Furniture with curved parts....still learning!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My wife saw an end table she liked on Amazon and I designed a similar one using Sketchup over 2 years ago. Over a year ago I bought some red oak (wife's favorite, her choice) and began building it. When I got to the curved drawer front, everything came to a halt. Eventually I built a large circle cutting jig for my handheld router to make a relative accurate arc, purchased some 1/2" MDF for jigs and made some jigs for routing the drawer front. After 2 attempts at making the curved drawer front, I walked away from it.

Using a combination of the "working edges" on the 2 jigs, a couple days ago I returned to making the drawer front. Yesterday I finally realized and corrected all my procedural mistakes. I finally got an acceptable curved drawer front that matches up well enough with the curved drawer bottom and with the straight lines of the exterior of the end table.

Even a septuagenarian can learn!

[Mark Rainey]

Practice makes perfect Ken - glad things worked out.

[Brian Holcombe]

One of the better things I’ve done for this, and very recently is the MicroFence setup with their vacuum center point.

[Derek Cohen]

Ken, did you laminate the drawer front from solid strips, or veneer a curved MDF core? Any photos of the completed work?

Then, how did you fit the drawer bottom?

I have done many curved drawers, and find it easier to carve them from solid wood. One example ...

https://i.postimg.cc/tgDq8QCw/3-AD1569-C-F6-BD-4-CD0-B47-D-63-A6-E1548168.png

Scribing the front of the drawer bottom to fit ..

https://i.postimg.cc/kGR7V2FP/042-FA969-2603-42-AD-B313-74-BFFB8-CBC07.png

Believe or not, I find this less complex than setting up a router fixture :)

https://i.postimg.cc/j55xbgD5/65-C43454-EED9-4-D8-D-9-B13-286-CD3-E367-A1.png

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Alex Zeller]

Nice. I'm trying to learn how to make curved stuff as well. I figured I'd start off small and make a compound curve jewelry box. I've thought about using a router but I went with my bandsaw (which gave me the excuse to buy an oscillating spindle sander). There's been a couple times now where I realized I did things out of order and needed to start over. So far I haven't walked away but I know how you felt. I'm sure that it must of felt nice to get the result you were looking for after the frustrations.

[Jim Becker]

If the curve is relatively gentle, as is often the case with many furniture projects, the technique that Derek shows would be my choice because jointery at the corners remains simple...do that first and then carve the curve. If the wood species looks wonky for any reason with a carve on it like that, use lesser grade material to make the part and curve and then veneer the front with a thin layer of "extra special nice" of the same species with the grain pattern you want. Since it's the same species, the tiny glue line at the veneer disappears pretty well if you do things correctly. Another alternative is laminating over a form which allows the inside to be curved, too. But it kicks the jointery complexity up a few notches, too!

[Osvaldo Cristo]

My wife saw an end table she liked on Amazon and I designed one using Sketchup over 2 years ago. Over a year ago I bought some red oak (wife's favorite, her choice) and began building it. When I got to the curved drawer front, everything came to a halt. Eventually I built a large circle cutting jig for my handheld router to make a relative accurate arc, purchased some 1/2" MDF for jigs and made some jigs for routing the drawer front. After 2 attempts at making the curved drawer front, I walked away from it.

Using a combination of the "working edges" on the 2 jigs, a couple days ago I returned to making the drawer front. Yesterday I finally realized and corrected all my procedural mistakes. I finally got an acceptable curved drawer front that matches up well enough with the curved drawer bottom.

Even a septuagenarian can learn!

I am at your path: I plan to start mine first attempt in a few weeks. Also, it is to fulfil an order from wife!

If you have pictures it would be appreciated.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The one that I designed has a curved drawer bottom at the front and the drawer front is curved both on it's interior and exterior faces. The curved front of the drawer bottom is tenoned to fit into a mortise on the curved drawer front. Both the drawer bottom and drawer front are solid red oak cut from single pieces of wood. Now as I begin to make the 2 tops, I'll have to glue up some boards to get the 15" wide blanks to mill. Both of the tops will have curved fronts to match up with the curved drawer front immediately below them. I will post photos later.

It's later. Here's 2 photos of the drawer front and bottom. 441990441991

BTW, the visible open mortise ends in the drawer front will be filled with a glued in cut to size plug before the project it completed.

Per one of the manuals I bought several years ago at Taunton's website, I built a large circle cutting jig for my router. Using the arc measurement from my Sketchup drawings, I cut a piece of 1/2" MDF into 2 pieces producing a concave and mating convex ji. Then I screwed blocks for clamps to each of the jigs to position the drawer front blank for the final thickness dimensioning. Each of the 2 jigs was designed to dimension one face.

Here's the curved router table fence for putting the mortise on the inside edge of the drawer front and the two mating jigs made to cut the blank to it's final dimension on the inside and outside faces after both being roughed out on the bandsaw. I finished the inside face first, then roughed and finished the exterior face 2nd. Then I routed the mortise on the inside face.

441992441993441994

I cut the blank to length on my tablesaw using my sled. Then put the blank in one jig to mark the inside of the drawer front. I rough cut the inside edge using my bandsaw, clamped the blank in the appropriate jig and final cut the inside edge using a flush trim bit in my router. Then I placed the blank in the other jig to mark the outside edge of the drawer front and cut it with my bandsaw staying clear of the line. I placed it in the appropriate jig to final cut it to size using the flush trim router bit. The drawer bottom is made of 3/4" solid red oak with two cup holder areas routed into it for 2 black silicon coasters. Using a hand held router I tenoned the curved drawer front. After mounting the drawer slides and bottom I marked the curved drawer front to position the required mating mortise. I had made a curved fence for my router table and using a slot 1/4" slot cutting bit, I cut a 1/4" mortise in the inside edge of the curved drawer front.

It's not perfect but considering I am an amateur and want it out of my shop, it's close enough. This is the first project I have taken an overall idea, redesigned it, made my own drawings and made it. I found some really obvious design errors that I won't make in the future. But, that's the experience I need. It's an education....a journey.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken, did you laminate the drawer front from solid strips, or veneer a curved MDF core? Any photos of the completed work?

Then, how did you fit the drawer bottom?

I have done many curved drawers, and find it easier to carve them from solid wood. One example ...

https://i.postimg.cc/tgDq8QCw/3-AD1569-C-F6-BD-4-CD0-B47-D-63-A6-E1548168.png

Scribing the front of the drawer bottom to fit ..

https://i.postimg.cc/kGR7V2FP/042-FA969-2603-42-AD-B313-74-BFFB8-CBC07.png

Believe or not, I find this less complex than setting up a router fixture :)

https://i.postimg.cc/j55xbgD5/65-C43454-EED9-4-D8-D-9-B13-286-CD3-E367-A1.png

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek, seeing you use that washer as a spacer to mark the arc is invaluable! Thanks for that visual tip!

[John Jardin]

An outstanding article on curved drawers w/ half blind dovetails FWW # 252 describes method which I use.

442110442111

[Derek Cohen]

When you begin building anything with a curve, it takes much more time. When you build drawers with a curve, they will take at least 4 times as long!

Consider the classic bombe chests. Here is one being build by David Boeff ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/DesigningTheDrawers_html_3e5c3ce9.jpg

His drawer sides start out 1" thick, and then he proceeds to carve them to fit the sides ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/DesigningTheDrawers_html_131c1266.jpg

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/DesigningTheDrawers_html_m5f4a4961.jpg

























The drawer I posted above comes from this chest of drawers, which has just been published in the latest (December 2020) edition of Fine Woodworking magazine gallery ...


https://i.postimg.cc/MTCqz58C/Lingerie-Chest.jpg



The drawers in these are all compound dovetails, with a bow at the front and tapers at the sides to fit inside the taper of the case. Unlike David, classic bombe, the sides here are not shaped to fit, bit fitted to the shape ...


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/DesigningTheDrawers_html_61fb2f0.jpg


This was a trial fit for the drawers ...


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/DesigningTheDrawers_html_m46b665e5.jpg


Article: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/DesigningTheDrawers.html


https://i.postimg.cc/MTC5tMy0/Lingerie-Chest.jpg


Lots of fun, but not cost effective for the pro.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

Dang, that's a beautiful piece, Derek! I love the style of that tapered and radiused stack, too.

BTW, FW mentioned you on Instagram the other day. :) :D

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Jim. I have little experience with Instagram ... will now have to check it out! :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[John Jardin]

Outstanding as usual Derek!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very well done Derek! Very well done, indeed!

[Albert Lee]

Here is my curved project ... in progress.

442166442165

you are looking at 1/4 of a pumpkin assembly. looks more like a giant onion. the diameter is 1900mm or 75 inches.