Bedroom Dresser Part 5

I've been ploughing through this project. It was June 13th when I fitted a new blade to the cabinet saw and I've been working full speed ahead ever since. At this point most of the remaining work is refinement and assembly:

But there is one last piece to make. If you were paying attention in part three you'll remember there were eleven (11) pieces of the mahogany frame, but so far only ten (10) have been installed. The eleventh section is essentially invisible because it is installed below the cabinet and provides a central support. This piece starts off like all the others as a 1-1/4" square section where a tenon has been cut at the front (center below). The tenon fits a mortise at the center of the front lower rail, and this section is 18-1/4" long excluding the tenon.  

Mahogany blocks which are also 1-1/4" thick have been added above and below. These blocks (1-5/8" at the top and 3-1/8" below) take the total size to six (6) inches in what will be the upright dimension.

 

I drew a quadrant with a radius of 3-1/16" onto a piece of 1/4" plywood and cut out a template:

I used the template to transfer the radius to the workpiece, and then I cut away the bulk of the excess material with the bandsaw.

Of course I could have achieved the above more quickly by just drawing a curve directly onto the workpiece. The remaining excess material could be removed with a drum sander or with files etc., but the advantage of taking a few minutes to make a template is that I can now use it as a guide for the flush trim router bit:

This is after tidying up all three curves, rounding over the non-mating edges with a file and sanding to 220 grit: 

That's it for what you might call "manufacturing" but there is still some refinement to be done to the frame before final assembly. The inspiration piece has a non-standard curve to the frame which I would like to replicate:

 

I managed to figure out that the radius of the curve is around two (2) inches, and I used this knowledge to acquire a suitable router bit. According to the advertising, this bit is designed for making fretboards for guitars and other stringed instruments.

I experimented with scraps of 1-1/4" square mahogany..... 

I ran out of scraps and had to mill some pieces of fir down to 1-1/4" square before I could finalize the amount of curvature I was looking for:

It became clear that getting the best result from the router bit would require the prior assembly of the frame. In essence this is because I want the curves to flow around the internal corners. I chose to glue-up both side frames at the same time because this way I can guarantee they will be exactly the same.

This is the inside face of the right side frame after light sanding to remove excess glue:

The router table I built at the end of last year made the next step a lot easier, and gave a better result, than using the handheld tool:

This is the outer face of the right side after all the edges have been attended to:

It was not practical to assemble the larger sections of the frame, so these parts were only partially shaped at the router. Where the front rails make internal corners I was sure to leave plenty of excess material:

The frame was then re-assembled at the cabinet and the internal corners where the frames meet the front rails were completed by hand with round and half round files:

With that done the frame was subjected to ye olde sanding/wood/filler/more sanding routine. Most of this work was done with the frame in situ. The filler was made from mahogany dust and wood glue:

The final step prior to attaching the frame to the cabinet is the application of stain. I'm using a mixture of half a can of "classic black" from Varathane™ and a full can of  "true black" from Miniwax™ which is what comes from shopping at two different big box stores. I tried not to stain the parts which will be glued.

While I was waiting for the stain to dry I switched over to working on the false drawer fronts. All that's left to do is bore the two (2) holes for the draw pulls I'll be installing. I cut a piece of plywood to the same dimensions as the drawer fronts and drilled a pair of 3/16" holes at the desired locations:

The template can be clamped to a false front, and the holes bored at the drill press. The holes are located above the central horizontal plane, so consideration was given to aligning the best long edge of each front upwards.

I made a similar template to fit inside the drawer boxes, and used it to bore another pair of holes:

These holes were countersunk for wood screws at the interior side of each drawer box. This will be the primary attachment point for the false fronts.

The next time I came into the workshop was on a Friday after work and I was delighted to find that all the wood stain was dry. I celebrated in the only way I could think of....by clamping up the final dry assembly:

The next photo was taken during the glue-up. Getting to this point is always comes with a feeling of accomplishment mixed with stress. The glue-up has to be done quickly and any unforeseen problems can be catastrophic. This time everything went to plan, I did have enough clamps, and Samuel Sheep was around to provide an extra pair of hands when I needed them.

In addition to plenty of glue, the cabinet was secured to the frame with #8 x 1-1/2" wood screws. deployed into the upper side rails and rear legs. Sometimes you just can't beat a good gluing and screwing!

The next day was a bright Saturday morning. With the assistance of family muscle I was able to move the cabinet onto its back and then I could attach the central support to the base. The "middle leg" is secured with a mixture of wood glue and long structural screws. 

There are actually another two (2) small pieces of the cabinet that I still need to make! I don't have much mahogany left, but I did find a piece that I was able to mill down into a 7/8" x 2-1/4" block. After making some careful measurements, I used a hole saw mounted in the drill press to remove a bit more than a quadrant from each end of the block:

After a bit of "flattening of the curves," and liberation from the main block, I was left with two (2) identical parts. The next photo was taken after sanding and boring two (2) holes into each piece.

Black stain was applied and the pieces were glued and screwed to the internal corners at the base of the frame. Because the cabinet is still lying on its back the view in the next photo is taken from below. I'm not sure how much strength these "brackets" actually provide, but they are present in the inspiration piece so I copied them regardless.

At this point in the process all that was left is a few bits of wood filler at the frame, sanding, removal of any remaining glue residue and a little bit of stain touch up etc. etc., none of which is worthy of photography. When all of the above was finally accomplished the cabinet was righted and I began installing the false fronts. The first four (4) fronts are the simpler ones:

The upper eight false fronts have the more ornate look. If anything is not perfectly square, this is where it matters! Each front is held in place with two (2) #6 x 1" wood screws which are deployed from inside the drawer box. 

With all the false fronts aligned and secured, the next step is to extend the 3/16" pre-drilled holes into the drawer boxes.

I've never enjoyed applying "finish" to my projects, but fortunately this is Amy Sheep's favorite bit and  she was happy to pitch in. We are using Rubio monocoat again because we have had great results with it in the past.

Shop Cat Luna was also around to supervise and provide commentary.

Cabinet finished:

Drawers finished:

We gave the Rubio a week to cure and then I installed the "drop pail" style pulls which are similar to those at the inspiration piece:

With assistance the cabinet was hoiked up to our bedroom and leveled:

The front of the dresser stands on the rug, so shims were need at the central and rear legs:

Done!