Thought I would go back and revisit a piece I did about 2 years ago.

Had a guy come into the shop that I share with Great American Carpentry Co. He was a client of theirs , they had just finished up a nice addition on the home.

 Steve started asking me questions about the finish I was using on a Elm Hunt Table we were refininshing. His next question after pointing at a highly carved Chippedale arm chair "can you build this" yeah but they'ed be real expensive was my answer. Can you build a chest? "sure anything you want Steve" was my reply. "let me show you some photos, so in my office we went. As I was going through my pics on the computer, Steve pics up a Wallace Nutting book. The following picture out of the book is what we decided on in a matter of about 5 minutes.  I was stunned to say the least. I immediately called Ed to see if this guy is for real. He is and off we went. My instuction was to build it the way I would for myself.

                                          So what comes next but a lot of hand cut dovetails This is the lower case          being done.

                                             

                                              Here is the lower case before the glue up.

The next couple are of the blocking for the bracket feet.

 On to the drawer fronts. These where some big fronts, 2 1/2" thick if my memory serves me right.

 The color variation comes from the difference between a sanded surface and a hand planed one.

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 Next I started on the inside. With nothing in the picture to go by I made it the easy way. I used Lonnie Bird's basic design that he wrote about in Fine Woodworking. Thanks Lonnie !!

               At this point the bureau portion is complete. On to the upper bookcase portion.

 This shows the upper with the doors on before fluted pilasters. To do the crotch mahogany panels I had the Wood Gallery veneer a pair of panels. I gave them a very close dimension to make them and had them save the off falls so I could veneer the bevel that was done on a shaper. I think it worked out great, a nice look of crotch mahogany without the worry of an unstable panel warping or splitting.

                                                        A detail of the fluted pilasters.

 This is a shot of the jig I used with a laminate trimmer to rout the blind fretwork. Still had a lot of hand work to do.

Detail of the cornice.

    Ready for some color.

                                               

                                                       

                                           
                                           

    Just about ready to deliver. The hardware from Londonderry Brasses make it all come together.

                                                       In it's new home.  Thanks Steve

My next project was a Quarter Sawn White Oak pedestal for a bust of Winston Churchill. This is another design by Jim Guy. It also has a bit of brass to be inlaid, along with a touch of granite to set it off.

                                        Here is the basic box with the stiles and rails in place.

 This is the upper frieze that will have the griffins and name inlaid. the tricky part was the way the corner detail came together. The outside corner was only attached at the top and bottom of the horizontal pieces. this was the only way you could have a 1/4 " piece and have a 1/4 "deep recess.

                                                     

                                                        Thats my little finger in the shot.

                                   
                                        This is the mini shoot board I made to trim the pieces.

                                     Ready for stain and a finish. Fluted columns fit the corners.
                                        You can also see the moldings installed in the panels.

These four show some more of the details. 

Marble installed, waiting on the bronze griffins and letters.

I used a scroll saw to cut out the relief for the brass letters.

A little fish glue around the edges and tapped in with a block of scrap wood and a mallet.

Installed.

 Terrible picture had a lot of light coming through the window.

Haven't built a dining table in quite some time. Boy did this one make up for that.
It is in the Louis XVI style  12' 6" long with the 30" leaf in 10'0" without the leaf.
We found some fantastic veneer at the Wood Gallery for the top. The idea was for the table to be 120" from the beginning, but when we found this veneer we knew we had to make a leaf even if it couldn't be used at this home. With this fantastic crotch of Mahogany it was now or never so that the pattern would match with the leaf in or out. This was done by cutting 15" off of both ends butting them together to make the 30" leaf.

This is what I found at Wood Gallery to get this ball rolling. Thanks Barrett.

This is the top with the leaf in but not trimmed to length.

Used a MDF template to finish cut the D ends with a flush trim bit. I also used the pattern to lay out and check the apron as it was constructed.

Here is a shot of the cross banding detail.

 I rough cut the packs of banding then trimmed it to the radius with a flush trim bit.
The arrow denotes grain direction very important to keep the pieces all oriented the same way so that you keep the same color once the wood is polished. If one should get turned it will reflect the light as a different color and show up like a sore thumb. Once the wood was glued down a 1/8 " square piece of brass was inlaid at the dividing point of the two veneers.

 This is a pic of the jig I made to make the radius pieces used to build up the aprons of the D ends.
Once they where routed I stacked and glued them together to form the radius.

                              This shows the template I made to mimic the mortices of the legs

                                                           Now how do we cut that?

I put together a jig for my router to ride on

Next I started on the legs. Here is a shot of my Bailey # 8 smoothing and straightening the tapers.

I took a chance doing this as I hadn't received the toe caps or as the Frenchman I ordered them from says "Sabots".  I ordered them from a company out of California who imports from France. Just so happened that all of France goes on holiday for the month of August. So I waited. 10 weeks later they sent my order... no toe caps. So I call.  Oh those have been discontinued was the reply. When where you going to tell me this, was my response. Well I might be able to find some or one that you could use as a mold in another 4 weeks. Great!! now it's mid October the table needs to be done for Thanksgiving and  I have no Toe Caps. What to do... the only option was to have them cast locally. I made a mock up of what I needed and had A&B foundry do them for me. 

This is what they looked like after a lot of filing and polishing. At this point the legs where  fluted and finished and on the table. The good thing was I knew they would work because I had made the template instead of guessing at the aperture of the French ones.

                            

                               This is a picture of the jig I used to rough out the tapered flutes.

A little of the hand work needed to finish the flutes properly.

A little clean up with my Sauer & Steiner K7 Smoother. and they are ready to install.

         A couple of shots of the table with the apron glued up, center legs installed on the rails.

This is the start of the panels on the apron. Lots and lots of spring clamps to hold the pieces till the glue dries.

Detail of the apron with the brass quarter round in place.

At this point the table is basically finished and oh yea those pesky "Sabots" made it from the foundry. I didn't want to flip the table back on its finished top so I raised it up with some blocks the shop has laying around made a jig to rout the leg.

                                                                 Ready for delivery.

                    At its new home.  Thanks To Gentry and Kathryn Beach for the opportunity.

This is the drawing for the next plaque I had the privilege of doing for Jim Guy Designs and a private  library.

Constructed of mahogany it is a showcase of distinguished guest to a fantastic private library

                          This is a full size drawing I had blown up from Jim's scale drawing.

Here is a shot with it mostly complete and unstained.

Detail of the lower right side.

Shot of the acanthus leaf carving.

This was the first go at it. As it evolved Jim and I changed the design to the inside corner transition.

Here is a pic of the change.

Here is the opposite side with color on it.

The carved detail in the middle.

Finished and installed with the bronze almost complete.

A final picture of its new home taken from the stage where it is hung.

The picture does not do justice to the scale and grandeur of this room.

Thanks for the opportunity guys.