# Dresser build



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

Hello all. I am new here and basically new to woodworking. I have always had an interest in building things, but until recently, I never built things "correctly". Now I am gaining an understanding of joinery and wood expansion and what not and I am starting to build more complicated pcs of furniture and things. I foolishly asked my family if they needed anything built, and my sister in law said she wanted a dresser for her entryway. Kind of a catch all and a place to store board games and what not. As of right now, the dresser is near completion, but I will post the pics in chonological order and try to explain my thought process. I would appreciate any feedback as I do plan to build more of these down the road. 

The wood species that I choose to use is largely based on what I have laying around. I work at a lumber yard, and although we don't do a lot of hardwood, we do occasionally have some good stuff that ends up in the auction bin for one reason or another. In this instance, the wood I chose was poplar because I acquired approx 12ea stair risers that were about 1x8-37". Of course these were actually 3/4"x7 1/4", but I call them 1x8. 

Thanks for looking, and please comment!! Thanks.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

I started by gluing up the top. I dont have a jointer, so I had to mix and match to get a good mate.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

I decided to make the side panels raised, so I needed to get a raised panel bit for my router. I decided on a vertical bit due to the size of hole needed in the router table. Also, it was cheaper and I think it works just fine. I love the grain in poplar.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

I had to stain the panels first before assembling to avoid seeing an unfinished edge when the panels shrink, so here they are stained up. I used wood conditioner on the panels and then sprayed a General Finishes water based stain. The color is black cherry.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

Here is the case assembled. The face frame stiles are rabbeted to accept the side assemblies. I left a little overhanging there and trimmed it flush with a flush trim bit. The side stiles were left 1/4" narrower than the rest so when assembled, all the stiles look the same width. The case is just glued together. I thought about possibly running dowels up both stiles on the front into the sides for addes strength and maybe to enhance the look. I am hoping that the internal structures and the glue are strong enough to hold up.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

For the legs, I just built them seperately. I used pocket holes to secure the aprons to the feet. I also used pocket screws to attach the base assembly to the case. The cove moulding was just some stuff we had laying around at work. I actually got 2 sizes of cove, so I used the smaller stuff down below and I used the larger stuff for the top. I know some people dont like the use of pocket screws, but I am not that much of a purist.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

This is my last picture today. I need to take some more to get current, but I will most likely be spraying stain tonight so I should have some finished pics soon. 

This is a picture of the top moulding detail. I actually placed the top on the dresser for this step, and made sure the moulding was tight to the top. Then I took the top off for the picture so you could see better. The top needs a profile milled into the edge, but I am undecided on the style. I am leaning towards a simple roundover, but I may end up with some sort of Ogee.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

For the drawer fronts, I used the same raised panel bit to emulate the side panels. I lowered it in the router table significantly though, so the profile is somewhat subdued, but I think it looks great. I'd love to hear what you all think so far. The drawer slides are just going to be maple channels with poplar runners. My thought here is that the poplar will wear faster than the maple and will be much easier to replace than the channels, which are attached to the drawers. I will get some pictures of that later tonight.


----------



## marioleal (Nov 9, 2010)

I really like it. Great job. I can't wait to see it finished.


----------



## weedsnager (Sep 21, 2011)

thats gonna be sharp!!


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Very nice work! It's coming together great!

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


----------



## PPBART (Oct 7, 2011)

jkline805 said:


> Here is the case assembled... case is just glued together... hoping that the internal structures and the glue are strong enough to hold up.


Very nice design! I curious about the "internal structures" -- how did you construct the drawer supports?


----------



## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Very nice!Pretty colour,and nice use of availible materials.

One thing to consider is....on the long drwrs......think about using two pulls intead of one.Not sayin you "have to"...just give it some thought.Best,BW


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

PPBART said:


> Very nice design! I curious about the "internal structures" -- how did you construct the drawer supports?


 
The internal drawer supports were made using pocket screws. After all of my rabbets were cut, and the sides assembled, I measured the size of the internal "square" and made 5ea squares that were identical. These basically keep the shape of the dresser, and double as the bottoms of the drawer guide. Next time around, I will probably use half laps, or a finger joint I have been working on instead of the pocket screws. I really like the idea of not having all those screws in there.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

Oh by the way, I sprayed laquer on it last night and will have the final sanding done soon, then the big reveal!! I think it turned out great. I will post some pics when I have daylight to take photos.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

jkline805 said:


> Oh by the way, I sprayed laquer on it last night and will have the final sanding done soon, then the big reveal!! I think it turned out great. I will post some pics when I have daylight to take photos.


Can't wait

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


----------



## aaronhl (Jun 2, 2011)

All these recent dresser builds are making me want to try! Keep posting pictures!!


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

Ok, so I like I said, I am new to woodworking, and finishing is not my strong suit. For this project, I had some stain that I bought from Rockler on clearance. It was a General Finishes water based "Black Cherry". The wood was poplar, so I used wood conditioner, which was oil based. The stain was water based, and I put a laquer on it. I am sure this is not the correct thing to do, but this is what I did. The budget for this was nearly zero since it was a gift. I ended up spending about $35 for the whole thing. 

So anyway, this was my first attempt at spraying laquer, and next time I will thin it more. Otherwise I really like laquer. I like that it dries quickly, and it is easier to sand than poly. After the laquer, and a quick sanding with 320, i used a Watco satin wax over the whole thing. Again, not sure that is a good idea, but it looked nice. My sister in law was very happy with it, and I was very sad to see it go. It is the nicest thing I have built so far. The only drawback is that she has it crammed into a nook, so the raised panel sides aren't very visible. Next time, I will think about the intended use while designing. 
Hope you enjoy, and please feel free to comment. I am here to learn and I think hearing different opinions is just as useful as anything when it comes to learning. 
Thanks!!


----------



## GWEE (Aug 30, 2009)

Looks great


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

The cabinet came out very nice. I have a question on your side panels. You said the raised panels were set in rabbets. Were they glued in or do they "float" in a groove.

As for the finish, if the OB conditioner was dry, a WB stain would be OK. Some conditioners work best if they are in the same chemical base as the stain, and some can be less than "dry". 

If you used lacquer, there should be no need for a wax application. You might try experimenting with a WB polyurethane. I switched years ago from lacquer to WB polyurethane.












 







.


----------



## jkline805 (Nov 14, 2011)

Thanks for the tip on the WB Poly. After working with the water based stain, I really like the idea of water based poly. I was looking at some articles on Rockler's website that was talking about that. It seems like it will be the way to go in the future. The raised panels are floating. I used those rubber balls to keep them centered. In the future, I will skip the rubber balls and just make the panel slightly smaller than the frame. I was thinking about 1/8" expansion per foot of board. Does that seem correct? I learned about the perrils of not allowing the wood to expand on a table I built a few years back. There is about 3/16" crack in the center of it. Thanks for the replies.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Man I love the nitro lacquer I get from sherwin, great stuff. I spray a heavily thinned 1st coat, two meds then another thin coat. Wet sanding with 220 and mineral spirits after the the 2nd med coats. works for me.

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


----------



## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Wow! Poplar can be so hard to get even color, and you pulled it off perfectly.

Great job.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Oh! I was thinking about the lacquer and forgot to mention how great the dresser looks! Oops! Great job!

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Nice job. Can't wait to see finished product.


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Once again I missed seeing page 2 till I posted. Sorry, it looks great. She ought to place it so as to show off those panels! Beautiful!


----------

