HOW TO MAKE A DRESSER and NIGHTSTAND
I picked up this small three drawer dresser and a smaller single drawer unit for use in Carly’s bedroom from Hobby Lobby for a buck or two each. First the drawer pulls were WAY too big to be believable so they were quickly removed with a wood chisel and a mallet.
So I ended up with what you see below.
Next was to come up with something nearer the correct size for a drawer pull. The best I could come up with easily was ¼” hole buttons. You know…the little wood decorative buttons you glue in a hole to hide a recessed screw head. Then there is the issue of HOW to secure them as I did not want to do what the builders of these chests did and simply glue them to the face…though this would work but not to my standard.
So I made a jig to hold them, round side down with the flat back side up, so I could drill a 1/8” hole in the back with the depth set so I did not break through the front. By setting stops on my mill table, once I got one drilled on center (it took two tries to do this. LOL) I was able to drill the remainder quite quickly. Then I cut several 5/16” long 1/8” wood dowels to act as the joint.
Once all the drawer pulls were drilled and the 5/16” long dowel was glued into each, I drilled enough 1/8” holes in a strip of scrap to hold them all for priming and painting…as shown below. Yes, I made two extra…just in case there was an unseen issue with any.
Here the dresser is with the needed holes in the drawers. Again, I used a stop on the drill bit so the holes did not break through the backs of the drawer fronts. Their location is up to you. I simply set two knobs on a drawer and moved them about until I liked what I saw.
Below you can see the dresser still waiting on the knobs and the night stand with the legs I added to get the right height and the single smaller drawer pull in place. Though it is not glued on yet. That will happen after priming. The legs on the night stand are simply 5/16” wood dowels, cut to length with the end turned down to ¼” for about ¼” in length. This is inserted and glued in holes drilled into the bottom…again with the bit set to not break through. I used a Forstner bit for these holes as they drill without the point of a typical bit. But even drilling through is not an issue as long as the legs do not stick through and rub on the drawer.
There is no need to prime and paint the complete drawers so I masked them off to only expose the drawer fronts back to where the actual drawer starts. I wasn’t over concerned either about the interior of the dresser or night stand. Some primer did get inside but it was not intentional as it will never be seen.
Once everything was primed and painted white, it is a simple matter to glue the drawer pulls to the drawer fronts.
Here they are completed.
Look for them in Carly’s bedroom set in my story iCarly:Five Years Later.
Look for them in Carly’s bedroom set in my story iCarly:Five Years Later.