[ditto]

I'm looking to build a copy of a side table I've only ever seen pictures of. I've attached a picture below. While it looks like there are 6 drawers there are actually only 3. Dimensions for this are 25"w x 26 3/4"h x 17"d. It used to be available from Ethan Allen for $900, but no longer. I told my wife I could build the same thing for under $200 (plus any tools I might happen to need :thumbsup.. now it's time to deliver.

Anyway, I have an idea how I'm going to build this, really just looking for second opinions and maybe a couple tips from anyone who's built something similar. My plans:

1. I want the same black finish = General finishes milk paint, maybe a top coat of something else but not sure yet.
2. All popular construction (minus back, drawer bottoms, and a few internal parts likely). Multiple reasons for this; It's super cheap and it's going to be painted. It's small enough I don't think I'll have issues with movement of glued up panels. It's not going to see heavy use so a softer wood should be ok as well. I bought my materials already rough sawn and milled it myself ($70).
3. I have a nice new Leigh D4R Pro, so this baby is getting dovetailed drawers. Since I have a faux drawer "channel" running down the face of each drawer front making it look like 2 drawers instead of one I'm concerned that will weaken the drawer front too much. So I'll build the drawers and attach the front to them.
4. I'm guessing the base molding on this is about 3" plus cove molding.
5. Because there is no frame between drawers these will need to be side runners. I've only ever used metal runners in that case in the past. Any suggestions on how to handle this?
6. Beaded face frame.... Kreg has that nice jig, except for it's at Kreg prices. I've not seen anything else out there. If I was building a whole set of kitchen cabinets maybe, not here. Think I'm going to build and attach them, not done it before. Suggestions?
7. Hardware, the local store I used to go to that had a huge selection of knobs is no longer around. They are simple mushroom knobs I'm sure I can probably find easily but does anyone have any good online sources for this stuff they like?

 

[ditto]

If anyone is interested here are some pictures of my completed project. I managed to hit my $200 budget almost dead on. Pretty happy with the results overall.

 

[ditto]

Couple more:

 

[ryan50hrl]

Great work.....you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

 

[clpead]

Looks real good. How did you end up doing the beaded face frame?

 

[guglipm63]

Nice job. Looks like quality workmanship too

 

[ditto]

Looks real good. How did you end up doing the beaded face frame?

I have both a miter and t-slot on my router table. I used the kreg router bits and a miter gauge with a plywood extension with MDF "face" on it, sorta the same concept as the jig. I lined up my pieces with the cutout in the fence, clamped it, and very carefully pushed it through. I didn't need the same level of precision as my rails were notched on only the one side but I think you could get the same results with a good flip stop and measuring tape added.

The dovetails were a lot more work than I'd hoped with my new leigh d4r pro. Took me almost a whole day of playing with it before I thought I had it setup perfect. I cut all my drawer parts and some of them were slightly off, thankfully not enough I couldn't fix them so you can't tell. I'm guessing I twisted the router base around a little or pressed up against the guide a little too hard. Very picky jig.

The milk paint worked out great, 3 coats with 2 coats of General Finishes' water based high performance poly. I'd planned on a 3rd but after two it seemed like overkill and I couldn't tell a difference on my test piece. I definitely know my next major tool purchase; a good 4 stage HVLP setup. Minimizing brush strokes on the black, especially where the sides meet the cove molding was a real bitch. Thankfully unless you are in direct sunlight to can't see them at all, and this piece is in my basement.

Drawers I put two coats of shellac on. Some people say don't bother but man does it make them look/feel so much better than raw wood. Details are what makes it!

Other than that it's all poplar I bought and milled myself, hard maple for the drawer runners, and Baltic birch plywood for the drawer bottoms and back.

 

[ThomasOSB]

Looks great!:thumbsup:

 

[Gilgaron]

Wow, you matched that perfectly.

 

[rayking49]

Very nice job. Details are excellent!