Intro to my current work: Changing table/Chest-of-drawers combo

Al Navas

Member
Messages
147
Location
Between St Joseph and Savannah, MO
A WIP - Some of you may have already seen this elsewhere: A changing table and chest-of drawers combo, for a special client - our daughter, who is expecting a new baby. She has no idea that this project is being done; the baby is due in mid-March.

Background:
Our daughter is expecting a new baby, our fifth grandchild. She wanted to buy a new changing table, as her old/cheap one is getting rickety and cannot really be reworked into anything decent. So, I step in and start making this, after LOML asked our daughter to not spend any money she does not have to spend
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. Of course, daughter is unaware of what is happening, or at least she so gives the impression.

Project
Make a new changing table that can later be used as a chest-of-drawers with shelves on the side. Why waste the effort if the changing table would be used only a few months at best?
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Design: Based on a Wood Magazine project plan -
1. It must be 42 inches tall, to near elbow height for our daughter.
2. Around 20 inches deep.
3. Around 50 inches long. The top will be attached to allow it to float on the top board, to allow for expansion.
4. Incorporate at least three, and possibly four drawers, around 30 inches wide, on full extensions slides mounted on the sides.
5. Have at least two adjustable shelves.
6. Light color wood, as daughter hates dark woods.
7. The finish should be easily redone, as it is known that some damage will take place. ==>> Waterlox.
8. Use solid wood all the way around. ==>> QS sycamore! Had to order some, to make the drawers - hope it will be here soon... In the meantime, using flat-sawn for the boxes, but the fronts will be QS.
9. Dovetail construction for the main box - tails showing on the side panels; sliding dovetail for the vertical divider.
10. Depending on how well things go, the final dimensions should be close to those given above
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11. Not shown: Railing, using purchased turned spindles. Still must finalize the design. Will be removed after the baby outgrows the changing table.

Thanks for looking! I will have an update sometime in the near future.

--------------- Al

Carcase construction:
The following photos illustrate the steps I took to get the basic carcass done, with some explanation of the why I did things in a certain way:

Basic design: SketchUp design, using Sketchy Pen Sepia Style in Google SketchUp 6:

Changingtable.jpg



Panel glue-up:

Side panel:

Sidepanel.jpg


Bottom Panel:

Bottompanel.jpg


Both side panels trimmed to final size:

Bothsidepanels.jpg


I had to raise and really secure the Leigh D4 dovetail jig to accommodate the longer panels:

HadtoraisetheDTjig.jpg


Getting ready to cut the tails in one of the side panels:

Cuttingtailsononesidepanel.jpg


Cutting the pins on the bottom panel:

Cuttingpinsonbottompanel.jpg


Getting ready to cut the sliding dovetail sockets: Note the spacer, to prevent the router from tipping even a few thousands of an inch - the wooden spacer thickness was the distance from the bottom of the router sub-base to the surface of the boards, less 0.006", to compensate for the double sticky back tape thickness:

Howtopreventroutertipping-slidingDT.jpg


This is how I attached the wooden spacer to the bottom of the router sub-base with tape - the sub-base rides on the jig's fingers and the spacer rides on the panel:

DSC00177.jpg


The sliding dovetail finished, after sneaking up on the final thickness with a total of four passes:

Sneakeduponslidingdovetails.jpg


A shot of the finished sliding dovetail from the other end - the finger bar is moved back ever so lightly after each pass on every side of the dovetail, until the final thickness is reached:

HowtosneakuponslidingDT.jpg


Dry fit of the sliding dovetail - a little cleanup will be needed on all surfaces to make things look nice:

SlidingDTdryfit.jpg


Dry fit of the vertical divider in the carcass - it worked just fine:

CarcassdryfitwithslidingDTpanelinpl.jpg


The dry fit from a different perspective:

Left-handsidepanelondryfit.jpg
 
Al, that is fantastic! :thumb:

Love the pics, thanks, lots of good ideas and points in there.

The caulk markings remind me I need to buy some more caulk, I ran out, and when I use a pencil, I :doh: myself later, as I'm usually a bit heavy handed and have to sand the marks out :rolleyes:

Looking forward to more posts from you, and WELCOME!! :D
 
Very nice Al, and good innovative tips too.:thumb: I hope the daughter doesn't go buy one about 2 days before you finish the project, (that's my normal luck):doh:

Stu.......GO BACK to Sleep a little while longer.......You "CHALK" First, THEN
CAULK.:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
That's gonna be a beauty when it's done, Al. Thanks for posting the pics and commentary here.

Norman, you beat me to the snappy punchline by about 25 minutes. :D
 
...Is this the 'big' project you've been working on?
Hi, Ned!

No, I started this project when I realized that the baby might be here before I finished the "large" project and THEN did this one. So I put aside the "big" one one.

This one is much larger, by at least 2X. For those who may not be familiar with my stuff, the reference to the "big" one was in relation to a little box prototype I posted elsewhere. I should post that one here, although many people may have already seen it.


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Sorry guys, you are all wrong, I was using the Japanese phonetic spelling of it.................... :rolleyes: :D

Man, I can't get away with NOTHING round here........:eek:

At least I spelled Caulk correctly.................I think........... :dunno:

Sigh............ Nice use of that white stuff teachers use(d?) to write on blackboards with......:wave:

Sheesh...........

PS, who wastes time sleeping.......... :huh:
 
Al - that looks like a great project. I really like that sliding dovetail look and the setup you have there. I'm a newbie around here and in ww'ing in general so forgive the question, but do you always clamp those perpendicular boards across your glue-ups? Obviously it must be to help keep things flat, a problem I sometimes have with my glue-ups, but how do you keep the perpendicular boards from accidentally being glued to the panel with squeeze out?
 
...but do you always clamp those perpendicular boards across your glue-ups? Obviously it must be to help keep things flat, a problem I sometimes have with my glue-ups, but how do you keep the perpendicular boards from accidentally being glued to the panel with squeeze out?
You are right, Tim! Those are cauls. I use them when the edges of my boards don't line up quite perfectly. And even when I use the cauls I still must run the panels through the drum sander some times.

The cauls are made using something thick and heavy (the ones in the photo are red oak), all true and squared up. Glue some cork onto one surface and trim, then overlay the cork with packing tape, which is some type of either polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP). Make sure to take the ends of the tape around the end corners to prevent the tape from lifting.

The glue won't stick to the PE or to the PP.


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For Tim

You are right, Tim! Those are cauls. I use them when the edges of my boards don't line up quite perfectly. And even when I use the cauls I still must run the panels through the drum sander some times.

The cauls are made using something thick and heavy (the ones in the photo are red oak), all true and squared up. Glue some cork onto one surface and trim, then overlay the cork with packing tape, which is some type of either polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP). Make sure to take the ends of the tape around the end corners to prevent the tape from lifting.

The glue won't stick to the PE or to the PP.


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.......and Tim, if you're like me, (not as nicely organized as Al):eek: ...... usually can't seem to keep any dedicated cauls and have to grab some new scrap for cauls most times, just lay wax paper between the cauls and the pieces you are gluing up.
 
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