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[Scott Peterson]

Here are some photos of the furniture...  This is a tradition I started with our son - making furniture for the nursery before the baby's arrival. 

[Canuck]

VERY NICE WORK!!!  I especially like your 'feet detail', where did you get the inspiration for them?  Also let us in on your joinery methods, looks like an incredible amount of work, and the African Mahogany looks spectacular, you're one talented 'Cabinetmaker/Puzzlemaker'

[Scott Peterson]

Hi John!  Thanks for the compliments. 

Actually, the inspiration came from my wife - and an upper-end furniture store here.  She looked at all that they had, and got one print-out with a photo of the dresser.  She came home with this and some overall measurements of the pieces - and I took it from there.  I designed the furniture at work during lunches and made pieces as I had them designed in the evenings.

Actually - this project went faster than any of the others I have tackled before.  I think I worked on cutting and assembling for about 5 weeks (vs. something like 3-4 months for the 3 pieces I made before our son was born).

You asked about joinery - and I got a chuckle from that.  I used to have a jointer, but was unimpressed with it for making square sticks.  So, I sold it!  Mainly, I rip a square(ish) edge on the boards on the tablesaw and glue them up!  For the sides, I use a shallow mortise and tendon method - the panels are 1/4" thick and seat in the groove, along with the tendons top and bottom.  The top drawer faces on the dresser were made with a raised panel router bit set - except I skipped the raised panel and just used the rain & stile bits.  The panel in the drawer faces is flat. 

The bookshelf without a back panel is the only place where I think I did anything interesting with the joinery - to make sure it won't rack side to side.  Even here - I just use some shallow mortise and tendons, some pocket screws, and a panel behind the drawer.  Incorporating the top and the fixed shelf on the bottom is really enough (if done right) to keep it solid.

All the curves were the biggest challenge.  I cut the feet on the bandsaw - just like a cabriole leg would be made.  Then I used a drum sander chucked in a handheld drill to round it all out and make it smooth.  Lots of elbow grease there!

[Robert Yarger]

Scott,

Excellent work, and it is about time you sent us some pictures.  Looks like you did a top notch job.  Did you burn your name into the back of them?  If not, you should do so because it looks like they will still be around for your children's children. Do they smell like mohogany when you open the drawers? 

I also prefer a tablesaw to a jointer.

Now you can take a short break and then get back to makeing puzzles (that is unless John has fuly brainwashed you into turnig pens

[Canuck]

Trust me Robert, there's no need for Scott to 'burn' his name on the back of his furniture, years from now 'fine furniture experts' will easily be able to distinguish his work much like 'Hepplewhite', 'Chippendale' etc....

[Scott Peterson]

Thanks guys - I will sign them though...  Not sure if any more than our children will be named after me - but that is OK by me!

I made the drawers out of oak, but this mahogany didn't have a very distinct smell to me.  Maybe I have an uneducated nose...   

I actually took my short break last week - and plan to get back into the puzzles on Monday evening!  I have a new puzzle to make and a new idea of my own to try too.  My idea involves a lathe too - so some of the brainwashing has sunk in I'm afraid!   

[Robert Yarger]

John,

You bring up an interesting point.  I watch Antiques Roadshow, and people do have a good idea about who built things hundreds of years ago. 

Scott,

Oak is an excellent choice for the drawers.   I assume you used dovetails. 

For me, mohogany has a very distinct medicinal aroma to it.  Strangely, when I sniff the wood, it really is not as much of a smell as it is a faint taste in the upper back part of my throat.  It is more of a smell/taste because it is sort of a mergeing of the two senses.  It is one of the few woods that do that to me.  It is also the only wood I know of that will make my tongue numb if I lick it.  (Yes, I taste my woodstock from time to time.)

[Canuck]

'Woodstock', okay now I get it! Although I didn't think you were old enough to attend 'woodstock'

[Phil Tomlinson]

Nice looking pieces there Scott!

Curious about your finish, seeing as I just got through with a two-day session with finishing guru Bob Flexner here, sponsored by the local woodworking club and Woodworking Magazine. 

[Scott Peterson]

Thanks Phil!

Your finishing class sounds really interesting.  I have read a fair bit about finishing and tried a lot on my own too.  My technique isn't really anything special.  I break the first rule of never using a foam brush with polyurethane, but I have learned to let it flow out of the foam brush much like the experts describe for using a badger hair brush.  I have a nice badger brush - but I really hate cleaning brushes, so I always come back to the foam throw-aways. 

  I think the biggest thing that helped me in finishing is to stop thinking I am painting with varnish.  I use a minimal number of really slow and light strokes to cover the whole surface, then leave it alone.  I sand between coats, so it's the final coat that really matters - as long as I get the previous ones flattened down (removing bumps and bubbles).  After first applying the poly to the surface, I go over again with a really light touch to make sure there are no drips or runs.  I also look at in a glancing light to really examine for runs too - just to be sure.

I REALLY like the wipe-on polyurethane - I used this for the first time on this project, for the final coats on the tops.  Those turned out better than ever before for me.

EDIT:
Robert - I did use half-blind dovetails on the drawer boxes.  I have never tasted any of the woods, but I have experienced what you describe as a combining of the taste ans smell senses in the back of my throat.  That is an excellent way to describe it, I wouldn't have been able to put that into words as well.  Maybe I'll take a lick sometime - when my wife and son aren't looking!     

[Robert Yarger]

As just a thought (and maybe I am insane), but I have old polyurethane that has completely dried in the bottom of the can.  Perhaps it is too fragile, but it looks like chunks of amber and possibly could be turned into a pen.

[Canuck]

Hey Robert send me the old poly(amber) and I'll give it a go!

[Phil Tomlinson]

Without getting into the rant the Bob Flexner does (sheesh!), I'll say that wiping on polyurethane is fine.  You can wipe on any varnish (polyurethane or alkyd), using anything from foam to ox-hair.  The key is in the leveling and drying time.  Thinning with naphtha gets the quickest flash/dry but that also means there is less time for the finish to lose all the brush/wipe marks. So if you are careful to wipe pretty quickly, you can avoid a lot of dust settling in a wet coat. 

Rubbing out the finish at the end is also important--he recommends everything from #600  wet-dry paper to 0000 steel wool to non-woven pads and or pumice.  The vehicle for rubbing makes a lot of difference in the cutting speed of the abrasive--wax and mineral oil being the slowest, and water being the coarsest/fastest.  And he recommends a light coat of siliconized wax to finish.