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Bed side dressers are underway.

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Bed side dressers are underway.

#1

Bed side dressers are underway.   

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I have an order for bedside dressers for each granddaughter.

PIC 1

Step 1 Sketch plans The size will be the same as one I built 4 years ago. I Keep plans in a journal now days. It keeps my calculations retrievable and provides a record of how something was made. I find the journal useful to refer to. In this case I can use all the dimension calculations from the 1996 project, though these will be constructed different.

Step 2 Pick lumber With the future owners help I sorted through many hundred bdft of lumber to choose cherry for one and walnut for the other. I spend a lot of time at this stage of construction to choose lumber that will glue panels that will be attractive.

The "perfect" walnut board in terms of width, color and grain had a rough length 3" longer than the sum of the wood necessary for the sides and top. For those that have been there, teasing 6 cuttings and end trimming from a board whose rough length is 3" longer that the sum of the finished length of the cuttings is, well, a challenge. I had to shrink the planned width by 1/8" to have enough for the top. Done.

PIC2

Step 3 Prepare and glue panels . Construction will be traditional. A box will be dovetailed together with show wood on the sides and secondary wood on the top and bottom. A show top will be fastened to the "false top" and a frame and legs fastened to the bottom of the case. 3 drawers. Tops and sides were assembled from two boards about 8" width with the aid of one of the future owners learning to glue.

PIC3

Step 4 Dovetail the box together I do tails first. The apprentice is learning to dovetail. Some sweat equity makes the owners more appreciate the furniture, I believe.

Re: Bed side dressers are underway.

#2

Great way to spend time with the grandkids!


Re: Bed side dressers are underway.

#3

Re: Bed side dressers are underway.

John Pappas

Great memories being made here. And a question: Is your granddaughter using a dead-blow hammer here? I've been thinking that a dead-blow hammer would be a practical alternative to the traditional mallet.

Re: Bed side dressers are underway.

#4

Re: Best shop memories

Hank Knight

My best shop memories are the times I spent on projects with my daughter.

Re: Bed side dressers are underway.

#5

The bashing device- not dead blow

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I am annoyed by the sound of wood bashing wood so I was never fond of wood mallets.

Step back to when I was about 10 years old. I loved tools. In that day there was an equivalent of Harbor Freight in Utica NY except the source of stuff was Japan. I bought the hard rubber mallet shown in the picture with some allowance. Somehow, against all odds, this is one of the few things from my chaotic childhood that stayed with me.

For me it has the perfect weight and balance for bashing a chisel. It weighs 390 grams ( a bit less than 14 oz) and has a slender handle.

What ever you use, it needs to be nimble. Dead blow hammers I have seen are too heavy.

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