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| Fig. 29 The drawer face is being glued and clamped the poplar drawer front. |
SAPFM How are the drawer fronts made?
HEADLEY I glued up many pieces of poplar into one big block to make the drawer fronts cut it to shape on a band saw and used the cut off as a caul to glue on the walnut front (fig. 28).
SAPFM Could you describe how the drawer faces are made?
HEADLEY First the walnut on the drawer fronts are
sliced off of a 2” thick
piece of walnut 8” wide. This gives the drawer fronts symmetry.
These pieces are about 1/8” thick and glued to the poplar bricked
laid backing after cutting and cleaning up the profile. Then after the
drawer has been completed. I will draw a line, 5/8” in, and parallel
to the top and bottom edge and a compass line on the ends of the drawer
fronts connecting the lines top and bottom. I scrape a line similarly
to the method I used on the quarter columns. I cut a guide and scrape
to the line until I get to the half rounds. Normally I would use my compass
to cut a line for the fine line but with the curve of the drawer fronts
I have to do the lines by hand. I have a tool my father made out of a
small screwdriver, which is about 1/8” wide, with an inverted V
cut into it so it is sharp on the outside edges. Tapping it around the
line works well to make a slot. When gluing in the fine line I leave
it raised slightly above the surface. After drying over night, I scrape
off the excess wood and glue. The reason why I let it dry over night
is that if you scrape it off too soon it will shrink below the surface
creating a slight groove (fig. 29).
SAPFM How is the cock beading applied around the drawers?
HEADLEY After making the drawer and fitting it, but
before gluing it up, I take the drawer front apart and with my cutting
gauge I cut a line
shy 1/8” around the face of the top and bottom edge. This gives
me a line to plane to with my hand plane. After planning top and bottom
to the line I put the drawers back together and glue up the drawers in
the case. The next day I cut a line on the side of the drawer with my
cutting gauge about ½” from the front. No point in covering
up all of your dovetails. I chisel out the excess then glue and tack
the pieces that will get beaded. I cut the corners at 45 degrees. After
the glue sets up, I will work them down to follow the contour of the
drawer front and then scrape a bead on them (fig. 2).
SAPFM What was used to create the dado in the drawer front?
HEADLEY We have a spindle shaper and I used a bearing
as a rub collar and a ¼” cutter which cuts a slot in the
drawer sides and fronts. I cut all the slots at the same time. This
gives me a uniform
slot to use in laying out my dovetails. Sticking in a ¼” piece
of scrap wood in the slots of sides and the slot in the fronts helps
you lay out your dovetails.