Cherry Night Stands

Re: Cherry Night Stands

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

Very nice. I like all the curly grain on the fronts. They will only get better with age.

Lee

Very pleasing to look at and ....

Dick Coers

wonderful craftsmanship. My only comment would be that I would have preferred a more graduated drawer size from bottom to top. I know the camera angle doesn't help, but the top drawers appear to be taller than the bottom ones. The eye may do the same thing when looked down on. I use wider rails on the bottom of doors for the same reason. Love cherry, and I applaud you for not adding any color to that gift of nature!

Re: Very pleasing to look at and ....

Jake Dahn

Thanks for the compliments. The drawers are all the same size, 8.25" tall. I got a little lazy and didn't graduate the sizes. I thought about it during the design stage and wanted to get started,so it got left behind.

Another addition would have been to miter the corners for the carcass. I wasn't comfortable with the technique and decided to push my skills this time with the base. I've never fit and mitered molding around a base before.

I've created some panels with larger lower rails and the effect is noticeable and more pleasing than if they are the same size.

Thanks for the critique, we are typically blind to our own design misses.

Jake

Re: Cherry Night Stands

David Yoho

I'm glad you left the cherry natural. That figure on the drawer fronts is beautiful. Given some time and exposure to sunlight, that color will get so much richer and more beautiful.

Looks like you used a dovetail jig for the dovetails. Some like the Leigh allow you to set the spacing. I think the spacing on the case is okay but I like to see them a little further apart in that application.

Given the depth of the drawers, I would probably have a few more there. One thing to pay attention to when setting up the jig is that you start and end with a half dovetail. Looks like you tried but the ones in the drawer picture look a little off.

Nevertheless, nice job. It's not easy starting something like this and keeping up with what you're doing when you pick it back up each time. Each project we do teaches something we can take forward to the next one. I really like the base and can fully appreciate the fitting it took.

What did you use to make the scooped places where the pulls are?

Re: Cherry Night Stands

Jake Dahn

I agonized over the creation of the "dish" in the drawer fronts. My first inclination was to create a jig for the router, but didn't think it would get smooth enough, then I was going to turn them on the lathe and cut them like a bowl. While I can turn a decent bowl, making six identical would have been a stretch.

I ultimately decided to make a jig and use the table saw. Think cove molding, but the piece is rotated, not slid.

The trick was to have the center point perfectly aligned. Otherwise the dish would be of center, or shaped like a doughnut. A little trial and error was the key. I also drilled a shallow hole in the back of the drawer face to accept a dowel pin.

I'll try to attach some Picts from my phone.

Thanks for the comments

Jake

I like the feet

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

You may see them again on the chest of drawers I am building. Will you provide some details as to how you made this bottom foot section?

If you had graduated the drawers the bottom one would have been too big....I think. To my eye the three equal sizes work ok on what was made. I would have added one more dovetail to the drawer sides.

Ogee (I think that is the word, cove followed by a quarter round) molding is traditional bottom molding. It may be less a dust catcher than just a cove that has the flat top surface.

Mitered molding is easy to do if you have patience and a shooting board to nibble tiny increments off the miter until it fits perfect. Given what you have accomplished you will have no problem mastering this technique.

Having mastered building a nice piece of furniture, what is next?

Great job

Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level

Very nice. The dovetail details are nice. You sure got a hold of some pretty wood. They will get even prettier as that cherry darkens.

Well done!

T.

Me too...

Barry Irby

I like the feet too, but I was thinking about what it would look like with the similar feet that are flared out at the bottom. What little designer brain I have sort of likes the flared feet, but my practical Engineering Side worries they would get beat up and interfere with setting them close to another piece of furniture.

One thing you could do is reverse the position of the pins and tails so that the top would run past the side. Just speculating, but we normally run the top over the sides. I don't think the joints are stressed much in this application, so structurally it would not matter. Mitering those front corners would be an interesting challenge for me.

Re: I like the feet

Jake Dahn

Thanks for the comments.

The whole base is a relatively simple affair. The feet are 8/4 material tapered on the inside surfaces. Used a sliding jig on the t-saw so I could keep all my fingers. They rails are attached with mortise and Tennon. I made the Tennons long to increase the glue surface area. The molding is 1/2"x3/4" or so with a small cove. It is glued directly to both the rail and feet. I wasn't overly worried about cross grain movement on 2+" of end grain as it will sit in my conditioned house.

I comepletely sanded the case before fitting the molding on so I could ensure a tight fit.

The base is adhered to the case using 1"x1" fir strips glued to the inside of the rails. Screws are used to attach it to the case. Tight fit up front and elongated holes in the middle and back to account for seasonal movement of the top case. It's 16" deep and I was concerned about that growing with the seasons.

Jake

that was a clever solution

Re: Cherry Night Stands

Matt Robinette

The wife said they are pretty. I think they look great. From the half blind dovetails on the drawers,the scallops on the drawer fronts, it looks like a lot of thought went into the design and work into the execution.

Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for the compliment.