I think it's safe to say that cutting and fitting the dovetails for the drawers is the most challenging aspect of this entire project. Not only is the drawer front curved, the curvature at each end of the drawer front is different, and the angles at which the drawer sides project back are completely different. Oh yeah, and the drawer sides are also different lengths, since the inside of the case is narrower than the outside of the case due to the crescent front. With all that going on, I would suggest this is a great example of where hand tool use is the much safer and more precise method of operation and that's exactly the route I took. I think I used six different chisels, three different saws, and a shoulder plane for this operation (not to mention scores of measuring a marking tools). even with all that, I'd challenge anyone to try to cut this drawer joinery with power tools and get joints this tight and square to the case.
9 comments:
Man Rob drawers look great! The tops of the front faces look amazing, looks like it is one whole piece.
I have to give a lot of the credit to the Better Bond cold press glue. It's colored to match the walnut almost perfectly, so any visible glue lines become transparent. But I actually even noticed the same thing when I was editing the video, it really is a seamless lamination.
Rob , great video and great job with that challenging joinery.
Did you not also have to angle the baseline of the pin board parallel to the angled cut you made, or angle the side piece at the top of the dovetails ?
runningwood
Thanks RW. Basically, all the angles are handled in the front pin board. As long as the ends of the pin board are parallel to the case sides, then the process of laying out and cutting the pins out is much like a standard drawer front. The only difference was that I had to rabbet out the back of the outside edges just allow the square shoulders of the tail boards to fit flush. Really the entire trick is in cutting the right angles on the sides of the curved front (tail board).
Excellent,Rob! I'm assuming you will go with BLO for a finish. Even the small glue lines I had on the cradle completely disappeared when the oil hit the walnut. Love the pencil thin DTs!!
Thanks Vic. My plan is to use BLO and shellac although I haven't completely ruled out Danish oil. I plan on doing a number of test samples especially for the quartersawn stock I'm using for the top. That has a tendency to blotch.
Hey Rob....obviously you are enjoying the process on this piece. COOL!!!
I was wondering and I did go back to your bench episodes and looked at 8 and 9 to see what vise you selected as an end vise but didn't hear you mention it. Could you give us some information on the end vise and where you purchased it. I liked your work around on attaching the vise.
Thanks!
I checked the vise and I can't find any brand or makers mark on it. It's a quick-release vise I got from Lee Valley. Here is the link (the vise comes in three different sizes).
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=49980&cat=1,41659
Thanks Rob......for some reason your vise looks more stout---that caught my eye.
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