I want to make a chest of drawers with bowed drawers. I am not sure what method to use to make the bowed fronts to the drawers. The bow will be small to moderate, 2″ to 21/2″ over a width of 30″ to 40″. The drawer heigths will be between 41/2″ to 91/2″. I know for short drawer heights of 4″ to 6″ I can use a band saw to shape the bow, but for higher drawer heights I feel this is not reasonable. I have no experience with steaming or laminating. Although steaming and laminating are not all that difficult, I don’t know how much flex back to expect when the bowed drawer front is removed from the fixture. I would expect that different drawer heights would have different flex back characteristics. Does anyone have any suggestions or rules of thumb on this matter?
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Replies
Hi Dennis,
If you bandsaw the drawer fronts from a solid board, you will need to start with some pretty thick stock (almost 12/4), but it is doable even with the 9-in. tall drawers. If you follow the technique described in this article, you will only cut the curve into the face, so if you don't get it perfect on the bandsaw you can go back and refine the curve by hand. I agree that it will be more difficult to do this on the bandsaw if you want the curve on the outside and inside of the drawer front. If that's the case I would recommend a bent lamination.
A bent laminations is actually relatively easy to accomplish, though it involves more time than the bandsaw technique. Springback will be minimal (and you can account for it by addding it in to your bend). Springback will also be consistent no matter the width of the drawer face. It has more to do with the thickness of the plies and the radius of the curve. You can also minimize springback by using the right glue. This article on bent laminations should answer all of your questions about the process.
Matt Berger
Fine Woodworking
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