Here's a completed project to share.
It took a while to build, but I delivered on time, February 14th -- 25 years after she said yes. This issue of FWW has a reader piece that is much more elegant, but very similar in style. It is described as a Jewelry Armoire. We just call it "25 Yes".
Originally it was to be a large jewelry box to sit on a shelf in the closet. Then she wanted drawers for PJ's. It all came together.
Certainly not all done with hand tools, but most of the work following the rough dimensioning was.
Some comments:
- Legs were fun drawknife and spokeshave projects. Each is an individual.
- The jewelry drawers are simple plywood boxes. I bought display case trays for custom outfitting. The face is copper veneer I bought on line.
- The solid wood drawers were my first blind DTs. Like I have heard, easier than through DTs.
- The knobs are all carved. The tiny ones on the upper cassette are from Lee Valley and are made for wood inserts. The Yin-Yang motif is part of our marriage history, so I made some scratch stock and glued up enough to fill those commercial knobs. After nervously pounding the whittled glue up through my dowel plate -- I smiled.
- First try at knife hinges. It was fine, but they need to be installed perfectly level front to back or the pins do not line up on the same axis. That took a few tries.
- The deep doors on the side are for necklaces. Since they are inset, then needed radiuses on both sides to clear the frame. It was interesting to plane them down, while exploring more deeply into the joinery with every cut.
- working by eye to get the bottom stretcher curve to look fair with the inside curve of the legs was cool.
- I'm eager for the cherry doors to darken so the sap wood is more contrasted.
- Watco clear Danish Oil.
This is the forum I enjoy the most, so have a look. No build pictures taken. Crazy piece, but she likes it. So, I am happy.
Regrets about the photo rotation.