, and I was interested in using cherry. He used mahogany. I am a bit concerned about using cherry. Related to that, I usually get those cheap 20 plastic Adirondack chairs. They last a few years. The last one cracked and I found myself pitched backward facing the sky. Luckily, no significant injury. Next winter project.

[Christopher Charles]

Mark, looks fabulous, that's a tight detail on the moulding. I have a scraper that looks just like that but haven't used yet.

[Mark Rainey]

Mark, looks fabulous, that's a tight detail on the moulding. I have a scraper that looks just like that but haven't used yet.

Thanks Chris! I have not used a curved scraper much in the past, so was a bit unsure as I proceeded. I was able to get a burr on the curve I needed and after a little practice, was able to get some really good shavings from the scraper. I am envious of those who wield scrapers so effectively, and when I am
'in the zone" it is a sweet feeling to see the shaving fly and the surface smooth. I am going to do some clean up work, especially where the front curve going into the short straight piece at the cant at the miter joint. I do not think there was anyway to get a perfect match, so using some tools I will try to blend the profiles as best as possible.

[Phil Mueller]

Mark, I think you will have infinitely more success with bent laminations as long as you keep the individual pieces thin enough. These kiln dried 3/8 x 1/2” moldings are a bugger to bend. Funny thing is the first trial piece bent like a noodle.

It’s about a 22” circumference. Here’s the trial piece, and useable if all else fails.

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I’m thinking this trial piece was the most outside cut of the board and perhaps more straight grained with less imperfections than all the subsequent pieces.

When it comes to bending solid wood, I’ve read mahogany is pretty tough (depending on thickness). By nature it resists water. Lots of chatter among boat builders on technique. They say it’s tough with thicker pieces even with some relatively minor curves.

From what I’ve experienced so far, the cherry will bend pretty well to a more relaxed curve, so I think a bent lamination with pieces in the 3/16 to 1/4” thickness should handle a subtle bend easily.

PS: Don’t want to sidetrack this thread on your beautiful build. Looking forward to your next update!

[Mark Rainey]

I love using my HNT Gordon dado plane, and therefore my dados were through, showing up front. I hammer veneered to cover them up and it worked out.

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[Mark Rainey]

440965 Gluing up top for chest of drawers

[James Pallas]

All very very well done Mark. Have you ever made a negative story stick for your curved work. It does help in layout work. When doing your shaping work with spoke shaves and such you can chalk the edge of your negative and get an idea of high and low spots.

[James Pallas]

One other thing i would suggest is used the fence on your router plane and a narrow iron for a marking gauge if the radii are long enough. It gives a nice square cut line.

[Mark Rainey]

All very very well done Mark. Have you ever made a negative story stick for your curved work. It does help in layout work. When doing your shaping work with spoke shaves and such you can chalk the edge of your negative and get an idea of high and low spots.

Thanks James. The negative story stick is a great idea. When shaping with a spokeshave I had to check and recheck with a square to keep the curves uniform. I will try that next time.

[Mark Rainey]

One other thing i would suggest is used the fence on your router plane and a narrow iron for a marking gauge if the radii are long enough. It gives a nice square cut line.

Can you articulate in more depth your method? Thanks James.

[James Pallas]

Can you articulate in more depth your method? Thanks James.

Mark, I discover this purely by accident. I had purchased the adapter and small irons for my LN router for stringing. I than discovered it was good for marking curved work using the fence. When I saw the picture of your marking gauge it looks much like the LN fence for curved work. The narrow irons and a light cut make a very usable mark. I did not set it up just now to demonstrate, busy working on the furnace just now. Pretty self explanatory when you see the parts.
Jim

[Mark Rainey]

Working on the double bead top, with end grain and long grain

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[Phil Mueller]

Just excellent. I’m jealous of your ability to get that scratch stock to work so well. It’s one of those things that seems so easy, but I just can’t get to work. I enjoy making the stock piece, but man can I chew up a board. Did you carve out the bulk first? I appreciate any (even if it seems obvious) tips when you get a minute.

[Mark Rainey]

Just excellent. I’m jealous of your ability to get that scratch stock to work so well. It’s one of those things that seems so easy, but I just can’t get to work. I enjoy making the stock piece, but man can I chew up a board. Did you carve out the bulk first? I appreciate any (even if it seems obvious) tips when you get a minute.

Thanks Phil, I too have experienced some nasty tearout using scratch stock on cherry. Another forum member, Brian Zawatsky also mentioned frustration scraping 441377 cherry in the past. I did carve out the bulk first after marking out with pencil. My scratch stock was from a scraper, using round chainsaw files, and then the faces rubbed on 8000 grit whetstone. To ward the evil spirits off I rolled up a bit of 2000 grit sandpaper from LV and rubbed it into the profile at 90 degrees to the face, and went back to the 8000 grit stone for the face. No burr. Perhaps one reason my scraper is working so well is that so much of the profile is curving down or up. I try to scrape downhill and the shavings fly - a nice feeling.

[Phil Mueller]

Thanks Mark. I haven’t given up. It will be a good winter thing to work on.

[Jim Matthews]

441377

Oooo... can't wait to see this finished.

[Mark Rainey]

Finally completed 442733

[Richard Hutchings]

Jaw dropping! Fine fine work Mark

[Richard Hutchings]

Serpentine molding carved with gouges fitted to case - the miters are challenging - they measure less than 90 so I divided the angle by two and cut.440554440555

Carved with gouges??? I would love to see that done.

[Christopher Charles]

Mark,

Spectacular! I'll presume that you are happy with the outcome!

[Jim Matthews]

Finally completed 442733

You did not disappoint.

Kudos

[Phil Mueller]

Congrats Mark! A piece to be proud of. I think you have every right to sit in front of it for long periods of time and enjoy what you’ve done. Frankly, I think I’d scoot it next to the grandfather clock and stare at both. Your call!

[Ron Selzer]

Finally completed 442733

Very beautiful, can't let the wife see this
Ron