Lingerie Chest - A stage completed

[Derek Cohen]

Well, it has been a lot of work to complete the drawer runners. Everything is now done preparatory to building the drawers. I've really been looking forward to this stage, since it will be another challenge.

The drawer runners, themselves, required a great deal of finicky work. Getting them in square and coplanar is straight forward in a straight construction, but curves and compound angles change all that.

We left off last time with the basic frames in ...



To the front of each drawer blade was added a bow.



I was asked early on why I did not just shape this directly on the blade. The reason I chose to do it this way was just that I felt I had more control over the result. Every drawer is a different width, and needs to project in a coplanar line from top to bottom. I drew up a template to shape a consistent curve ...



That is the Jarrah for the drawer fronts at the rear.

The upper most drawer will have a secret lock (since this drawer will be a jewellery box). I decided to use the Shaker method. My variation consists of cutting a slot in a centre mullion ..



... which is lowered below the rails ...



There will be a spring (probably in mild steel) beneath the drawer that will drop down and lock into the rear of the front drawer blade ...



A finger (through the slot - which will hide the mechanism from below) will lift the spring to permit the drawer to slide forward ..



Since the casework is a framed panel, guides are needed for the drawers ...





Here are they installed. Perhaps you can begin to see the how the slight bow will form ..





Now I need to figure out the drawers construction - coping it into the sides. Any thoughts?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[hbmcc]

Nice.... Very nice!

I wonder ... how secret is a secret lock when the world knows?

[Yetloh]

Derek,

You could of course consider tapering the drawer sides vertically so that inside face is vertical. This might simplify the dovetailing (assuming that is how you will joint them) and also give a more satisfactorily shaped storage space. Will you be making drawer fronts that are curved both internally and externally or will they be straight on the back?.

By the way, did you consider including dust boards? I think they are very useful in cabinets made for small lightweight items of clothing which have a tendency to find their way over the back of a drawer. I also consider them a mark of the best construction although I know many makers of fine pieces omit them.

Jim

[Derek Cohen]

You could of course consider tapering the drawer sides vertically so that inside face is vertical. This might simplify the dovetailing (assuming that is how you will joint them) and also give a more satisfactorily shaped storage space. Will you be making drawer fronts that are curved both internally and externally or will they be straight on the back?.

Hi Jim

I have seen a good many drawers done this way in so-called bombes. It is a pseudo method. I shall do it the "correct" way - drawer sides coped to fit inside the curved case sides.

By the way, did you consider including dust boards? I think they are very useful in cabinets made for small lightweight items of clothing which have a tendency to find their way over the back of a drawer. I also consider them a mark of the best construction although I know many makers of fine pieces omit them.

I did consider them but the construction of the drawer blades/runners is complex enough. They have to be fitted piece-by-piece, rather than as a single unit. Adding a panel to the centre just seemed an unnecessary extra inconvenience. ... (OK, I chickened out )

Regards from Perth

Derek

[jonas b]

Wow Derek, great work as usual, but this seems on another level of difficulty. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been getting the drawer runners squared and level and coplaner with each other from front to back. Ooofff, my problem is that I get so frustrated when doing difficult precision work like that, that I eventually say, "its close enough" and this usually comes back to haunt me later on in a project. I'm sure you have measured well enough that you will have smooth fitting drawers.

Best of luck in the rest of the construction. I like the bowed front, I didn't read closely enough to understand you were going to have a bowed front. It is starting to look like a piece of art.

[Derek Cohen]

jonas b said:

---

Wow Derek, great work as usual, but this seems on another level of difficulty. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been getting the drawer runners squared and level and coplaner with each other from front to back. Ooofff, my problem is that I get so frustrated when doing difficult precision work like that, that I eventually say, "its close enough" and this usually comes back to haunt me later on in a project. I'm sure you have measured well enough that you will have smooth fitting drawers.

Best of luck in the rest of the construction. I like the bowed front, I didn't read closely enough to understand you were going to have a bowed front. It is starting to look like a piece of art.

---

One of my aims is to achieve coplanar drawer fronts. That is part of the design.

It has been exacting getting the drawers and bows to match. While not critical, it should make it easier to get the drawers coplanar. I expect to be planing them crossgrain at the end.



Regards from Perth

Derek