cockbeading on drawer front

Re: cockbeading on drawer front

Warren in Lancaster, PA


>You could use a router to make a bead around the edge of the drawer, but you would have to avoid the corners and then carve them in by hand. The side beads of the drawer would vulnerable to damage because they are made crossgrain. A bead made with the grain would need a strip to break off if it is damaged, but a cross grain bead can break out in small sections. An applied bead will look better and will also protrude a bit higher than the surface of the drawer front, an effect you would have trouble duplicating another way.

When the beads are made on the carcass, they are usually not applied, but molded directly on the dividers or frame pieces or whatever and then they are level with the surface. They are all done with the grain.

Re: cockbeading on drawer front

William Duffield, on the Cohansey


>Everything Warren says is correct. The name of the detail you want to make is a "scratch bead." These are cock beads' country cousins and were often done in lower style furniture pieces, because they take a lot less skill and a lot less time to do, and can fool the uninformed customer. You can make them with a scratch beader, including a #66, or you can make them, with care, with a router table. In either case, you'll need to use a carving veiner to do the corners, unless you want to do really cheap ones, that go all the way to the ends, leaving a round bump at each corner. These corner bumps are even more fragile, and more gauche, than scratch beads with carved corners.

Re: cockbeading on drawer front *LINK*

Paul in NJ


>Many period pieces had the cockbead molded directly into the case sides and dividers. Often it stood proud as shown on the bombe in the SAPFM link. I think Newport blockfronts had the cockbead done this way too. You also could apply it directly to the case and dividers into a shallow rabbet. Both of these methods would eliminate the cross grain construction.

Paul Dzioba


Cockbead

Thank you gentlemen

Tom Sontag - St. Louis


>I was aware of the difficulties I faced, but was not aware that the overall effect would be a step down from the applied method. Good point about the crossgrain on the drawer sides. Maybe the applied method is not such a bad idea after all. And I love those pictures!