LumberJocks

7 Drawer Maple and Cherry Dresser

Project by MattD posted 691 days ago 2234 views 25 times favorited 37 comments Add to Favorites Watch

This is my latest project that I completed last week for my 3yr old daughter. It took me about 6 months, probably 120 hours, and started out mostly as rough lumber except for the top boards which I bought S2S.

The external woods are black cherry and a few variations of maple. The drawer interior is poplar with cedar bottoms. It was finished with BLO, blonde shellac and wax.

I learned a lot about using hand tools on this. I did nearly all of the joinery and final shaping by hand with tools like spokeshaves, hand saws, mortise and bench chisels, planes and card scrapers.

For some reason, the idea of doing an inlay on the inside drawer stuck with me. I also figured that if it didn’t come out well, at least it wouldn’t be highly visiible, but I ended up happy with it. I had no idea how I was going to do this until I saw a David Marks episode where he did inlay into solid wood.

Any sort of comments or helpful criticism would be appreciated. One thing I’m not sure of is the hardware. I’m happy with it, but I’m keeping an eye out for alternatives.

-- Matt - Syracuse, NY


37 comments so far

View DAN's profile

DAN

5390 posts in 734 days


posted 691 days ago

excellent work !! crisp, clean lines

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

View Thos. Angle's profile

Thos. Angle

3949 posts in 713 days


posted 691 days ago

subtil and very refined. I especially like the shape on the corner posts.The inlay came out nice as well.
Good work

-- Thos. Angle

View schroeder's profile

schroeder

501 posts in 876 days


posted 691 days ago

beautiful!, I love the inlay! very Crafty! (I’ll be stealing that idea!) – thanks for sharing your work.

-- The Gnarly Wood Shoppe

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9429 posts in 739 days


posted 691 days ago

Nice job! I have never thought of using inlay on drawer sides!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

View lclashley's profile

lclashley

242 posts in 865 days


posted 691 days ago

Great piece Matt! I like how you used the same boards across the front, give it a real pro look. The inlay looks great as well.

View Gary's profile

Gary

377 posts in 1075 days


posted 691 days ago

Real impressive. She’s a lucky girl—furniture for life.

-- Gary, Florida

View Gail's profile

Gail

36 posts in 709 days


posted 691 days ago

This is a gorgeous piece, you should be very proud.

-- Gail, http://www.hometownwoodworking.com

View Greg Mitchell's profile

Greg Mitchell

1385 posts in 820 days


posted 691 days ago

Great job! The inlay on the sides of the drawer is a great idea. I also like the hardware. Beautiful piece of furniture.

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

View whit's profile

whit

55 posts in 728 days


posted 691 days ago

Nice looking dresser, Matt. I really like the inlay in the sides of the drawers. Many people look at the drawers to check for dovetails. What do you think they’ll say when they see both dovetails and an inlay. I think they’ll say “WOW”!!! Kudos to you.

-- Even if to be nothing more than a bad example, everything serves a purpose.

View Bob Babcock's profile

Bob Babcock

1808 posts in 837 days


posted 691 days ago

Gorgeous piece…lucky little girl. I wish I had started when my kids were little.

The inlays are a great surprise, nicely done on all counts. The subtle curve on the corners is a nice touch.

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

View dewoodwork's profile

dewoodwork

106 posts in 707 days


posted 691 days ago

Excellent work Matt. Your attention in detail realy shines in the drawer faces and joinery. I love contrast and your choice of woods works very well.

-- Express creativity with wood, Dewayne. Vacaville CA.

View cajunpen's profile

cajunpen

5952 posts in 817 days


posted 690 days ago

Very nice piece of furniture. Well done.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

View jembo's profile

jembo

104 posts in 764 days


posted 690 days ago

Excellent work, thanks for sharing.

-- James - Geneva, Switzerland

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

13433 posts in 911 days


posted 690 days ago

((applauding))
Love the design – and then the wood just accentuates the beauty. The inlay – brilliant and well done.

Bravo

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

View snowdog's profile

snowdog

768 posts in 733 days


posted 690 days ago

Great work but I know what you mean about the hardware. For me it detracts from the overall beauty of the piece (which really dose look great). I think it is more personal preference but it was what caught my eye. The inlay in the side? What a great idea.

“top boards which I bought S2S.” What is S2S?

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

View Mark A. DeCou's profile

Mark A. DeCou

1494 posts in 1156 days


posted 690 days ago

I love this work. The inlay on the drawer side is a great tip, and something I had not thought of doing before. YOu might see me do something artistic on the side of a drawer someday, and you’ll know that you were the inspiration.

For drawer pulls, and for something special, and just “you”, try making your own. I did some in copper, hammering the surface, and then soldering the pieces together with a propane bottle torch the first time. I made my own bolts with thick copper wire and a die, and my own nuts with chunks of copper and a tap.

If you like this concept, I have some hardware posted around on my projects you could look at for inspiration. Music Notes, Orchids, Flower Leaves, Oak Leaves, & Acorns.

It isn’t hard, I had never done it before, and just started doing it. Each project got a little more complicated and better.

For a 3 year old daughter, you could do hearts, flowers, Disney characters, shapes, who knows, there are lots of options.

Also, if you don’t like the copper, you could do them in wood, making your own knobs. I’ve done deer and elk antler, bone, rocks, turquoise, shells, and on and on, a bunch of weird stuff I have tried.

I found some chunks of petrified wood at the playground in the park one time with the kids. I picked up a handful of them spread out through the peebles, and have enough now to do a project. My kids kept saying,”look dad, watch me…..” I had my head down looking for petrified wood that day. Once they got a hang of what I was looking for, they stopped playing and helped me find rocks. Now, three years later, they are always finding cool rocks for me. I guess this is probably how “weirdness” gets its generational spreading.

admiring your project,
Mark

-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan

View Bob Babcock's profile

Bob Babcock

1808 posts in 837 days


posted 690 days ago

I keep coming back to look at this…I really love it. Definite inspiration for the future. My youngest daughter loves Calla Lilys. When I showed this to her she asked when am I going to build her one.

I’d love to see a blog on your drawer pulls Mark. I’d love to try that myself.

LOL…my kids have gone “rock hunting” with me many times. definitely spreading the “weirdness”.

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

View MattD's profile

MattD

82 posts in 695 days


posted 690 days ago

Thanks guys.

Mark – Great suggestion with copper and the other materials. It never occured to me I could hammer out copper this way without some serious tools or heat. I might give it a try! The pull on that one table you made is just great.

Snowdog – S2S is a designation for lumber meaning “Surfaced 2 Sides” meaning that a rough cut board is planed smooth on the top and bottom and both surfaces are hopefully parallel. Many lumber shops charge extra per board foot for lumber that is surfaced smooth, so you can usually get rough lumber cheaper. There is also “S3S” which adds one edge that’s jointed and squared and “S4S” which of course is smooth on on sides like lumber at Home Depot, etc.

-- Matt - Syracuse, NY

View snowdog's profile

snowdog

768 posts in 733 days


posted 689 days ago

I showed my wife this project and guess what she wants on our (upcomming) slide out pantry draws. You guessed it, an inlay of some bird or flower. I’ll get you for that mattD <laugh>, I don’t have enough to learn already :) It really is a great idea you had.

I can’t wait to see your new hardware.

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

View NormiteLou's profile

NormiteLou

36 posts in 723 days


posted 689 days ago

Wow, nice work. I wish I could do somthing like that!

-- Normite Lou

View scottb's profile

scottb

3338 posts in 1078 days


posted 689 days ago

Simply beautiful.

Love the idea of the hidden detail on the drawer.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

View Chris 's profile

Chris

1415 posts in 742 days


posted 687 days ago

Wow! That inlay really makes it a unique piece of furniture.

-- Chris

View Karson's profile

Karson

21154 posts in 1151 days


posted 687 days ago

Great looking chest. The inlays are a great addition and make it very personal to your daughter

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

View Skinna's profile

Skinna

23 posts in 687 days


posted 686 days ago

that’s some truly beautiful work I am very impressed and I bet when your daughter is retiring and still has this beautiful item she will also be very impressed each and every time she sees it – superb work

-- Skinna - Australia... I won't stop at murder if that's what is necessary to get the job done

View mot's profile

mot

4892 posts in 787 days


posted 686 days ago

Man that’s a nice piece!

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

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1770 posts in 747 days


posted 686 days ago

Matt – Great work! I like how you very thoughtfully glued up the drawer fronts and carefully laid them all out so the grain is continuous. The top is gorgeous. The whole piece shows a lot of consideration to the wood and is aesthetically very appealing.

How did you join up the posts on the corners?

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

View DaveJ's profile

DaveJ

69 posts in 674 days


posted 672 days ago

Marking as a favorite – ‘nuf said!

-- Dave J. Oakdale, MN

View Patrick Jaromin's profile

Patrick Jaromin

273 posts in 583 days


posted 579 days ago

Simple, elegant, lovely. Thanks for sharing.

-- Patrick, Chicago, IL http://www.TenonAndSpline.com/blog

View Blake's profile

Blake

2560 posts in 625 days


posted 579 days ago

Just stunning. Wow. A gorgeous piece with beautiful details.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

View coolbreeze's profile

coolbreeze

105 posts in 486 days


posted 483 days ago

I like the colors in this piece.Aside from the pretty detail, it has a relaxed feel to it.

-- Jason, AL

View rikkor's profile

rikkor

11345 posts in 625 days


posted 482 days ago

This is a beaut. I am glad it came out of the archives so I could see it. Nice work.

View Scott Bryan's profile

Scott Bryan

16261 posts in 573 days


posted 477 days ago

Hi Matt,

I am glad this one came back up on the list. I love the look and cherry and maple together. This is a gorgeous piece. The large dovetails and inlay add really nice details to it as well.

Very nice post. It was a pleasure to look at it.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

View mzmac's profile

mzmac

65 posts in 418 days


posted 392 days ago

Excellent piece very finely executed

View PurpLev's profile

PurpLev

1775 posts in 399 days


posted 297 days ago

Beautiful!

Cherry and Maple always go together so complementary.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

View mpatman's profile

mpatman

5 posts in 205 days


posted 124 days ago

Awesome, love the finish- this is a great piece and as a newbie gives me lots of inspiration!

View Steffen's profile

Steffen

252 posts in 786 days


posted 86 days ago

This is beautiful…I love beautiful work that is hidden…

-- Steffen

View Beginningwoodworker's profile

Beginningwoodworker

2339 posts in 424 days


posted 6 days ago

Thats a beautiful dresser, you did a nice job.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

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