Grained chest over drawers

[Zach Dillinger]

I thought you all might appreciate a sneak peak at a project I'm working on. It isn't finished yet (still need to complete the drawers and install hardware), but I am ecstatic with the way the finish turned out.

This is a slightly modified version of a signed and dated American vernacular 1830 chest over drawers. This is a little later than I usually like to work, but it is a form that was used for many decades before this time so it didn't bother me too much.

The original:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/10577088_10105260650790464_5407409623305146814_n.j pg

The piece is pine with two coats of shop-made yellow ochre oil paint. Over top of that is a shop-made glaze containing dark brown ochre pigment, linseed oil, a bit of stand oil, and japan drier. This is made rather thick so that the brush strokes will stay and so that the glaze takes longer to dry, giving the artisan more time to move the pigment around to suit the design.

The graining decoration only took 30 minutes to execute on this large piece. I'd say it definitely improved the looks. We went from bare pine:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/1910269_10105260793359754_5977204711335300057_n.jp g


to ugly yellow ochre:
https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10404092_10105260793379714_1953175070514289576_n.j pg?oh=07c0b8656e244ac31a68a168f075d76c&oe=54565F84


to this in about 3 hours of actual work (total time on the piece is about 30 so far, will have a bit more in drawer making).

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t1.0-9/10448751_10105259257517594_4563329367284798561_n.j pg

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t1.0-9/10357605_10105259257143344_3178680375063583277_n.j pg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t1.0-9/10462673_10105259257906814_3872157002747876431_n.j pg



I really like trying out the decorative techniques of the past. It is a nice change of pace from most of the period work that is done today.

[mike holden]

Zach,
That really looks good.

[Zach Dillinger]

Thanks Mike! It was intended to be "quick and dirty" like the original piece's decoration, but it turned out pretty nice and it passes Stephen Shepherd's "Six Foot Test". I'm really happy with it.

[Todd Burch]

I always assumed "grain painting" was to mimic, alter, or add a wood grain. I guess I learning something today! Thanks for posting.

[Zach Dillinger]

Todd, that is the traditional meaning. The original was painted to somewhat resemble burled wood (you have to squint). My piece is intended to more closely resemble figured / curly cherry or mahogany. The point isn't always to be extremely realistic with the appearance. It is intended to be more of a look more expensive from a distance thing, especially on these rural vernacular pieces. If it looks passable from six feet, it is good to go.

[David Weaver]

My FILs boyhood home has plain oak doors and trim, but every single bit of trim and every door on both sides has grain painting on it. The first couple of times I visited the house, I didn't look closely and didn't realize it wasn't real (it was done well, but it's one of those things if you look at it from a distance you just make an assumption and don't look closer). I sat on the steps next to the door going upstairs from the kitchen on a following visit and it was immediately apparent from close up, as it always is. If you can get in older houses that haven't had their woodwork painted over to a solid color, it's pretty common (and interesting).

[Mel Fulks]

Most interesting,I love this stuff. Think the painter of the original was going for tortoise shell.

[george wilson]

Great job,Zach!!

If my stomach gets much bigger,I'll have a home grown case of chest over drawers!!:)

Here's a weird case of "graining". There is evidence that in the 18th. C.,one of the houses in Wmsbg. had a door painted to look like mahogany. They regularly make doors from mahogany in the millwork shop,for the sake of durability. So,they made a mahogany door for the house in question,and sent it off to the paint shop to be grained to look like mahogany!!:) I thought it a terrible waste. The mahogany door looked great without being painted over.

[Steve Voigt]

It looks terrific Zach. The color is very nice.
I was at Monticello last year an a lot of the interior doors are finished like this.

[Mel Fulks]

I've seen the same thing ,George. It was a privately owned old house and the owners paid about $1000 per door just for the graining on the real mahogany.

[Zach Dillinger]

Thanks for the kind words gents. I am really happy with this so far. I expect the color to get even richer (the pictures don't really do it justice...) when I put on some amber shellac. And I'll class it up a bit with some outstanding Sheraton pulls from Londonderry... which cost more than all the wood and all the finishing supplies combined!

[Zach Dillinger]

Think the painter of the original was going for tortoise shell.

Mel, I thought about that. My major reason for assuming it was supposed to be burl is the lack of red. But I didn't see a chemical composition report of this piece, so I suppose there could have been red pigment on it that has changed over time. Good eye!

[James Conrad]

Looks better than the original! Nice work on the grain painting.

[Sean Hughto]

I really like it! FWIW, I think the maker of the original was more free with the finish - maybe just a different artistic "hand", and it suits my taste more.

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks for posting. Really intriguing! Love seeing your work.

[Mel Fulks]

Thanks, and I think the only tortoise shells the guy saw were on the move and didn't have gold leaf under them!

[Tom M King]

If anyone asks you what type of wood it is, tell them it's a fast growing Amboyna. At a glance it kind of looks like Amboyna. In theater, it was the "30 foot rule".

My Great Grandfather's house, built in 1870, has all the interior woodwork faux grained, as does all the casing in his General Store next door. There were also some pieces of furniture that looked like they were done by the same guy. He did different looking graining on different pieces. The family story was that it was done by a traveling guy that went around doing the graining for a living, and that he stayed in the upstairs room over the store while he was there doing the work. I don't have any pictures on this laptop to post now-sorry.

[Zach Dillinger]

Tom, I'm not up on exotics and never use them, but I googled amboyna and you are right on. Luck of the brush, I guess...

There are so many interesting topics to study about historical woodworking that one person can't possibly learn them all. It would be nice to see more of this type of stuff.

[Brett Robson]

Great job Zach! I too like your version better. The finish is a bit quieter, which seems to me to fit the piece better.

When I first looked at the original, I thought for a second it was made from stained OSB! :eek:

[Zach Dillinger]

Thought you all might like a look at this now that the finish is complete and the hardware has been installed.

Not too bad for white pine 1x12s, eh?

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10489807_10105278126054894_2380797661882526775_n.j pg

[Ryan Mooney]

Yours seems a lot more subdued than the original, which imho makes it look more like "real" wood. It ended up with a really nice warm feel to it, pretty nifty for some hardware store pine indeed!!

[Graham Haydon]

Love it Zach, I find this type of build very refreshing. Top marks!