DIY Network

Egyptian Dresser, Part 5: Drawer Assembly, Joinery and Runners From "Wood Works" episode WWK-709

	An Egyptian-inspired dresser made from mahogany.
	The dresser is crowned with cove molding and features custom-made ebony drawer-pulls.

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In this special two-episode installment of Wood Works, David Marks builds an Egyptian-inspired dresser that features slanted angles, a cove-molded top and rich finish. This second episode is devoted to making the drawers using dovetail joinery, creating the cove-molding around the top and turning ebony drawer-handles on the lathe.

In this first segment of episode 2, work gets underway on creating the joinery for the drawers and then assembling the drawers.

Tools and materials used in this project:

Mahogany stock
Maple stock
Oak stock
Ebony stock
Maple plywood stock
MDF for templates and mockup
Table saw; cross-cut sled
Tapering jig
Multi-router
Jointer
Power planer
Lathe
Table router
Plunge router
Dovetail jig
Biscuit jointer
Drill press
Chop saw
Clamps
Yellow woodworker's glue
Slow-setting resin glue
Japanese hand-saw
Dead-blow hammer
Brass pins
Hand scraper
#80 cabinet-scraper
Sandpaper, various grits
Straight-edge
Tape measure
Straight-edge
Carpenter's pencil
Safety glasses or goggles

Safety Alert: Always wear safety goggles or safety glasses, and follow proper safety precautions, when working with wood, power-tools, saws, drills, routers, etc.

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Many "modern" woodworking techniques can be traced to the ancient Egyptians -- including dovetail joinery, wood veneers, inlays, gold-leaf and rubbed-oil finishes.

Design Overview

This project is an Egyptian-inspired dresser made from mahogany with drawers of maple and ebony drawer-pulls. The rich mahogany construction is framed with an angled base that rises to a solid top highlighted by a classic coved profile. It's a complicated design, -- including compound angles, cove moldings and complex assemblies -- so it's construction is actually covered in two successive episodes of Wood Works. This is the online counterpart for the second of the two episodes.

For the first phase of the project, see Wood Works episode 108

In the previous show, steps included building the inside case, cutting and installing the mahogany outer frames, building the two side panels and building and attaching the base. The major remaining steps in the project include making the drawers, decorative cove-molding and top. Finishing touches include making and attaching ebony drawer-pulls and applying a potassium-dichromate finish treatment to highlight the rich color of the mahogany.

Drawer Joinery and Assembly

• The three drawers are proportioned, pyramid style, with deeper drawers at the bottom, and decreasing in depth toward the top. The bottom drawer is 8-3/4" tall, the middle is 8" tall and the top is 5" tall (figure A).

• For aesthetic reasons, the faces of all three drawers are made from a single board of solid mahogany. To begin, on a long plank of mahogany, lay out the drawer-faces and cut them out using the table saw and cross-cut sled (figure B). The goal is to avoid any flaws in the stock and identify sections of straight grain that will match on all three drawer faces.

  Figure A

  Figure B

  
  

  
  

• Cross-cut the three boards to an oversized length of 34-1/2", then rip each board to the appropriate width and about 1/2" oversized (figures C and D).

  Figure C

  Figure D

  
  

• Prep the stock by jointing one face flat, then reference that face against the fence and joint one edge (figure E).

• Pass each board through the planer to make the opposing face flat and parallel (figure F).

• At the table saw, rip each drawer-face to final the widths as listed above.

  Figure E

  Figure F

  
  

• With the size of the drawer faces determined, you can now calculate the actual size of the maple drawers. Since the shoulder of each drawer-runner (figure G) measures 3/4" thick, subtract that amount from each face to get the correct height of each drawer (figure H).

  Figure G

  Figure H

  
  

• As an example, the bottom-drawer face of mahogany will measure 8-3/4" tall (figure I), but the height of the actual maple drawer will measure 8" tall (figure J).
  

  Figure I

  Figure J

  
  

• While each drawer-face of mahogany measures 33" wide (figure K), the actual maple drawer-widths will measure 32-1/4" (figure L). These dimensions will accommodate the drawer runners.

  Figure K

  Figure L

  
  

  Figure M

• To make each drawer, mill some 1/2" quarter-sawn maple. Then cross-cut two long pieces at 32-1/4" for the front and back, and two short pieces at 17-3/4" for the sides (figure M).

• Dovetail joinery is used to assemble the drawers. Dovetails create a very strong joint that is ideal for drawers. It also happens to be an especially appropriate technique for this particular project since the first documented use of dovetail joinery was, in fact, in furniture made by the ancient Egyptians.
  
  

• A dovetail jig is used to cut the joinery. The jig holds the stock in place while a backing board and horizontal clamp reduces the risk of tear-out (figure N). The metal guides keep the cuts perfectly registered from one drawer-piece to the next.
  
  
• To cut the tails in the sides, install a 7/16" guide bushing and tail-cutting bit in the plunge router (figure O).

  Figure N

  Figure O

  
  

• Carefully rout between the spacers (figure P) cutting through the maple and backing board (figure Q).
  

  Figure P

  Figure Q

  
  

  Figure R

• To cut the corresponding pins in the front- and back-drawer stock, flip the guide jig and install a straight-cutting bit into the plunge router. Use this setup to cut the pins (figure R).

• Tip: It's a good idea to cut the pins so that they'll stand about 1/32" proud when the drawer is assembled.
  

• Once the joinery is cut for the drawers, cut dados into the stock using the table router (figure S). These will be used later to hold the plywood bottom-panel
  
  
• Using a 3/8" bit, rout stop-dados in the side-pieces and through-dados in the front and back pieces (figure T).

  Figure S

  Figure T

  
  

• Dry-fit the drawer pieces together, tapping the pieces gently together using a dead-blow hammer (figure U).

• With the drawer pieces dry-fit together, you can take measurements for the exact size for the plywood bottom panels (figure V).

  Figure U

  Figure V

  
  

• At the table saw, cut the three bottom-panels to size form 3/8" maple plywood.

• Before assembling the drawers, drill six pilot-holes in the drawer fronts (figure W). These will be used later to join the mahogany drawer faces.

• Apply a small amount of glue into the dados for the bottom panel and to the dovetails (figure X).

  Figure W

  Figure X

  
  

• Traditionally, dovetails are considered a "self-squaring" joint. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to check for square, as you clamp up the sides, to ensure a fine-tuned fit (figure Y).

• Allow the glue to cure fully, then use a #80 cabinet scraper to remove the excess-glue squeeze-out and level the joints (figure Z).

  Figure Y

  Figure Z

  
  

RESOURCES :

The Small Wood Shop (The Best of Fine Woodworking)
Author: Helen Albert (Editor)
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 1561580619

Woodworking Techniques: Best Methods for Building Furniture from Fine Woodworking
Author: Editors of Fine Woodworking magazine
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 1561583456

David Marks Website
David Marks, DIY's Wood Works host, is a master woodworker. For more information on cut sizes and project details, please contact him via his Website at www.djmarks.com

Woodworker's Guide to Wood: Softwoods, Hardwoods, Plywoods, Composite, Veneers
Model: 080836878
Author: Rick Peters
(2000)
Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.
Website: www.sterlingpub.com

Fine Woodworking
A magazine devoted to high-quality craftsmanship in woodworking.
The Taunton Press Inc.
Website: www.taunton.com