I retired from furniture making soon after I moved to australia 9 years ago and embarked on a new career direction, which is still being ironed out. Part of that change up required a physical make over. Long story short I now need something to put all my white collar bling (tie clips, watch ect) in...
As is my usual methodology I didn't have a plan just a rough idea as where I wanted to end up... The only absolute was that I had a bunch of pine kicking around from an old cannibalised dresser we dragged here that was just screaming to be used for something. So as things usually unfold: I plane and cut out a few bits, stand back and scratch my head for a while wondering where to now. When the dust settled and the finish set hard I had a nice little William & Mary nightstand cabinet.
Over the decades as a pro I've made more furniture than I could ever hope to remember but this little box stands out as one of the most satisfying pieces I've made - and one of the most unassuming to the eye of the average beholder.
The only part not made by hand were the wood screws (I did actually think about making them also but but only for a few seconds) and library catch. Everything else including the hardware and finish I employed traditional handcrafting techniques. I can say, other than for the lights (working by oil lamp was simply out of the question) no electrons were harmed in the making of this cabinet.
The hinges needed to be custom made because there was simply nothing available that was small enough and would allow the doors to swing 270 degrees allowing the doors to be open but not in the way. The drawer pulls were something that came into my head on one of the many moments of scratching my head with one hand and drinking a beer with the other. A search of the world came up donuts so I made them also. The door latch was another problem in that there was nothing I could find that small so had to be made also.
The finish is multiple coats of shellac I made up and rubbed out with linseed oil and then topped with a mixture of bees and carnauba wax.
If I were to change anything on it I would use copper for the hardware instead of brass - I think the effect of oxidised copper would have been brilliant.
The only thing I overlooked was that I didn't anticipate that it wouldn't fit well with the nightstand I have now, so I'll be making that soon also.