Chapin High Chest of Drawers - Upper Case Build - Step 8

Before I built the upper case I felt that I needed to build a prototype of the top of the case to make sure that I understood the joinery.  This is not to scales but it did help me understand how the lattice, molding and pediment attach to the case.

I also built one drawer divider and dovetailed it to the side as well as the vertical runner on the corner which encloses the 1 inch by 1 inch opening for the quarter columns.

The top has a cut away at a slope which allows light to show through the bottom row of the lattice.
I wanted to see if my guess was correct, it was not.   I made the slope 1/2 inch back but it need to be more.  That's why I built a prototype.

It also gave me a chance to see how the lattice will fit into the top.  I also checked out the size of the front and side molding.

I now felt comfortable that I knew enough to build the upper case.  I started with the sides which I wanted to be one piece.  They are 16 1/8 wide by 41 1/2 tall.  I have one board that will accommodate that size.  It is too large to flatten with my machinery so I will have to do it by hand on one side anyway.

Unfortunately the board had a bit of twist in it, so I had to plane off quite a bit of get it flat. I needed  to get the board for the side to 7/8 inch thick.
Once I got the one side flat I used my wide belt sander to flatten the other side.

I made a story stick with all of the measurements for the drawers and runners.  I make a story stick for most projects, it makes it easier to transfer measurements.

The top and bottom are made from pine, I glued up two pieces to make the 36 3/8 x 17 1/8 inch top and bottom boards.

I laid out the dovetail pattern on the top and bottom. The tails are 2 inches and the pins are 1/2 inch at the top.

Then I sawed and chopped out the tails.

Then I matched the top and bottom to the sides and scribed the pins on to the sides. Sawed and chopped out the pins.

Everything fit together pretty good, I thought I would try it out in the the lower case.  Now I know why they call it a highboy.  The upper case is already pretty heavy.

Next I needed to make the drawer dividers (drawer blades).  These have multiple joints on each end. A tenon for the vertical runners and a half dovetail to fit into the case side.  Somewhat complex joinery.  I used a dado to cut the tenons. 

I positioned each of the drawer blades in the proper place and scribed the dovetail on the case side.

Then sawed and chopped out the dovetail socket.

This is a close up of the dovetail and tenon.

Close up of the dovetail fitted and the mortise and tenon on the vertical runner.  This construction is solid and creates the 1 by 1 opening for the quarter columns.

Complete with a sample of the quarter column.

Next I worked on the drawer runners.  

There in 1/8 shallow dados in the case side. They have a 1/4 inch tenon on the front which fits in a 1/4 in groove on the back of the drawer blades.

The runners are made from pine.

I also put a 1/4 inch groove in the back for the 1/2 inch pine back that I am going to make.  Chapin made the back like a drawer bottom with a beveled edge on the back that slips into the 1/4 in groove.

The upper case I almost complete except for the runners for the three small drawers at the top and building lap siding for the back.

The build is coming along.

Here is today's video: