Cherry Chest of Drawers

[butzla]

A Christmas present for my bride.  Just put the final coats on 2 days before the big day.  She's been using the same bureau she had since she was a little girl.  To my dismay, she always said "why don't we just buy one?"  I always quipped, "Are you kidding me?  I can build you one better!"  25 years later, she's still using the same bureau.  I have plenty of time these days so I knuckled down after Thanksgiving and busted one out.

I had no plans or sketches for it, not even a 3 x 3 post it note, just the footprint dimensions of her existing dresser. I used 2 story sticks for layout. I added the 2 thin drawers on the top, they will be for jewelry, although I haven't finished the interior compartments.  It's built more like a kitchen cabinet than a piece of fine furniture.  3/4" cherry ply sides with 3/4" birch drawers (1/2" BB bottoms), joined with lock mitered corners and Blum 563F slides (a first for me  [thumbs up]).  I finished it with 4 coats of General Arm-R-Seal wipe on varnish (good stuff!).

 

[Jozsef Kozma]

Beauty

Lucky wife

Jozsef

 

[gsdvorak]

Very nice- I'm sure she is going to love it!

Regards,
Gerald

 

[DB10]

Very nice work, What did you use for the top, is it the same material that you used for the sides?

 

[JBag09]

That looks great. Beautiful work. I am sure she will love it!

 

[dltflt]

That is beautiful. Your is going to be very happy.

 

[butzla]

Thanks guys.  The top is 13/16" solid cherry.  My lumber supplier had some very nice 16" wide x 15' long boards @thewoodery.  I ripped the outside 1/4 sawn part of the board on the left and right and used it for the face frames.  The center parts that were left is what you see in the photo, flat sawn but nice and clear.  And the whole top was hand planed flat and square.

 

[ear3]

Beautiful work. Is that separately applied moulding on the interior of the face frame?

 

[butzla]

Beautiful work. Is that separately applied moulding on the interior of the face frame?

Thanks.  It is separate 1/4" roundover molding I applied to the face frame

 

[Billedis]

What can I say, but beautiful!  Thank you for sharing, Bill

 

[JackW]

Looks nice, I am sure she will love it.

 

[mike_aa]

Absolutely top notch work on your part.  What stands out most to me is the way you matched up the grain on the drawer fronts and top.  It's a small detail, but one that really makes a piece stand out in my mind.

Thanks for sharing!

Mike 

 

[Stephen B]

Nice - glad you made it for the 25th Anniversary!  [big grin]

 

[Carl Prentiss]

Great outcome Jim. Cherry has become one of my favorites lately,mostly because I have a lot of it on the farm and have had good luck sawing and drying it.
Best regards,
-Charlie

 

[Kev]

To be fair ... you want to wait and see if a relationship is going to last before your pour your heart and soul into a nice piece of furniture like that [wink] [big grin]

Hope your better half loves it!

 

[chrisrosenb]

Very nice!!!

 

[nclemmons]

Wow!  Lots of nice details, Jim.  Well done!  Amazing how wipe on finishes can look so good!

Like the thin drawers for jewelry. 

Did you turn the feet as well? 

Thanks for sharing!

 

[xxjinkyxx]

That is so so beautiful

 

[JimD]

Looks great.  My wife made me get rid of the 5 bedroom sets I made for my late wife and kids but has indicated she might let me make a chest of drawers for her or her daughters.  I wanted to make a bed but we couldn't agree on a design.  Anyway, I think your project is great!

 

[butzla]

Looks great.  My wife made me get rid of the 5 bedroom sets I made for my late wife and kids but has indicated she might let me make a chest of drawers for her or her daughters.  I wanted to make a bed but we couldn't agree on a design.  Anyway, I think your project is great!

That's the main reason why it took so long to produce.  We couldn't agree on a design... ok really, she didn't have an opinion and so, I couldn't come up with a design.  Ultimately,  I went with simple lines, using the same footprint as her current bureau.  I made a vanity ~10 years ago and liked the proportions of the face frames so I borrowed those face frame lines and dimensions.  That was my design process.  Get 'er done!
She was very happy with it, BTW.