Cherry buffet - finally finished!!!

[Gofor]

Just WOW!!

Go

 

[adowden]

Thanks for all the wonderful compliments. The customers were extremely happy with the piece.

Here are some answers to some questions:

I have already delivered it on the 26th, but I need to replace one hinge so I will take better pictures and maybe some video then. I stayed up until 3-4 am for about five days prior to delivery trying to get the details done except for Christmas eve (I went to bed at midnight). I really wanted this sale to post this year for tax purposes.

Here is a picture of the dovetails on the front of the drawer:

Here is a picture of the dovetails on the back of the drawer:

Sorry that the pictures were a little blurry. I think I had the camera too close to the drawer. I applied the fronts to the drawer because the customer wanted mechanical drawer slides, and I didn't feel comfortable enough to do integral fronts with mechanical slides. I used Blum tandem slides with the easy close feature, and they are really nice. Since I applied the fronts I made all the dovetails through dovetails. I cut the tails on the bandsaw and then marked and cut the pins with a japanese dovetail saw. The hole in the back of the drawer is where the drawer slides attach to the back of the drawer.

David as far as the wedged tenons go, I decided to leave well enough alone and not wedge them. The tenons fit very tightly so hopefully it will stay that way.

For all the case pieces, doors and drawer fronts the finish I used was four coats of semigloss polyurethane with sanding in between coats. For the top I started with three coats of gloss wipe-on poly and then finished with four coats of semigloss poly. I was worried that if I used too much semigloss poly on the top, that it would build up and give the finish a cloudy look. The top did end up glossier than the rest of the piece. I put two light coats of semigloss poly on the inside of the maple drawers.

Amy

 

[GregSmith]

Wow Amy, that looks reallllllly nice! Ditto what everybody else said. :icon_thum

Greg

 

[jerrye]

100+ years from now, in an episode of "Antiques Roadshow", another owner will be stunned to hear "Yes, this is a genuine Amy Dowden piece", followed by the appraisal! :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

 

[adowden]

Sorry Alan, I forgot to answer your question. I used very small pieces of african blackwood to frame the panels. Each piece was .09" thick x 5x16" wide. I cut 32 pieces from a 2" x 2" x 18" piece that cost $60. Once the doors were made and dry fit, I then mitered the african blackwood on the disc sander and fit it into the inside of each rail and stile. Once all the banding was fit, I glued it to the rails and stiles. I made a scratchstock to bead the blackwood. I found it easier to bead the blackwood before I mitered it and glued it in. Once the blackwood was glued in, I could then route the cove on the panel and fit it.

The blackwood on the handles was from NCWood near Wendell. I bought a box of end cuts of various size and made the pulls from these. I really enjoyed meeting Gary at NCWood and seeing some beautiful turning wood. I bought some curly rambutin pen blanks that look beautiful when turned.

Amy

 

[Mike Davis]

Museum Piece!

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Sorry Alan, I forgot to answer your question. I used very small pieces of african blackwood to frame the panels. Each piece was .09" thick x 5x16" wide. I cut 32 pieces from a 2" x 2" x 18" piece that cost $60. Once the doors were made and dry fit, I then mitered the african blackwood on the disc sander and fit it into the inside of each rail and stile. Once all the banding was fit, I glued it to the rails and stiles. I made a scratchstock to bead the blackwood. I found it easier to bead the blackwood before I mitered it and glued it in. Once the blackwood was glued in, I could then route the cove on the panel and fit it.

The blackwood on the handles was from NCWood near Wendell. I bought a box of end cuts of various size and made the pulls from these. I really enjoyed meeting Gary at NCWood and seeing some beautiful turning wood. I bought some curly rambutin pen blanks that look beautiful when turned.

Amy

Thanks!

Did I read in an earlier post that you put wipe-on (oil-based) poly on the inside of the drawer boxes? Generally that is not recommended because it can take forever for the fumes to subside. Many years ago I built a cabinet and finished the inside of the single drawer with wipe on poly. While it could be that the poly was old, it wasn't as good as modern a poly, etc. but, in any case, the fumes lingered for many, many years!!

One other question- the top is a fairly thin (3/4"?) slab and the overhang large. Did you consider a thicker top with a wide bevel on the underside? Though more of a Shaker design element, your nicely done piece has both Shaker and an A&C feel. I think the bevel would fit with the gentle curve of the lower rail. Don't get me wrong, it looks great the way it is, but the bevel on the underside of the table overhang is just something I would expect to see in a piece like this.

 

[ScottM]

Amy, I saw the WIP. You are truly gifted and talented woodworker. Thanks for sharing your talents with us.

 

[adowden]

I suggested to the customers to finish the inside of the drawers with shellac, but they wanted the poly. The fumes didn't seem to be bad at all, but I will check with them when I fix a broken hinge. I only put two coats on. I remember putting spray-on laquer on a shelf at my daughter's preschool and that smell was terrible.

I would have liked the top to be thicker, but at 3/4" one of the two slabs still didn't totally plane up. In fact I made sure the show side was completely planed, and quit at 3/4". I ended up cutting and gluing small patches on the underside 3" x 6" to cover the area that didn't fully plane up on the one board. When I glued up the two boards, it was dead flat. After I glued on the patches, it made the top warp by 1/8". The interesting thing was that the warp could be flattened with some force. I sanded some of it out, but the wooden buttons exerted enough force to not make the warp noticable. I now understand why they say you have to veneer both sides.

I would have liked to use more than a 45 degree chamfer, but honestly at that point, I was in a hurry to get it done so that I could put finish on it.

The other thing that was difficult for me was putting mechanical drawer slides on a piece like this. The blum slides require the drawer bottom to be up 1/2" and that wastes space in drawers this small. The customer really wanted mechanical slides, though, so I did it. The slides are 15" slides and once installed there is 1/8" between the end of the slide and the back of the case. Now that's custom. :gar-La;

I do see where you are coming from, and I agree with you about the bevel.

Amy

 

[TracyP]

Speechless!!!!

 

[Tar Heel]

Amy, this is a truly outstanding piece in design and craftsmanship. You are raising the bar for many of us. You have every reason to proud of your work.

 

[Travis Porter]

WOW!!!

Let's see. 350 hours!!!!!

That is a LOT of time. Would have taken me longer, but WOW!!!!

It is a gorgeous piece. I wish I could have seen the WIP on the shop crawl.

 

[SSuther]

Amy,
Great work and lucky customers. We look forward to seeing more of your work.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

A piece like that should have wooden slides, but you gotta do what the customer wants! Those Blums are nice, however, I have them in my kitchen.

Speaking of wooden slides- I was looking at some Stickley furniture a few years ago. It was produced by the Stickley company of today. The drawers on the bedroom casework had both side guides (wooden guides mounted to the cabinet and stopped dadoes in the drawer sides) as well as wood dovetail center guides. That was the first time I had seen both at the same time.