Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 37

Thread: Planning the next build

  1. #16
    Hmmm. A very wild design is in order

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    866
    Might you want to consider hanging space for necklaces and such? My bride prefers that mode. Should that become a consideration, you'll want to devote some side space to the necklace function and that , in turn, could impact drawer design. Perhaps the potentially resulting asymmetry could be useful from a design perspective?

    No experience with Makore.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Hi Curt

    Fortunately, hanging space is not on the agenda. That makes it a little simpler - and I do want to avoid too much complexity.

    One idea that I will incorporate is a lid (that looks like moulding) that lifts up into a mirror. To do this I shall need to drop the height of the chest a few inches, which suits me as I thought it too high to start (Lynndy is only interested in how much she can get inside, not the aesthetics!).

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    866
    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    (Lynndy is only interested in how much she can get inside, not the aesthetics!).

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Funny how the ladies often don't care about the interesting stuff. Still, she has her eye on the ball and I'm sure she won't you get too far astray with the overall aesthetics. This will be a nice project. Looking forward to the build-along.

  5. #20
    If your wife is interested more in capacity, then concave drawers are a non-starter. That'd be strictly for aesthetics and would reduce the usable space. It's the kind of feature that other builders may be more impressed with than the user, IMHO. That being said, I selfishly want to read about how you'd do them

    I think the dimensions of the drawer heights would look best diminishing in a similar proportion as the width does.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    I posted the same question over at WoodCentral about the drawers (I would only discuss design here and there). One member (Paul n NJ) had a little fun with drawings to show possible sizings. He also added in a cabinet with curved sides. The interesting - important - factor is that this was actually my original concept. I am cross-posting my reply since I would really appreciate advice here. My head has been hurting trying to figure this one out for a few months.

    Paul, I love your drawings! What the last lot have made me recognise is that I should be discussing what I originally wanted to do, and not the compromise I posted earlier.


    What I would like to build is a curved outline, not straight, tapering sides. Like this (I used one of your drawings and added a few mods) ...



    Edit to add: There should be a rail at the bottom of the lower drawer. I could not draw this in (using Photoshop Elements 12).

    Why did I go for straight tapered sides instead? I was thinking about the complexity of dovetailed drawers (which I do not wish to change from at this stage). The issue is that a drawer that runs from carcase side-to-side, the drawer sides will need to be coopered to fit. I just do not know how to dovetail such a drawer.


    It is possible to make the drawer with through dovetails, and add a fitted front. What I dislike about this method is that the result leaves a side that is not flush with the front. I would like to build drawers with half blind fronts.


    In a parallel-sided carcase - the typical chest - it is a simple matter to fit a drawer front, and then dovetail into a square side. While a little more complicated, a tapering straight side is not too different. But where does one start with a curved side?


    I assume that the drawer front must also be fitted first. Drawer sides will then need to be shaped to the curve. And then they need to be dovetailed on this curve. Aaaaaahhhhh!


    Now add in a curved drawer front!?? I'm still thinking of a slight curve (now convex - curve to the outside), but it may look better flat. This ups the complexity yet again - not that this is a problem ... I look forward to the challenge. I just need to have a method to follow, and I cannot get my head around this one ... and hence I went straight sides .. shame on me!


    Curved cabinet sides are easy enough. I have a plan for that - shape curved frame, with a thin rebated panel that runs flush at the outside.


    Sooo .... guys and gals .... how do you do these drawers?


    Regards from Perth


    Derek
    Last edited by Derek Cohen; 10-09-2014 at 3:23 AM.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Neither here nor there
    Posts
    3,831
    Blog Entries
    6
    Good day Derek,

    The drawing looks nice and I love the curved sides. It looks as if you left out the bottom rail in the drawing, or does the bottom drawer terminate at the bottom of the piece?

    I vote for flat front. As for the dovetails, it should be straightforward- just divide and mark on the drawer sides and saw the same as if they were flat. Mark the pins as normal. As long as the cuts are parallel to the drawer face, it will slide right in.

    I have decided that the true reason behind this build is that you got hold of some badly warped stock and you just designed a project to fit the raw materials.

    Cheers,

    Malcolm

  8. #23
    If the question is how to make drawers accomodate the curved side, how about trickery? Is there a way to make rabbeted side rail that is curved to the viewer, but discretely faceted on the inside? Then you might make the drawer sides flat, and make the drawer fronts overhanging the sides only to accomodate the curve?

    also, i wonder if even if all the drawer and fronts were flat, would the viewer even notice the difference between the analog curve of the rail and the digital one of the drawer edges.

  9. #24
    Derek,

    We have done a few bow front drawers in the workshop. Dovetailing into laminates was not a problem. Perhaps urea formaldehyde best avoided, there are PVA types said not to creep these days.

    Bow front drawers were done with either 3 or 5 layers, bandsawn from thick plank. A simple caul made by bandsawing a curve through softwood should do. The inside left thick and the outside fairly thin and flexible.

    best wishes,
    David

  10. #25
    This looks a lot better then your first sketch on that piece of plywood!

    If I had to make such drawers I would make them oversized and then plane to fit. It doesn't look like the sides are very concave, just a couple of mm's. The ones at the top and bottom could be made tapered and then the very little bit of concavenes planed into the side.

    But I must confess, rather you then me!

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Chevy Chase, Maryland
    Posts
    2,484
    Sooo .... guys and gals .... how do you do these drawers?
    I would form a lattice of the dividers and runners etc, so that I would be making regular square drawers with the face - only - fitted to the curved sides. There are enough drawers that each piece of the curve is slight enough that you will lose barely any space.
    ~ Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    NE Ohio
    Posts
    1,029
    I've not made a bow-sided dresser, so this is really just me thinking about how I might do it.

    Looking at the drawing, fitting the drawers to the curve of the sides seems pretty straight forward. I see two options. first, simple make normal square side drawers with slightly thicker sides and then plane them to fit the curve. It's a subtle curve, so you'd be planning more of an angle then a curve. The drawer side will be slightly thicker at the top or bottom but this would be inside and even then, hard to detect. Making the fronts bow adds to the complexity but it's not mission impossible.

    I'd have a hard time pulling it off but I've seen enough of your work to believe you can do it.

    The second option would be to angle the side(s) to roughly match the angle of the curve and then plane to fit. Nearly identical to option 1 but the drawer sides would be equal thickness top and bottom (the middle would be thicker, though). For me, it's not enough of a difference to bother.
    -- Dan Rode

    "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Quote Originally Posted by david charlesworth View Post
    Derek,

    We have done a few bow front drawers in the workshop. Dovetailing into laminates was not a problem. Perhaps urea formaldehyde best avoided, there are PVA types said not to creep these days.

    Bow front drawers were done with either 3 or 5 layers, bandsawn from thick plank. A simple caul made by bandsawing a curve through softwood should do. The inside left thick and the outside fairly thin and flexible.

    best wishes,
    David
    Thanks David.

    I've only a limited experience with laminating curves - made a few demilune tables a few years back. I think that I used epoxy resin. Urea Formaldahyde is no longer available in Oz, even if one wanted to use it, and I do not. Gorilla Glue was recommended as it sets rigid and has minimal springback, but I would be concerned that it might leave laminate lines. In any event, the curve to the drawer front - if I use one (Lynndy says that the sides create enough curves and to leave the fronts straight - she has a point) - would be slight (about 1/4" deep) and this may as well come from solid boards.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Hughto View Post
    I would form a lattice of the dividers and runners etc, so that I would be making regular square drawers with the face - only - fitted to the curved sides. There are enough drawers that each piece of the curve is slight enough that you will lose barely any space.
    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Rode View Post
    ... simple make normal square side drawers with slightly thicker sides and then plane them to fit the curve. It's a subtle curve, so you'd be planning more of an angle then a curve. The drawer side will be slightly thicker at the top or bottom but this would be inside and even then, hard to detect. Making the fronts bow adds to the complexity but it's not mission impossible. ...
    Thanks Sean and Daniel

    Both of you are making essentially the same suggestion, which is one that also occurred to me - build the drawers slightly oversize and then basically cope them to fit. As you state, the curve is unlikely to require much waste is needed to be removed. Delicate shaping needed, but doable.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  15. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Kees Heiden View Post

    If I had to make such drawers I would make them oversized and then plane to fit. It doesn't look like the sides are very concave, just a couple of mm's. The ones at the top and bottom could be made tapered and then the very little bit of concavenes planed into the side.
    This is exactly what I would do, too.

    I'd try to make sure no part of the curve was wider at the top than the bottom of the piece, though (not that it has anything to do with the drawers)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •