Workbench drawers - Bottom sliders

Now that the drawer handles are done, it is time to tackle the drawer bottom.
I found a piece of pine wood scrap that is almost the perfect size, I will just need to cut it to length and plane it a bit.
So I started by using the Stanley 246 miter saw to cut two pieces a bit longer than what I will need and I planed them using my Millers Falls #9.

I love to use this Millers Falls #9

I really love to use this plane. It is the equivalent of a Stanley #4 smoother and while I own two of them, I found out that I use this one most of the time. The front knob is a bit higher than the ones on my #4 and this fit better my fat hands.
After a bit of planing I got two pieces, each being 26" long, 1"1/4 wide and 3/4" thick.

First step, two 1"1/4x3/4"x26" pieces.

Next I used a mortise gauge to mark the dado I will cut on them. The dado will be 1/4" wide, 1/4" deep and will be located 1/4" from the bottom of the sliders.

My Marples mortise gauge to mark the dado. 

I just received this mortise gauge today. It is a classic Marples brass gauge, it is very nice to use. What I like the most is it weight, it's heavy what gives a nice feeling when using it. The wood on this one is rosewood not Ebony. I found it for a really cheap price on EBay and it is in very good condition.

To cut the dado I used my Stanley #45 plane. I still need to get used to it, but when set correctly it is comfortable to use. I found out that I need to be careful not to set the cut too deep, especially that mine is an early model without iron depth adjustment wheel (I will talk about it in a separate post).

Using the Stanley #45 to cut the dados for the bottom boards.

After struggling a bit I ended with the dados cut, not perfectly cut but acceptable.

The dados cut in the two sliders.

I would not make a French bottom without a bead on top of these slides so I grabbed my 3/8" beading wooden plane made by Evans and gave it a try.

Trying to make a 3/8" bead.

3/8" beading plane by Evans, London.

The plane cuts quite well but the problem I got was that the scrap wood I used has the grain reversed in the middle so the cut was not clean. I will fix this with a bit of sanding. These pieces will only be visible from inside the drawer so it is no drama.

The beads cut on top of the two sliders.

Next will be to make the dados on front and back drawer boards, to make the bottom middle reinforcement and to cut and plane the boards.