Chipman Oxbow Chests Mounting Hardware Pulls & Locks Step 7

Time to mount the hardware on the drawers before they are glued up. It is much easier to work on them before they are assembled.

I used the photos of the original chests to determine how they were mounted.  All of the pulls were mounted in the center of the drawers 3 inches from the beginning of the curve.  I drilled the holes on a drill press with the angle set to 7 degrees off of 90 degrees.  This made the posts fit the curve fronts correctly. 

Once I had drilled the holes, I then bent the back plates to fit the curves.  I used a block that had a tighter radius than the drawer fronts.  I used a strap clamp to bend the plates over the block and then tapped them with a dead blow hammer.

This bent them a little more than the curve.  But the posts and the brass relaxes will have them fit perfect.

The posts and the bale are fitted to the holes. The posts are square on the top and threaded on the rest.
I tap the posts into the round hole with the wooden end of the hammer.

There is one all mounted.  I don't put the nuts on the back at this time since I am going to take them off to assemble the drawers and put the finish on.

Here are all the brasses mounted, they look real good.

Now I take the brasses off and get started on mounting the locks and escutcheons.
Using the locks and cardboard templates I mark out where the locks should be in the center of the drawer.  I saw the lines on the center deep mortise, then chop out most of the waste.  Since the backs are curved I made a jig that is parallel to the front.  Then using my router plane I finish the mortise with it.
The shallow mortise for the lock back is cut out with the router plane nice and flat.

Cutting out the mortise.

Once I cut out the back mortises, I need to cut out the mortise on the top for the lock.
I turn the lock upside down and trace the size.

Then I use the router plane to cut out the top mortise.

Now that the three mortises are cut out, I can fit the lock. If I am careful it should fit exactly.  The pin in the center of the lock for the key is extend beyond the front of the lock. So it is still in the way of the lock fitting flush.

I use the wooden end of the hammer to tap on the lock pin to make a dent in the inside of the lock mortise. This leaves a reference dent so I can drill.

Then I use a 1/16 inch drill bit to make a pilot hole from the back in the drawer front.

Then I turn the drawer front over and drill the large hole using the pilot hole for reference

Now that the hole is drilled the lock fits right into the mortise. Nice fit, no gaps.

And the pin is exactly in the center of the hole.

Now I have to cut the key hole.

 I have to bend the escutcheon in the reverse direction since the drawer front bends inward. I do this the same way I did the back plates for the pulls.

I center the escutcheon on the hole and measure to make sure that it is straight

Then trace the key hole and nail holes on to the drawer front.

Now that I have the pattern, I can saw it out with my keyhole saw.

I clean up the hole with a round file.

I fit the lock back in and test it out with the key.

I works just fine.

Then I pre-drill the holes for the escutcheon plate. I tap in the nails just a little bit because I am going to take them off.

I test the lock again with the key with the escutcheon plate on to make sure the key slides in easy.

That all there is, all I have to do is repeat this seven more times and I am all done.

Now that I am done with the hardware, I am going to work on the tops for the chest next.

Here is today's video: