Philadelphia 5 Drawer Chest

[Dave Diaman]

I just finished up another piece I built for the Philadelphia Furniture Show at the end of this month. This piece is a Philadelphia 5 drawer chest based on a piece in Fine points of Furniture and a number of other Sack books. The first photo is the original and the following photos are my piece.
Once again the piece is built out of some killer figured cherry I picked up from Horizon Wood Products with the secondary wood being poplar. The finish is an oil, shellac, lacquer finish. I did age the piece a little chemically do darken it just a touch and glaze it to add a little aged look. I hope to do a tutorial on a piece like this one on my blog after I finish up the W&M desk I am working through now. For now if you have any questions about the construction feel free to ask.
For anyone who wants to see some of my work up close you should come by the Philadelphia Invitational Furniture show the 25-27 of Mar. If you send me a PM I can send you a coupon that is good for half price admission. There are always a lot of great furniture makers there and even if you don’t want to empty your bank account it is a good place for inspiration.

[Pat Barry]

Holy smokes that is one very nice piece of furniture you made. It is very well done. Love the figure in the wood, the drawer fronts, and the general finish. Question - did you mask off the tails for the dovetails - curious why they are darker tone than the drawer sides?

[Bill Bukovec]

Dave,

Fabulous job!

This is going to have to go on my "someday I'm going to build one of those list".

Can't wait to see more information.

Bill

[Jason Tuinstra]

Dave, very nice workmanship. I agree with you completely, the cherry is killer. And you use it to its full advantage on this piece. Very, very nice! While I generally prefer the simpler form of Shaker pieces, your attention to detail is always a treat to observe no matter what style or period you're building. I think we can all appreciate fine furniture, and your's is some of the best that we see on SMC. Thanks for keeping us in the loop and posting your work.

[Dave Gaul]

Dave, that is amazing! If I even become good enough to produce ONE piece at that level of quality, I will be happy, heck, I'll be happy to come close!

[Dave Diaman]

Holy smokes that is one very nice piece of furniture you made. It is very well done. Love the figure in the wood, the drawer fronts, and the general finish. Question - did you mask off the tails for the dovetails - curious why they are darker tone than the drawer sides?

Pat
I pull the drawers out just enough to let me spray the drawer dividers when I am finishing the piece. I usually pull them out to the edge of the dovetails. Once the finish is done I clean the transition line up on the side of the drawers a little to make everything look good.

[Pat Barry]

That's an interesting method and a slick way to do it. I suppose you tape off or mask the inside of the drawer to prevent over-spray then also. I don't have a sprayer so I would put the finish on with a brush (always a problem for blending and not getting runs and drips) - it would never turn out as nice as what you have done.

[gary Zimmel]

Another sweet piece Dave. I wish I could get some cherry that looks like that up here.
Thanks for the looksee on this one. Gives a lot of us something to shoot for...
And as side note thanks for doing that blog on your website.

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Wow Dave; your stuff is CRAZY good. I know you are a professional, but like others have said, your choice of wood, execution in its use and craftsmanship are beyond pale. Though we hobbyist will likely never reach your level, either due to lack of skill or time or both, it sure give us something to shoot for!

Like Gary said, thanks for posting this great work and also thanks for your website. If others have not yet gone there, its great and the tutorials are very informative.

Keep up the fantastic work and good luck at your show!

[Ed Morgano]

Wow Dave; your stuff is CRAZY good. I know you are a professional, but like others have said, your choice of wood, execution in its use and craftsmanship are beyond pale. Though we hobbyist will likely never reach your level, either due to lack of skill or time or both, it sure give us something to shoot for!

Like Gary said, thanks for posting this great work and also thanks for your website. If others have not yet gone there, its great and the tutorials are very informative.

Keep up the fantastic work and good luck at your show!

Dave, I second what Jeff said. Also, I have a question. You mentioned that you aged the wood chemically. What did you use? Thanks for sharing your great work.

[Brett Robson]

Another beautiful piece there! I too have a question: What do the drawer guides consist of? Is there a feature to keep the drawers from tipping down when extended?

[Dave Diaman]

Another beautiful piece there! I too have a question: What do the drawer guides consist of? Is there a feature to keep the drawers from tipping down when extended?

Brett,
There are just runners and kickers. This is a different piece but you can see how they work.

[Jim Becker]

Exquisite!

[Jack Camillo]

Not bad. A couple more years of practice, and you'll make a pretty good woodworker. :O

[Michelle Rich]

Superb and a delight to the eye. thanks for sharing this amazing piece with us