Norm Abrams Five-Drawer Dresser

Completed 1989. This cherry dresser is a Norm Abram’s design and is detailed in one of his books. I departed from the plan by dovetailing the base instead of mitering it. My late wife got very tired of wrestling with the drawers and insisted that I fix them. 18 years after completing the project, I installed a drawer guide system. Those guides work so well that you can close it one-handed from a far corner of the drawer.

I wish I hadn’t used those mushroom-shaped knobs…ugly. I could easily turn a new set, but the sun exposure would take cherry would take a while to darken the newly exposed wood to match the rest of the case. I never use stain with cherry. I always use an oil finish and let sun exposure do the rest. The later pictures of the case are from 2012. There is a noticeable difference.

I also wish that I hadn’t done the routed edge that overhangs the case side. I was to cheap to buy 5/4 stock and the lip formed after routing the edge is quite thin. I should have made the drawers flush with the inside of the case.

-- Mark, Minnesota