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Art Furnishings for Artful Living Newsletter
Building the drawers on Pam's CD cabinet
February 2011
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Dear Friends

I've made great progress on the CD cabinet for Pam, in fact I'm almost done. I have photos of making the legs and carving the doors, but this email will show some photos of making the drawers for the cabinet.

Meanwhile, some news items, the NH Furniture Masters has made a great video, and it will be posted you Youtube soon. I'll let you know as soon as it is. My screen set, and dining set of past newsletters are in it. We are planning the 2011 show season, but I can tell you confirmed that I'll be showing at the Home Show at the Hampshire Dome in Amherst March 18 to 20.

 
Curved drawer front
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The upper drawer has a curved front, as will the front edge of the cabinet top. Here I've put my widest blade on my bandsaw to cut through 6 inch wide material.   

 

Sliding dovetail
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The interior drawers don't lend themselves to dovetail joinery the front because the front is wider than the sides, covering the thickness of the drawer slides. I've decided to use sliding dovetails instead. It's like a tongue and groove, but the tongue is dovetail shaped to give the joint a mechanical lock. Here I'm using a router and a fence to cut the dovetail shaped grooves. They have to be perfectly square, thus the jig.  

 

Half blind dovetail
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The four small drawers in the center column do have dovetails front and back, though there is a slight overhang you see here. The reason for this overhang is the geometry of the situation. I had to make an arrangement on the interior to keep the drawer sides from scratching the cabinet as they come out. It's hard to describe here, but it's just another detail to pay attention to in the design phase.

 

Clamping a drawer
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Here's one of the smaller drawers in clamps.
I use a folding ruler with a slide to measure the diagonals. This is the best way to make sure the drawers are square, which is essential for them to slide properly. 

 

Drawers assembled
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Here are the three types of drawers - the top drawer with the curved front and the drawer bottom also in the picture, one of the four smallest drawers, and one of the eight drawers that will hold the CD's. 

 

As always, I hope you've enjoyed this letter, and that you'll share it with friends. I'll send about making the leg assemblies, and carvings on the doors soon. Meanwhile, Abby and I are off for a ski vacation in Slovenia/Julian Alps on Friday. In fact, some of the people reading this letter are coming on the trip with us. See you all soon, and enjoy the snow.  

 
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