Construction of Chest of Drawers - Timber selection and preparation

The chest is being made from Ash, the timber is English and a mixture of white (for the exterior) and olive & white for the drawers. 

This stage involves careful inspection and selection of timber to ensure consistent grain and colour particularly around the exterior of the chest. Once the selection is made the timber is 'broken out' into more manageable sizes for machining.

The timber is machined to size using a planer - thicknesser and the edges prepared square and straight for jointing with a hand plane. 

The planks have wooden biscuits inserted into their edges for strength and then, with glue are pulled together using sash cramps. All efforts are made at this stage to ensure the new panel is clamped flat and remains true. This panel will form the top of the cabinet. 

The image shows the figure of the wood, these planks were crown cut, i.e. from the exterior of the logs - thereby giving this strong, distinctive grain pattern.