Finished!

[flatheadfisher]

I finished the dresser today and moved it into the bedroom. It was a chore moving it! Even with the drawers out, it is very heavy. I can't pick it up with the drawers in it. But, I wanted one that was solid wood!

My first two pieces were much smaller than this - an end table and a night stand. I worked on this for about two months - just doing a little bit each day. I learned how to use my hand planes and scrapers. I bought my first batch of rough lumber - although I had Walls run it through their planer and straighten one side.

I made several mistakes and learned from them. None of the mistakes were major and I didn't have to rebuild anything or pull anything out. There is one place where I missed some glue and it didn't stain right. But, I can live with it. I sprayed the inside of the case with several coats of polyurethane and some got on one of the drawer slides. A plastic piece got stuck by the poly and broke. I might have to replace that slide.

The sense of accomplishment I have is immense. This thing should be around long after I am gone. I told my brother I wanted his kid to have it after we are gone. Maybe he can give it to his kids sometime. It is really a nice feeling - does that ever go away, even after building hundreds of pieces?

I am already thinking about what I want to do next. I will probably build a workbench that will make it easier to build other things in the future. I am glad to have my shop back. This thing was so big that it made moving around difficult. My shop seems huge with it gone!

Here are a couple of pics. Thanks for looking and thanks for all the help folks gave in other threads related to this.

 

[ptt49er]

That looks great in it's new home! Nice job!

At the pace you're going, your house will have hand built furniture throughout before too long.

 

[Gofor]

Sure looks like you solved your finish problems!! Looking GOOD!:icon_thum:icon_thum:icon_thum

Go

 

[erasmussen]

That come out real nice, good job :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

 

[JimD]

Looks nice!!!

Jim

 

[DaveO]

Michael, that came out great, you should be very proud that's one fine piece of furniture. One thing that you might want to do before you start to load it up with clothes and other belongings is to leave the drawers open, or out of the case for a while to let the Polyurethane you sprayed on the inside off-gas completely. Even though it probably feels dry it might take a month or more to get the smell to go away. If you fill the dresser with clothes now, they will end up smelling like Poly later BTDT :BangHead::BangHead::BangHead:

I have a kitchen hutch that I made for my wife for last Xmas. I finished the inside of the case with shellac to avoid the odor issue, but finished the doors with wipe-on Poly on both sides so they would match . To this day you open the hutch and get a whiff of Polyurethane odor :eusa_doh:


Dave

 

[Mike Davis]

It looks very solid and sturdy, rather modern in design and I think you did a great job of keeping the grain on the drawers lined up.

You are learning exponentially! The next one will be 16 times as good as the first. The world is wide open for you and you are going in the right direction.

 

[Canuck]

Looks right at home, Michael!!!:thumbs_up:thumbs_up:thumbs_up

Sure looks like solid piece of furniture that will stand the test of time!

Good work.:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

Wayne

 

[Bas]

Michael, you have a real talent for this stuff. Great looking piece :eusa_clap

No, I don't think the pride in completing a fine piece of furniture ever goes away. At least I hope not!

 

[skysharks]

Great Job Michael.
Man that will hold allot of clothes for sure.
Love the grain and colour. Can't ask for anything better than that.


MAC

 

[JackLeg]

Nice job, Michael. You should be proud. You'll only get better.

:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

 

[skeeter]

Congrats on a great looking dresser. Very nice workmanship.