Two White Oak Dressers

[John TenEyck]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. If you could see them in person, Art, I think you would find very little fault. I made them for a couple who are as anal as anyone I have ever met - both of them. I had done a little work for them a few months prior and when I delivered that piece the first thing the guy did was ask if I had felt on the feet of the table. Why yes, I do - because I just knew they would be concerned about scratching the factory new looking 10 year old hardwood floor. They have a kitchen that looks like House Beautiful - and never gets used. The beds are made better than in a hotel. There's nothing and I mean nothing out in the bathroom, nor water spots in the shower. Get the picture? So I knew I had to do some very good work to please them. The only hiccup was a little ding in the finish on an edge of a drawer front during delivery, which I was able to repair with the toner and finish I had brought along, just in case.

John

Oh yeah, yes, they were pleased - and now want matching bedside cabinets.

[Kent A Bathurst]

J-10:

We are going to have to start calling you Sir.

Hat's off, sir.

[Art Mann]

If you could see them in person, Art, I think you would find very little fault.

I'm not interested in looking for faults. I'm interested in learning construction and finishing techniques.

[John TenEyck]

I'm not interested in looking for faults. I'm interested in learning construction and finishing techniques.

You mean the photo blog wasn't detailed enough?! The construction was fairly traditional with a couple of exceptions. The sides were 7/8" thick and then I glued another piece of wood to the front and back inside edges to bring them up to 1-1/4". That gave me the thickness I wanted at the front while keeping the mass down a little, and also allowed me to mill the dovetails into those 3/8" thick pieces to capture the stretchers w/o having to mill a rabbet in the sides. Since I was using Blum undermount slides I didn't need to add drawer runners, etc., so I only made a typical web frame at the top and bottom. Probably should have put one at mid height on the tall dresser but I didn't . The tops are veneered because I wanted to use a radiused edge all around, top and bottom, and I wanted to have that same rift sawn grain on every surface. I like using shop sawn veneer because I can make it 1/16" thick (or any other thickness). That makes it a lot more durable than commercial veneer. It also is easier to work with; you can actually joint it like a real board, and I can run it through the drum sander afterwards to get a nice flat panel. It's also a lot cheaper from a materials standpoint, and it's the same wood as in the rest of the piece so the grain is exactly the same. By the way, I had to pay more for rift sawn white oak than quarter sawn. Seemed strange to me, but I guess it has low demand. But I really like that nice linear grain, especially when combined with a dark finish.

It took me a long time to figure out the finish. I was matching the owners kitchen cabinets (crazy, huh, these are in the bedroom) and I must have made two dozens samples before I got the color and sheen right and a process that I could replicate. I can provide more details on it if you are interested.

Hope that helped a little. If not, let me know and I'll try to answer any specific questions you have.

John

[Art Mann]

No, I couldn't quite figure it out from the photos. Bigger photos would be nice.

[Shawn Pixley]

Love the pieces and the style. your craftsmanship is impeccable. Personally, I am not crazy about the dark finish but I understand that the client gets their way. Nonetheless, your finish was wonderful.

[Jeff Fischer]

It took me a long time to figure out the finish. I was matching the owners kitchen cabinets (crazy, huh, these are in the bedroom) and I must have made two dozens samples before I got the color and sheen right and a process that I could replicate. I can provide more details on it if you are interested.


John

John, I love the finish.
This is a look that I have been chasing for a while, and have not been able to replicate, very successfully.
Any details would be much appreciated, as I am in final assembly of a small white oak cabinet now.
Thank you for sharing your fantastic work with us.
Jeff

[John TenEyck]

John, I love the finish.
This is a look that I have been chasing for a while, and have not been able to replicate, very successfully.
Any details would be much appreciated, as I am in final assembly of a small white oak cabinet now.
Thank you for sharing your fantastic work with us.
Jeff

It's hard to see the real color in the pictures; this one might show it a little better:

IMG_3414.JPG

It's not black and it's not brown. There is an underlying brown tone to it even though it looks almost black at first glance. I tried dying some samples first to get the background color, but had lots of problems with the grain raising. Eventually I used Sherwin Williams BAC Wiping stain. It's solvent based and I had no more raised grain problems. I had them mix a custom color to match the kitchen cabinets I was duplicating the color of. I gave them some prepped white oak stock to work with and the sample they made looked great. Trouble was, I couldn't replicate it at home; no idea why. I ended up mixing some of the stain they made with some standard BAC Midnight Black. I have the formula for the custom stain they made and can get you that code or formula if you want it. I used 375 ml Midnight Black + 125 ml Custom Stain. To that I added a mix of 12.5 ml Transtint Dark Walnut + 6.5 ml Transtint Bright Red in 75 ml Acetone. The acetone allows Transtint to mix into the solvent based BAC stain w/o any compatibility problems.

I sanded everything to 180 grit, and then went over it with that little brass brush you see in one of the pictures to clean out and deepen the pores. It didn't take as long as you might think looking at that little brush. Then I vacuumed and blew out the pores with compressed air. Another very light sanding by hand with 325 grit to remove any nibs or fibers hanging out of the pores, followed by another round of vacuuming and compressed air. I applied the stain with a foam brush, waited about 5 minutes, and then carefully wiped it off with blue shop paper towels. The BAC wiping stain has almost no binder in it, so you MUST spray the first thing over it. I used Sealcoat shellac, but other sealers would be possible. I sprayed a light coat of Sealcoat, and then one coat of GF's Enduro Clear Poly in Flat sheen to which I added 5% Johnson's Baby Powder to further cut the sheen. After that dried I scuff sanded it with a Norton 3X thin foam pad in 325 grit (which appear to no longer be available - and I'm absolutely heartbroken because those things were amazing - however, Arabnet foam disks in 1000 grit or maybe even finer might be a suitable replacement). BTW, the baby powder gives the finish a nice smell for quite awhile afterwards and also makes sanding between coats really easy. After a good vacuuming, blow out with compressed air, and wipe down with a microfiber cloth, I sprayed the final coat of the Clear Poly cocktail. I resisted the temptation to spray another coat because I wanted the pores to remain as visible as possible.

John

[Jim Becker]

Those are outstanding, John.

And don't even hesitate to post photos of your work! While it's true that different folks favor different styles, we ALL favor craftsmanship, regardless of the style! These are wonderful pieces in that respect.

[Jim Matthews]

I'm squarely on the fence about the finish.

I think the raw pieces are lovely, in their own right.
That said - it's what the client wants, which matters.

It's impeccable, what you've done here.

Kudos

[Jeff Fischer]

Beautiful!
Yes, if you can post a pic of the custom formula label or whatever you can do to pass it on, I would greatly appreciate it.
Your craftsmanship and attention to detail are outstanding.
Thanks again for sharing.
Jeff

[John TenEyck]

Beautiful!
Yes, if you can post a pic of the custom formula label or whatever you can do to pass it on, I would greatly appreciate it.
Your craftsmanship and attention to detail are outstanding.
Thanks again for sharing.
Jeff

Here's what the label says for the Custom Black Stain:

Front of can: Ebony Base S64 B 54 (5012-51359)

Label added on side:

Custom Black Stain
BAC Colorant: 32 oz
R4 New Red: 46
Y1 Yellow: 38
B1 Black: 6
R3 Magenta: 4

Hopefully, that makes sense to your local SW folks.

John

[Prashun Patel]

Top quality, John! I love your finishing and the pulls. Wish you'd post more. Traditional, modern, I favor it all.

Thank you for the tips on the baby powder and acetone.

[Jeff Fischer]

John,
Thank you for the formula.

Jeff

[Pat Camara]

Very impressive fit and finish. It's funny how some things to the non-woodworker might look simple from the outside but you know a lot of work went into getting those clean lines. Excellent work!