L. & J.G.. Stickley No. 110 Nightstand

[Joe A Faulkner]

A few months ago we helped my wife's parents down-size. Everyone hated my father-in-law's old nightstand, so it did not make it into the new house. After my wife and her sisters came home from a furniture shopping trip frustrated by the value of the pieces they had seen, I volunteered to make one. This is my first attempt at building a piece that uses web-framing. I learned a lot in the process. Only my second attempt at hand-cut dovetails. I don't have the patience for practicing on scraps, so I guess I will have to improve my technique one project at a time. The plans are from Robert Lang's Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture.

[Jamie Buxton]

Just curious...why hand cut the dovetails? AFAIK, the Stickleys didn't. They mass-produced furniture on production lines.

[Jim Becker]

You did a nice job on that piece!

[Joe A Faulkner]

Just curious...why hand cut the dovetails? AFAIK, the Stickleys didn't. They mass-produced furniture on production lines.

For the past three or four years I've had a growing interest in developing skills in using handtools. On this project all the mortises for the webframe, the back and the front arch were hand-chopped, and the drawer dovetails were hand-cut. A lot of hand planing was done as well, but the ripping and crosscuts were done with power tools.

[Jim Becker]

Joe, developing skills with every project is a great method. While I somewhat agree with Jamie that in the end, the dovetails on drawers for this kind of project don't "need" to be hand-cut, I can appreciate your reason for doing it!

[Mike Wilkins]

Last night I was searching for some inspiration for an office cabinet for the daughter to sit her fax/copier/scanner on. This is really nice work. Could you share the dimensions of this table. Thanks in advance.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Last night I was searching for some inspiration for an office cabinet for the daughter to sit her fax/copier/scanner on. This is really nice work. Could you share the dimensions of this table. Thanks in advance.

Thanks. This nightstand is 29” tall, 18” wide, 14” deep.

[Pat Barry]

You did a nice job on that piece!

I agree with Jim! Nice project.

[Frederick Skelly]

This is really nice Joe.
Fred

[Jay Aubuchon]

I like this a lot. What wood did you use, and how did you finish it?

[Phil Stone]

That's a clean build, Joe, with a very nice grain display.

[Ken Higginbotham]

Nice job - Like Jay ask, was it white oak? and what stain did you use?

Having said that... I glued up a coffee table top and alternated the grain. I looks like the grain on your pc are in the same direction. And I couldn't tell a lot from the pic but is there a very slight 'up' bow that may have been prevented if the grain had been alternated? Or is grain direction on a glue up like this even an issue?

[Joe A Faulkner]

Thanks Ken. I thought I had responded to Jay's question. There is a story behind the wood for this piece. I salvaged it from my in-law''s prior residence as we were moving them and disposing of what didn't get moved. There were a number of 6', 10 x 1 prefinished red oak glued up boards that had been used for miscellaneous shelves. I salvaged the lumber, scraped and planed the old finish off and used it to build this piece. (My sons and I also used this lumber on some simple mirrors see - http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ings&p=2640328).

Most of the pieces were ripped from the pre-existing glued up panels, but the top and the bottom shelf required me to do some glue up. My primary focus on assembling the top was to get grain pattern that looked good and to the extent possible minimized the visibility of the seam. As a result, I did not pay close attention to the growth ring orientation. I tried to keep the long grain running in the same direction to avoid tear out as I hand planed the pieces. I don't think the top has an up-bow, but I see now that the growth ring orientation is a bit misaligned. In general, I think this is something to pay attention to. Next time I'm over at the in-laws I'll have to check out the flatness of the top.

The lumber is red oak. I stained it with an old can of Varathane American Walnut (wiped on) and finished with three coats of satin poly, with a light sanding between coats.

[roger wiegand]

Lots of people hand cut dovetails because for a single drawer or two it's faster, easier, and less frustrating than messing with machines and jigs. Whenever I get my Leigh jig out I can depend on wasting a half a day fussing with it, plus a bunch of wood for test cuts. Worth it for 20 drawers, not even close for one or two.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very nicely done Joe!

Like you, I try to add skills as I go from one project to the next.