I want half-blind dovetails set into the visible face panel; not a false drawer front. And it should fit flush inside the case with just a very small gap around. But now that I'm looking at these slides, I feel like it's going to need a much larger gap at the bottom than I expected.

I've never done this before and I can't afford any more time or money messing up the drawer so, I'm constructing a practice box and drawer (sigh). I probably just need to leave space below the first dovetail but how much space? Soon I'll know.

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I didn't have enough for the back though and since nobody is going to see that (plus the drawer is getting to be mighty heavy with walnut + cherry), I pulled out an equally old 7/4 poplar board.

I felt bad wasting it since the final thickness will probably just be 1/2" so I resawed a 35" section which was a MASSIVE PITA. I did it but don't think I'll do that again. ugh.

Rough cuts are done and next weekend I'll try and bring them into the garage to thickness.

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I had to spend some extra time taking off a 1/4" from all around the front edge to get it out. That sucked but I had just enough room next to the first dovetail to get it out and the miters look cleaner now.

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My elephant progress continues. I installed the drawer divider into the case and it all lined up as well as I could have hoped.

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1. Top doors: there will be two that swing out and it will open to show shelving inside
2. Back panels: this will be cedar and I can use my super fun Lie-Nielsen tongue and groove plane
3. Bottom drawer: one large storage drawer. More walnut. I have to figure out heavy duty slides.

I kind of want to play with the t&g plane but I found this 12"+ walnut some time ago and it will be perfect for the drawer face. So I might just get started on that next.

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I survived glue-up but didn't take any photos of that. Too damn big. Too damn stressful so here is the case united after clamps and cleanup.

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Agree - pipe clamps are awesome.

Pipes are not too expensive and you can get more to mix and match and extend as needed. Very flexible, economical option.

I've got those Bessey clamps running on a water pipe.

To make them longer all I have to do is to add a connector to the threaded end of the pipe and screw on it another piece of pipe.

I need help from the #woodworking hivemind though…

How would you clamp something this size? Even my longest bar clamp won’t reach on the long ends.

Something that's been worrying me since drawing out the plans was how I was going to transfer the tails to the pin board because the case pieces are so big.

It took a little ingenuity but problem solved. This workbench is the gift that keeps on giving.

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But it’s single digits in Chicago today so everything is stinking cold. I only managed to cut one set of tails before I retreated to a warmer upstairs.

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My goal was to get the case sections ready for joinery. I’m close. I have one more panel that needs final flattening otherwise I’m calling the week a #woodworking success (not without a lot of aches and pains along the way though ).

I’ve logged about 25 hours this week so that’s about 1.5 hrs per board. These fuckers are straight and true though.

Aiming for a glue-up this weekend.

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It’s edge jointing day! Probably the first of many. I haven’t jointed by hand in over a year so kind of proud to see I still got it.

I was going to joint and glue-up each panel section one-by-one but I think I might do all the boards first and then have one big glue-up. Maybe that will cut down on warping if panels are sitting around for a long time?

Either way, I’m very slow. It’ll be a miracle if I finish this in 2026.

Pictured is the bottom panel of the carcas which is all I was able to get done today.

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#woodworking #dogsofmastodon

But since I already had the face side work done, it didn’t take nearly as long as yesterday.

Except for a few bandsaw rips, this will be the last of the power tools for the build.

Tomorrow is edge jointing and hopefully I can get started on gluing up the panels! Exciting!

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This was the worst of them (it’s a really pretty board though!)

16 boards took me most of the day using this method. Maybe I should have just done it with hand tools like I used to.

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I will still need to buy enough for the cabinet doors, drawer, and back. This thing is going to be really big and heavy.

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