Small Two-Drawer Cabinet

This past year I've done more in the shop with new-to-me tools than with building things.  After the last several weeks of working with old tools, I needed to make something.  I have no need for this cabinet, but it satisfied the itch.  It's about 15" deep, 11" wide and about 8 1/2" tall.

The completed cabinet

This is a Paul Sellers project from a few years ago.  As usual, I used some wood that was formerly something else.

The pine for the sides had some very interesting grain (birds-eye pine?!)

The bottom and top have stopped dadoes to house the rabbeted sides.
The sides, top and bottom also have a groove to house a back.
The sides have a mortise to accept a drawer divider,
and drawer runners are screwed to the sides.

First dry fit

After shaping the top and bottom edges, glue-up went smoothly

I really like drawer-making.  Something about the fitting of components just gets me into a nice rhythm.

Fitting the redwood lower drawer front to its opening

Fitting the soft maple drawer sides to the opening

The drawer dry-fit with solid wood bottom nearby

I used 3-4 coats of shellac for the finish, followed by paste wax.
Each drawer pull is a piece of leather stuck through a narrow mortise
and fixed to the inside with screws.

Here are some details of the leather drawer pulls.

Close-up of the leather sticking through the 1/8" wide through-mortise

View of the inside of the drawer front

Close-up of that view showing how the leather ends are affixed

The 1/2" thick solid wood back floats in grooves

The drawer dovetails came out great - what a contrast!

I love it when closing one drawer makes the other drawer push out a bit.  It was a good piston fit.  All-in-all a nice project.  It's good to get back on the horse again after a little layoff.