Blog Archives
Designing A New Dresser for Our New Son
A few months back, we learned that we were expecting our third child. My wife, the youngest of five kids, is adamant that this child have their very own crib and dresser. Who am I to argue? A couple weeks ago we learned it was a boy – so, I set off to design and … Continue reading
Legs shaped, sides assembled and Ouch!
Construction Begins… In between trips to the zoo, the Children’s Museum and backyard “play dates” with the kids, I’ve logged some decent shop time on this project the past couple weekends. Last weekend I dimensioned the lumber and assembled the two cherry and walnut frame-and-panel sides. Due to a misaligned rip fence, I wound up … Continue reading
Face Frame Installed
OK, so I “cheated.” I typically assemble face frames with pocket screws. It’s simple, fast and strong enough. Since this face frame is composed of 1″ x 3/4″ members, pocket screws seemed a bit weak to me — I’d only be able to use a single screw in each member, which would allow it to … Continue reading
Dead Flat
I love my “new” drum sander. I purchased the used machine for the purpose of sanding shop-cut veneers and inlay woods. However, with a 23-1/2″ capacity, it is capable of so much more. I first cut my teeth with this thing on the side panels. Now it was time to glue up the top — … Continue reading
Gluing up the Carcass
The Day Begins I started the day by marking out and cutting the slots for the biscuits into the inside faces of the sides and back. Following this, I decided to “rehearse” the glue up of the main carcass — the sides, back and bottom front apron. After yesterday’s “flip” I have to admit to … Continue reading
Filling in the Blanks
One of my favorite features of the top, is actually technically a defect — a quarter-sized knot hole. While both my wife and I agreed that it added “character” to the top, I couldn’t simply leave it as it was; it was large enough to swallow up small objects whole and naturally not very stable. … Continue reading
Drawers
Labor Day weekend my wife took the kids up to the family cabin for a couple days. I spent most of this time in the shop working on the drawers. For this dresser I had designed the drawers with large through dovetails. Since I don’t own a decent dovetailing jig that allows for custom size … Continue reading
Circus-themed Baby’s Room
With the days of (relative) sanity in our home rapidly coming to an end — the impending birth of our third child — I was eager to finish his bedroom. For our first child, I pulled out all the stops. With no children in the home, time was a commodity we had in spades. When … Continue reading