Project Information
I finally completed a chest on chest for my wife, a project I started last fall. Put it into its final destination this morning, nursing a sore back this evening.
All cherry, no secondary woods were used. The wood was from a private purchase last summer, a widow wanting to rid herself of the lumber in her basement. The wood was not F A S, in fact after going through it for project selection, it became apparent to me it didn't even qualify as number 2 or number 3 common in most cases. There were no full length 8 ft boards usable for furniture due to knots - splits - open knot holes, etc., although most were 6 to 9 feet in length. Most boards had either bark and / or sap wood on two sides, which indicates to me that these were saw mill scrap from the outer cuts off the logs. The boards were air dried, but without stickers, and a lot were cupped with long splits up the middle of the convex side of the board. So I cut what was usable for visible areas, and used the remainder as secondary wood.
This was my most extensive project to date, from a view point of large size and many components. I've made raised panel doors before, as well as drawers, but this time I opted for tombstone doors to add a new challenge and learning experience. I blogged about the tombstone doors earlier this year. I like to add new methods of work and new processes with each new project. This way I'm trying to incorporate the use of all my tools.
All moldings were cut by hand, molding and other planes, of course the tombstones were cut by hand, these bracket feet were a first for me, as well as resawing the boards for the backs of the cabinets. I left some tools marks in various places, to add a note of "hand made". Besides, I think it adds character. I was going to use a glaze to antique the look, but my customer wouldn't approve, she wanted new and shiny. I learned a lot from this project, important things like: don't drill hardware holes in the drawer fronts where no hardware is to be mounted, duh!.
Well that's about it for the description. Any comments or criticism is welcome. Thanks for looking.
All cherry, no secondary woods were used. The wood was from a private purchase last summer, a widow wanting to rid herself of the lumber in her basement. The wood was not F A S, in fact after going through it for project selection, it became apparent to me it didn't even qualify as number 2 or number 3 common in most cases. There were no full length 8 ft boards usable for furniture due to knots - splits - open knot holes, etc., although most were 6 to 9 feet in length. Most boards had either bark and / or sap wood on two sides, which indicates to me that these were saw mill scrap from the outer cuts off the logs. The boards were air dried, but without stickers, and a lot were cupped with long splits up the middle of the convex side of the board. So I cut what was usable for visible areas, and used the remainder as secondary wood.
This was my most extensive project to date, from a view point of large size and many components. I've made raised panel doors before, as well as drawers, but this time I opted for tombstone doors to add a new challenge and learning experience. I blogged about the tombstone doors earlier this year. I like to add new methods of work and new processes with each new project. This way I'm trying to incorporate the use of all my tools.
All moldings were cut by hand, molding and other planes, of course the tombstones were cut by hand, these bracket feet were a first for me, as well as resawing the boards for the backs of the cabinets. I left some tools marks in various places, to add a note of "hand made". Besides, I think it adds character. I was going to use a glaze to antique the look, but my customer wouldn't approve, she wanted new and shiny. I learned a lot from this project, important things like: don't drill hardware holes in the drawer fronts where no hardware is to be mounted, duh!.
Well that's about it for the description. Any comments or criticism is welcome. Thanks for looking.