Sycamore Dresser #2: Sloww process

I settled on a traditional dresser style. The sides will be frame and panel construction. I could have saved a lot of time had I chosen a style of dresser without visible legs.

I honestly spent two weeknights and most of a Saturday on the legs alone. It did not register in my brain that the face and edges of quarter sawn wood do not look the same. I glued a couple of boards together for my legs and realized that I had two visible sides that looked completely different. I ended up planing down the plainsawn side slightly and adding a quarter sawn veneer. Also the legs had to be tapered. I cut a groove for the panels and a very large rabbet for the interior frame. I still need to put a decorative bead on the front corners of the legs.

I glued up 5/16” pieces of sycamore to make my panels. The wood was a full one inch thick from the mill so I was able to resaw it and plane it to get two bookmatched boards.The panels consist of four 4 1/2” wide boards glued together.

I did decide on a color. I spent a day applying various oil based stains I had leftover from other projects. They all obscured the figure in the wood. I finally ordered a few bottles of dye from Rockler and it looks a lot better.

My son and wife do not really appreciate the figure in the wood or, the bookmatched panels but, it makes me happy. (I guess I am officially a woodgeek :)

I still have miles to go. But it has been a lot of fun so far.

I attached a picture of one of the panels. The panel still needs to be cut to size. I also included a picture of a cutoff piece of wood with the color/finish I will be using and a picture of the legs.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

Lumberjock Ben