Dressers

questions

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I agree on red oak being not the easies wood wood to turn into furniture.

This morning I sawed the last of the wedged tenons flush with the last side...Please clarify. Sawed before assembly, after and if after how?

and applied shellac. I am undercoating with shellac just to deal with humidity changes that vary greatly this time of year.

I don't understand the need or purpose of shellac.

What are the middle runners for in the middle section?

I'll bet it weighs a ton! Looks good.

Re: questions

johannaj

Sawed after assembly. The tenons were about about 3/16" longer than the thickness of the sides and had saw kerfs about 1/4" from either end for wedges. I cut wedges that were a tad over 3/4" wide and an inch long.

So the procedure was to dry fit and clamp the sides to the top and bottom. Then I dipped the end of each wedge into glue (Titebond III) and pounded them into the kerfs. After drying overnight, I used a flushcut saw to saw off the protruding ends of the tenons along with the excess wedge material.

Shellac- we are in the monsoon season right now, so our humidity can vary from 4-5% to 80-90% in a single day. The shellac not only helps to stabilize the moisture in the wood, it also makes a nice undercoat for lacquer.

The runners on the middle section secure the vertical dividers. I have not finished the one that goes in the middle, just to top and bottom ones. On the 2nd and 3rd levels there are just two drawers - a wide one and a narrow one. Their placement is reversed not only on the individual dresser, but the second dresser is a mirror image of this one.

Yep, Bill, they weigh a lot. The sides, top, and bottom are 7/8ths inch. Dividers are 3/4".

Re: Dressers

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

I've made quite a bit of furniture out of red oak and found it fairly easy to work with. There can be problems when routing, planning or jointing if you don't watch the grain ends on the edges and faces. The small flecks in the grain show how the grain flows if you look closely or you can drag a soft cloth along the surface. If the cloth grabs you want to feed that surface the other direction through your cut.

Lee

Re: Dressers

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

How much hand tool work have you done on oak? There is a reason that little Period furniture was made from oak, with walnut, cherry and mahogany being favored and even maple being favored over oak. Indeed, it is a miserable wood to work with hand tools.

Re: Dressers

Johanna Johanson

I use it because it's appearance suits my pueblo style home. Colonial furniture here in New Mexico was made from pine because hardwoods are so scarce in the Southwest. I use oak instead of pine simply because it's so durable.