Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-6, страница 35

The Drawers

notches into the bottom edge of the drawer back.

Three of the drawers have locks with escutcheon plates integrated with their respective hardware. If you choose to include this detail, you must lay out the mortise for the lock on the back of the drawer face. (See photo below.) The lock will have a mortise and escutcheon on the adjacent rail to accept the bolt.

When the drawers are complete and fitted, attach the ship-lap back pieces and move on to finishing.

Finishing

A successful finish depends on successful prep work ... in other words, sanding. I think most unsatisfactory finishes are the result of insufficient sanding.

Sanding doesn't begin after the piece is assembled. It's an ongoing process that begins — in the case of this highboy — with the creation of the cabriole legs. After surfacing those forms with a plane, a drawknife, a spokeshave, scrapers and rasps, I sanded them with 100-grit paper, followed by 150- and 220-grit papers, each grit removing the scratches left by the previous grit. Similarly, every other part of the highboy was sanded before installation, and sanding of assembled parts occurred periodically throughout the construction process to clean up the inevitable dings and scratches that occur as a piece is constructed.

Then, when the piece was officially done, every surface was resanded, beginning with whatever grit was necessary, and progressing up through a number of grits, ending with 400-grit paper on exterior surfaces

It's easier to cut the mortises for the lock hardware before the drawer components are dovetailed and assembled. Here, the author is cutting the notch for the key's tooth with a chisel.

and 220-grit paper on interior surfaces like drawer sides.

I then brushed on and wiped off a blended poly designed for that style of application. When the first coat had dried thoroughly — at least 24 hours in humid Ohio — I sanded again with 400- and then 600-grit paper on exterior surfaces, 220 on interior surfaces. A second coat of finish went on next, followed by more sanding. I then applied the last coat of finish.

Once the finish has cured, I think you have earned a moment or two of proud reflection on a job well done. Like your predecessors in woodworking, you have , crafted a significant project.__

Kerry Pierce is an Ohio woodworker and author who appears regularly in the Woodworker's Journal.

It is very important to select your drawer face lumber with an eye to the figure of the wood. The grain should match and flow from piece to piece.

After defining the sides of the tails with a hacksaw, the author removed most of the waste with a coping saw before finishing the opening by paring the cut to the baseline. After cutting the tails, the author holds the drawer side in place and marks the pins.

Woodworker's Journal December 2009

37