August 8, 20196 yr Popular Post I guess it is overdue that I posted some pictures of my builds. Critique is always welcomed, as I like to learn from experience. The most recent piece is this, The Harlequin Table, which is a side table I built for my wife ... The case is Hard Maple from the USA. The drawer fronts are Black Walnut, figured Hard Maple, and pink Jarrah (hence the name, Harlequin). The drawer sides are quartersawn Tasmanian Oak, and the drawer bottoms/slips were made from Tasmanian Blue Gum. Finish was, initially, two coats of dewaxed UBeaut Hard White Shellac (the very faint amber adds a little warmth), followed by three coats of General Finishes water-based poly (this remains clear - does not yellow the maple - and appears to have some UV protection. It is hard wearing, which is necessary for a side table). The build features mitred, rounded dovetails and bow front and back. Eight drawers featuring compound dovetailing to match the bow front. Drawers are traditional half-blind dovetails at the front and through dovetails at the rear, with drawer bottoms into slips. About 2 months to build, mainly on weekends. Here is the rear of the table (which will be seen through the windows, which run floor-to-ceiling along the family room ... The pulls were shaped from what-I-believe-to-be-some-type-of Ebony ... The obligatory dovetails ... Do you think that anyone will notice that the drawer bottoms run sequentially? A last look ... Details of the build are on my website. Scan down this page to Harlequin Table: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html Regards from Perth Derek
August 8, 20196 yr Author Popular Post Here is a similar piece, so I will post here as well: a coffee table for a nephew as a wedding present. The finish for the wood - Fiddleback Jarrah for the top of the carcase and the drawer fronts, and Jarrah for the base of the carcase and base/legs - was chosen for durability. It needs to be capable of resisting water marks and heat, and still have a natural appearance - not a sit-on-top finish, such as a poly or varnish. Most oil finishes are not durable enough. What I went with in the end was Evolution (satin), a hard wax oil by Whittle. This is a floor finish, and in the examples I saw it looked more like a waxed oil finish. The reports and reviews were highly favourable. I must say, after using it, I was completely sold. It is fantastic! The surfaces were sanded to 400 grit (Abranet), and then two coats were rubbed on with a micromesh cloth, 8 hours apart. Any residue was removed immediately. There was no grain raising that I could detect, however I did rub down the first coats with 400 grit grey mesh. The drawer case was waxed (only) with Lincoln Furniture Wax. This is a shellac-based wax. The inside of the drawer was finished with Ubeaut Hard Shellac diluted 50% with methylated spirits (alcohol). All of the above are Australian products. The interior of the drawer was lined in leather, which was waxed with Renaissance Wax. This is a close up of the Evolution. It is so much nicer in the flesh. Silky ... OK, to the coffee table ... The front, with the drawer (and the agonised-over-drawer-handle-pull-whatever) .. The colour, figure, and those rounded dovetails look fantastic ... Other end ... The rear has a closed panel. At the start of the project I had planned to make the drawer run all the way through, and open from each side. On reflection, this created more problems than it was worth, and so the one side was closed in with the same panel used as a drawer front ... The Jarrah base and splayed, tapered legs ... Finally the drawer ... The drawer stop used was the same design as used in the Apothecary Chest. This is adjustable, which enable the position of the drawer front to be fine tuned ... The 10mm drawer sides are Tasmanian Oak, which I find great for this purpose as it all comes quarter sawn. It is a moderately hard wood (by Oz standards). Plywood was used for the drawer bottom, as it was inset in grooves and covered in leather. Jarrah cove moulding was made to finish. Inside there is an inscribed brass plate for remembrance ... Scan down this page to Another Coffee Table for all the build details, including how to make mitred through dovetails: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html Regards from Perth Derek Edited August 8, 20196 yr by derekcohen
August 8, 20196 yr What Cal said and MORE! I love those dovetails!!! Thanks for the links, too! Edited August 8, 20196 yr by lew
August 8, 20196 yr Incredibly professional. Words cannot do your work justice. Do you have any videos on how you do the dovetails and then round over without damaging the previous steps? Thanks for sharing. Your work inspires us all.
August 8, 20196 yr Love your style. Will the woods on the drawers of side table change color with age?
August 8, 20196 yr Just seems if it is entirely functional as furniture, and is also a work of art, there ought to be a better name for it than furniture. Beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
August 8, 20196 yr Author 7 hours ago, FlGatorwood said: Incredibly professional. Words cannot do your work justice. Do you have any videos on how you do the dovetails and then round over without damaging the previous steps? Thanks for sharing. Your work inspires us all. Thanks. There is a tutorial on mitering the dovetails here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/AnotherCoffeeTable2.html That is the difficult part. The rounding over is straightforward, as long as the dovetails were made accurately, that is, there are no gaps. There is an article on the rounding over here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/AnotherCoffeeTable5.html Note that my website contains a number of build reported step-by-step. I made a couple of videos when I built the Apothecary Chest, but they were done simply with a phone and intended to put the viewer to sleep. They are for the hardy or desperate! The apothecary chest has a bowed front and all the drawers are compound angles to fit. I will post about it in a while. Regards from Perth Derek Edited August 9, 20196 yr by derekcohen
August 9, 20196 yr Author Popular Post 6 hours ago, Gerald said: Love your style. Will the woods on the drawers of side table change color with age? Very good question. All woods change colour. Walnut gets lighter, especially in sunlight, while Maple can darken and, especially, yellow if given an oil poly finish. I chose a water-based poly on purpose, which I have used before, and has a reputation for maintaining colour. I am not concerned with the Maple going a little lighter, but I would not want the Maple to yellow. If one wants the Walnut to retain its colour, it is advisable to add a dye wash. Regards from Perth Derek
August 9, 20196 yr Just fantastic Derek, results like those are something we can all aspire to achieving.
August 9, 20196 yr Author Here is the Apothecary Chest ... My wife and and I were in Auckland, New Zealand recently for the wedding of her niece. We stayed with her brother and his wife. They have a wonderful home with some nice examples of arts and crafts furniture, one of which was an apothecary chest. The orientation of the chest here is vertical, rather than typically horizontal, more along the lines of a Krenov-styled cabinet. I’ve never built a Krenov-styled cabinet and, as far as I am aware, he never built an apothecary chest! In other words, this is a chest on a stand. With a bow-front cabinet, the drawers needed to be dovetailed on the curve to match. This required compound angles .. Here is a video to illustrate the angles involved in the dovetailing (I did warn you about falling asleep!) … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh4_iCVjyhU&feature=youtu.be The other videos illustrate some of the strategies that were used in dovetailing the angles. Rebating the pin board … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rft-mY_4JL0 Preparing the sockets …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WnCX08eTX0&feature=youtu.be Clearing the sockets … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUFUGYsG-t0 Regards from Perth Derek
August 9, 20196 yr Derek, there's not enough words to describe my admiration for your work. Awesomely stunning comes to mind but is woefully inadequate.
August 9, 20196 yr Author Popular Post Well Gene, this is the Lingerie Chest. My wife wanted a chest of drawers for the bedroom ... no, not for lingerie The features here are tapered sides and a bow front. The drawers are fitted to the side tapers, requiring serious compound joinery. There are a couple of surprises The first is that the top lifts up to create a dressing table ... I built the brass stay ... This was eventually lined in leather ... The best surprise is that there is a secret lock to the top drawer. If you can find it, you will unlock a jewellery box (two sliding trays) ... Fun? Details in the thread, "Lingerie Chest": http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html Regards from Perth Derek Edited August 9, 20196 yr by derekcohen
August 9, 20196 yr Author Popular Post One last one for now. This is an exact copy of Hans Wegner's "The Chair". The factory built it with copy lathes. I built it with hand tools. The most difficult part was the "dovetail" that linked the back with the arms .. I was fortunate to own a real The Chair. Here are the two side-by-side ... Regards from Perth Derek Edited August 9, 20196 yr by derekcohen
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