Project: Maple Dresser

[gary Zimmel]

Looking good Matt.

Thanks for the progress pics..

[James Williams 007]

I have a quick question Matt. What are the panels in between each drawer for? Sorry if this is one of those dumb questions but I haven't seen this done before. The dresser looks great and I can't wait to see the finished piece.

[Matt Meiser]

They help keep clothes in the drawers from interfering with the drawer above. Someone suggested them in the design thread and it sounded like a good suggestion. I think they'll probably add a lot of strenght too over open frames.

[Matt Meiser]

Last night I got the side drawer guides cut and attached to the sides of the dust frames. I also fixed yet another mistake. I miscalculated the size of the bottom dust frame by 1/4". So there I decided to go ahead and use a piece of walnut. It won't ever be seen but looks cool. I also took the time to mark it with the branding iron since I wouldn't be able to get in there once it was glued up. I always date it, put the location, and sign it. Risky move doing that before I'm done in case I don't like it.

Today I got the carcase glued up after driving to three different stores trying to find either white glue or the extended open time Titebond glue.

Overall it is looking good. The bottom rail and one back rail wouldn't close up like they were supposed to so I'll have to do a little work to hide the gaps. I think the problem is overagressive sanding. I've got plenty of shavings, and can always make more, to glue into the gaps to hide them.

The one picture shows a closeup of the repair from the other day too. Its just slightly more visible than in the picture.

Next up is gluing up the top and the drawer fronts, then constructing the drawers. I'm going to try through-Domino joinery on the drawers. I've seen a couple of examples now and it looks cool and it seems like it would be just about as strong as dovetails and probably stronger than lock-type joints.

[Matt Meiser]

I made a good amount of progress yesterday morning and most of the day today. First I got all the drawers built. I decided to try Domino joinery on the drawers. It was a learning experience, but in the end they turned out nicely. Then I moved on to making the drawer fronts. As I type, the glue-up for the top is curing. I should be able to complete construction tomorrow and get started on the final sanding. Hopefully by the end of next weekend it will be done.

[Jim Becker]

Those Domino drawers have an interesting look. Nice work on the whole project, Matt!

[John Keeton]

Matt, I've enjoyed watching your progress. Very good job and the Domino really is working out well. I had decided to sell by biscuit joiner, and go to traditional M&T, but am tempted to consider getting a Domino. What kind of finish are you doing?

[Matt Meiser]

The finish will be wipe on poly. I used it on the matching bed, table, and bookshelf. I had wanted to switch to something sprayable, but most people recommended I use the same thing on the dresser to make sure they match.

[Matt Meiser]

And today I got the top cut to size, got the bevel cut on the edge, sanded the carcase, and installed the top. Still have a lot more sanding to do on the drawers and then a final hand sanding with 220 paper....

[Matt Meiser]

And after several coats of wipe on poly and a coat of wax applied with 0000 steel wool, it is complete --and with 15 days to go!

Those two bottom drawers actually match much better than they appear in the pictures. There is a slight difference, but nothing like what is visible in the pictures.

[Don Bullock]

That project really came together in a hurry. It looks great too. Thanks for the detailed account. It's very helpful to people like me who haven't built a dresser.