A friend came to me a while back with this idea of a chest of drawers that could sit next to his desk and hold small documents/sketches flat. He wanted it to fit under a window and be in a pyramid shape with the case dovetailed. The drawers should be dovetailed too and open on wooden runners so I couldn’t use metal glides. Finally, the case needed to be on wheels so he could move it around as needed. Should be easy. Right?

The case is 1″ cherry with angled mitred dovetails on the top where everyone can see them and Dominos on the bottom because 1) they are hidden and 2) the angle was way too steep for dovetails. Ebony splines were used for accents in the front and back corners.  

The drawers are graduated in sets of two going from 2″ to 4″ to 6″. Drawer backs, sides, and bottoms are all in quartersawn maple to reduce the amount of expansion and contraction. A web frame would have reduced the amount the drawers could hold so they are side hung on maple runners with the center dovetail acting as a stop. For the fronts I made shop sawn veneers from curly cherry and applied over the cherry fronts to give them a blind dovetail look.

The back of the case is frame and panel. 

Dimensions: 29w x 14d x 27h
Material: Cherry, Maple, Gabon Ebony, Brass Hardware
Finish: Osmo Satin
Time: 436 hours

A special thank you to Tim Rousseau, Philip Morley, and the staff at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship for their guidance.

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