|
|
 |
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
| by:
Ken Tunnard
photos: Christopher Campbell
illustration: Len Churchill |
DRESSER VALET |
| Give
the gift of organization. This timeless vanity valet is designed
to contain the clutter and collections of a man's day-to-day
life |
It’s
nice to give a gift that has a little history to it. The Douglas
fir in this vanity valet was given to me by the owner of a sawmill.
He had the job of resawing the structure of an old roller coaster,
making way for a new, scarier ride. So when I decided to build
a box to store keys, combs, a wallet and whatever normally hits
a dresser at night, I knew this wood was going to have fun again
in a whole new form.
Build the Box
Start by cutting all of the box parts slightly longer than final
dimensions noted in the materials list. I had the luxury of
some wider pieces of wood because of my source of reclaimed
lumber. If you can’t find any stock quite so wide, you’ll
have to laminate several smaller pieces together. Try to bookmatch
a piece with a nice grain pattern when creating the box’s
lid so that you preserve the clean design of the piece. Next,
joint and plane all of the pieces to 3/4"-thick and 3 1/2"-wide.
 |
| Reclaimed
wood offers wide boards that show off their grain
patterns and make the project’s lines clean
and simple |
|
Get
ready to cut a bunch of angles. Cut the ends of the centre front
piece to a 10º angle. The two front facet members also
need 10º angles at one end, and 35º angles at the
other. The sides get mitered to 35º at their front ends.
All these angles together create parallel side members.
Chamfer the ends of the main dividers
on the router table, using a backer board for chip-free results.
It works best if you do this before cutting parts to length.
Now it’s time to cut some
grooves. You’ll need 1/4" x 1/4" dados in the
sides, back and front pieces to receive the cherry bottom. Also,
make grooves in both sides of the main dividers ending one inch
before the chamfered front ends. The small dividers are biscuited
and notched—not grooved—to allow for the bottom.
Biscuit the remaining miters and the two long dividers, then
dry-fit to see how you did.
The bottom pieces must be made
and installed before you glue up the box, because the centre
section is triangular and can’t be slid into place. Rip,
joint and resaw the cherry pieces for the bottoms. You could
use veneered ply for the bottoms, but solid wood adds a touch
of class to an often forgotten part of the project, and it’s
more fitting for a hand-made gift. Thin, solid wood can be re-sawn
on a tablesaw with a thin-kerf rip blade. Pass the wood through
the blade on edge, flip it over and repeat. To make the job
safer, raise the blade a little at a time for this operation.
Edge-glue the rough-cut cherry bottom blanks and plane them
to 1/4"-thick when dry.
The best way to sort out all of
the dimensions of the bottom members is to dry-fit and then
scribe the shape from the box. Work to those measurements; forget
the materials list for this part of the work. Just make sure
to add 7/16" of extra width and length to allow for the
grooves.
Sand and finish the bottoms before
assembly. While you’re at it, sand all of the other pieces
as well, rounding the edges more than a bit with handheld sandpaper,
in keeping with the angled and chamfered look of the project.
|
| READ
PART 2 |
|
|
|
|
| FREE
NEWSLETTER |
Subscribe to our newsletter. Every few weeks, you'll get a behind-the-scenes
peek at the magazine, the web site and the folks who put it all together.
CLICK HERE |
|
|
PROJECTS
