How To Build a Rustic Dresser

hey guys it's katie from addicted to diy and today i'm going to show you how to build this rustic dresser [Music] i built this dresser using poplar birch plywood and select pine the dresser holds six deep drawers and a large center cabinet with two shelves for more storage i used two inch rough cut poplar for the frame which i ripped into two by two sticks on my table saw the plans for this project however use two by two dimensional lumber which can be purchased at home improvement stores and does not require any milling once all of my pieces were cut down to size i pre-drilled all of the pocket holes with my kreg jig setting the depth at one and a half inches next i began assembling the frame i started with the sides gluing the pieces together and attaching them with two and a half inch pocket screws once the sides were built i attached the top and bottom aprons to the front and back to complete the frame i added stretchers to the top and bottom of the frame for added support as well as a place to attach the walls and bottom of the center cabinet when it was time to rip down the plywood sheets i used my portamate panel cart from rockler to transport the plywood sheets to the table saw it made moving and ripping these sheets down by myself so much easier once all of the plywood was cut to size i drilled three quarter inch pocket holes in the side panels bottom cabinet panel and center panels that make up the cabinet walls i installed the side panels of the dresser first making sure they were flush with the inside edge of the frame i clamped them in place and attached them to the frame with one and a quarter inch pocket screws next i attached the center face frame i used one by two select pine and spaced them eighteen and a half inches apart i attached them with wood glue and one and a quarter inch pocket screws i cut scrap blocks of wood to help me set my horizontal frame pieces level and keep the spacing for the drawers uniform this extra step helps the entire process go much faster once the face frame was assembled i glued and clamped the cabinet wall panels in place then squared them up before attaching them with one and a quarter inch pocket screws next it was time to build the drawers i ripped half inch birch plywood into eight inch strips then cut them down to size for the walls of the drawers i used my router to add a quarter inch dado one-half inch up from the bottom of the drawer pieces to accept the quarter inch plywood bottom i used a 15 64 straight bit for this step the labeled thickness of plywood is not the actual thickness so rockler sells undersized router bits which are closer to the actual thickness of plywood and ensure a tighter fit in your dados once all of the dados were made i drilled one half inch pocket holes into each end of the drawer fronts and backs i do this so that the pocket holes are completely hidden from view when the drawer faces are installed and the drawers are in place when it was time to assemble the drawers i applied glue to all of the dado grooves as well as the sides of the front and back pieces i inserted the quarter inch plywood bottom and clamped the boxes together using dado grooves to install the bottom of the drawer not only has a cleaner look but it also helps ensure the boxes stay square i finished assembling all of the drawer boxes together with one inch pocket screws next it was time to build the drawer fronts i again dadoed the frame to accept the quarter inch plywood face for the side pieces i could not run my dado groove the entire length of the wood so i marked with tape where i wanted the dado to begin and end dropping and lifting the wood from the router bit to form the shorter groove for the top and bottom frame pieces i ran the dado the entire length of the piece i drilled three quarter inch pocket holes into each end of the top and bottom drawer front frames i wanted to avoid hitting my dado grooves so i only drilled one pocket hole into each piece meanwhile my husband ripped down the quarter inch plywood drawer faces on the table saw i assembled the drawer fronts in a similar way as the drawer boxes adding glue to the dado grooves and ends of the pieces being attached i used three quarter inch pocket screws to attach the fronts together i used my shelf pin jig to drill holes for the adjustable shelves in the center cabinet the top is made of three quarter inch plywood to finish off the edges i ironed on veneer edge banding this gives it a clean look in the appearance of solid wood [Music] to finish the dresser i sanded it down entirely with 220 grit sandpaper we added a coat of wood conditioner to all of the pieces then two coats of stain i chose minwax stain and special walnut i let the stain dry for 24 hours then applied three coats of polycrylic with my finish max sprayer the polycrylic is thin enough that it does not need to be diluted to use in the sprayer but i highly recommend straining it to keep your sprayer from clogging to install the drawer slides i used my rockler universal drawer slide jig i set the jig to install the slides at the midway point of each drawer side since the drawers are inset i also used a three quarter inch scrap wood block to set the spacing of the drawer slide inside the jig for the drawers themselves i measured four inches and marked center i lined up the sides over that line and screwed them in place to install the drawer fronts and ensure an even gap all the way around i used playing cards in equal stacks and stuck them around the sides and bottom of the drawer front i clamped the front in place and drove in one inch screws on the four inside corners i used the same method with the cards to get even spacing on the cabinet door then installed euro hinges from the back side of the dresser i attached the top with desktop fasteners which allow the wood to have a little movement with changing humidity i traced where i wanted the fasteners to go then used a three-quarter inch forstner bit to drill approximately 1 8 inch deep countersunk holes so the fasteners sit flush with the top of the frame i did this around the entire outside of the frame then attached the fasteners with one and a quarter inch wood screws i then centered the top over the dresser base and attached it to the base using 5 8 inch wood screws i made sure to have a 1 8 inch overhang on the back of the dresser so the backing would sit flush with the dresser top i attached the hardboard backing with one inch narrow crown staples the final steps were to set the cabinet shelves in place and install the cabinet hardware special thanks to rockler woodworking and hardware for sponsoring this video today i hope you enjoyed the tutorial make sure that you click the link in the description it'll take you to the full project plans as well as a step-by-step photo tutorial for the entire dresser build for more project tutorials make sure you visit my blog addictedtodiy.com also hit the subscribe button and you'll be notified when i publish new project videos thanks so much for watching

Channel: Katie Cleveland

Views: 381,716

Rating: 4.8507462 out of 5

Keywords: diy, rustic, building plans, dresser, how to, furniture, woodworking, carpentry, diy projects, free plans, printable plans, woodworking furniture projects, diy dresser, how to build a dresser, building a dresser

Id: WLin9Rz-hkM

Length: 9min 22sec (562 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 10 2017