How can I easily decorate the drawer fronts
Twenty five years ago I started building a cabinet to hold Hi Fi equipment underneath the TV set. It’s made of cherry, the top and bottom of the body are through mortised together, drawers are hand cut dovetails. Then my first son was born, and the second, and the cabinet got shoved into a storage room and forgotten. Long story short, it’s time to complete it.
The photo attached shows the cabinet in the current state. I’d like to make the drawer fronts and the cabinet look a bit more elegant and/or graceful and would like suggestions for how to do that. Trim? Beading? Chamfers? Eventually the drawers should get some brass handles.
Tools available are trim and regular router and a collection of bits. I have zero talent/experience in carving but can make a simple template and follow it with a trim router and bevel or other bit. I have also done some basic banding in the past so that’s also an option.
Planned finish is stain then spray something durable, probably polyurethane.
Thanks in advance for advice!
PS: plastic tape is to make it possible to pull our the drawers!
Cheers,
Bruce
Replies
"Easily".
There are makers of router pattern templates and the specialised bits to follow them that will produce variable-depth "carved" patterns of various classical kinds, including many that would suit those drawer fronts. You can probably find a template/pattern that will echo the shapes of the bottom rail of your piece.
The patterns are made in phenolic or acrylic sheets, with the sides of the pattern cut-outs sloped so that they not only make a pattern for the router bit (typically a pointed cutter) to follow around but also an auto-alteration of the depth of cut. A matching slope-sided bearing above the cutting point pushes the router up and down slightly as you follow the template, as the slot defining the pattern narrows and widens.
Trend used to make these bits and patterns although I can't find them on the interwebbery just now. Perhaps there are alternative manufacturers of such things that someone knows of?
I did once try one of these bits and a pattern, to do exactly what you're wanting to do (put a swirly pattern on some drawer fronts). It does work but you do find yourself having to do quite a bit of tidying the result, as the routing can leave wisps, feathers and similar bits along the cuts. And the results, even when tidied up, still look machine-made.
You could find or make a simpler template in which there's no up & down push of the router as you go along it. This, used with a pointy bit with a standard bearing above it to follow the template, could produce a V-cut pattern but all of a single depth and width.
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You could consider an alternative method, which may not be "easy" but will be very satisfying and will also impart a lot of new and very useful skills and knowledge about shaping wood. Buy one or two smaller-sized V-gouges, make your own template to impart a drawn pattern on each drawer front then use the gouges to make the indented pattern along your pencil lines.
It's not as hard as it first seems. An hour or two practicing on a scrap piece of identical timber will see you get enough control and skill with the V-gouges to perform the chiselling well enough. And you have the benefit of a hand-finished piece. And some new carving skills.
Hi lat_axe,
thanks for your reply. You write "You can probably find a template/pattern that will echo the shapes of the bottom rail of your piece". For me, this is the hard part. What shapes should I use? I was hoping that some of the members here might be able to give more specific suggestions and/or point me to photos on the internet that could serve as examples.
Thanks! Bruce
Hi Bruce,
You have two options really: make your own template or find a commercially made one that'll suit. The first option might mean a little extra work (designing and making the template yourself) but you're more likely to get a very good match to your piece's bottom rail curves as well as something that's exactly to your individual taste.
Here's two websites that you may find of use. The first is about making your own templates and the second is the website of a seller of routing stuff, including many templates and the router gubbins to use them.
https://woodworkly.com/how-to-make-router-inlay-templates/
https://infinitytools.com/collections/router-jigs-guides?page=4
I suspect that there'll be better template makers out there somewhere but I don't personally have much knowledge of them as a) I don't do much template routing myself; and b) I live and buy from the UK, which has far less choice than the USA market place.
In your position, though, I'd use the base rail curves of your piece as a starter to draw then make a template to give the curves to route into the drawer fronts. You can perhaps make two or three very simple templates, each giving one curve, then use them sequentially to route a design on to the drawer fronts. But it would be safer to make a single template of the whole design so it'll be identical across all the draws.
Or buy and use some V-gouges to do it by hand. Go on! Be brave!! :-) It's tempting to think that a router + template will be more "fool proof" than doing it by hand. It'll certainly be faster; and perhaps also give a neater result ...... unless you make a mistake with handling the router. As you'll probably know, just one small mis-handle of a router can do an awful lot of damage in no time at all. Hand work may be slower and need different skills but sudden-death mistakes are far less likely.
I’d like to submit a vote for cock beading. Thanks for your participation.
I don't know what cock beading is. Could you provide a link to a photo showing something similar to my drawers, but with cock beading?
Thanks again for your help.
I want to stress that for me the issue is NOT how to make templates and route curves or straight lines. The issue is WHAT curves or lines do I make, and where? You write: "You can perhaps make two or three very simple templates, each giving one curve, then use them sequentially to route a design on to the drawer fronts". My problem: I have NO idea what design to use. If you can suggest something or point me to some pictures of designs that might look good on this cabinet, I'd be very grateful.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QSS4-MVBNLs
Design is hard.
There are so many. Is there a particular style you like?
People (not me i suck) could proly give you some ideas if you provided a little direction.
O lord...."sudden death mistakes" hit home for me right now.
Yeah...this is a serious point to consider Lo0l.
I have a sudden death mistake (I'm stealing this term, thanks) on the bench right now.. One millisecond of stupidity is equal to six hours of repair work and a permanent scar..
Big ticket item in the "pros" column for the hand tool bois.
sjeff70 - thank you for the youtube link on cock beading. This is very helpful, and I agree that it will improve the appearance! Currently that is my #1 option.
Beautiful. That definitely needs to be completed.
This is something you might not want to do at this point as it wouuld require adding veneer to the drawer fronts. But, maybe it's an idea for the future. Do a web search for "gummy cherry". I recently completed a chest using gummy cherry veneer on the drawer fronts. The finish is Waterlox with no stain. keep in mind that cherry darkens with time exposed to light (UV).
Veneering the fronts and adding a cock beading detail would really dress his piece up.
Simple? Dead Head stickers.... no? I'm not a big fan of routed cabinet / drawer faces (usually),they come across as something you can buy at Home Depot.. I would ,if routing, stick to something with horizontal lines as that would at least keep with the overall look of your cabinet. Parallel lines ,maybe with a box core bit or a straight shank. You have nice clean drawer fronts, easy on the eyes, if they were mine and I felt I needed to give them more pop I would consider a simple Yasugi type marquetry or parquet inlay and maybe not on every drawer even. Plenty of examples on the pinterest, they aren't all cherry blossoms.
Nice work, man!
What a shame it's been sitting for 25 years.
I'm so glad you're going to finish it, though.
I'm a less is more guy myself, so to me, I think it looks fantastic just like it is.
I think if you added some sexy heavy chamfers and picked your handle hardware carefully, that would be *chefs kiss*
Cheap, easy, and fast too.
Edit: I don't think heavy chamfers would go well at a second glance. Unless that's a dry fit, and you could add them elsewhere too.
Maybe light chamfers can be used to accentuate those clean lines.
Another option that wasn't mentioned is the Shaper Origin CNC router. I don't know what your budget is, but it's a few grand to get into it new and 1-2k to get it used.
Used is a good choice, as people often sell their older generation ones that work perfectly fine to reinvest in new generation ones. There is often nothing wrong with them at all, and they are a lot cheaper.
That would let you effortlessly make ANY pattern you wanted and do it faster than anything else.
It's pretty controversial. While I don't use mine a ton, it has been handy and fun to have around. It can do fancy joinery patterns, detailed inlays, and just about anything, really. Just a thought.
The simplest way to make the drawer fronts more interesting to me would be to focus on the drawer pulls. You can find really interesting ones online. You could go brass to make it brighter, hammered pewter for a period look, etc.
If you have no experience with inlaying, I don't think you want to try it on an almost finished piece. Although one thing you could do is inlay veneer (put, for example, an inlaid rectangle into a larger rectangle that could cover the whole front). That way you don't wreck the drawer front.
As for the aesthetic part. it's all about rectangles and curves. You can either play off the rectangle of the drawer front, or try to pick up some of the curve elements from the bottom piece. Think about the two curves at either end -- can you four of those near the four corners of each drawer?
I'm more of a minimalist and I would just go with nice drawer pulls. You can also use a contrasting wood and make your own pulls, if metal doesn't warm your heart.
Less is more. It certainly is. Clean lines; good proportions; well-placed grain patterns - they're sufficient.
However, sometimes more is really more. More interesting things to try; more skills acquired; more time passed doing what you really enjoy doing (creating wood stuff).
Another option, then: some stringing, banding or similar simple additions around the drawer edges; or as a rectangle in from the edges but echoing those edges. A router can be used (down cut spiral bit agin' a straight edge or a simple rectangular template of plywood). Or do it with a hand tool - a router plane.
First off, that's already a nice looking cabinet with good proportions. Everyone's taste is different, but I agree with Lataxe on this one and think fancy embellishments of this piece would detract.
You ask how you can "easily" decorate the drawer fronts. If what you mean is that you're in a hurry to get the project finished, just pick some simple pulls, put on a nice finish, and let the proportions and nice work speak for itself.
If you're not in a hurry, I think simple cockbeading or stringing would fit nicely, and with some research and practice on scrap pieces you could acquire a new skill that will serve you well in future projects, having a lot of fun along the way.
I faced this exact issue with a simple end table I built. I wanted to give the drawer a little character that would not overwhelm the design or the beauty of the wood. I had never done stringing, but found a number of nice articles in FWW, especially Garret Hack's (https://www.finewoodworking.com/2008/08/11/how-to-apply-stringing), practiced on scrap and found that to do the trick.
I like the cock beading idea, which adds some lines and interest without making it too messy. I also like the single stringing/inlay idea, but with a rectangular rather than curved design. I have done this before, using off-the-shelf stringing and using some thin maple strips for the stringing, and both worked well. If I go with the cock beading, how much reveal should I leave round the drawers. I was thinking perhaps 1-2mm, but would appreciate any guidance.
The clean lines are fine and more than appropriate for the design of the piece. Why create an issue where there is none? Finish it and move on.
My wife's response to photos of cock beading was rather clear, she didn't like it. Also, I've now put audio equipment into the center compartments, and the cabinet looks better and less "bare bones". So I'm going to add some metal drawer pulls and see how it look that way, without more dressing up.
The drawer pulls that we like come in two widths. One uses a 96mm hole spacing, overall width 116mm, the other uses a 128mm hole spacing, overall width is 146mm. Which size would be a better choice here? The drawers are 365mm wide.
(FWIW, according to ChatGPT, the narrower drawer pulls would be the better choice. It recommends a drawer pull width of 1/3 to 1/4 the drawer width, so 91-122mm.)
I've attached photos of the two drawer pulls.
Thanks! Bruce
Dont forget to post a pic here when your done.
I'm curious how that style handle will look with it.
I disagree with our AI overloard on that though. i think long and narrow would deff look best.
As I wrote above, I've decided not to mess with it further (though I might modify the trim piece at the bottom to simplify the lines).
I've started the finishing process, photo below. I've done one coat of BLO thinned 50/50 with naptha to bring out the grain and color. I'll wait a few weeks for this to cure then spray a topcoat of polyurethane. (That's needed, because my family and friends are sure to leave wet glasses and spill stuff on the top.)
Next question for the group: where to mount the handles. Some "vintage brass" handles are arriving today in the mail. These are about 100mm wide (4"). Horizontally, I will center them on the drawer faces. What about vertically? The options are to center them vertically or to offset them. I'm inclined to the latter. The drawer fronts are 15, 17 and 19cm high going from top to bottom. So I was thinking either to offset the handles 5.5 from the top on all three drawers, or progressively, say 5, 5.7 and 6.3cm from the tops.
Can I please get some advice about this? I am pretty sure that centered vertically is not a good idea, and suspect that a fixed 5.5 cm offset from the top on all three drawers will be the cleanest and most consistent looks. But I'm unsure.
I'll probably use some double-sticky tape to try it out first, but would appreciate feedback on this.
Thanks!
Bruce