End Grain Warning & Picture

[Jim Koepke]

How can something so beautiful be so disliked?

My feeling is pictures seldom transmit the true beauty of wood.

289239

This is from my current project of a book/plate stand.

That will be a different post.

jtk

[Kees Heiden]

I concur. I like endgrain a lot. I don't like exposing joinery for show, but in a functional way, showing endgrain doesn't distract from the beauty of a piece. When making something I prefer a more modern style, and hiding all joints behind mouldings belongs to a more old fashioned style that doesn't fit in my interior.

[george wilson]

It depends upon the project. You can't help seeing considerable end grain on an infill plane,or on a woodie,or on a violin neck,or guitar neck,or on any carving in the round. I never gave it any thought.

[Sean Hughto]

It's disliked by Weaver I guess, but I think he's the only one. There is no accounting for taste, or lack thereof.

To me, his comments make about as much sense as saying: "I like women, but not when they are naked" or maybe "women are beautiful, but not from behind." lol

[Zach Dillinger]

David Weaver isn't the only one...

[David Weaver]

How can something so beautiful be so disliked?

My feeling is pictures seldom transmit the true beauty of wood.

289239

This is from my current project of a book/plate stand.

That will be a different post.

jtk

It reminds me of bucking logs and amish furniture (amish furniture around here is all rounded over with lots of end grain and you can say for it that it's made of solid wood most of the time, but that's about it).

[Joe Tilson]

End grain is beautiful too, along with the rest of any wood.

[glenn bradley]

A dislike of endgrain would encompass a dislike for a wide array of furniture styles. I think the statement is meant as humor and I take it as such. I do a lot of Greene and Greene-ish styled stuff so endgrain is pushed right out in your face. To each their own but, I find it beautiful.

289242

Pulls from a recent piece.

[David Weaver]

It's disliked by Weaver I guess, but I think he's the only one. There is no accounting for taste, or lack thereof.

To me, his comments make about as much sense as saying: "I like women, but not when they are naked" or maybe "women are beautiful, but not from behind." lol

I like the ladies no matter how they're presented! They get a different rule than furniture, because...well....women are just lovely :)

I don't generally apply lady rules to furniture or furniture rules to ladies. There are plenty of reasons why, first and foremost - if you ask to inspect the drawers on a piece of furniture, the result is a lot different than it would be if you said that to a ladyfriend.

[Sean Hughto]

I think you haters need to be more specific. You can't really hate all end grain, because there are many forms that cannot be built without it showing, and certainly there is nothing wrong with the way it looks when say the edge of a table or chair seat shows. Right? What you all really appear to object to is styles of modern furniture that have exposed joinery where you can see pins on a carcase or a through tenon?
Stuff like this, right:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2758/4183709850_96dafa7a13_b.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3239/2871906968_0acaced1e1_b.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3202/3062817842_78a2865044_z.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3118/3248461851_d7ecf71b40_z.jpg?zz=1

[David Weaver]

I think the statement is meant as humor and I take it as such. I do a lot of Greene and Greene-ish styled stuff so endgrain is pushed right out in your face.

You're right, half if it is just for fun. I do have an extreme distaste for furniture with through tenons and intentionally exposed joints, though, so G&G stuff is way out for me. It's been the case since the beginning. My local woodworking buddy here who got me into woodworking wanted to build a G&G hall table (we would build two of the same thing, or that was generally the plan), and I didn't want to build it at all because I didn't want the table. He was completely baffled by it, I guess, because he's been of the FWW generation from 1990 or so until now, and that must've been the rage. that and mission style stuff and shaker.

[David Weaver]

Sean, you're right. Not a fan of the through tenons, the exposed pins at the bottom of the case or the wooden "hardware", but otherwise that's a nice piece.

I don't care so much about run of the mill dining room tables and chairs, etc, it's utility furniture more or less. In the finer examples of it, the end grain is hidden, though, even on the chairs.

[Zach Dillinger]

A dislike of endgrain would encompass a dislike for a wide array of furniture styles.



True. I am not a fan of a wide variety of furniture styles. I am wholly uninterested in most things made after about 1830. I don't get why exposed end grain is attractive, and exposed joinery, to borrow a phrase from Peter Griffin, just insists upon itself. No thanks. But to each his own. :) My hatred of end grain is mostly overblown and its a fun thing to rile people up with. I suppose I'm an end grain troll.

Please note, that doesn't make me a "hater", Sean. We just have different preferences. I find A&C silly looking. Others don't. That's fine. EDIT: my V2.0 online sarcasm detector is malfunctioning today...

[Sean Hughto]

I use the term "hater" with love and wink, Zach.

[Zach Dillinger]

I use the term "hater" with love and wink, Zach.

Gotcha, Sean. Hard to tell online sometimes. :) I think the whole thing is a good discussion to have, as it is nice to see new topics pop off every now and then.

[Sean Hughto]

Why stop at end grain? Surely there are more characteristics that we can a priori identify to exclude broad swaths of furniture from the possibility of being good. Please check all those that apply:

I hate furniture that:
mixes different types of wood in a single piece
is painted
includes any veneer
has any live edge
includes any metal fastners
has plywood drawer bottoms
uses a joint other than dovetails for the drawers
has wooden hardware
is finished with poly
is finished with only oil
is not finished with shellac
is finished with shellac from a can instead of flakes
was glued with PVA and not hide glue
was glued with premixed hide glue and not freshly prepared granules

I'm getting tired. Please feel free to continue the list.

[David Weaver]

I think you're getting too excited about something here, because the discussion doesn't irritate me or make me tired at all. There is a difference between what I don't like and what nobody thinks is good. I don't know about the latter, it's not my concern.

For me, though, that's a pretty good list, but i'm not afraid to spray finish on cabinets. I use shellac from a can, too, especially under a spray finish or wax.

I'm perfectly willing to exclude large swaths of furniture from things that I like, though. Mission, G&G and furniture intentionally made from pallet wood are out for me - right away.

[Steve Voigt]

I was thinking that a useful analogy is the prohibition, in music theory and counterpoint, on using parallel 5ths and octaves. If you are following the "rules" observed by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, these parallelisms are avoided at all costs. But this music, wonderful as it is, is only a small slice of the world's music, and everything from Debussy, to all sorts of Asian music, to Duke Ellington, to Led Zeppelin, uses parallel intervals all the time. So, the prohibition really only applies to a small slice of European music before 1850.
Same thing with end grain. I'm glad to see Dave and Zach acknowledge that their interests are basically confined to 18th c. and earlier (European/ American) furniture, where the prohibition on end grain makes sense. But it's like saying you only listen to the "classics," and none of that "modern" music--it seems like a very limiting stance that closes off a lot of options. But as others have said, to each his own.

[Sean Hughto]

David, I guess I need to keep putting smiley and winky and laughy things around my posts. Everything I've said in this thread has been said with a chuckle. I'm not irritated at all. I was jokingly tired of typing as my list was getting looong. I think its fine to debate tastes and styles. It ain't gonna change me and my likes, and I don't have any interest in changing yours. My only "truth in jest" here is that I like to evaluate each piece that is in front of me on its merits and whether it delights me or not - whether I covet it and would want to have it in my home as a companion. I may be able to say something like: "I've never seen a piece of furniture made strictly out of plywood that I loved." but I wouldn't rule out that the possibility that the next one I see might not have something going for it that the others did not.

[george wilson]

I have to agree with David about not liking G&G and Mission style furniture. Ugly,dark,and depressing. And to heck with living in a mission!!:)

I liked the piece you posted,Sean. My career was spent mostly involved with the 18th. C.,as necessary for the job I had. But,I never was an 18th. C.. nut by any means. It was just my job. There is lots of modern furniture out there that is quite beautiful.

[Sean Hughto]

I was in a shop - Dalton's in Syracuse - a couple weeks ago. They specialize in real antique Stickley stuff (along with a lot of other stuff including Castle and Nakashima, for example). The real deal Stickley things from 1904 to 1908 (or whatever that tiny window collectors care about is) are pretty varied and amazing. I saw some things you never see in the repopped stuff we are all familiar with - things like leather covered library tables and this cool table with curving X legs and stuff. Just saying, maybe you haven't seen it all - then again, maybe you have?

[Sean Hughto]

As far as that piece, thanks for the kind words. To me, with some water under the bridge, I think it is a bit immature. I would make a different and more subtle piece this time. At that point, I had not made anything like it, and wanted to try out lots of techniques. It started out as just a "quick" cabinet for our day bags that was gonna be simple. I kept making it more elaborate just to try stuff. I think its very hard to make an original piece of furniture that hits on all cylinders in the first iteration. Probably about the third time I made a similar cabinet I might have one that I actually thought was fully sound design wise. Unfortunately hobbiests don't have the luxury of making multiple iterations of complicated pieces for the most part. My turned bowls - which take only a couple of hours - I have made lots of design progress on.

[george wilson]

I didn't know you made the cabinet. Congratulations!!

I looked at it again. It has a few elements of those early 20th. C. styles,but is not dark and depressing. I still like it. I think you exposed tenon looks nice,certainly carefully done. And,I love cherry.

[Joe Bailey]

Sean, let me add my congratulations to George's

Moreover, let me congratulate everyone involved in the thread above for having a civil disagreement/discussion on the topic at hand, without having it go sideways.
(yes, it's sad that it's even noteworthy, but they are increasingly rare)

[Jim Koepke]

A dislike of endgrain would encompass a dislike for a wide array of furniture styles. I think the statement is meant as humor and I take it as such. I do a lot of Greene and Greene-ish styled stuff so endgrain is pushed right out in your face. To each their own but, I find it beautiful.

289242

Pulls from a recent piece.

Nice effect with the end grain. Okay, it isn't book matched. Is there a name for using two pieces in that manner?

jtk

[Brian Holcombe]

I'm not a fan of g&g style or mission, but that doesn't preclude me from liking end grain. I like 18th c and admire the idea of making something very well and hiding a great deal of the structure, I admire equally so, a piece that has been distilled down to just the structure.

[Pedro Reyes]

To each his own. I said it on another post, well polished endgrain is gorgeous. I don't care much for G&G, and I guess mission I dislike too, I do like Shaker.

@Sean from your list, hardly anything bothers me, I dislike Queen Anne legs and a lot of the furniture I associate with that style, what is considered "fine". I recently saw (Adam, Andy??) Breed explain how the Goddard table is made, and I greatly admire the work, the skill and everything associated with making it. But I dislike the form, I would not put it in my house.

I guess what I am trying to say, the dislike of endgrain seems to be ingrained ;) on our taste for furniture pieces, and that is so subjective to begin with. I think Weaver likes pieces which went to great length in order to hide joinery, more than he dislikes exposed joinery for the sake of it, or endgrain for that matter.

Pedro

[Pat Barry]

I was thinking that a useful analogy is the prohibition, in music theory and counterpoint, on using parallel 5ths and octaves. If you are following the "rules" observed by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, these parallelisms are avoided at all costs. But this music, wonderful as it is, is only a small slice of the world's music, and everything from Debussy, to all sorts of Asian music, to Duke Ellington, to Led Zeppelin, uses parallel intervals all the time. So, the prohibition really only applies to a small slice of European music before 1850.
Same thing with end grain. I'm glad to see Dave and Zach acknowledge that their interests are basically confined to 18th c. and earlier (European/ American) furniture, where the prohibition on end grain makes sense. But it's like saying you only listen to the "classics," and none of that "modern" music--it seems like a very limiting stance that closes off a lot of options. But as others have said, to each his own.
I don't know anything about parallel intervals, but if Led Zeppelin used them they are A OK by me.

[Dave Anderson NH]

It's all about taste, and everyoneof us has their own aesthetic. In my case it is primarily Baroque (Queen Anne) where the interplay of positive and negative space and the overall form provide most of the interest. I also like earlier and simpler forms of Rococco (Chippendale) where the piece is not overpowered by huge amounts of carving and other embellishments. I enjoy much of the Federal style though I haven't made any pieces since my wife detests it. I've made things for other family members in styles outside of what I personally like and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Design choices should be made by the owner/ recipient. Case in point was the blanket chest my wife informed me I would be building for one of my sisters-in-law a few years back. The design criteria were simple. Sturdy, walnut or walnut colored, not too ornate, and most importantly of a height which would allow her to sit on it in the morning while she pulled on her pantyhose. Oh yeah, I was to pay for the wood and make it no charge. While no money exchanged hands, it wasn't really much different than what one goes through when building furniture on commission.

The bottom line is that the owner of the piece has to live with it and that is a lot easier if it doesn't make them cringe every time they look at it.

[Zach Dillinger]

I'm perfectly willing to exclude large swaths of furniture from things that I like, though. Mission, G&G and furniture intentionally made from pallet wood are out for me - right away.

As am I.



Same thing with end grain. I'm glad to see Dave and Zach acknowledge that their interests are basically confined to 18th c. and earlier (European/ American) furniture, where the prohibition on end grain makes sense. But it's like saying you only listen to the "classics," and none of that "modern" music--it seems like a very limiting stance that closes off a lot of options. But as others have said, to each his own.

Your example also supports my position. Many of the greatest musicians, moderns included, have studied classical music in depth. Many furniture makers haven't done that with the origins of our craft, and are the worse for it. I haven't made all the 18th century I want to make yet. I've not completely mastered every aspect of it, so how can I move to "modern work"? Maybe someday I'll work in another style, but for now I'm perfectly happy completely ignoring the existence of modern pieces. Just because something is newer doesn't make it better to me, and no one yet has been able to improve on the furniture design of the 18th century, at least to me. Others disagree and that's awesome... that is why they make chocolate and vanilla (chocolate is better).

I do not have a reverence for wood. I'm not moved to tears by the grain in a board. I am not a Krenovian disciple. To me, it is a material (granted, a sometimes very beautiful material) upon which I do my work. I acknowledge that it was once living and I'm thankful to the tree that it grew, but it is still the raw material for the art, not the art itself.

[Frank Drew]

Nice effect with the end grain. Okay, it isn't book matched. Is there a name for using two pieces in that manner?



End grain book-matched?

[Zach Dillinger]

End grain book-matched?

Surely this must be called book-ended... :)

[Frank Drew]

I don't care so much about run of the mill dining room tables and chairs, etc, it's utility furniture more or less. In the finer examples of it, the end grain is hidden, though, even on the chairs.

Lots of high-end tables and chairs and other pieces of furniture and furnishings have exposed end grain. If it's sanded and finished nicely, I can't think of a reason hide it just because it's end grain (for design reasons, ok, but not just because it's end grain as if that's synonymous with nasty or cheap looking.)

[David Weaver]

For design reasons, yes. I suppose on a lot of carved chairs, there is some exposed. But not on the front of the seat, etc, and its exposure is gradual and not a contrast in a joint.

I am by no means a chair fanatic, though.

[Brian Holcombe]

I disagree, to some extent, with that in regard to commissions. Aside from basic parameters, the style should be left to the maker. One should be aware of the maker's style before agreeing to a commission. If the maker gives preference to working outside of his house style, only then, would be appropriate to request him to do so.

[Frank Drew]

Surely this must be called book-ended... :)

I'll go with that!

[Zach Dillinger]

I disagree, to some extent, with that in regard to commissions. Aside from basic parameters, the style should be left to the maker. One should be aware of the maker's style before agreeing to a commission. If the maker gives preference to working outside of his house style, only then, would be appropriate to request him to do so.

And that is why it is extremely important to have good connections and network with other furniture makers. If someone came to me and asked for an A&C piece, I would refer them to someone else. I would hope that if one of my friends had someone ask for a William and Mary piece, they would send them my way. I'm not going to make A&C stuff with my level of tooling; it is better left for someone who has production tools like the original makers, just like period work is better left to those with authentic tooling.

[george wilson]

If I had let my customers design their guitars,I'd have made some pretty bizarre and unspeakably bad looking instruments.

I've given them options,like a pearl inlaid soundhole,type of fingerboard inlay,etc. But no try at designing the body shapes or peg heads themselves. I wish I had saved some of the crappy peghead shapes I've been asked to make,and refused to do!! I could post them here.

[Mike Allen1010]

I think you haters need to be more specific. You can't really hate all end grain, because there are many forms that cannot be built without it showing, and certainly there is nothing wrong with the way it looks when say the edge of a table or chair seat shows. Right? What you all really appear to object to is styles of modern furniture that have exposed joinery where you can see pins on a carcase or a through tenon?
Stuff like this, right:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2758/4183709850_96dafa7a13_b.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3239/2871906968_0acaced1e1_b.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3202/3062817842_78a2865044_z.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3118/3248461851_d7ecf71b40_z.jpg?zz=1



Sean, I definitely hear the sense of humor implied in yours and the other posts in this thread which I am very much enjoying!

More importantly, your cabinet is absolutely gorgeous! I personally love expose joinery, have built a number of G&G pieces and especially look for any opportunity to use us through, wedged M&T Joinery (for sure with contrasting wedges!). I would love to see more of your work – I always enjoy your posts and pictures.



Steve quote: "I was thinking that a useful analogy is the prohibition, in music theory and counterpoint, on using parallel 5ths and octaves. If you are following the "rules" observed by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, these parallelisms are avoided at all costs. But this music, wonderful as it is, is only a small slice of the world's music, and everything from Debussy, to all sorts of Asian music, to Duke Ellington, to Led Zeppelin, uses parallel intervals all the time. So, the prohibition really only applies to a small slice of European music before 1850."

Steve, you clearly know a lot more music about music than I do, but I think Dave Brubeck would agree with you (Obscure "5 x 5" musical reference intended and almost assuredly improperly used).

Where else but SMC can you enjoy great woodworking conversation and music and whiskey talk!

All the best, Mike

[Moses Yoder]

I like the way a flute looks. My daughter plays the flute. I just don't like the sound. Same with a grand piano. They look fantastic, just sound terrible.

[Jeff Bartley]

I don't have much to add here but Jim, I love that the title of your post includes an 'end grain warning'! And I do appreciate fine work regardless of wether or not I'd want to live with it in my own house. The only furniture that I can recall seeing that truely put me off was a live-edge table with queen Anne legs....but, to each his own!

[george wilson]

Flutes get on my nerves,too. And,what instrument was the most commonly heard one in Williamsburg? The RECORDER!!!(A type of flute for those not musically inclined).

[Steve Voigt]

What you all really appear to object to is styles of modern furniture that have exposed joinery where you can see pins on a carcase or a through tenon?
Stuff like this, right:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2758/4183709850_96dafa7a13_b.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3239/2871906968_0acaced1e1_b.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3202/3062817842_78a2865044_z.jpg

or this:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3118/3248461851_d7ecf71b40_z.jpg?zz=1

I'm very late in responding to this, but I just want to say I really dig this cabinet, Sean. You have a very bold aesthetic, and you are not afraid to take chances. I don't always think every chance you take works (but they definitely do in this cabinet, for me), but I really respect the lack of fear and willingness to take a bold leap.

[Paul Incognito]

An architect asked me to mill stair treads out of reclaimed beams. After cutting a sample to length he completely redesigned the stair case to show the end grain. He even went as far as to comission furniture hilighting the end grain.
289343289344289346289345289347
I don't like everything I'm asked to build, but I like this a lot. But my taste runs to more modern designs.
Paul

[Sean Hughto]

I'm very late in responding to this, but I just want to say I really dig this cabinet, Sean. You have a very bold aesthetic, and you are not afraid to take chances. I don't always think every chance you take works (but they definitely do in this cabinet, for me), but I really respect the lack of fear and willingness to take a bold leap.

Thank you, Steve. I don't really set out to be bold, I just set out to be interested in and excited about what I'm making. I have strong self-imposed "rules" about things like strength and function - I wouldn't like/make pieces that sacrifice function for looks, for example. But other than that, I'll use nearly any material or technique and just play. You're right that it doesn't always work out, but I wouldn't bother woodworking if I had to always make things that could be found at furniture stores. Part of the satisfaction for me is in realizing (making actual) things unlike any I have ever seen before.

[Jim Matthews]

Flutes get on my nerves,too. And,what instrument was the most commonly heard one in Williamsburg? The RECORDER!!!(A type of flute for those not musically inclined).

The "slap flute" was a popular instrument in the Merovingian court, because everyone laughed when the
music director forcibly ended unwritten flute cadenza that went on for too long.

The instrument fell out of circulation as there were fewer players with the rare combination
of proper embouchure and a full set of teeth.

[Jim Koepke]

That is beautiful work.

The tables are something someone could gaze into for hours, very meditative. Circles of life and all.

It may not be my style, but I could live with it.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Surely this must be called book-ended... :)


I'll go with that!

Sounds good to me.

jtk

[Curtis Niedermier]

Hey Sean, in your first reply on this thread, where you posted the photos of that cabinet, I'm really interested in the concave, curved surfaces on the legs/uprights, and the similar detail between the drawers. Would you mind to show a few more photos showing those details? Specifically, I'd like to see the legs/uprights from the side.

Those are very cool details.

[Sean Hughto]

I'll take some pictures in the next day or so. Thanks for the interest.

[Paul Incognito]

Hey Sean, in your first reply on this thread, where you posted the photos of that cabinet, I'm really interested in the concave, curved surfaces on the legs/uprights, and the similar detail between the drawers. Would you mind to show a few more photos showing those details? Specifically, I'd like to see the legs/uprights from the side.

Those are very cool details.
I noticed that, too, and I thought it was cool as well. Adds some texture. Very nice cabinet, Sean!
PI

[Sean Hughto]

Well I found a shot that shows the side - it's in-progress, but the carving didn't change.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3470/3748346458_56ef00b1fc_z.jpg?zz=1

I tried to make the carvings sort of organic - they are not perfectly matching - on purpose. I had in my mind plants that look different when they are about to reach maturity, at peak maturity, and as they wilt and age and dry to husks - abstracted, but that was the sort of thought as far as differences, but sort of temporal differences in the same thing or species. Weird, right?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7404/14001723248_ac050289ee_c.jpg

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2599/4164444918_2fe99de22b_z.jpg?zz=1

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3226/2824010724_416aa81904_z.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3073/3021306868_12d5c02600_z.jpg?zz=1

[Mel Fulks]

Sean,a lot of originality there. Interesting little appointments make it art first ,furniture second. Most of us would have turned that end panel the other way,but it this context it is a spring jumping at us for "in your face" punch. Lots of decisions over convention.

[Sean Hughto]

Thanks, Mel. But I don't know what you are referring to with regard to turning the "end panel" the other way?

[Mel Fulks]

The side that has some stuff on the floor under it. Most of the time you see that type of grain oriented upside down from
the way it is installed. Seems to come up and toward viewer.

[Sean Hughto]

Happy accident, I suppose. I think I glued up that panel and then after planing it and sizing it, felt I needed to orient this way to meet higher priorities like the color and grain of the front edge of that panel. I try to anticipate everything, but sometimes things happen anyway. With age, the cherry has darkened, and the grain pattern you're referring to is not so " in your face". ;-))

[Jim Koepke]

I like the details in the carving. Very nice work Sean.

jtk

[Pedro Reyes]

Sean, I had not made a comment, but your piece is awesome. You put a lot of details into it. I like the carved out portions on the partitions between the doors.

On the last picture, is that just the top before the through mortises are cut? Or was there later something added to fill that gap?

congratulations, awesome bold piece.

Pedro

[Sean Hughto]

Thanks, Pedro. That's really nice.

That last picture is an in-progress shot from before the top's edge shaping was done and through mortises cut.

[Curtis Niedermier]

The carvings between drawers and doors are my favorite part of that piece, I think just because people more or less disregard that area a lot. it might get a beading detail or rounded over, but that's about the extent. The subtle shadow and contour you created make me want to run my finger along the trough. Very cool.

I also like how the main cabinet seems to be suspended within the vertical legs. It reminds me of a tree house built within a few trees.

I also dig your thought on not trying to make the carvings identical. That's one of the most attractive parts about a truly unique, hand-made piece - uniqueness throughout the work. When I see something like that, it reminds me that it wasn't spit out of an assembly line, and it's not something that just anyone could recreate. It's the product of one maker.

[Paul Incognito]

It just occured to me that the doors/drawer front "pinwheel" around the center panel. Nice.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like there would be something new to discover every time I looked at this piece.
Very well done and inspiring!
PI

[Sean Hughto]

Paul, I think you like this cabinet more than I do! ;-)

Yes, the compartments pinwheel around the pinwheel drawer.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2378/2259241434_987e13762c_z.jpg?zz=1

To my mind, the curly cherry panels on the doors evoked wind.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3037/2303841410_1102d2ee91_z.jpg?zz=1

The pinwheel drawer is not as deep as the cabinet. Behind it, and only accessible from the back, is a "valuables box."
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3051/2874549722_c579eeb01f_z.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3140/2415369724_a18e66d7da_z.jpg?zz=1

[Winton Applegate]

"I like women, but not when they are naked" or maybe "women are beautiful, but not from behind." lol

What was it W.C Fields said ?
Something like : Women . . . ahhhhh women . . .
women are like elephants . . .
nice to look at . . .
wouldn't want to own one.

Ahhhhh yesss . . .

Sorry ladies. I couldn't help it.

PS: (what were we talking about again ?) (some kind of crazy phobia or 'nother wasn't it ?)
My phobia is electrical out lets. And the voices I hear emanating from them.

(juuuuuuust kidding)
Any body read Richard Bandler ?
http://www.amazon.com/Using-Your-Brain---Change-Neuro-Linguistic/dp/0911226273/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400215235&sr=1-16&keywords=Bandler
Thats some funny stuff.