Greene & Greene inspired tall dresser finally complete.

[Dennis Hawkins]

As a hobbyist it always feels good to be at the end of the road with a project. I have been picking away at this dresser for over a year.
Butternut with walnut pulls and breadboard ends. Ash drawer sides and back. Machined dovetails using the Leigh jig. Waterlox finish. Blum undermount slides. All M&T construction with frame and panel sides and back. Brass pinned at the M&T joints.
This is my first attempt at a project of this size.
I'm happy overall with the outcome. 293952293953293954293955293956

[Von Bickley]

Dennis,
Looks like your hard work paid off. That is a great looking piece of fine furniture.

[glenn bradley]

A labor of love and a treasure to be passed down. She's a beauty Dennis. I don't get much butternut out here on the left coast but I do like black walnut and would love to try a piece in it's white cousin. Great job on the pulls. I have the most fun when designing my pulls toward the end of a build . . . maybe that's too much information ;-)

[Dennis Hawkins]

Glenn
This is the second project using butternut. Here is a quick pic of the first that inspired this dresser: 293957

I really like the way it works. A bit different than black walnut for sure.
Dennis

[glenn bradley]

Sweet table Dennis, very nice. I have some black walnut that is extremely pale but, lacks figure. Your butternut has the strong walnut figure with a very warm color. Is that a bit of cloud-lift detail on the ends of the through tenons on the base? Would you mind sharing your finishing schedule?

[Joe A Faulkner]

Great job on both pieces. There appears to be quite a variety in grain pattern in butternut. I've never come across any. Found an interesting article here at: http://www.americanwoodworker.com/blogs/tips/archive/2010/07/24/butternut.aspx. A few pieces on the coffee table remind me of some of the figured cherry I've worked, while some of the other pieces especially in the chest of drawers resemble ash. Again, really nice work.

[Dennis Hawkins]

Sweet table Dennis, very nice. I have some black walnut that is extremely pale but, lacks figure. Your butternut has the strong walnut figure with a very warm color. Is that a bit of cloud-lift detail on the ends of the through tenons on the base? Would you mind sharing your finishing schedule?

Glen
Indeed the through tenon on the lower shelf of the coffee table has a reverse cloud lift.


Butternut has a color tone and grain pattern that I really like. The hard part is finding some quartersawn stock to get some straight-grained material.

Butternut is very lightweight and soft for a hardwood so it is low on the durability scale. I choose Waterlox sealer/finish as my only product for finishing butternut. I sand to 180 grit. Then soak the project with the first coat of Waterlox. Use a good natural brush for application.
On horizontal surfaces you can lay it on heavier for subsequent coats. I usually apply 4 coats with 24/48 hrs in between with lots of cross-ventilation for curing. I then wet sand with mineral spirits with 400 grit wet-dry paper.One more final coat then after 4 days if I'm happy I knock-down the gloss with red Scotch-Brite. I then use Briwax as my final step.
I probably have more than 20 hours in the finish step of that dresser project.

[Dennis Hawkins]

Joe


Great job on both pieces. There appears to be quite a variety in grain pattern in butternut. I've never come across any. Found an interesting article here at: http://www.americanwoodworker.com/blogs/tips/archive/2010/07/24/butternut.aspx. A few pieces on the coffee table remind me of some of the figured cherry I've worked, while some of the other pieces especially in the chest of drawers resemble ash. Again, really nice work.
That link to the American Woodworker article is spot-on.
We have plenty of Butternut available here in northern Vermont so I'll be using it again in a matching dresser for my wife.

[Marty Gulseth]

That's a Work of Art!

Regards,

Marty

[joe valsi]

Love those dovetails !! everyone should look at those before they make their own !! I love the spacing !! Great job!

[Dennis Hawkins]

Love those dovetails !! everyone should look at those before they make their own !! I love the spacing !! Great job!

Joe
Thanks for the compliment.
It's interesting you point out my dovetail spacing because this is one aspect of the project that I didn't totally like.
The very top drawers and the bottom most drawer have pins that are wider than all the other drawers. I could have spaced my tails in such a way that all the pins in all the drawers were the same width regardless of spacing. I didn't see this when setting up the jig for the first drawer (which was the bottom most). My DT spacing was dictated somewhat by my choice in drawer slides so I had to think it through carefully but in the end still wound up with something that I would have done differently.
Dennis

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dennis........Well done sir! That is an instant family heirloom!

[Hunter Locke]

Wow, give yourself a pat on the back. Way to stick with it and not cut corners to completion. Bravo!

[Dennis Hawkins]

Wow, give yourself a pat on the back. Way to stick with it and not cut corners to completion. Bravo!

I didn't cut any corners but I did make some changes along the way.
I originally intended to do traditional drawer slides, one piece plywood back and also use exposed joints in the drawers.
I enjoy many design elements of the Greene & Greene style and initially wanted to incorporate more into this piece but I decided to pare down the details. Especially since I took the effort to do a frame and panel back. That took some extra time.
I built a mock drawer with the ash exposed and didn't like the look(butternut face,ash joints,walnut pulls). I could have used butternut for the entire drawer which would have looked more appropriate with through joints but I have another project in mind for the remainder of my butternut stock so I used ash half-blind DT's instead.

Thank you to everyone who have commented on this. I appreciate the compliments but I'm also open to criticism if someone had an opinion on something about this project that they would have done differently.
D.

[Marty Backe]

Fantastic execution and attention to detail.

[Chris Walls]

Dennis
Very nice, I always liked butternut , it ages very well. I have a butternut kitchen table made for my great grandmother as a wedding gift in 1878 , in Smiths Falls , Ontario Canada. Dated with a pencil on the bottom of the table by the hand that made it. I had to make a new set of extension slides years ago , made them out of maple to wear better that the original ones made from poplar. It's still a good looking table after all these years.
Chris

[Dennis Hawkins]

Chris
How about a photo of that table.?
As you know butternut is not the most durable wood choice for a kitchen table top so I'd be interested to see how it has held up.
D.

[Chris Walls]

Dennis
I will contact my brother and have him send me a photo ( it's at his house currently ) and then post it here.

Chris

[Gus Dundon]

What a fantastic table! You did an incredible job with the design, wood selection, finishing, joinery and execution

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Dennis, been doing some searching on the forum for G&G pieces and just came across your beauty. I really like the proportions and details very much. I have never seen the type of drawer pull style you used, is it an original design? Or inspired one of the original GG pieces? Thanks so much for allowing me to see it.

[glenn bradley]

I have never seen the type of drawer pull style you used

Pat, check out the Gamble House and Thorsen House. These are my two favorites to draw from for Greene and Greene elements. The fun thing about G&G is that you can put your own spin on them. Very fun and rewarding to build.

[glenn bradley]

Glen
Indeed the through tenon on the lower shelf of the coffee table has a reverse cloud lift.


Butternut has a color tone and grain pattern that I really like. The hard part is finding some quartersawn stock to get some straight-grained material.

Butternut is very lightweight and soft for a hardwood so it is low on the durability scale. I choose Waterlox sealer/finish as my only product for finishing butternut. I sand to 180 grit. Then soak the project with the first coat of Waterlox. Use a good natural brush for application.
On horizontal surfaces you can lay it on heavier for subsequent coats. I usually apply 4 coats with 24/48 hrs in between with lots of cross-ventilation for curing. I then wet sand with mineral spirits with 400 grit wet-dry paper.One more final coat then after 4 days if I'm happy I knock-down the gloss with red Scotch-Brite. I then use Briwax as my final step.
I probably have more than 20 hours in the finish step of that dresser project.

I never got back to issue a 'thank you' for the finishing schedule Dennis so, thank you. The California Thought-Police make getting Waterlox a bit of a challenge so I have bumbled my way into a phenolic modified and alkyd resin blend (not near as sophisticated as it sounds) that has been working well for me. If I ever luck into some nice butternut I would definitely get my hands on some Waterlox after seeing these examples. Again, love your work and I enjoy your take on the G&G feel. Thanks again.

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Thanks these are some great avenues for me to research. Do you know on the large thru finger joints is there a ratio to how thick the piece to how far it protrudes or is it another thing thats up to the individual? Any tips for online how to's would be very helpful if you have any. Pat

[Kent A Bathurst]

Dennis -

I dig it.

Could you post a photo or 2 showing the top? I'd like to get some images of the breadboard ends and the joinery there.

[Dennis Hawkins]

Dennis, been doing some searching on the forum for G&G pieces and just came across your beauty. I really like the proportions and details very much. I have never seen the type of drawer pull style you used, is it an original design? Or inspired one of the original GG pieces? Thanks so much for allowing me to see it.

Pat
The basic concept of the pull is taken from what was used on the Thorsen sideboard. See page 84 of Darrell Peart's book "Design Elements for the Workshop". Just as Glen pointed out the fun thing about all the Greene & Greene elements is "putting your own spin on them".

[Dennis Hawkins]

Kent
Here are the only two photos I have of the top not installed on the dresser.299993299992

[Kent A Bathurst]

Kent
Here are the only two photos I have of the top not installed on the dresser.

That answers my questions - you have the breadboard proud of the top all around.

Thnx. Me Likey !!

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Dennis, thanks so much for the reply I just ordered the book and will be looking forward to getting it real soon. I like that there are no "set" rules just a style to work to. I'm still a lover of the darker colored plugs but yours shows a really nice alternative. Pat