Sawdust on the Floor

I should have known it would happen, in fact if I had thought about it I would have realized that it was just a matter time before I would be making a dresser to match the headboard and nightstands for our bedroom. I guess that I was somewhat foolhardy to believe that A) the dresser we had would look right or B)  that we would be able to purchase anything that either looked right or wasn’t built out of particle board and laminates. So I went looking through my collection of woodworking magazines and project idea folders that I have collected over the years looking for a design that would look right. My searc for a coordinating dresser yielded absolutely nothing. I was really getting desperate for any idea when I came across a coffee table  design that contained two drawers across the face of the table.  The look was perfect, the only problem was that it was only 16″ tall, way too short for a dresser. But the design and portions of the coffee table were a perfect fit for a dresser.  The only thing I would do different is to increase the height of project, by adding a second row of drawers. And so another project was born.  

The basic concept for the dresser is two rectangular boxes that sit atop each other. Each rectangular box holds four drawers. The bottom box has a 3/4″ plywood top and bottom. The ends  for both the bottom section and the top section are more of the cope and stick panel work that we did on the nightstand. The top of the upper box is topped with 6/4 cherry.  And just like the nightstands, the exposed edges of the plywood are covered in a decorative trim. Beneath the bottom box, there is a decorative skirt board and 4 legs that raise the entire dresser up off the floor. And that’s where I started working on the project, the skirt and feet assembly.  But before I did this I cut a 3/4″ wide 3/8″ deep dado that was centered at 21 3/8″ from both ends.

This dado will be used for a vertical piece of plywood that acts as center divider.  This vertical member also stiffens the entire dresser.  The same center line dado was cut into the second piece of plywood. 

I started work by cutting the two pieces of 3/4″ plywood, one for the base and the other for the separation between the top and bottom portion of the dresser.  These pieces measured 42 3/4″ long by 21 1/4″ wide. There is a 3/4″ thick face frame that will be attached to the front edge of the dresser, which will take the dresser to 22″ deep. Both are made of cabinet grade plywood.  There are four legs that are attached to each corner of the base.  Each leg measures 4″ tall with both edges measuring an 1 1/2″. The legs are made of more of the reclaimed pallet lumber that I acquired a while ago. I can’t say for certain what species it is, but I suspect it is from the mahogany family. running between each of the four corner legs are skirt boards.  The ones for the two sides and rear are simply pieces of 4/4 stock that was ripped to 2 1/2″ wide and then cut to length. The skirt board for the front is a little more decorative, starting at the ends, the bottom edge arces up toward the center of the span, where the width is reduced to 1 1/2″. 

My method for cutting the arc is simple.  I ripped a piece of stock down to produce a piece that was 1/8″ thick  3/4″ tall and 48″ long.  I will use this piece to prescribe the arc. First I need to mark the points of the arc. Place a small #4 finishing nail in the lower corners of the skirt board. Next draw a vertical line at the center of the skirt board, which should be at 18 7/8″ (( original length – two legs)/2) or (42 3/4″-5″)/2.  Along this line, I place a third nail at 1 1/2″ from the bottom which is the top of the arc. The idea now is to use the thin piece of stock we ripped before to scribe the arc.  If you place the center of the thin stock on the top side of the center nail, and the two ends on the bottom side of the corner nails. The thin stock will now form a perfect arc, simply trace with your pencil.  Once you’ve drawn the arc remove the three nails, and cut the arc with either your band saw or your jig saw.  Either tool will work fine for this. No matter how careful you are cutting the arc,  the cut will be rough.  The best way to clean up the arc is to sand it using a spindle sander.  Spindle sanders come as both stationary tools like the one shown here, or as portable tools.  There are several reasons why this is the perfect tool for cleaning up the arc.  The tool has several different diameter sanding drums. Simply select the one that best matches the radius of your arc.  The other reason is the spindle not only rotates, it oscillates up and down on its shaft.  This action helps remove any sander marks and also reduces the chance of sanding action burning the stock. 

The four skirt boards are connected to the plywood base and the four corner legs with Kreg Pocket screws and glue. Several pocket holes were drilled along the top edge of the skirt boards where they meet the plywood.  Two pocket screw holes were also drilled into each end of the skirt boards to attach the skirt boards to the four legs.  I didn’t try to screw the legs to the plywood, I was too concerned about splitting the legs.  I didn’t do anything to the exposed plywood at this time. The trim for this piece and the trim for the other piece of plywood will be the same, so it made more sense to tackle both pieces at once.  Before continuing I cut another piece of plywood, that measures 20 1/2″ wide and  14 3/8″ tall.  The vertical plywood is kept 3/4″ from the back edge of the plywood base to allow for backer board to be installed later.  The 14 3/8″ is the height of the bottom section of the dresser and 3/8″ deep dado.  This added 3/4″ plywood piece was glued and screwed into place with sheet rock screws driven from the bottom side of the plywood base. 

The next step was to construct four cope and stick panels for the sides of the dresser. Making the four cope and stick panels involved the same concepts that we used in building the nightstand sides. The only difference here is that the four sides are totally identical to each other, 14″ tall by 21 1/4 ‘ wide.  Just like in the nightstands project there are center or intermediate stiles. Nothing different here, cut the cope and stick profiles on the shaper, resaw the 4/4 stock make 3/8″ blanks that are then planed to 1/4″ thickness.  Assemble the panels making sure that they are totally flat, square and that no glue is in the slots for the panels.  And just like on the nightstand project, Kreg pocket screws were used along the top and bottom connections. Once the panels were done and sanded. the bottom set of panels were attached to the plywood base, with glue and pocket screws. 

Normally when I build a cabinet, I will use 1/4″ lauan plywood for the back.  While it is inexpensive, lauan plywood does have some very strong disadvantages. First of all, it doesn’t take stain very well, second, lauan plywood warps and cups very easily, and finally third issue is the glue that sometimes is used to bond the plywood together.  In the past I have purchased some sheets of the lauan plywood that once they were in my shop, they began to stick badly. I had hoped that after a couple of days the smell would dissipate, no such luck. After a week the wood smelled just as bad as the day I brought it home. I ended up throwing away the entire sheet.  Now when I do use the lauan,  will check it for odors in the store before I bring it home. 

But in this case, I choose to use 3/4″ plywood instead of the 1/4″ lauan for the back. Part of the logic was the odor issue I explained above, the other was a stability issue.  I was concerned that the dresser would have a tendency to rack as I added the second layer of the dresser.  Remember that the ends of the dresser are basically raised panels, which don’t offer a terrible amount of strength.  That fact coupled with a “smelly” 1/4″ plywood back didn’t give that warm and fuzzy feeling that I wanted.  So I opted to use good old 3/4″ plywood for the back.  

The upper layer of the dresser is just a copy of the bottom layer.  The piece of plywood that forms the top for the bottom, becomes the bottom for the top section. The center vertical piece of plywood fits into an identical dado to the one cut into the bottom one.  The sides are the same panels that are used on the bottom. So it was simply a matter of gluing and screwing the parts together.  I did not add a top to the second section of the dresser at this time.  It’s another glued up 6/4 piece of cherry, and I will get to it later. 

But for now, I am happy. A lot of progress has been made on the latest project that all started because we wanted a new bed.  Oh well, we now have a new headboard and nightstands that match, and soon a dresser that complements them both.   Sure it’s been a lot of work, but the truth be told.  I loved every minute of it.  See you next time.

Related posts:

1. Woodworking Project – Small Dresser
2. Woodworking Project – Bedroom Nightstands Part 1
3. Woodworking Project – Bedroom Nightstands Part 2
4. Woodworking Project – Bedroom Nightstands Part 3 Resawing Panels
5. Woodworking Projects – Bedroom Nightstands Part 4