Cherry Oxbow Chest - Hand Cut Drawer Dovetails - Step 11

I went to the Handworks 2015 in Amana,  Iowa May 15-16 and met a lot of great hand tool vendors and woodworkers.  A number of fellow SAPFM members were there and of course Doug Moulder and his wife.

I was interested in the Benchcrafted Moxon Vise hardware  and I got to  try it out. So I bought the hardware and will be making one in the near future.  It is nice to have a vise with 22 to 24 inches between the centers.

After the trip to Iowa, I went on a family vacation to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina for a week so my shop time has been limited

I did get to milling the wood for the drawer sides and backs.  I did not have enough pine, so I decided to use soft maple.  The sides and backs will be 1/2 inch thick.

I still had not cut out the backs of the drawer fronts.  This I had to do now before I could cut the half-blind dovetails.  I have decided to make a 3/4 inch long dovetail on the front.  With the oxbow curve on the fronts makes it difficult to dovetail.  So I layout a 3/4 inch square shoulder on the side of the drawer front to accommodate the dovetails.

 
You can see the original line and the modified line for the curve on the back of the drawer front in the above picture.  This will provide a nice square shoulder for the drawer side.

Then I used my bandsaw to cut out the curve on the back of the drawer front.  I keep the cut offs to use when clamping the drawer fronts.  To clean up the backs saw marks I used a spindle sander and spokeshave to remove them but not as clean and smooth like the fronts.

I choose to make a simple pattern for the dovetails.  The bottom has a half tail to allow for the groove for the drawer bottom.  The pins are evenly spaced with a half pin at the top so the cherry shows when you open the drawer.  I mark out all of the waste so I don't forget which ones to remove.

After sawing on the lines to the scribe mark, I chop out the dovetails with a bench chisel.  I leave the front of the waste to support the piece when I turn it over and chop the other side.  This is not the fastest way to cut dovetails but I find it relaxing and do it at my own pace.  If you look at the video you can watch me chop them out at twice the speed.

All done with this one.

I keep the cut offs from the curved drawer front so I can put them back when I need to square up a board or clamp them in a vise or hold fast.  Here I am squaring up the side to the front to trace the pins on the side of the drawer front.

Sawing out the pins after I traced them from the tails on the drawer sides.  You have to remember to saw on the waste side of the line. I try to saw the line in half when I cut them.  You have to angle the saw so that it does cut into the back of the drawer front but this is normal with half blind hand cut dovetails.

Chopping out the pins on the drawer front after sawing.  I work from the front removing the waste a little at a time, since the saw does not get into the corners as you get lower into the cut you have to chop out the edges. I use the scribe line to set my chisel for the last cut on the half blind.

Again, you can see I use the cut offs to support the work in the middle where the hold fast is clamped and under the edge where I am chopping.



If you are careful when you saw and chop out the dovetails, they should fit tight together without a lot of paring. Practice, practice, practice.  Here you see me using the cut off again to clamp the drawer front in the vise.

All done with the four sides and the drawer frame is square. The dovetails are tight enough that the drawer holds it's shape while I fit it into the opening.

In the next post, I need to glue up some stock for the drawer bottoms, cut a 1/4 inch groove around the inside and bevel the drawer bottom to fit  the groove.

Here is the video from today's post:

Curved Oxbow Drawer Fronts - Take a bit of hand planing Step 10

Now that the feet are completed, I am turning my attention to the drawers.  First, of course are the drawer fronts.

I have my template from making the drawer blades, so I am using that to trace out and size the drawer fronts.

I selected the stock from a large 8/4 cherry board that I used a portion for the bracket feet.  I purchased this board with the intent it would be used for the drawer fronts.   This picture is the smaller portion of the board which was used for the bracket feet.  The board was originally 12 feet long and 15 inches wide.  It had great looking grain as well.

I selected the grain pattern that I wanted and chopped and ripped the board into four pieces approximately the size of the drawer fronts.  You can see my template in the lower portion of the picture.

The boards are still slightly wider and longer than I need but I cut them to size soon.
I traced the pattern on to the top of the drawer fronts.

Now I chopped and ripped the drawer fronts to the exact size, prior to bandsawing out the front curve.

Here are the drawer fronts fit into the chest openings prior to bandsawing.  It is good to know that they fit while they are square before cutting out the shape.

Bandsawing out the front only.  It is good to have a flat square reference surface while planning and finishing the fronts.  I used a 3/8 inch band saw blade here but I did not get good results with the cuts. It left a lot of work to clean up, maybe it was not sharp or I didn't have the saw set up well.

You can see that these are not the cleanest bandsaw cuts that I have ever made.  At least I left extra material that needs to be removed to make the actual curves.  However I did not expect it to be that bumpy.

I haven't used my compass plane since I made my bombe chest, but I think this is the perfect application for this plane.  I start by smoothing out the two convex curves on both ends of the drawer front.  I have the compass plane set to take small shavings.  I make frequent trips to fit the drawer front into the opening and check the progress.  I want it to match the opening exactly.

Working this direction is great, but going in the opposite direction I hit the bottom of the curve too quick and can not complete the curve.  I have to use my curved bottom spokeshave.

Nice thing about the compass plane is that it can plane both curves just by adjusting the plate by turning the center screw.  It takes some practice to get the plane sole just right to match the curve so you can take good shavings.   Here I am clearing out the bottom of the curve.

The wooden coffin smoother plane you see in the background is used for quick roughing the convex shapes before using the compass plane.  It is a nice small plane and easy to use.

Not a great picture of me using the plane on the concave curve.  Watch the video, it does nice work.  I am still making frequent trips back to the chest to check the progress of the curve against the drawer blades.  I want it to fit exactly.

One drawer front fit.  Looking good.  I may have to do some fine tuning later.  On to the next drawer.

The second drawer front was easier than the first because it is getting smaller.  Also I want to mention that I am using a card scrapper to clean up the plane marks after I achieve the matching curve that I want.  That will save me a lot of sanding later.

Last drawer front.  Like most tasks, I am just getting the hang of it as I am finishing.  But I am glad to be done with the planning and scrapping.

All of the drawer fronts are done now.  It's good to have this completed, now all I have to do is cut out the backsides  (which don't have to be as pretty as the fronts) and  dovetail the drawer sides and back.

I like the grain pattern on the drawer fronts.  On to making the drawers, sides and backs.

Here is today's video:

Making the Ogee Bracket Feet - Part 2 - Step 9 Glad to be done with the feet

Now that I have a plan to make the curved ogee bracket feet (see Part 1), I am ready to tackle them with the good cherry stock.  I picked a six foot piece of cherry and milled it to 1 1/2 inch thick by 5 inches wide.

It was so long that I had to support it with a roller stand in the rear.  I had made markings on the out-feed table when I cut the practice piece, so lining up the guides was an easy process.

You can see the pattern here traced on the end of the stock.

It took awhile and lots of cherry saw dust but the cove is cut.

Now I need to round over the reverse curve with the hand planes and scrapers like I did with the practice piece.

One thing I did not do when I made the practice piece was to add the molding to the bottom of the foot.  To do this I cut a 1/8 inch fillet at the bottom of the cove to add a separation to the view.  Then I need to round over the newly created pad.

I used my 5/8 inch hollow plane which fit the curve pretty well.  

The cherry was nice to work and responded to the sharp hollow plane well.  No noisy routers in sight.

Now that the molding is created, I traced the pattern on to the face. I need six pieces.  Two sets of two facing each other for the front bracket feet and two for the left and right rear feet.  The rear feet are flat on the back with a dovetailed piece to finish the foot. (more on that later)

I used my sliding compound miter saw (sorry if you wanted me to cut them with a hand saw) to cut out the pieces and miter the faces of the two front feet at 45 degrees.  I tested the cuts on a piece of scrap to make sure the saw was set at 45 degrees.

Here are the six pieces after they were chopped out on the miter saw.  Now I have to cut out the shapes by tracing the pattern on the back.  The bandsaw made quick work doing the cut outs, there are no tight curves.  I cleaned up the bandsaw marks with files and sand paper.

When I cut out the front two pieces I added 1/4 inch to the length of the pattern to allow for the two 5 degree miters that I have to cut for the front curves.

Once those miters were cut I had to glue them back together.  Those boards in the picture that the pieces are laying on are cut at 5 degrees so they are holding the pieces exactly at the correct angle. Wax paper is underneath to keep the glue from sticking to the bench.  I will reinforce these joints later.

While the front pieces were drying, I could work on the rear feet.  These are finished with just a flat board that I cut out of soft maple and half-blind dovetailed into the rear of the foot.  Here I have completed one and am chopping out the pins on the other.

Now it was time to glue together the front two feet with the 45 degree miter.  One way to keep them together is to put a spline between the two which keeps them from sliding while the glue is setting, I have used that method before.  If you don't get the spline in the exact spot in both the two don't come together exactly.

I found a great article in Fine Woodworking #220 July/August 2011 on ogee bracket feet.  Dan Faia made a jig with angled blocks, plywood and sandpaper.   You clamp the plywood to the rear and then you can clamp the fronts straight across.  Works perfect!  I had to modify it a bit to allow for the angled fronts.  I used the cutoffs from the miters I cut for the blocks, they are glued to the plywood.

If you want to learn more about this,  get the article, it has everything you need to make ogee bracket feet.

Once the glue dried, I added reinforcing blocks to the back of the feet and glued them in place.  These also help with attaching the feet to the bottom of the chest.  I sawed off the extra and did the final clean up.  Again the wax paper to keep them from sticking to the bench.

I still needed to shape the front legs to match the curve on the chest.  I drew a reference line on the piece from my template.  Then I used a spokeshave to remove the material a little at a time.  I frequently stopped and put the leg in place under the chest to see how I was progressing.   I did not have to take off a lot of material but the shape needed to be correct.

I sanded everything to 180 grit before attaching the feet to the chest.  I attached the feet using #10 screws and glue.  After marking the position on the feet, I turned it over, drilled and attached the feet. Then I took them off, applied glue and reattached with the screws.  This prevented them from sliding around before the glue was set.

All done.  Feet attached and back upright.  Looking pretty good.  

Here is today's video:

Making the Ogee Bracket Feet Part 1 - Curved Bracket Feet are a Challenge

The next step for the Cherry Oxbow Chest is to make the ogee bracket feet that the chest will stand on.   I have the picture of the original chest that I am copying.

To my eye the feet have a considerable curve and they sit on a curved pad foot.  I plan on copying the design but the picture does not have a lot of detail that I can measure.  So I am making an educated guess.

Here is my first design on paper.  I sent a picture of the drawing to Tim Garland, a furniture restorer and historian in Lincolnshire UK.  He seemed to think it was ok.  I am glad I got his approval. :-)

Next I made a cardboard template and trimmed the front curve a little.  I thought it looked better, more like the original.  Now I can use this template to make a practice foot.  One issue is the curve on the front and how am I going to allow for that.

I have made large cove molding before on the table saw by angling the stock over the table saw blade like you see in the picture below.   There are people who can tell you how to figure out the angle by using math but I just use my eye so that it looks right.  Then I can adjust after I make a couple of passes if it does not look correct.

I just screwed these boards to my auxiliary out feed table and clamped them to the front of the saw.
 
I move the saw blade up about 1/16 inch with each pass and it cuts off a little more of the curve.   I watch and sneak  up on the pattern that is marked on both sides of the board.

I am using a piece of soft maple here, don't want to mess up on a good piece of cherry.  I did have to move the fence once about 1/8 inch to center the curve in the outline.   I think it came out just fine for a test run.

Now I need to round over the top curve with hand planes.  Here I am using my favorite smoother to start to round over the top of the ogee curve.  I can use this plane on the outside of the curve but I need a smaller plane for the inside.  I also used the largest hollow and round that I have on the transition from out to in on the curve but it was not necessary.  I used my spokeshave to help shape things as well but again is would only work on the outside curve.

I made a custom scratch stock from a putty knife to fit the curve.  It was usefully in smoothing out the outside curve.

For smoothing out the inside curve I used a curved scraper.  This one came as part of a set of curved scrappers that most woodworking stores sell.

All done.  Looks pretty good.  It wasn't too much work.

Now I need to cut two 45 degree miters on the face of the molding.  There are several ways I could have completed this cut.  Table saw, hand saw and sliding compound miter saw.   I have a good sliding compound miter saw, so that is what I used.  I did test the set up on scrap before I made the cuts.
The miters came out well.

Now I traced the pattern on to the back of the molding and cut out the pattern on the bandsaw.
I used spray glue to hold the two pieces together and put it under the chest to see if I liked how it looked.

I was pleased with the out come but the length of the side piece seemed a bit long so I shortened it by 1/4 inch. Since both the front and sides should be the same length I shortened both.

The design looked good but I still had not figured out how to solve the curved front.   I needed to figure out the miter angle to make the front piece follow the curve somewhat along the front.

I used my sliding bevel to set the angle from the straight portion to the top of the curve.  This angle turned out to be 10 degrees.

Knowing that I decided to cut two 5 degree miters on the leg for a test.
Below is the left foot with a 5 degree miter, I think you can see it.

Then I put the opposite 5 degree miter on the extension.  It matched pretty well.  I am still going to have to do some hand work to curve to the extension to make it match the curved front but it should not be a lot of shaping.

Also, I have to leave some extra material on the extension to allow for the two kerfs that are made by cutting the two 5 degree miters.

 So that's it, I now have a plan on how to make the ogee bracket feet for the chest including allowing for the curved front.  

All I have to do is do it over with some good cherry lumber.

Here is today's video for part one of the ogee bracket feet.