Back in my day, that would sit in a library and be called a card catalog. That was how we used to find books. Do you remember books? 🤪 Seriously, fantastic work!!
I built a smaller version 20 years ago. As a scientist, I understood the need to keep errors to an absolute minimum. I couldn’t do it. Nearly every single one of my drawers had to be customized to fit its space. As far as I can tell, you are not human. Congratulations on constructing an epic piece of furniture.
What an heirloom. Your ability to leave room for accuracy to either expand into or shrink back out of during the construction is why it turned out like it did. Great project, it was a pleasure to watch.
Thanks Victor. Good to know that’s a common method. I can honestly say that my least favorite part of woodworking is when boards warp out of control after a resaw. 😂
Man, that's incredible. One of the things that I've always struggled with is having the patience to get dimensions just perfect, and not rush on and get ahead of myself. Watching you create such a beatiful cabinet really motivates me to slow down and enjoy the process. And man, that final shot brought back so many flashbacks of good times in my university and public libraries back in the 80's, flipping through the card indexes. Nice job.
John this is incredible. I appreciate your documentation of the struggle spots and honesty when concessions were made - I feel like it makes your videos very relatable . Ofcourse the final drawer delivery was a nice touch and fitting positive finishing note. I bet that felt so good !
Thanks a lot John! I’m glad it comes across that way. I try not to be too instructional, just want to give a glimpse into how I do things. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for answering the wood movement question around the 13:40 mark. I believe I've asked you that before, so I appreciate it. Another stunning build sir. Well done.
I appreciate it! One thing I didn’t point out is that I will leave a little extra room when building these in the less humid season down here (November-March).
Thanks a lot Jim. The big chunk of 16/4 mahogany was pretty special. I was lucky to find it for one of the cabinets I did earlier this year and had just enough leftover for this one.
Wow man I’m always amazed by your skills, and making these larger projects in a garage makes it even more impressive! Keep up the great work, such a inspiration
Holy drawers, Batman! That cabinet is beautiful. I can't imagine how frustrated you had to have gotten with this project. That black Rubio looks outstanding. Maybe a blessing in disguise having to resand the cabinet . . . twice. Excellent project!
Ya it was tough because I was so close to the finish line and kept hitting these road blocks. Luckily it all got sorted out and the cabinet looks great.
I have been wanting one of these so bad.. I guess I will have to make my own.. I also want to make a big shadow box I can put all my little antique collectibles, like pins marbles, just little trinkets and stuff. Thank you for sharing
I love the dado jig. I’m building a Christmas Card exchange post box/cubby for my church and so I’m going for 24 cubbies (6x4). It’s an oak outer case with oak edge stripped (1/2”) on pine dividers for color contrast and lightens the weight and cost considerably. I’ve edged all the dividers and ripped to width before running it all back through the planer at one time for consistency. I don’t need drawers, so a modified (non-CNC) jig like yours seems like a pretty neat idea. The case is 10” deep joined with 7 tails each corner. Going to offset depth and cut a Rabbet inside perimeter for a inset back panel. I was looking for a good way to do the dado since I’m not going to cut all these by hand 🤣 and moving a guide along trying to constantly align things seems like I’ll introduce a bunch of error. Thank you again and I’ll DM a pic of what I come up with. I think a trial/practice run or two are certainly called for 🤪
Sounds like it’s going to be awesome. In my first big cabinet like this I used a jig that moved along the board for each dado and I definitely ran into compounding errors. Good luck!
It's been great watching the changes in how you make these type of cabinets over the years as you do more of them and acquire newer tools that make the process easier and quicker.
Beautiful work. I’m not sure what you would fill 80 drawers with but the aesthetic is very very nice. I have one poster in my workshop which is adapted from something I saw in a Arts and Crafts house here in the UK. Three words. Patience Precision Perfection. Whenever I’m doing a tedious, repetitive task, I keep looking at that. It makes me refocus on the task. No music, no distraction, just focus on patience and precision. I don’t have a CNC and my method for the jig for cutting repetitive dados has to be different. I cut small pieces very accurately to match the width of my bushing. I then cut longer pieces exactly the width that I want between the dados. Then glue a long piece, then a short piece (at either end), then long piece, then short pieces etc. I find I get a very accurate jig that way. It might help others who who can’t access a CNC. Finishes. They can make or break a project. I don’t how much the timber in this cost; I don’t know how many hours of labour we used - but let’s say a lot. Despite the capital cost, I always go for the best possible finish which is squally the most expensive. I may have been able to got away with a cheaper finish but, my way, I have less stress and (usually) a guaranteed quality finish.
I'm in the process of trying to make my first one of these. To say it's not going well would be an understatement. For my dados I kept the boards double width so that I could do 2 at once, flipped the boards did the other side then ripped them in half. Looked great until I discovered that for some reason the dados weren't all the same depth. I've managed to 'solve' that and now I'm creating a face frame to cover the hideousness below. I haven't even started on the 42 drawers yet and I'm already getting close to chopping it up for firewood. I admire your ability to make this look easy, but I also curse you for it ;)
Sorry to hear that…there’s a lot that can go wrong with these things considering how many dividers and joints there are. 42 drawers will be quite the handful…I’d be interested to see the finished product shoot me a few pics when it’s done!
Excelente proyecto muy bien desarrollado y mejor ejecutado , una cosa está clara usted es el REY de los gabinetes , nadie los hace también , ya le tiene el punto cogido , gracias por compartir tanta creatividad y conocimientos ,un saludo cordial y por supuesto un gran like desde Narón , Galicia ( España ) 🤓 😜
"but eventually it ended" 💀 Seriously dude, this is an incredible build and a beautiful finished piece. I'm always suspicious of black staining, but paired with the mahogany draw fronts it is perfect
I built a 96 drawer chest of drawers a little under 2 feet on each side and 5 inches deep out of Honduran mahogany and thin plywood with each drawer having a chrome plated solid brass knob. It was for small parts like screws, nuts and bolts if you are wondering. Would you do a miniature chest of drawers like that in a future video? All the drawer fronts are grain matched also.
Wow! What a nice job! I notice there have been some very nice tool upgrades... I like those TSO products they make Festool and apparently Makita tools complete. Beautiful work and tremendous patience😊
Thanks! Ya earlier this year I made a few upgrades to my workflow including a prioritization on the tracksaw. I’ve been a big fan of the TSO stuff so far.
My little St Petersburg FL open garage shop gets so dam humid as soon as I bring a project in the house wood starts to move. I worry more about twisting and cupping than shrinking or expanding.
I suppose that’s a valid point. I don’t notice anything like that on a cabinet which is somewhat locked in place when all is said and done. Now, a table top on the other hand can definitely experience that sort of movement. The one in my dining room has some slight twist. I will probably include a breadboard end next time I make one.
@@parillaworks I don’t know what part of Florida you’re in … but I’m right on the coast in Jacksonville and that means ocean air all the time!! it’s bad enough Florida is already a swamp!! LMFAO!!! 😜🤣
@@BigLousWorkshop Florida is more of a swamp than many know. It got drained in the 1950s. It was quite a project. There's videos here of them doing it. The last time I was in south Florida it looks like they still got a ways to go. It looks solid on a map but in person it's a lot soggier.
7:00 I've never had to do a glue-up like this, but every time I see a complicated one like this, I think that a simple jig to hold those vertical pieces in alignment while the top piece is attached would help tremendously.
Don’t you just love that block plane? I hv about 5 blocks planes and just give all of them a beating! Not my little lee Nielsen ! It’s in a sock always clean & sharp!
This was an awesome build! You should look into India Ink as a wood dye. It goes on super easy, it is jet black, and water based poly goes on fantastic as a top coat. I've used it several times with no issues.
Really beautiful work, John! It looks incredible! 😃 Should be a massive headache to keep track of everything... But it's well worth it! Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Very nice! It was interesting to see the evolution now to runners. I have something similar coming up, but thankfully only 1/3 of this. Can you comment on what you like for pulls?
Thanks John! I’m always trying to improve the design and process. Starting with this cabinet, I’ve been using pulls from D Lawless Hardware. Very good price and good quality too. Hard to budget for a pull when you need 80 of them haha!
