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I designed/built this dresser for my son Sean born last January. Clearly I needed something a bit more masculine for my son than the butterfly dresser I built for Annalise. I had previously completed a couple projects featuring genuine Mahogany and thought a combination of Mahogany and Maple might be nice.

One of the reasons I absolutely love SketchUp is that it's so incredibly easy to whip up a design concept, that I actually draw most projects twice. First with little regard to construction or any real practicalities-just free design, primarily concerned with aesthetics. Then I'll redraw the piece more carefully-and in this case I drew it piece by piece as I would actually construct it. I prefer the surprises happen in the virtual rather than cutting actual hardwood. All that said, I still managed to cut the top too narrow. This lead to the addition of a back rail that I actually prefer over the original design. I guess we can call this a fortuitous mistake…or perhaps it was a sub conscience design decision! :)

The primary design choice that I struggled with was the attachment of the legs to the carcass. I couldn't decide if I should cut a rabbet in the legs and set the carcass into them, or should I simply attach the "walls" to the whole legs? The former seemed sturdier, but I couldn't help but think I'd wind up with a gap somewhere between the leg and the side. Also, as I was tapering the legs, I worried that a deep rabbet would weaken them significantly at the bottom. In the end, I decided to join the legs to the sides without a rabbet-by using a combination of biscuits and pocket screws. This feels very solid to me and the top acts as a sort of trestle for the carcass…so I think I'm good here…at least until he becomes a 6', 200lbs fullback and decides to sit on it. Hmmm. What do you think?

This shows the legs with the opposing biscuit slots…for some strength, though primarily for alignment during glue up. Screw pockets were cut in the sides to reinforce this joint.
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Here's the glue-up of the top, with visible Mahogany splines in the corners…
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I was also very concerned about the wide beveled maple edging around the top. I hadn't mitered such a wide/thick piece before and felt certain that they wouldn't come together. Thankfully, I was very wrong. By some miracle I managed to get the corners nice and tight. It helps that there were only 3 sides.

The mahogany was finished with a red mahogany stain topped with a "American Cherry" gel stain. The top coat is a satin water-based poly.

If you're interested, there are more photos detailing the construction at my blog.

Gallery

Comments

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Gorgeous work! Welcome to Lumberjocks.
 

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I like what you've done . I have tried the sketchup program without much luck . I'm glad to see someone can get great result from it .
 

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I want to get better with Sketchup. I think your approach to design really make sense. I really like the contrasting woods. Are the 3 little squares on top simple inlays or do they serve some other function?
 

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Thanks, all!

SketchUp takes some effort but for me it's the easiest CAD software there is. The "follow me" tool makes short work of intricate moldings which I've used for bar rail and door moldings in the past (I'll post those at some point). I saw a really cool blog entry this morning by Brad_nailer detailing how to use it to draw a raised panel door.

Roger - Yeah…just decorative inlays. Since I did the butterflies on my daughter's crib/dresser, I figured I needed to do something for my son as well. Since I wanted a simple, modern and masculine look for the piece, I settled on the squares. I used curly maple and oriented the grain diagonally on the outside 2 and vertically in the middle piece for interest. I echoed this pattern of inlays in the crib I built for him (which I'll post in the near future).
 

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Patrick, that's a pretty impressive piece. Thanks for posting construction detail as well.
 

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pretty impressive indeed. A beautiful piece of furniture that he'll have forever
 

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SMACK! That is a nice looking piece!
 

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So pretty…...... nice job.
 

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I would love to do work like that some day. Beautiful job. That will be an heirloom to be treasured for many generations.
 

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Very nice indeed Patrick.
 

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Gem of a piece. Thanks for letting us get a look at it.
 

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beautiful dresser. mahogany and maple together gives it a modern look.
 

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Very striking look. Great job Patrick.
 

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Sweeeeeeetttt!
 

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Really great work!!
 

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Beautiful work Patrick. Congrats on the new boy.
 

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Great colour combinations.
I usually use a Victorian mahogany stain, but I think I'll try the red mahogany. I.ve got some mahogany and some maple - could make a good box.
 
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