Chest of drawers for my son

[Todd Burch]

My son, 21, hasn't had a real set of furniture since probably the 7th grade. I am ashamed more than words can describe.

I am going to build him some furniture now. I'll start with a chest of drawers, then move on to a dresser, then maybe a bed.

Construction plan is web frame with dust panels, mortise and tenon face frame and solid wood sides with sliding dovetails for the web frames.

He likes his hiding places, so the top will be hinged @ the back and provide about 2 1/4" inches depth of space. The dust panel below the bottom drawer will be removable and there will be about 2 3/4" depth there in the space created below the case and inside the bracket (loose) base.

I believe we've settled on Cherry with a BLO finish under a dull lacquer. Wood pulls. No drawer slides - just precision fit (box jointed) boxes. Web frames will be poplar with a thin strip of oak on the wear surface where the drawer slides.

False fronts of the inset drawers. Solid wood drawer bottoms and solid wood vertical boards for the back, tongue and grooved - no ply anywhere.

Any comments, critiques tips or suggestions on my approach for this?

Thanks, Todd

[Jamie Buxton]

I do like out-stops, so you can't accidentally pull a drawer out too far, and dump it on your feet.

[Todd Burch]

Good idea Jamie. I thought about making the middle rear of the drawer boxes 3/8" to 1/2" higher than the rest of the box. There's also the turn-button or hinged flap methods to attach to the back of top rail for each drawer hole.

How do you generally do drawer stops?

[Jamie Buxton]

Good idea Jamie. I thought about making the middle rear of the drawer boxes 3/8" to 1/2" higher than the rest of the box. There's also the turn-button or hinged flap methods to attach to the back of top rail for each drawer hole.

How do you generally do drawer stops?

Here's a scheme that might work for you. The brown object is the drawer. Notice that the back of the drawer is higher than the sides. The tan object is the casework. The white thing is a pawl. It is pivoted with a screw through the hole. You can insert the drawer into the case just by shoving it in; the pawl rides over the drawer back. When you attempt to pull the drawer out, the pawl hits the drawer back. If you really want to take the drawer out, you reach inside to flip the pawl up. There's a couple of nice things about this approach. First, using it is completely tool-free. Second, clothes in the drawer are unlikely to impale themselves on the pawl. I've seen other outstops that intrude into the airspace in the middle of the drawer.

[Todd Burch]

I like that idea. Thanks!

[Kent A Bathurst]

I like that pawl idea also.

Here is a turn button design I used recently. I decided to do something different on thes drawers - I usually do - so rather than kickers on the side, I used one center guide. So for the buttons, I used two to prevent racking that I imagined, but would never have happened. Over-designed, per spec.

The center fastener is a machine screw, with a nylon washer inside and lock washer/nut on the back. The phillips head brass screw is a stop, so the button can't be over-rotated in either direction.

Of course, these drawers will most likely never be removed, so no one but me will ever know about all of this.............




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