Dressing Table and Bench

[John Zahurak]

Hello,

Below are some pictures of a cherry dressing table and stool I recently completed for my wife. The top is bookmatched. I used hand wiped Waterlox as a finish. The final coat was rubbed out to a satin sheen with 0000 steel wool and wax.

Rough dimensioning of the stock was done with power tools. Final dimensioning and stock preparation was done with planes and scrapers.

The drawer fronts were rough cut then fit to the case using planes, spokeshaves, scrapers and finally sanded. The top shape was rough cut then faired to the serpentine shape using a spokeshave. Same for the top and bottom rails.

Dovetails for the drawers and case were hand cut as were the rail dovetails and mortise and tennons.

[Bob Noles]

John,

Welcome to SMC and thanks for such a great 1st post. That is some beautiful work and the detail is awesome. How many hours do you estimate you have in this?

Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

[Matt Warfield]

Dang John, that's some nice work!! Curious, how many hours would you estimate that you've put into it? (The LOML is reading over my shoulder and I need to validate shop time.):D :D :D

[Matt Warfield]

Well Bob, you beat me to the punch on that one. :)

[Ken Garlock]

First off, Welcome to the creek. Do stop by frequently:) :cool:

I am sure your wife will like the dressing table, it certainly looks like a quality job that any lady would like to own.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Very nice John!

Take care, Mike

[David Fried]

Welcome John. The dressing table and bench are great work! I can't wait to see the mirror you'll be making next :eek: .

Dave Fried

[Frank Chaffee]

John,
Your work is nothing short of stupendous.
Welcome to the Creek.
Frank

[Jim Becker]

John, welcome to SMC! And I agree...that's a wonderful first contribution, too. Awesome dressing table set!

[John Zahurak]

Thanks for the compliments.

As for hours into the project, that is difficult to estimate since I didn't really keep track. Since this is a hobby, I am only able to work on projects in the evening and on the weekends. Estimating time is further complicated since I usually have two projects underway at the same time....for instance I'll mill the wood rough and let it sit for a week or so while I work on something else.

If I were able to work straight through, I would estimate about a week for construction before moving into finishing.

Finishing wise, it takes me a week to apply the coats. Roughly 30 to 60 minutes each day to scuff sand and wipe on each coat. 24 hours to dry between each coat. I allow 2 weeks for the final coat to cure befor I rub it out.

[Mark Singer]

Excellent Work! Welcome ....Very nice details and handwork

[Steve Wargo]

Welcome to the Creek John, Sweet piece. I love the design. Nice and slender. Very cool

[Mark Stutz]

Very nice work. Can I assume the drawer fronts were cut from a single piece and then cut apart? How wide did your stock have to be ?

Mark

[Alan Turner]

Welcome to the dark side. Very tidy construction and a pleasing, not over the top, design. Excellent stock selection. Nice DT's, but the way.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Quite the way to introduce yourself John. Very pretty work. Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff.

- Vaughn

[Terry Beadle]

I have to agree that cherry table is very nice. The dovetails look excellent. Great job.

I too have the problem of how many hours does a project take. I built a couple of end tables and as I think back...was that less than a year? I guess just tell the wife, it takes along as it takes but whatever the time, the results will be there for a hundred years or more. What can compare?

Thanks for posting the pictures. They asy it all! Great job.