Project Nearly Done, Opinions Please...

[Greg Cole]

Just finished last night, only need to attach the pulls to the drawers and buff on a coat of wax.
All surfaces were hand planed and scraped, only sanding done was on the ply sides. Pretty much my first real project with hand finished surfaces.
It's a little deeper than "normal" for a dresser 25" W x 24X D X 36" H, but it's made to reside under a mini loft bed for my 5 year old boy. Storage is at a premium in our home, so I thought I'd use the area under the bed (48" from floor to mattress).
Carcass is birch ply, face frame & legs are curly birch. Top is cherry and the drawer slabs are walnut. I wasn't sure about the 3 species combo, but I think it came together ok.
Shellac used a as a base/sealer inside and out, followed by walnut Danish Oil on drawers to accentuate dark wood. Final finish is 3 coats Tung Oil rubbed with 0000 steel wool between coats.
Lastly, the spots in the front pic were stuff on the lense (5 year old at home remember) which I didn't see until I uploaded the photo... ah well.
Don't hold back, let me hear'em good bad or otherwise.

Thanks,
Greg

[Pete Brown]

Looks very nice. The color combination is appealing.

Personally, I'd rub the gloss down to a satin finish, but that is my preference. Gloss tends to show a lot of fingerprints, especially when used by young boys :)

Pete

[Joe Chritz]

Like the two tone. I am kicking around using maple with walnut panels for a project.

Ditto about the gloss surface but boys will be boys.

Looks good.

Joe

ETA: Those look like dust particles in the air reflecting off the flash but it is hard to tell. Lots of my shop photos went to "the bin" because of just that.

[glenn bradley]

Nice combination of materials. I enjoy contrasting woods. I like the way you built the piece 'service specific' to your size requirements and made the most out of the available storage space under the bed.

[Greg Cole]

Pete & Joe..... I agree about the rubbing down the gloss some. I literally applied the last coat of Tung last night and turned the lights off (left the shop heater on all night to aid in curing expediently). Any reccomendations for rubbing down the gloss? Is steel wool sufficient to use before the wax application? Should I skip the wax all together? Honestly, I've buffed wax on a couple items with decent luck and the fact this will be under a bed and the top will see little "abuse" (but the boys will definately be boys, young and old alike in our home) makes me lean more towards waxing. And if I don't like the wax it's not too difficult to remove.
Thanks for the $0.02.... It's nice to have some from someone other than LOML who will say she likes just about anything I spend alot of time on.
By the way, the pulls are some small pieces of spalted maple I've had left from a hall table I made of all spalted maple last year....

[Gary Breckenridge]

:cool: Too much shine spoils the beauty of the contrasting walnut and cherry. I'm glad to see that you are doing your own design work.:cool:

[Jesse Thornton]

Looks good, Greg. Sounds like it was satisfying to watch them shavings curl off instead of having sanding dust fly in your face!
This is purely subjective, but I think progressively sized drawer heights would be more appealing to my eye. The top two look a little heavy being as tall as the two below but only half the width.
Here's a site I've found really handy site for playing with geometric drawer proportions:
http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/drawsizer_geometric.htm
I think the combination of species looks alright, though I agree about the gloss. I used some of Lee Valley's polymerized tung oil on a maple countertop recently, and cut it with their tung oil sealer to reduce the gloss and was really happy with the results. It had a nice warm sheen without being too shiny, and it really brought out the best of the maple (I thought).
Knowing how to best finish a peice you've put your heart into can be pretty bewildering at times, that's for sure. It's definately one of my weaker points.:o
Thanks for sharing your work, btw.

[Ralph Okonieski]

The different species look very nice together. Nicely done.

[Greg Cole]

Jesse,
The top 2 drawers are about an inch shorter than the bottom 2. I wanted to be able to put more than socks & underwear in them (kids clothing mind you). I should have made them a little shorter for the aesthetics you mention, but it's kinda late now. And the bottom 2 drawers were actually built 2" taller. But I had to cut them down 2" each (after building them, DAMKIT), as the plan went from having the dresser in one corner of the room to going under the bed.
I don't use any formulas etc for sizing. I rarely ever even have much more than a concept sketch for a "plan", my designs change on the fly. I have thought about making detailed drawings, but nah... I have to do that at work so the "free wheeling" when ww'ing is more creative.

Any other hints on turning down the gloss on an applied finish?

Thanks all!

[Wayne Morley]

My first thought when I saw the photos was that the top tow drawers are to dig or deep. If you were to do this project over, I would suggest four sets of drawers rather than three, and to do progressively sized drawer heights as Jesse suggested. To me this would give a more refined look to this piece.

I think that the different species of woods look very nice together. It might be nice to have a bit more contrast between the drawer fronts and the surrounding wood. (Maybe) :confused:

I agree with the others about the finish being too glossy. If you tone it down, I think that the contrast between the woods will be more pleasing.

I hope you don’t mind my critique of your project. My intent is to be constructive.

[Pete Brown]

One other comment: The top looks a bit heavy. I lean towards the various craftsman styles, so I like wide tops. In this case, however, I think it would look better if it had a wide chamfer on the underside (I have used a panel raising bit for that in the past) to help lighten the top a bit.

I also agree with others on the progressive heights :)

[Greg Cole]

Pete,
There is a slight 45 degree bevel on the underside I did with a block plane, and somehow I got started on the shellac and never quite finished it.
That is one thing being a hobbyist and working an hour here and there... sometimes you leave off on one thing but when you come back you start on another. I was saving the bottom bevel for after final scraping of the top....best laid intentions sort of thing now. Although I could finish the bevel and refinish I guess.... Hmmmm. LOML is shopping tonight so shop time for me!
Any ideas on turning down the gloss? Should I top coat with a satin tung oil? Rub the gloss down and then re-caot with satin? I drive by a specialty paint, stain & finish store on the way home.

I REALLY appreciate all the input & feedback. For a first dresser I am ok with how it came out overall and am very happy with the results of Neander flattening, planing & scraping. My LV's are finally feeling worth the $ paid and the VERITAS MKII with scary sharp method.
(Hope my LN shoulder plane can't hear my above thoughts!)

[Pete Brown]

Any ideas on turning down the gloss? Should I top coat with a satin tung oil? Rub the gloss down and then re-caot with satin? I drive by a specialty paint, stain & finish store on the way home.

I REALLY appreciate all the input & feedback. For a first dresser I am ok with how it came out overall and am very happy with the results of Neander flattening, planing & scraping. My LV's are finally feeling worth the $ paid and the VERITAS MKII with scary sharp method.
(Hope my LN shoulder plane can't hear my above thoughts!)

For my kitchen cabinets, I used very fine scotch brite pads to tone down the gloss. Try it on a piece that isn't very visible (or on some scrap) and see if you like it.

I really like the way it made the cabinets have a satin look.

BTW, I forgot you did this all by hand. It's all the more impressive!

Pete

[James Manning]

Fine job and I am sure your son will enjoy for many years to come.....:)

[Ben Grunow]

I saw this post yesterday and thought later that I would suggest that the flat panels have a bevel to look more like a raised panel.. until I read that you neandered (it is a verb too) the whole project in which case I retract that thought.

Nice work and your kids will dull the finish down for you. Dont worry.

Ben

[Al Wasser]

Think safety, especially with boys. I am amazed at what my 2 grandsons will do. Are the drawers fixed so they don't come all the way out? Attach the unit to the wall so that when they overload the top drawers or use the drawers as a ladder it will not tip over on them.

[Greg Cole]

Al,
All the drawers have an "anti tip board" over them to prevent tipping and the top of the dresser fits within 1/2" of the bottom side of mini loft bed. So even if he opens the bottom drawer and uses it for a step, there is zero chance of tipping (not too mention at 25" deep it is FAR from "tippy" with all 4 drawers pulled out and they are only 3/4 extension drawers). All drawers need to be lifted for removal as well, I have some "Euro style" 100# drawer slides lying around from some shop cabinets I never did use which lent themselves to saving time by not making wood runners etc.
I have a pic of the dresser in its final resting place, but some Monday morning issue... computer not cooperating.
Hope to have them in a bit.
Again, thanks to all!

Greg

[Greg Cole]

Here are a few shots of the completed "mini loft" bed and the dresser that started this post. I think the initial pics made the contrasting woods look more homogenous, as you can see it better in some of these. Having the lighter handles helps too (small pieces of spalted maple with a sandad smooth live egde on the bottom of the pull for grabbing).
All said and done, I think the new owner is happy with it.

Thanks for all the $0.02, and now I can get back to the hanging jewelry case I started for LOML before the bed-dresser project.

Greg