Last summer I started on "his and hers" nightstands from red elm. A roof, Christmas projects, winter, and shoulder surgery significantly hindered progress, but I'm finally seeing some daylight.
There were a few shortcuts from the original plan, but at this stage I just really want this project done. The corbels got scrapped, but can be added later. The through mortise and tenon joints didn't happen...pocket holes were so much faster and simpler. The dovetail drawers got sacked for a cob job, and I hope to redo the drawers completely at some future date. I'm appalled at my craftsmanship in a few places that don't show up much in the pics, but considering the year we've had and the application, they're gonna be fine.
IMHO the grain on the red elm is stunning, but that stuff is a little fussy to work with. The pics don't show much of the secondary "ghost" grain that runs in between much of the visible primary grain...very interesting wood to stare at. Elm is prone to movement after dimensioning, so I learned to dimension it, let it acclimate, and redimension as needed. It's also prone to fuzzing on many of the cuts regardless of the quality or sharpness of the blades or bits....it's very stalky stringy stuff. Some of the rabbet cuts resulted in a long curl that looked like it came off a hand plane. Some of the end grain cuts had fuzz that was stiff enough to draw blood. It's like cutting petrified celery!
The finish is BLO/mineral spirits...first time with that, but I like it. One set of black door hinges and attaching the top of the "hers" version is all that stand between me and being done. Here's a pic of "his" (aka mine).
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Originally Posted by john whittaker
