The love of my life has decided that my son needs a new dresser. My wife loves Pottery Barn furniture.
I love to make furniture.
My suggestion was “Why don’t I build a dresser with some really nice wood and save a few bucks in the process?” .
I purchased around 50 board feet of quartersawn sycamore this morning from a nearby lumberyard. I feel like I got a fair deal.
Has anyone used quartersawn sycamore for a furniture project?
I am planning to use a clear finish.
I have read that sycamore can be unstable but that quartersawn is significantly more stable.
I am open to all suggestions and appreciate the help. I will keep this blog updated as my project progresses.
I attached a link to some pics of the lumber I bought. One picture is with the flash, one is without. The last picture is some of the boards laid out on the floor.
Thanks for the help.
6 comments so far
a1Jim
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16928 posts in 474 days
posted 50 days ago
Beautiful wood look forward to more progress.
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon
woodworm
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8286 posts in 487 days
posted 50 days ago
Very nice lumber indeed. Update us with the progress.
Thanks for sharing.
-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.
Scott Bryan
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20732 posts in 718 days
posted 50 days ago
Ben, this is going to be an interesting blog. Being able to follow a project from its conception to seeing the finished piece of furniture conveys more information than simply seeing pictures of the completed project. I have never worked with sycamore but it is a beautiful wood and quartersawn material should be more stable than flatsawn stock.
As far as design goes why not let your wife find a picture of a dresser that she likes or use one of dressers at home as a model and design your own? The big problem with this is that it may entail a trip to Pottery Barn and I am sure that your wife cannot leave there without getting something. :)
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
jlsmith5963
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196 posts in 245 days
posted 50 days ago
Assuming that your wife literally likes Pottery Barn furniture it would be helpful to understand which pottery barn dresser(s) she likes. Using the Pottery Barn online catalog you could post her preferences here and that would provide some direction for those who are willing to help. (using the online catalog avoids the problem Scott mentions…)
-- criticism: the art of analyzing and evaluating the quality of a artistic work...
sw_iowa_sawyer
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26 posts in 274 days
posted 50 days ago
I have built several dressers, usually I just go to some furniture store and find something I like and copy it more or less. Original NO but it works for me.
I have built several things from qtr sawn sycamore, in fact it is one of my favorite woods. I have had no problem with stability of the lumber although I cut it myself on my own mill that may be a difference.
I just use TandT oil for a finish and it looks great.
Here is an example of something I saw in a store sort of changed to fit my needs
Here ia bad photo of a cabinet I made from qtr sawn sycamore
Find something you like take some measurements and get er done…..
Ben
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49 posts in 261 days
posted 50 days ago
Thanks for the ideas guys. I am ready to get to work. I’ll post some pictures soon.