Diy woodworking give you the option of making your own furniture, as well as any number of other woodwork projects. If you are thinking of furniture, picture the wonderful desks, beds, cots, sideboards, tables, chairs and other other household items that you could create. This article will explain a little of what you need to know to make a chest of drawers.
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Download A Chest Of Drawers Step By Step Printable Plans
Choosing the Wood:
Your first decision will be to select the type of wood you want to use.
It is always a good idea to use a medium quality or high quality wood when you are making furniture. If the budget permits, pine, a popular softwood, is a good choice.
If you are economizing, another option would be to select a good quality wood for the outside areas that can be seen, and a lower quality wood for the hidden parts. You might oft to use a veneered wood if need be.
Building the Frame::
The frame of a chest of drawers is comprised of four parts. You can go about building the frame in a number of ways.
The simplest method, perhaps, is to build a symmetrical frame and then add the legs later on in the project.
Download A Chest Of Drawers Step By Step Plans
Another approach would be to use the bottom edge of the frame as supporting ledge. However, woodworkers regard this as a sign of poorly made, cheap furniture. It is not recommended that you go this route.
You can use wood glue to bond the frame together. Woodworkers do not recommend using hardware such as nails or tacks. They would distract from the aesthetic appearance of your item.
You can add a little extra strength to the glue by mounting small L-shaped brackets on the frame’s inside or you can create dowel joints.
Making The Drawers:
The drawers of a chest of drawers are simply a four sided frame that has a base attached and a front piece attached.
Dovetail joints are thought to supply the best combination of strength and aesthetics when assembling the drawers.
Download A Chest Of Drawers Step By Step Printable Plans
One thing to remember is that the base needs to be strong. Avoid using a thin strip of flexible wood, although such wood is often seen in modern furniture. If you use this thin wood, you run a risk that the base will break at some point and r4eplacing it will be difficult or impossible. Use a thick wood for the base to protect against future breakage.
Woodworkers find that using dowel joints is the easiest approach to mounting the front piece onto the frame of each drawer. In most cases, you would take care to match the wood used for the front piece to the wood that you used for the frame of the chest.
About Drawer Slides
Various door slides or rails are possible. For best results, choose your slides before you begin constructing your chest of drawers. The right time to attach these slides differs depending on the type of slides you have chosen — so preplanning is important.
Download A Chest Of Drawers Step By Step Printable Plans
A well built chest of drawers is a woodwork project that is functional as well as beautiful. Your creation will have the potential to remain in the family for generations, eventually to become a family heirloom.
