They are NOS ... new old stock. Not current or modern production.

 

Regards from Perth

 

Derek

This is the part where we begin building one-piece lipped drawers (as contrasted with applied fronts).

 

In preparing for this part of the build, my research uncovered exactly one article on dovetailing lipped drawer fronts. This is by Christian Becksvoort in Fine Woodworking magazine (#263-Sep/Oct 2017 Issue). Interesting that.

 

Why lipped drawer fronts? Simply because the three drawers must run continuously across the front, without a gap between them.

 

 

The lipped sides will wrap around the drawer dividers, and these will double as drawer stops. This will be illustrated in a short while.

 

The lipped ends create a challenge to form the pins/sockets for the tailed drawer sides since it becomes difficult to saw. I have a novel solution

 

We begin by marking where the lipped sides will be. This is knifed in through from the rear of the case ...

 

 

The marks are knifed with a cutting gauge.

 

The distance from the edge is exactly the same for each board - 6mm. The side spacers are 6mm wide and the two central drawer dividers are 12mm thick, of which each lip is half this thickness.

 

 

The drawer front is rebated with a moving filletster plane ...

 

 

With both sides rebated, the centre must fit snuggly between the drawer dividers ...

 

 

... and leave exactly half of the dividers remaining ...

 

 

 

Side-by-side, perfect fit ...

 

 

The rebates are fine-tuned with a cutting gauge, ensuring that they are even and square ...

 

 

This measure is transferred to the drawer side ...

 

 

I took the time to lay out the dovetails on a scrap as a template. This saves a lot of repeated layouts ...

 

 

Tails done ...

 

 

The tail board with be placed here, but with the lip extending past ...

 

 

This is what it would look like if dovetailed ...

 

 

To make it easier to see what I am sawing, I am using blue tape ...

 

 

Transferring the tails to the pin board is made a little easier as the rebate is a handy stop ..

 

 

 

Marked out produces this ...

 

 

And that is where it stops being straight forward as this is as much as it is possible to saw inside the lines ...

 

 

I decided that, if I could not saw it, I would chop it. This gives new meaning to "chopping dovetails"

 

The pin board is clamped (to avoid any splitting), and the kerfing chisel is used to deepen the existing half-kerf, and then extend it across the socket ...

 

 

 

Now the waste is chopped out ...

 

 

 

This picture of a fishtail chisel cleaning the corner of the socket is for bill

 

 

Does it fit? Oh, the suspense!

 

 

 

Two more to go.

 

Regards from Perth

 

Derek

 

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 20206 yr by derekcohen

Absolutely stunning work. Thanks a bunch for all the pictures and information. 

Nicely done Derek!

Today I completed the second and third drawer fronts ...

 

 

Since I had only come across one article on making the lipped drawers - and that predominantly used power tools - and failed to find a single video on the topic, I decided to make one myself:

 

 

 

This is a real-time video - no editing. So skip the parts as they bore you. Hopefully some of it will amuse. Or watch at bedtime if you are insomniac

 

Regards from Perth

 

Derek

My niece is getting married at the end of March, the entry hall table she asked for is completed, and in a couple of days it will head off to Sydney.

 

This is the model for the table she wanted me to build, but to build it in Jarrah ...

 

 

I needed to make a few modifications. The most notable were, firstly, that there are three drawers, where the model has two. With a little research, it became evident that the model was a "flat pack" build from a store in the UK, and it used slides and poppers for the drawers. Without slides, wide drawers will rack since the depth-to-width ratio is all wrong. Three drawers change this ratio and make it workable.

 

Secondly, building a drawer to ride wood-on-wood, one cannot use poppers - and so drawer handles are necessary. My niece was keen that drawer handles would not be seen, and I have done my best to make them unobtrusive.

 

Together with the desire to avoid drawer handles, there was also the request to make the drawers appear to be a single piece, rather than drawers separated by drawer dividers. The fact is, we had to have drawer dividers. So, to hide them, drawer fronts were given lips, with a lip covering half the width of a divider. In this way, the dividers could double as drawer stops. Making lipped, half-blind dovetails was a first for me. In the end, they were not too bad.

 

The case of the original table is mitred, and this is likely butt jointed and supported with either dowels, biscuits or dominos. My choice was to use mitred through dovetails, both for their strength and also for aesthetics. Although I have done a number of similar cases in recent years, this joint is one where you hold your breath until it all comes together. Then you wonder what the fuss was about

 

A fifth change was the attachment of the legs. The model likely used a metal screw per leg, which was common with Mid Century furniture. I wanted something stronger and durable so, in place of this, my decision was to stake the legs into a thicker base, which was firmly attached to the underside of the case with tapered, stopped sliding dovetails. A bit more work, but I will sleep better at night.

 

At the end of the day, it resembles a box, and only a woodworker will recognise that it is a very complex box.

 

Okay, here it is. It is photographed in my entrance hall  ....

 

 

The wood is fiddleback (curly) Jarrah.

 

 

 

A close up the waterfall on one side ...

 

 

... and on the other ...

 

 

The obligatory dovetail shot ...

 

 

Those drawers! The lipped drawer fronts are 20mm, with the drawer sides 1/4". The back is 15mm thick. The thin sides necessitated drawer slips. These were beaded to create a transition from slip to drawer bottom. The drawer bottoms are 1/4". The wood used here is Tasmanian Oak.

 

 

 

 

 

Since the case and internals are build from hard Jarrah, the underside of the slips was given a Jarrah slide to improve ware properties.

 

 

As mentioned earlier, the aim was to present a single board at the front ...

 

 

Here may be seen how the lips share the drawer divider and use it as a drawer stop. The spacers at the side of the case are half the width of the dividers as they do not share two drawers.

 

 

 

Now those drawer handles ...

 

I tried to keep the design as simple as possible, and used the same wood as the drawer fronts so they would blend in. The upper drawer shows the finger grip on underside of the handle ...

 

 

Drawer extension is good - about 80-85 percent ...

 

 

The internal bevels around the case ...

 

 

... maintained a straight edge to the drawer line. Plus the gap between the drawers (about 0.5mm) ...

 

 

Near-to-last, the case back: this is made from the same Jarrah - one never knows if the piece will end up against a wall or out in the open.

 

 

Someone will ask if the brass screws were clocked ... of course they were!

 

And a final photo to provide some scale. This is taken with a chair I built a few years ago ...

 

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

 

Regards from Perth

 

Derek

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 20206 yr by derekcohen

Great PIP . I enjoyed every step. I do have one question. I have always read and done my drawers with two different woods for the bottom of the drawer runner and the case it runs on. Reason being that the wear rate is reduced if there are two woods instead of one. So my question  why use the same wood?

Hi Gerald

 

There is no need for different woods. More relevant is how woodgrain is orientated for expansion and contraction, or how well they wear. The use of Jarrah under the slips is simply because it is far more hard wearing than Tasmanian Oak.

 

Regards from Perth

 

Derek

That is a beautiful masterpiece!!!

A beautiful piece, what else can I say. Followed along with the building and have to say, You are a master craftsman. Well done.

Derek, I have followed this project from the beginning as it is a very intriguing piece.  And, your craftsmanship makes me rather green with envy.  I hope when I grow up that I may be your apprentice.  Anyway, I have a question regarding the chisel that you used to make the remainder of the dovetail cuts.  What kind of chisel is it and how is it used?  Does it have a sharp edge or is it simply thin enough to separate the wood?  Would you mind explaining?  Thank you for showing us your project, craftsmanship and responding to my rambling questions.  

Hi Joiner, I assume you are referring to the chisel used to clean out the corners of the sockets (for the pins). This is a fishtail chisel. 

 

Here are three: Koyamaichi, Blue Spruce, and one I made from a Veritas chisel ...

 

 

It is used by pushing into the corner of the sockets ..

 

 

Regards from Perth

 

Derek