Project: Maple Dresser

[Matt Meiser]

I finally got started on the maple dresser (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=93052). Well actually I stared last week milling up the leg stock but didn't get anything more done until tonight. Tonight I cut the tapers on the bottom of the legs and cut the curve on the bottom rails for the sides. Made one small mistake cutting the groove for the panels which won't be visible once I'm done but its visible in one of the pictures. Then I cut all the joinery for the side frames with the Domino--LOVE THAT THING! :D

[gary Zimmel]

Looking good Matt.

Keep us up to date on your progress...

[John Thompson]

Looking forward to finish, Matt.

Sarge..

[Matt Meiser]

Got some more work done tonight. The top and bottom rails for both the front and back got cut and I did the Dominos for the back. Then I cut the plywood panels for the sides and the back and dry fitted them up.

I made another mistake cutting grooves for the panels despite numerous markings--just grabbed the wrong one. Luckily it is only going to be visible with a drawer removed, but I planed some stock with similar grain down and glued it into the slot which should pretty much make it invisible. I was tempted to cut the same groove in the other leg and use some walnut so it would look intentional.

[Dewey Torres]

Thanks for sharing and having the courage to post your mistakes. Looking good so far.

[Matt Meiser]

Not to much progress tonight, but I did get the top and bottom rails for the front fitted. Oh, and I planed down the filler for my oops. Its a little more visible in person than in the photo, but not bad, and I keep reminding myself it will only be visible with a drawer removed.

Next up is building dust frames for between the drawers, which probably won't happen until the weekend.

[Eric Roberge]

Looking good!

[Matt Meiser]

Made some more progress this weekend. I got the side assemblies glued up, then got to work on dust frames. Four for between the drawers which are identical and one more (which I forgot about while working on the others) at the bottom.

As you can see I put my Big Lots Stanley clamps to work right away.

[Robert Meyer]

What kind of maple are you using Matt? I think it will come out nicely. I've been thinking about building an entertainment center using cherry and maple for stiles & rails and panels but can't decide if cherry frames with maple panels would look better or maple frames with cherry panels? I've never used maple before. Keep us posted on the dresser.

[Matt Meiser]

Its hard maple that was part of a group buy some guys from my club did. I didn't get in on the original buy, but one guy decided to sell his later and I got in then so I got a really good price on it. Its nice stuff--thick enough to properly dimension it, and I've got enough wide boards that my only glue-up will be the top. The panels are 1/4" maple plywood and the dust frame panels are baltic birch leftover from other projects.

[scott spencer]

Looking good Matt. Looking forward to seeing the finished pics.

[Radek Kowalski]

That looks great, makes me want to get started on my bedroom set.

[glenn bradley]

This is a great thread Matt. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

[Matt Meiser]

Tonight I got all the domino slots cut to attach the dust frames to sides. Here's a picture of the dry fit. I have a fair amount of tweaking to do to get everything just right. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to do this glue-up a) with white glue and b) in stages--i.e. glue one side, put the other side together dry and clamp it, then take that side apart and glue it. There's a lot of pieces that need to come together at once! I also need to make the side drawer guides which get attached to the sides of the dust frames. Kind of hard to explain what I'm doing there, but I'll make sure to take pictures.

My goal is to have the glue-up done by the end of the weekend, but I also have to take time out to build the face frame for a vanity project I'm also working on as part of an ongoing series of demonstrations for our club.

[Jim Becker]

Coming along great, Matt!

[gary Zimmel]

Looking good Matt.

Thanks for the progress pics..

[James Williams 007]

I have a quick question Matt. What are the panels in between each drawer for? Sorry if this is one of those dumb questions but I haven't seen this done before. The dresser looks great and I can't wait to see the finished piece.

[Matt Meiser]

They help keep clothes in the drawers from interfering with the drawer above. Someone suggested them in the design thread and it sounded like a good suggestion. I think they'll probably add a lot of strenght too over open frames.

[Matt Meiser]

Last night I got the side drawer guides cut and attached to the sides of the dust frames. I also fixed yet another mistake. I miscalculated the size of the bottom dust frame by 1/4". So there I decided to go ahead and use a piece of walnut. It won't ever be seen but looks cool. I also took the time to mark it with the branding iron since I wouldn't be able to get in there once it was glued up. I always date it, put the location, and sign it. Risky move doing that before I'm done in case I don't like it. :rolleyes:

Today I got the carcase glued up after driving to three different stores trying to find either white glue or the extended open time Titebond glue.

Overall it is looking good. The bottom rail and one back rail wouldn't close up like they were supposed to so I'll have to do a little work to hide the gaps. I think the problem is overagressive sanding. I've got plenty of shavings, and can always make more, to glue into the gaps to hide them.

The one picture shows a closeup of the repair from the other day too. Its just slightly more visible than in the picture.

Next up is gluing up the top and the drawer fronts, then constructing the drawers. I'm going to try through-Domino joinery on the drawers. I've seen a couple of examples now and it looks cool and it seems like it would be just about as strong as dovetails and probably stronger than lock-type joints.

[Matt Meiser]

I made a good amount of progress yesterday morning and most of the day today. First I got all the drawers built. I decided to try Domino joinery on the drawers. It was a learning experience, but in the end they turned out nicely. Then I moved on to making the drawer fronts. As I type, the glue-up for the top is curing. I should be able to complete construction tomorrow and get started on the final sanding. Hopefully by the end of next weekend it will be done.

[Jim Becker]

Those Domino drawers have an interesting look. Nice work on the whole project, Matt!

[John Keeton]

Matt, I've enjoyed watching your progress. Very good job and the Domino really is working out well. I had decided to sell by biscuit joiner, and go to traditional M&T, but am tempted to consider getting a Domino. What kind of finish are you doing?

[Matt Meiser]

The finish will be wipe on poly. I used it on the matching bed, table, and bookshelf. I had wanted to switch to something sprayable, but most people recommended I use the same thing on the dresser to make sure they match.

[Matt Meiser]

And today I got the top cut to size, got the bevel cut on the edge, sanded the carcase, and installed the top. Still have a lot more sanding to do on the drawers and then a final hand sanding with 220 paper....

[Matt Meiser]

And after several coats of wipe on poly and a coat of wax applied with 0000 steel wool, it is complete --and with 15 days to go!

Those two bottom drawers actually match much better than they appear in the pictures. There is a slight difference, but nothing like what is visible in the pictures.

[Don Bullock]

That project really came together in a hurry. It looks great too. Thanks for the detailed account. It's very helpful to people like me who haven't built a dresser.