sanity check on drawer construction / finishing touch

[JohnPeter Lee]

Hi,

I am completing my first set of hand-built drawers for a workstation in my shop. I noticed, in observing the other drawers around the house, that the tops of the drawer sides are slightly rounded. I want to do that with mine.

So, an opportunistic moment presents itself. Is it reasonable to pick up an old hollow molding plane to create that curve? What other methods were traditionally employed?

thanks,
JPL

[Brian Kent]

JohnPeter,

I have wondered about these new rosewood hollow and round sets:

http://www.japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&pf_id=98%2E120%2E1037&dept_id=13602

4 out of the 5 Mujingfang planes I have tried were excellent and at $36.15 for a pair it seems worth a try.

Brian

[Mike K Wenzloff]

Hi,

I am completing my first set of hand-built drawers for a workstation in my shop. I noticed, in observing the other drawers around the house, that the tops of the drawer sides are slightly rounded. I want to do that with mine.

So, an opportunistic moment presents itself. Is it reasonable to pick up an old hollow molding plane to create that curve? What other methods were traditionally employed?
I think you would find that the hollow will create a shallow rounding due to its being based on a circle. You can use one to create a more rounded effect by planing at an angle to the sides and doing light passes on the top edge in the final passes. one must be careful to not allow the corners of the plane to dig in.

Or, instead, just use a block plane or small smoother and plane the radius to suit. It's quick.

Take care, Mike

[Don C Peterson]

I used to use a small block plane for this, but now I've got a concave sole spokeshave that does a great job.

[Greg Cole]

+1 more for the block plane approach.

Greg

[James Mittlefehldt]

+1 more for the block plane approach.

Greg

Low angle block plane is what I use. So that makes 3.

[David Keller NC]

Regarding a slight expansion of what Mike said about using a hollow to achieve this result - I've several molding planes, a couple of which pre-date the Revolutionary War, that are designed to accomplish a "thumbnail" profile on drawers. Essentially, the profile looks a bit like a cove molding plane, except that there's no fillet on one side, and the fence is very deep. If you want to think about it this way, it looks like a hollow plane with a fence.

If you're interested, I may be able to dig one out and take a photo.

[JohnPeter Lee]

Thank you to everyone who replied. I can do what I want with the block plane w/o a problem. I may still pick up a moulding plane just in case I need repeatability in a future project. Like the drawers for every built-in in my old house. I actually like the shallow curve that would be made by the hollow plane, so I've rationalized the purchase in several ways...

JP