I'm sure others also spend time between builds tuning up equipment, both power and hand. This time it has been with more caution in mind since I have a stack of rough sawn Makore to use - beautiful timber from West Africa .. but ...
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-...dwoods/makore/
... some say that it can cause skin irritations. Although I have not experienced any reactions to timbers to date, I am being cautious and tuned up the dust collection for the jointer and thicknesser. Now I am waiting on a good dust mask with filtration down to .3 microns, and will not start any machining until they arrive.
I'd be interested to hear any experiences with this wood.
The next build is a lingerie chest for Lynndy. She's been asking for one for a while, one that will fit into an alcove in the bedroom. Ideas have been percolating ...
I have in mind a cabinet that tapers to each side. I am not decided on the drawers but have strongly entertained the idea of concave drawer fronts ...
... not sure (although I like the challenge of compound angled dovetails! ). They would be quite unusual - convex is more common. However straight may be a less busy look. Your thoughts?
I made up a mock-up with a few lengths of MDF clamped together.
The chest needs to be at a height that enables Lynndy to see into the top drawer. So this is established as 54". The width at the base is largely determined by the alcove into which it will go: Lynndy wants it as wide as possible, and I want it to be as wide as is aesthetic (she has little concern for the latter - she just wants a chest of drawers!).
This is what it looks like in the bedroom alcove (those pictures will be going). This is 16" wide at the top ...
... and 20" at the top ...
In the end we agreed on 17" at the top, 25" at the bottom, and a height of 53" ..
Today I drew this full size on 1/8" MDF sheet ...
There are two narrow drawers at the top that will be used for jewellery and be filled with trays and lined in suede. These will have locks. The remaining drawers I decided to keep the same height as I thought that graduated heights might accentuate the taper. Looking at this drawing, however, I have changed my mind. The problem is that the shorter drawers look "blocky" and clumsy.
Here is the cabinet redrawn with graduated drawers.
The sizes of the drawers were decided by eyeballing them - no calculations, per se. The upper two are 2 3/4", the next two rows are 4 1/2", the next two are 5 1/2" and the bottom three rows are 6 1/2". They look right to me. Your thoughts?
The locks are going to move from the front to the side of the carcase. On the front they add a busier look. Now I need to find locks that work from the side. I recall one can get these for desk drawers. Any sources?
Comments and opinion gladly received.
Regards from Perth
Derek