Mid-Century Nightstand with Hexagon Patterned Drawers

today i'll show you how i made this mid-century nightstand with 3D hexagon pattern drawers i'll walk you through everything from making the carcass the base the drawers the slides the drawer faces and how to get this deep black finish without hiding the grain this nightstand i'm using rough sawn ashwood mostly because the grain will really pop with the finish i plan to use but also mainly because i've never worked with ash before i'll use a total of four six quarter eight foot long boards i cut each board into four sections to make it easier for milling i start by running each board on the jointer a few times until the face is nice and flat i then flip the board upwards with the flat side running along the fence to get a nice square edge after that it's over to the planer where i run all my boards through flat side down to make all the boards parallel and flat at this point i'm just taking off enough to make it flat without worrying about the thickness i want three quarter inch boards to build the nightstand's carcass so here i'm resawing the boards on my bandsaw aiming for slightly over three quarters at this point in order to allow for additional milling i'll also be able to use the leftover pieces for the drawers later on for now i'm just going to work with the thicker pieces to make the carcass so i'll save these other pieces for later the bandsaw left some marks on the board so i'll clean those up using my planar and get them all to equal thickness i can then rip down all the boards to an even width which is the last step before gluing up the panels moving on to the glue up now's the perfect time to talk about the sponsor of this video and that's Bessey Tools you've seen me use Bessey clamps in many of my videos and you know how much i love these parallel clamps but they've got a whole lineup of quality clamps to choose from i'll leave links in the description below for all the clamps that i use so be sure to check those out here you saw me just making sure to alternate the grain rings to avoid any potential cupping my clamping process for these panels is to add a generous amount of glue and lightly tighten the clamps and if i feel it's necessary i'll add some mini f-clamps at the seams to keep them all aligned before going back to fully tighten the clamps after letting the panels dry i use a scraper to remove any glue before running them through the planer you'll notice that the panel just fits into my planner and that was due to careful planning on my part i ran each panel through on both sides until i reached the final thickness of three quarters of an inch i then sanded the boards to 120 grit before moving on to the next step which is squaring up the boards and cutting the beveled edges my crosscut sled isn't big enough to support my panels so i have this piece of plywood here that i'll use as a support i want to first square up one side of the panel so i can use that as a reference edge up against my fence with that done i tilted my blade to 45 degrees then with the squared edge up against the fence i could make the first bevel cut after that i could flip it around and cut the second bevel and cut the board to its final size before assembly i'm going to cut a small groove at the back of the panels just 1 8 of an inch deep to accommodate the back panel you can do this after assembly but i find it easier to do beforehand with that done i laid out the panels in a row so i could mark for the biscuits i'll be using for assembly i find that biscuits make it much easier to assemble mitered carcasses not to mention they add strength to an otherwise weak joint fyi i'm using the smallest setting here number zero anything bigger and you'll punch through the board i made three biscuit slots on both ends of each board then grab my strap clamp and got ready for the glue up the glue up was a little nerve-wracking but using a strap clamp to hold everything together while i added parallel clamps and squeezed the joints together was like having an extra set of hands i read an article in the woodworkers guild of america that tested various wood glues for open time and the winner was elmer's glue all believe it or not with 37 minutes of open time so i decided to go with that and give myself plenty of time here i'll leave a link to that specific glue and the article down below once dry i used my router with a small round over bit to help make the miter joints disappear i then sanded away any tool marks left by the router and in the end i was really happy with the result at this point i cut a back panel to size out of 1 8 plywood and did a test fit i'll come back later to secure it with brad nails but first i want to apply my finish so let's get to that if you follow me on instagram you'll have seen me apply this black finish it's not stain it's not paint it's called india ink and it's used mostly in calligraphy but it can also be used to ebonize wood i'll leave a link to the one i used down below i applied it just like paint using a foam brush with even strokes then just let it dry i only applied one coat and that was enough the beauty is that unlike paint it leaves the grain visible and in my opinion looks really really good after it was dry i applied a wipe on clear coat finish and here i'm just buffing it out i was worried that the ink might rub off and it did a tiny bit but nothing to affect the finish i'll let that dry and move on to the base so here's a prototype of the base that i mocked up out of scrap plywood and hot glue i like the overall look and size so i'll go ahead and make one out of ash the advantage of making a prototype is you can use it as a template as i'm doing here i set my miter gauge to 10 degrees and then i'll essentially cut the top and bottom angles of the legs with that done i'll grab my tapering jig oh and by the way i have a video on how to build this simple jig if you're interested i used my template piece to set up the jig just right with the edge flushed with the side of the jig so now i can drop in my blank and lock it down here's a better view from the back now you'll see in the next shots that i'm getting some burning on the wood and i think that's because i was going way too slow on these cuts you can't tell because i've sped up the footage quite a bit but i'm fairly confident that's why i'm seeing those burn marks not to worry i'll be able to clean those up with my sander later on so after cutting the legs i decided to use one of them to set the angle on my miter saw to cut the stretcher that'll connect the legs in hindsight i'm not sure this was the best design i think i should have cut the top part of the leg so that the stretcher connected at 90 degrees but in any case after confirming the angle was right with a test piece i moved on to cutting the stretchers all right so here's the base upside down but before assembling it i want to cut the slots i'll use to attach the base to the carcass i'll use zed clips for this in order to allow for wood movement in order to figure out the distance for the slot i cut a few test pieces until the z-clip was parallel to the slot when screwed down this is a little tip i learned from jay bates and it essentially ensures that the piece will be able to move freely with the seasons is it zed-clips or zee-clips? hey, i'm Canadian. with the slots cut i moved on to assembling the base and for this i'll use dowels i first made two lines perpendicular to the joint ensuring my dowels would fit without poking through i then used my dowel jig to drill all the holes assembly was pretty straightforward applying glue in the holes and to the surface areas as well because the legs are on an angle though i used the offcuts with some double-sided tape to hold them in place and make it easier to clamp the legs once dry i sanded it all down nice and smooth and here you can see those slots i made for the z clips i'll use i laid out the base and made some more dowel holes in order to finish assembly i added some glue and let it dry before sanding it some more and applying india ink just as before and added a clear coat on top of that after the finish had dried it was time to attach the base i flipped over the carcass and centered the base in retrospect using these zed clips probably wasn't necessary given the small footprint of the base i probably could have just screwed it down it's not like a large table that's likely to expand and contract with the seasons for that you need to use these sort of clips to allow for the wood to move without splitting but in any case i finished screwing it down and with that we have the frame complete now's a good time to insert the back panel that i also stain black and that'll secure simply using a few brad nails all right at this point i want to get started on the hexagon pattern drawer fronts for this i'll use the leftover pieces from the resawing i did earlier on i don't really care about the thickness in fact i'm counting on them being different so i'll end up with a 3d pattern which i think will look really cool to cut the hexagons i'm using my hexagon cutting jig i have a video that shows you how to make this jig and how to use it and you can watch that by hitting the link in the top right corner of your screen this jig was made to cut hexagons with 2 inch sides so roughly 4 inches wide but you could make one to cut hexagons any size after the first cut is made and the stop is clamped back into place you simply rotate the piece clockwise as you go until you have a perfect hexagon it's super easy to use and what i love about this jig is that you get consistent results no matter how you lay them out it's always a perfect nice tight fit to glue up these hexagons and make them into drawer fronts i cut a piece of backer board from 1 8 ply and then laid out the hexagons into a pattern that i liked you'll notice two pieces with blue tape and that's so i'll remember not to glue those ones down for now i'll just hold them in place using double sided tape i want to be able to remove them later since they'll be used as dryer pools that'll make more sense later to glue these up and make sure all the joints stay tight i'm going to do it in small batches one ring at a time i'll start with the inner ring applying some glue to each piece then use some bottles i have on hand to act as clamps while it dries and pushing the other pieces against the sides to help keep everything tight once that dries i'll work my way out one section at a time until all the pieces are glued down after it dried i use my track saw to square up the board on one side then with the help of a square i lined up my track to cut a perpendicular edge with one corner squared up i could take it over to the table saw and square up the other sides once all the sides were squared i could start cutting it down to its final dimensions now here's where i realized my mistake when i glued down the hexagons i only applied glue to the center because i wanted to avoid squeeze out on the edges but because of that when trimming the board here you'll see that the little corners come loose and become a serious kickback hazard not good luckily i noticed it and was able to safely finish the cut and then glue those little bits back on and do one more final clean cut all right i'll put this aside for now and get to work on the dryers i'm keeping it simple and using plywood to make the drawers very mid-century i know half inch would have been ideal but i had three quarter on hand so i went with that after cutting all the sides i moved over to my homemade router table i'm going to make a dado into the sides of the drawers and use wooden drawer slides i used a three-quarter inch straight bit for this and raised the bit progressively until the data was about 3 8 deep you could also do this on the table saw with a dado stack to assemble the drawers i'm again keeping it simple and using pocket holes after making the holes with my pocket jig i applied some glue and with the help of a few bessie trigger clamps to keep all the parts aligned i assembled the box with some pocket screws next i cut a thin piece of ply that i'll add to the bottom i grabbed my nail gun applied a bead of glue and drove in some brad nails to secure the bottom and with that we have two dryers and it's time to move on to the dryer slides as i mentioned before i decided wooden slides would be more fitting for this nightstand than metal ones so i cut the slides out of some scrap maple i had on hand the idea was to get a snug fit with no side to side play but with enough room for the slide to do just that slide back and forth i pre-drilled and countersunk the slides then used a spacer to set the slide in space and transfer the pilot holes to the carcass i could then screw the slides in place making sure the screw heads were flush beneath the surface i installed the other side and tested the fit then installed the upper drawer using the same method i'll come back later and add some paste wax to the slides to keep the drawers moving smoothly with that done it's back to the dryer fronts where we left off i can now cut my top dryer to size now if you remember i didn't glue down the piece with the blue tape and that's because i'm going to create a void here that will act as a dryer pool i use my bandsaw to help remove most of the plywood getting close to the hexagons without touching them i could then use a router with a flush trim bit and bottom guide to remove any leftover material a little sanding and this will be good to go when came time to cut the bottom jar i was disappointed to realize i had made a mistake and my bottom jar wouldn't be the same size as my top one i had based my dimensions on my sketchup model but my hexagons turned out to be a bit bigger which threw everything off if i were to do it again i'd make the drawer fronts first then use that to figure out the carcass dimensions and not the other way around like i did it i tested the fit for the drawer front using playing cards to get the spacing even working with gravity i started with the bottom drawer and was able to get a small clamp on to hold the front in place allowing me to pull out the drawer i made some pilot holes and secured the dryer front using some screws i again use the cards to position the top drawer with even spacing then use the clamp to hold it tight so i could remove it and secure the front with some screws all that's left now is to add a clear coat finish to the dryer fronts and this project's a wrap hey i hope you liked this video and if you did please give it a thumbs up and if you're not already subscribed to the channel i'd love to have you so be sure to hit that subscribe button and tap the bell so you'll get notified when i post a new video and let me know what you think in the comments down below until next time thanks for watching see you soon

Channel: DIY Montreal

Views: 60,579

Rating: 4.9842949 out of 5

Keywords: Mid century nightstand with hexagon patterned drawers, Mid century nightstand, Nightstand build, How to build a nightstand, Patterned drawers, Hexagon, Hexagon pattern drawers, Wooden drawer slides, Midcentury nightstand, Mid century furniture, DIY, DIY Montreal, Woodworking, Nightstand, Night stand, Bessey, Ash wood, India ink, Mid century nightstand DIY, Mid-century modern, Bedside table, Nightstand with drawers, how-to, Z-clips, DIY mid century nightstand, DIY nightstand

Id: dgR8AwBmx7w

Length: 15min 32sec (932 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 30 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/dromedarian]

ok that looks amazing but...

drarrrs.

[u/greysuitandnavytie]

That looks awesome

[u/LadyCheeseWater]

I love the Québécois accent. Very nicely done, with an sweet shop set up.

[u/attheofficethrowaway]

Great work. But I'm watching this and running a tally in my head of the cost of equipment used. Annnnd I lost count. God damn I wanna see this whole shop.

[u/DiyTechHub]

wow it's looking great

[u/Growlersurfer]

Beautiful. You’re very talented and the attention to detail while crafting is amazing. Can’t wait to have a shop like yours some day.

[u/youchannarath]

i like it so much it is very good look

[u/Pixel_Bot]

Super cool! How long did that take you?