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When your Ikea dresser is falling apart you might as well make a new dresser. So that is what I did. This chest of drawers is my largest piece yet. The incredible grain pattern, 196 total dovetails, dovetail keyed moldings, graduated hand turned knobs, and solid wood construction make it a one of a kind piece. The knobs gave me an excuse to purchase a lathe and I am looking forward to incorporating more turnings in the future. Let me know what you think.

Woods
Primary - Curly Cherry. Shout out to Irion Lumber. The lumber is fantastic.
Secondary (drawers) - Soft Maple

Finish
Tried and True Danish Oil (primary)
Mixed Shellac (secondary)
Hand Rubbed Renaissance Wax Finish

Gallery

Comments

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Really great grain in the wood. Wow. Nice to find a good reason to purchase a lathe. Every project should include something new for future use! This looks great.
 

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This is a gorgeous chest. The scale, wood, and of course, your craftsmanship. Fantastic job!
 

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Fire
 

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I notice the cats paw on top piece ha, love me some Blackcherry! Gotta a feeling IKEA will not be in your future furniture plans, that is if the Mrs.,has anything to say. Nice piece and well constructed…..Blackcherry
 

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Thanks everyone for your kind comments! It only took 6 months so it sure is nice to post and be done.

Glad you like the cats paw black cherry! I have another piece I made legs out of for a side table with heavy cats paws. One of the paws runs on the edge of the leg cut so you can see how it formed through the wood. Really cool seeing its depth.
 

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Handsome.
 

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Great job. I love the dovetail and figure in the wood.
 

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Is the top veneered plywood, or solid wood? I noticed it is encased in a mitered moulding (or whatever you want to call it). If the top is solid wood, won't that cause problems?
 

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Gargey - the dresser is solid wood with no veneer or plywood. The molding rides on dovetail keys to allow for seasonal wood movement so there is no concern about the molding cracking or breaking off.

The front molding is glued on while the sides are only glued on the front inch or so. The additional 18 inches on the sides ride on sliding dovetails. This allows the dresser case to expand while not impacting the moldings that run cross gain.

I've included pictures below of the process. The first shows me fitting a dovetail runner on the molding. The second shows me attaching the runners and sliding on the molding. From there I removed the molding and cut the runner into segments to allow further expansion. Let me know if you have any additional questions.



 

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It looks very nice! Excellent job and thanks for sharing
 

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Wow! You knocked it out of the park
 

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Very interesting and creative idea on the top moulding. Do you worry about it shrinking up more than the length of the side pieces? You stated the front moulding is glued but not the sides. Does this mean there isn't moulding around the back? I can't tell for sure from the pictures. If so, I can see how it would work.
 
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