In the 'Zone'

Making drawers is something I quite like...it's the precision of making several sliding surfaces fit as closely as possible that appeals and like everything else, the more you do, the better you become at it. This time though, I'm following the instructions laid down by Alan Peters in his book, which if followed to the letter, make the whole business relatively pain free and surprisingly simple.

The first drawer I made two days ago went reasonably...the individual sides fitted 'snugly' (as per the instructions) the front and back were again fitted 'tightly' (as per the instructions) The sides were made marginally proud of the pins (as per the instructions) so all that was necessary to make it fit the opening was to plane these down until the ends of the pins were just skimmed by the plane.

So whatever possessed me to plane the top of the sides when I knew full well they fitted perfectly? Like a complete numpty, it's something I always do, every single bloody time which is intensely irritating and ultimately results in a fit that one of these could fit through. The fix though, is simple...just glue another slither on top of the offending surface and re-shoot the drawer.

The second drawer was better than the first as I was getting into the routine of marking out and cutting...it fitted quite well and closed with just a moderate amount of finger pressure for the last 25mm or so. I've just finished gluing the third drawer...I strayed from the path of righteousness though as I used a sash cramp to pull up the joints rather than the recommended hammer and block of wood.

There's something to be said for the 'Zone' as once you're in it, movin n' groovin' and being generally 'cool', things tend to move along nicely without too many mishaps.

The problem here is that I'm more often out than in!