Chipman Oxbow Chests Dovetails & Making the Drawers Step 6

Time to get started on making the drawers. In the previous post, I had made the drawer fronts and fitted them to the openings.

I was able to get a picture of the Chipman Chest drawers sides from the curator at the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Rooms. From this picture I am going to duplicate the dovetail pattern as close as possible.

I have milled some eastern white pine for the sides and backs.  1/2 for the backs and 7/16 for the sides. I use a wheel marking gauge to mark where I need to cut the dovetail patten.

Here is the tail pattern on the first drawer. I always start with the tails and cut both sides together.

Then I chop out the tails.  The pine is soft and it goes real quick.

I trace the tails on to the fronts and backs. 

I mark the waste side of the lines. I always saw on the waste side of the line.

I can saw beyond the scribe line on back of these half blind dovetails, this was commonly done in the 18th century.

Chopping out the waste between the pins. You can see how far I sawed past the scribe line.

One done.  Came out pretty good. Only seven more to go.

All of the sides and backs are dovetailed into the drawers, so now to make the drawer bottoms.

I need lots of 1/2 inch pine for the 8 bottoms which are 18 1/2 x 34 inches. I resaw 5/4 stock.

All the bottoms glued up.

I need to make a groove for the drawer bottoms on the sides and drawer fronts. In the back, I will cut off the 1/2 inch so the drawer bottom can slip into it.  The slot is 1/4 inch wide by 3/16 deep and 1/4 inch from the bottom edge.

I use a slot cutter on the router table to do the work.

Cut the bottoms to size.

Trace the curve front on to the bottoms.

Cut the curves with a jig saw.

Now I have to put a chamfer on three sides so it can fit into the groove in the sides and front.

I use a chamfer bit in the router with a bearing because of the curved front. Dust goes everywhere.

Chamfer on three sides. Ready to slip it in from the back.

Slides right in, the fit is pretty good.

All set, now all I have to do is repeat it seven more times.

Later I will glue up the drawers and nail the bottom in the back to hold it in place.

Next post will be about the chest hardware.

Here is today's video: