Monday 7 September 2009

Finishing the firewood drawer


I have found a few spare moments here and there between planes and coats of french polish, and have used the time to finish working on the firewood drawer. Other than a finish on the white Oak door - it is completed.

This was one of those odd notions that led to much head scratching but ultimately, I hope a very useful solution. Here are a series of photos to show some of the detail.

One of the big issues was how to keep this from being a huge source of heat loss in the winter. The cavity around the drawer was filled with spray foam insulation when the rest of the room was done. Below is a quick shot with the cover off.



The large red box on the end serves 2 purposes. First, to push the handle into a more convenient location. And secondly to store six, 2" pieces of high density insulation.



With the drawer in a closed position, the air gap is 3/16" around the perimeter of the drawer and 1/8" gap on each side of the glides.




The first test piece of firewood...




... and its new home under the hearth. There is a 3/4" lip on the front edge of the aluminum drawer, but this should be visually blocked by the 3/4" flooring.



And a wider shot to show the drawer in context.

The white Oak door posed another challenge. The door hardware was a little limiting - the door could not be thicker than 1-3/4" and the stile had to be at least 4" wide. I managed to create a 3/4" cavity between the panels to put a single piece of Johns Manville insulation (R5).



The cavity.


And the insulation.


And speaking of insulation - the two exterior walls are now done. Next step...12' sheets of drywall.

15 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Hi Konrad,

Nice work!

Thanks for letting us follow along. Question?

Is the drawer a purchased item or did you build that as well? If purchased, can you give us the make and model?

Thanks again for the excellent blog.

9 September 2009 at 17:54  
Blogger Kev said...

Konrad the fire place is shaping up nicely, but are you sure your not going to cook yourself out of the room with such a large fire place?

Kev!

10 September 2009 at 05:48  
Blogger Konrad said...

Thanks Toby.

The drawer is something I had made. There is an aluminum fab. shop in town and they were able to do the bends and cutting for me - I put it together. It is hled with PEM’s and a few bolts and is quite slick (if I do say so myself:) The glides are from Lee Valley - a pair of their 48" heavy duty full extension glides. I could post some “under the hood” shots if that would be of interest.

Cheers,
Konrad

10 September 2009 at 07:55  
Blogger Konrad said...

Hi Kevin,

We should be so lucky to be cooked out of the room! There is a large double door at the far end of the room which opens in front of the staircase. Plus, we installed a bathroom ceiling fan in the ceiling of the livingroom and have it venting into the upstairs hallway. Between the open doors and the ceiling fan - we should be able to deal with the heat... and if we have to - we can always open a window:)

Cheers,
Konrad

10 September 2009 at 07:57  
Blogger Unknown said...

Good Morning.

I would love to see the under the hood shots. If to specific for this audience, could you send a shot or two to my email?

I catalog this kind of info away until a need arises.

Thanks,

10 September 2009 at 08:19  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting details of the firewood drawer, Konrad. I remember you mentioning it earlier and wondered how it would turn out. It looks great!

Cheers ;-)

Paul Chapman

10 September 2009 at 14:22  
Anonymous JeffB said...

Great solution to the problem. If it is not already on the todo list I would definitely recommend adding some weather striping to the door frame. The air gap around the drawer and slides is less of an issue if air can't get past the door.

10 September 2009 at 15:10  
Blogger Konrad said...

Hi Toby,

I will post them in a day or two as another blog entry - a few people have asked to see them.

Cheers,
Konrad

10 September 2009 at 19:23  
Blogger Konrad said...

Thanks Paul.

Are you going to be at Cressing Temple next week?

Cheers,
Konrad

10 September 2009 at 19:23  
Blogger Konrad said...

Hi Jeff,

Yes - there is some weather striping still to come (good eye).

Cheers,
Konrad

10 September 2009 at 19:24  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Konrad,

Sorry to say I'll miss Cressing Temple as I'll be away. Disappointing because it would have been nice to meet up again and see some of your latest planes. Looks like it will be an excellent event. Maybe we'll meet up next year.

Cheers ;-)

Paul Chapman

11 September 2009 at 09:37  
Blogger tomausmichigan said...

Konrad

I thought Riley was to make the maiden voyage in the firewood drawer:)

Really an elegant solution to the trail of bark and snow that leads from our front door to the fireplace.

Tom

11 September 2009 at 20:25  
Blogger Konrad said...

Thanks Tom.

I am really surprised that neither of the kids have asked to ride the firewood drawer yet. Which may be a good thing - the glides did state they were not for carrying human weight.

Cheers,
Konrad

12 September 2009 at 05:49  
Blogger raney said...

Now that is funny - my first thoughts when I saw this went directly to the secret entrance possibilities.

And my wife says I never grew up - sheesh!

14 September 2009 at 15:18  
Blogger Konrad said...

Hey Raney,

Must be a kid too - already thinking about halloween possibilities...

Cheers,
Konrad

14 September 2009 at 20:47  

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