I needed to add a drawer for sharpening bits and pieces. Decided to use what was on hand so Hickory front and Maple sides and end. The sides were 3/8” and the front 1/2”, this gave me 1/8” to make my half blind dovetails blind. Hickory being resilient gave me a good chance on not blowing out the front.
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The back through dovetails were less work, however I cut the pins 1/8” too deep making a slightly tapered drawer. Had to plane the bottom panel to fit. The dado for the bottom was 3/16” deep so some precision was required.
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Marking the pins. Then glued up the drawer. Final planing of the joints in the tail vise. You can hold it very low down for great stability and do two ends at the same time.
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I planned to add two dividers so chiseled a Blunt ‘V’ shape for each one in the ends before glue up. The dividers were made of poplar. I also added guides for a top sliding drawer in each section.
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The first sliding drawer was made:
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This is the top section, chiselled out, refined and glued to the base, spray painted white and added to the drawer. The drawer was treated with smoking hot BLO. After wiping and drying it had the one handle in my shop added and added to the stained, varnished base.
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Yes it’s a Band Aid dispenser!
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So the left drawer is for blades, the middle drawer for saws, the last drawer is flex space. A top file sliding drawer will be added for the saw drawer and one for the blades also. Much more space efficient with drawers in drawers. My working set up:
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The height is lovely, rock solid stable and after all the pounding to get the tenons in, the bruised wood gives it a re-purposed mahogany look. I get to use three sides! Yes a bit of luxury, but look how much time we spend sharpening, may as well make it as simple and available as possible.
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