Dresser Design

[Birdhunter]

A young friend couple asked me to build them a 9 drawer dresser based on a design they found in the Crate & Barrel web site. Their budget is very limited. They will pay for materials.

The dresser photo and written description indicates walnut veneer. The drawers are inset and flush with the front.

I don't do veneer. I have build a chest of drawers and cabinets so have some applicable experience.

I was told at a local lumber/hardwood that stained poplar would be a better choice than a manufactured veneer product.

I have three questions.

One, is poplar a good choice? Remember, very limited budget.

Two, if I use poplar, how should I finish it?

Three, is there a source for generic plans for a dresser?

 

[Jasonj888]

I love poplar and I have had great luck with it in the past. I use it whenever possible as my secondary wood because it is reasonably priced and machines well. I have used it a few times as the primary wood with great results. The most recent project was a bathroom vanity that was stained to be very close to black. I treated it with a dark walnut toner, then added a dark coat of stain to finish it. It also takes paint very well.

Honestly, I think stained poplar often looks closest to cherry rather than walnut. My one piece of caution is that poplar needs a darker stain to overcome some of the green color that often fades with time.

I think the drawback to poplar is it's hardness, or lack of it. It's not as soft as pine, but it certainly isn't as hard as walnut.

If you friend/client isn't sure, just compare prices for them, that usually helps make a decision. My hardwood supplier claims that poplar is becoming much more popular in production furniture because it can be stained to match so many woods. Hope this vote of confidence for poplar is helpful.

 

[HarveyWildes]

Affordable dresser size pieces of veneer are generally pretty homogenous wrt grain.  If the customer wants that look, then you would want to get very homogenous poplar - no purple stripes or knots (bigger than pinhole, at any rate), for example.

The grain does not look similar.  Ask your customer if they mean "walnut color" or "real walnut".  If color, then I would spray on a walnut color stain/varnish mix, since stains that penetrate will look different on poplar.  Quite a lot of production furniture that is walnut colored is done this way.

If cost is a big issue, the real wood alternatives are more interesting to me.  I do a lot of work with local urban lumber and #1 / #2 grade lumber.  Since there are often knots, checking, etc. in these types of wood, many people avoid them.  I fill the voids with black-dyed, slow curing (15 min.) epoxy.  You can order black epoxy dye on Amazon, and I use the Home Depot surface epoxy finish.  Plan on planing the wood about a day after the epoxy hardens.  I get some really great results while spending a minimum on wood that other people don't value much.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I love poplar and I have had great luck with it in the past. I use it whenever possible as my secondary wood because it is reasonably priced and machines well. I have used it a few times as the primary wood with great results. The most recent project was a bathroom vanity that was stained to be very close to black. I treated it with a dark walnut toner, then added a dark coat of stain to finish it. It also takes paint very well.

Honestly, I think stained poplar often looks closest to cherry rather than walnut. My one piece of caution is that poplar needs a darker stain to overcome some of the green color that often fades with time.

I think the drawback to poplar is it's hardness, or lack of it. It's not as soft as pine, but it certainly isn't as hard as walnut.

If you friend/client isn't sure, just compare prices for them, that usually helps make a decision. My hardwood supplier claims that poplar is becoming much more popular in production furniture because it can be stained to match so many woods. Hope this vote of confidence for poplar is helpful.

Like your supplier said, solid poplar is likely much nicer than machine matched veneered panels. You might get lucky with the machine made panels and if you can pick out the stuff yourself you might find something with veneer pieces big enough to span the full height of a drawer face.

I wouldn't mind poplar that looked like cherry and your friends probably wouldn't either, especially if the option is plywood.

If you can pick out the poplar and select blond sapwood rather than greenish/purpleish heartwood that will help help a lot when trying to get an even color.

 

[Birdhunter]

Thanks for all the info. I bought some poplar today and will experiment with stains and top coat. I prefer working with walnut, but it's expensive. The dresser is 79" by 20" by 30" so that's a lot of walnut.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Not really related but I feel like passing on a story...

Went to a nephew's wedding this weekend. My 93 year old uncle was there.
He is thinking of the future and planning to move to an assisted living facility.
He says maintaining the yard and house is a full-time job and he wants to retire.

He has a house full of stuff to disperse before he can move. He asked his children (all adults with children of their own who have children) which things they want but no one wants his suite of bedroom furniture. It's the whole shebang, dressers, bed, nightstands etc. and it's made of solid Honduran Mahogany. He bought it in 1951 and even though the dealer gave him a big break on the price it still costs half as much as a new car.

His kids say it's too fancy.

 

[rljatl]

I thought it might help if we could see what it looks like.  Is this it?

 

[Birdhunter]

That's it! Good detective work.

 

[Birdhunter]

When I got out of college with a job and a new wife and no money, I bought a bedroom set from Railroad Salvage for $125.00. Dresser, chest drawers, two bedside chests, mattress, bed springs, headboard. That wife is long gone, but the bedroom set is in a guest room. That purchase was 52 years ago.

 

[Gnovice17]

You might watch Norm Abrams video of 4 drawer chest from the New Yankee Workshop.  He uses veneer plywood.  I have used these plans to build these chests inexpensively with good results.  You might get some ideas on how to build your design.

 

[erock]

The only problem I've had with staining poplar was trying to stain poplar with too much green in it.    The poplar I've bought was from Lowe's or Home Depot.  Dig through the stack and get clean, clear poplar with little to no green in it. 

I've also bought poplar from a lumber yard.  They had some nice clear boards with very little green. 

Eric

 

[#Tee]

that 5th leg in the middle ruined it

 

[Birdhunter]

I agree on the 5th leg in the middle. It's probably there to prevent mid span sag. Should be a way to stiffen the bottom so as to not need that middle leg.

 

[JimD]

It looks like it could be made from walnut veneer plywood.  Still expensive but less than solid walnut.  The interior drawer parts could be poplar.  I've used baltic birch plwood - and dovetailed it.  If you could work it out to use only one sheet of walnut plywood, it might not be prohibitive. 

 

[rljatl]

Yeah, I would think walnut veneer ply would be the way to go.  You could then use solid walnut to trim the edge of the drawers and other edges.  The front drawers look like they were cut from one piece.  The grain fits together.  Another reason to use plywood.  I am skeptical that you can finish poplar to look like that.

Build it the way you want to build it.  Show them the cost of materials and let them decide if they want to move forward or not.  If they don't want to pay that much, oh well.  They can find someone else to make it for them or they can save up and buy the Crate and Barrel version.

Get all the money up front, just in case.

 

[morts10n]

I hate it when someone has a "limited budget" but wants me to build something they saw on a website, and can't (or won't ) afford it, but wants me to build it at half the cost or whatever. Disrespectful.

 

[#Tee]

I hate it when someone has a "limited budget" but wants me to build something they saw on a website, and can't (or won't ) afford it, but wants me to build it at half the cost or whatever. Disrespectful.

ahha ya thats basically friends and family for you. they always want better materials/joinery other than particle board with their custom dimensions for cheap.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Yeah, I would think walnut veneer ply would be the way to go.  You could then use solid walnut to trim the edge of the drawers and other edges.  The front drawers look like they were cut from one piece.  The grain fits together.  Another reason to use plywood.  I am skeptical that you can finish poplar to look like that.

Build it the way you want to build it.  Show them the cost of materials and let them decide if they want to move forward or not.  If they don't want to pay that much, oh well.  They can find someone else to make it for them or they can save up and buy the Crate and Barrel version.

Get all the money up front, just in case.

Good luck finding a piece of plywood that looks that good.

Good luck buying one of those dressers and expecting it to look that good.
Factories put their best effort into the one piece that gets photographed
and then pass the production on to the regular crew.

Thos Moser is an exception.