The Drawer Thief – Willard Wood Works

My drawer has been stolen. Can you make a new one!

This is the 3rd time I have gotten a call about an entire drawer being stolen.

The Similarities

In all three cases the customer had just moved in to their new home.
Each drawer had jewelry or something valuable in it.
Also the drawer made it easy to carry out the goods.

It is interesting because this was in the master bedroom in each home, and not many people had even been to the customer’s houses. Hmm, makes me wonder who did it.

It sounds like a welcome to the neighborhood crime.

Who do you think did it?

When I moved inside the perimeter in 2010 I was welcomed with my home workshop being broken into. My favorite toolbox, Miter saw, and a few other items were stolen. Everything bolted down was OK. The police said they basically could do nothing, but if they located my stolen items they would call me.

A few weeks later, I did not get a call by the police, but I did get a call from a guy not too far from me. He said he found a toolbox and was wondering if I was the owner. He found it in the woods, and it had my business card taped on it. All the tools inside were gone, but I was happy to get the toolbox back. I still use it every day for work!

Back to the stolen drawer.. .

I told the customer I could make a new one. She was relieved to know this. Buying a whole new dresser because of the missing drawer would cost her a lot more money. This was a well made Cherry dresser.

I took a sample drawer and copied it the best that I could. I did not have a router bit to make the decorative edges, so I used a hand plane to shape it. Made the casing, and had to get a wood drawer glide, and installed it. I even had to make the back decorative wood drawer guide. You can see right in front of the chisel, and shavings. Also hand turned a cherry knob on the lathe.

Below are some of the pictures of the process. and the final result when I delivered the finished drawer.