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Shaker Style Case Topper (at least that's what I'm calling it!)

Project by Dorje posted 385 days ago 645 views 3 times favorited 38 comments Add to Favorites
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Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


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case box drawers dovetails handcut vertical grain fir

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Shaker Style Case Topper (at least that's what I'm calling it!) Shaker Style Case Topper (at least that's what I'm calling it!) Shaker Style Case Topper (at least that's what I'm calling it!) Click the pictures to enlarge them

Well I finally finished this thing and here it is!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA


38 comments so far

View oscorner's profile

oscorner

4576 posts in 700 days


posted 385 days ago

You did a fine job of matching the wood grain on all the drawers and the rest of it. Super joinery! I turned out very nice…you should be proud!

-- Jesus is Lord!

View Bob A in NJ's profile

Bob A in NJ

290 posts in 388 days


posted 385 days ago

This project is right up my alley. Sqaure , functional, the dovetails, color have all come together great. Nice job.

Bob

-- Bob A in NJ

View RonR's profile

RonR

66 posts in 397 days


posted 385 days ago

Very nice job. Are those hand cut dovetails? Well done.

-- RonR, Massachusetts

View Karson's profile

Karson

11544 posts in 789 days


posted 385 days ago

Great Topper. Nice job with all of the construction details.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

View miles125's profile

miles125

837 posts in 394 days


posted 385 days ago

handsome cabinet. Is that quarter sawn Fir?

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

3821 posts in 635 days


posted 385 days ago

Very nice A+. Better than anything i’ve done. jockmike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

View mot's profile

mot

4831 posts in 425 days


posted 385 days ago

Very nice topper. The dovetails have a handcut appearance. Can you talk a bit about the construction and joinery?

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View WayneC's profile

WayneC

5693 posts in 486 days


posted 385 days ago

Great topper. I’m also wondering about the dove tails.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

View gizmodyne's profile

gizmodyne

1407 posts in 479 days


posted 385 days ago

Very nice. I like the vertical grain and the score lines on the dovetails.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

View Napaman's profile (online now)

Napaman

1342 posts in 466 days


posted 385 days ago

this could win a summer award for joinery…beautiful piece…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...SING WITH ME: "Sum...sum...sum...summ...summ...summ...summertime..."

View Sawdust2's profile

Sawdust2

798 posts in 476 days


posted 385 days ago

Making fine dovetails in a soft wood is very very difficult.

The finish is uniformly reflective.

That is a top-notch topper.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

View David's profile

David

1801 posts in 527 days


posted 385 days ago

Dorje -

WOW! Excellent job. Very nice detail and finish work. This is a project to be very proud of! Very nice case work.

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 385 days ago

Thanks for all the positive comments! To answer some of the questions:

It is vertical grain (quartersawn) fir that I picked up for next to nothing from a window shop that was shutting down in my neighborhood. I tried to use the prettiest, tightest grained material for all the showing surfaces.

The joinery is as follows: I handcut dovetails for the main carcase corners and all the drawers (front and back); sliiding doves for the vertical dividers (made with the router); stopped dadoes for all the horizontal dividers (again, routed). Sawdust2 said, “Making fine dovetails in a soft wood is very very difficult.” Isn’t that the truth! The combination of the hard, brittle slow growth rings and the soft quick growth rings in fir sure gives handsaws and chisels (and their user) a run for their money. I also made a frame and (flush) panel back (all solid stock) and mortised and tenoned all the back frame members (overkill – but wanted the practice!) then rabbetted it into the back of the case. Oh yeah, I resawed alder (right off the firewood pile) and jointed up stock for the drawer bottoms out of that.

My intention with this piece was to learn a lot of different joinery techniques on one little project that I will later be able to apply to other, hopefully bigger pieces that I construct! Also, I wanted to use all solid stock on this one. So from my point of view, I accomplished what I set out to do.

Thanks again!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 385 days ago

Oh yeah, one more thing…

The knobs: I handturned those out of birch.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

10975 posts in 549 days


posted 384 days ago

oh so very nice!!!!

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View DocJoe's profile

DocJoe

5 posts in 388 days


posted 383 days ago

Dorje,

I really love the straight grained fir. Very nice work. I think it would be the perfect place to store hand tools.

Joe

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 383 days ago

Thanks Doc-

It would be great for hand tool storage – but it’s gonna be used as more of an office supply case/homework center for my 10 year old…however unfortunate that may or may not be!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View rentman's profile

rentman

231 posts in 483 days


posted 381 days ago

nice i love the wood,is that old pine?

-- Phil, Chattanooga,TN

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 381 days ago

Thanks rentman – it’s vertical grain fir (quartersawn)...

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View Bob Babcock's profile

Bob Babcock

1809 posts in 475 days


posted 380 days ago

Beautiful work. Great finish. I love the fir. I picked up 4 old doors, all quartersawn fir just a couple weeks ago. I was going to take them apart for the wood but the boss decided she wanted to refinish them. ( I’m letting her strip and sand).

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 380 days ago

That’s pretty funny! I hope you didn’t have plans for the wood…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View Greg Mitchell's profile

Greg Mitchell

1365 posts in 458 days


posted 378 days ago

Great job. Very nice looking piece of furniture.

-- Greg Mitchell--Lowell, AR--gdamitchell@sbcglobal.net

View Don's profile

Don

2585 posts in 566 days


posted 371 days ago

Dorje – just cruising around this site and came across this treasure – real nice, Mate!

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 371 days ago

Thanks Greg and Don!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View Todd A. Clippinger's profile

Todd A. Clippinger

2447 posts in 488 days


posted 245 days ago

I wish I had seen this sooner, this is a great piece!

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 244 days ago

I’m glad you came across it – and thanks for your words!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

2256 posts in 452 days


posted 244 days ago

Wow, that is sweet. I missed this first around too. Handcut doves – impressive!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 244 days ago

Thanks Douglas! I’m surprised you hadn’t seen it. I thought you knew me. Cracking myself up.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View SteveL's profile

SteveL

35 posts in 157 days


posted 156 days ago

Gorgeous! I’ve been looking through Handjberg’s books too, and this is definitely a Shaker style you’ve got going. Love the dovetail carcass!

-- SteveL

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 156 days ago

SteveL -Thanks for stopping by to check it out!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View Jeff's profile

Jeff

941 posts in 482 days


posted 155 days ago

Very nice, Dorje. This is the one from Tool Tweaks #2, no? You do good work. How’s that stack of lumber doing by the way?

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 155 days ago

Jeff – yep- this is the one…

The maple stack is staying dry (i.e., out of the weather) and just holding steady for now…can’t imagine that it’s changed too much yet..

Good to hear from you Jeff.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View rikkor's profile

rikkor

6465 posts in 263 days


posted 155 days ago

Hey Dorje, I am glad this popped out of the archives. What great dovetailing. Good job!

-- Maplewood, MN

View jm82435's profile

jm82435

145 posts in 131 days


posted 101 days ago

That is a very nice. You are an inspiration. There is a lot of skill and patience on display here. I hope you have a very durable finish on it handing it over to a 10 yr old… I like the way the finish runs to the scribe lines on the drawers. Thanks for sharing this with us; I really like this “topper”.

-- A thing of beauty is a joy forever... - Keats

View grumpycarp's profile

grumpycarp

125 posts in 134 days


posted 101 days ago

Beautiful piece Dorje! Man I HATE working with V.G. Fir, I bet you’re still picking splinters out of your hands. A few years back everybody up here wanted V.G. Fir trim. For a couple of years every day fir, fir, fir, fir. Then Alder, now cherry and walnut. It’s finally been long enough that I can appreciate it again and that is a piece worthy of praise. Kinda tough to keep a hard edge on some of it isn’t it?

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 101 days ago

Thanks guys!

Finish is Tried and True Varnish Oil…should hold up well!

Yeah – keeping an edge on your chisels is a joke when you’re chopping through tight vg fir end grain…just crumples the edge of the tool on the first tap…

Or maybe you mean a crisp edge on the end of the fir boards…I can see that that could be problematic too…with the alternating soft (fast) and hard (slow) growth of the annual rings…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View Dusty56's profile

Dusty56

527 posts in 77 days


posted 3 days ago

W O W !!! I’ve always loved the look of vert. grain fir , but this is the most impressive piece I’ve ever seen for a furniture project !! I looked at the pictures about 5 times so far and I can’t get over how perfectly you’ve made everything….Added to my favorites for when I’m looking for some inspiration to do a better job on my own projects ! thank you for posting this and I am grateful that your project came around again for all to enjoy. : )

-- Dusty56@comcast.net

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1694 posts in 385 days


posted 3 days ago

Thanks Dusty56! This piece is getting a little beat up with daily use, developing it’s “patina.”

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

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