Philadelphia Dressing Table

[Calvin Hobbs]

I finally finished my Lowboy project on Friday and thought I would see what people think!

Most if not all of my projects have a utilitarian purpose, with something needed at our house, a gift, etc., but this one I started last summer(2005) with no other purpose but to practice my carving and joinery. I was sent on the road for work down to Branson, living temporarily without my shop, so I milled up some mahogany and started carving in my hotel room (the small applied shell). I later got my workbench down and started working on the legs, then we moved to Springfield in August. So I got through with other projects and set back to this one a couple of months ago.

This is a Philadelphia Dressing table, modeled after an existing high chest in the Chipstone collection. I took some other lowboys and scaled my dimensions proportionally from there.

Dimensions: 31 1/4" high, by 21" deep, by 35" wide.

Materials: Mahogany and white pine as secondary, Hardware from Ball and Ball

Finish: Water based aniline dye and shellac

As I advance in my period furnituremaking skills (Hopefully), I am trying to capture details that look "right" as they would have been in the 18th century, so feedback is appreciated.

It was a fun project, that took a lot of time and effort.

Thanks for checking it out, Cal

[James Stokes]

It looks nice Calvin.
Glad to see someone else from Springfield on here.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Wowee! This project is fabulous! Wonderful details, great choice of materials and perfect proportions. The carvings are beautiful and the overall craftsmanship of this piece is excellent. This is why I log onto SawMill Creek!...Jeff

[Dave Anderson NH]

As a perennial sucker for period furniture, you've made my day. Very nicely done Calvin.

Dave Anderson
SAPFM #223

[Jim Becker]

Um..."wow". That's a beautiful piece, Calvin!

[everett lowell]

I second Jim, WOW! You did that in a year? It would would take me a year to get started on a project like that. I am humbled,that is way beyond my present skil level,maybe someday!job well done!:)

[Roy Wall]

Calvin -

I think it looks terrific! The porportions are great....

The legs look strong, yet elegant - I especially like the "deep curve" down by the ball and claw. Thanks for sharing a great work!

[lou sansone]

great piece. I also want to try my hand at some of the Philadelphia school pieces. I may start on a pie crust table with caved legs as well.... anyway, just love the piece.. low boys are real neat pieces of furniture. how about a photo of the top and let's see how you fastened it to the base. It has been my experience that many of these cross grained built cases split on the sides near the bottom. any thoughts on that?

legs look great and so does the center drawer. really can improve on any of it. might like a detail on the quarter columns. I have seen them done a couple of different ways.

best wishes
Lou

[john whittaker]

Great detail Calvin...the claw foot legs are spectacular.

What color or color combination of dye & shellac did you use to get that wonderful finish?

[Carl Eyman]

Beautiful piece. The carving is great, finish is perfect, design wonderful. I just wish it were mine.

[Dan Drager]

I'm with John, Those may be the nicest and most detailed lowboy legs I've ever seen. Super nice.

[Cody Colston]

I don't know much about period furniture except that I like the look and I like yours a lot...a whole lot! That's really fine stuff.

Your work is way beyond my skill level but I sure do enjoy seeing it. I'm a leg man, too, and those legs are fantastic. ;)

Thanks for showing and keep them coming.

[Bruce Page]

I'm speechless. That is museum quality work that only a master craftsman could do!
Nicely done!

[Jack Ferrell]

I have a set of plans on the back burner to build one of these, but it's not nearly as nice as yours. Excellent, keep up the good work.

[Dave Ray]

Cal, this is worthy of a page/shot in FWW mag. Really nice piece of work.

[Jim W. White]

Simply Awesome Calvin!!! ...your carving skills are really impressive! and the job you did finishing the peice looks great also!

[Rob Millard]

Calvin,

Many people try to “capture” period carving, but few do (I’m one that can’t with vine carving). You have succeeded, especially on the vines, the punch work around the shell and the quarter columns.
Rob Millard

[Ernie Hobbs]

It looks great Calvin. I know you're glad to get that finished. Do you happen to have any pictures of the face when you were doing the carving? I'd be interested to see the process, in case I decide to attempt something like that.

Now you can get to work on it's twin for my house:D

[Dan Oliphant]

The overall piece is very impressive indeed, but the carvings are something all together more impressive.(And you say you need the practice, NOT) I don't recall seeing a better set of ball and claw feet that wern't on an original period piece.

[Ernie Hobbs]

Cal, this is worthy of a page/shot in FWW mag. Really nice piece of work.

I agree- at minimum, you should send it to the readers gallery.

now that you've finished your corner cupboard and dressing table, what's next?

[Calvin Hobbs]

All,

Thanks for the compliments. This piece was my second carved Philadelphia piece (I made a Pie Crust Tea Table a couple of years ago) and I hope to attempt many more over the years. My Dad might pressure me to do Southern pieces, so my next couple of pieces might be taken from Charleston or North Carolina.

It was a very enjoyable process. Including finishing, I probably have 150 hours or less in it, but it is hard to tell with starting it last summer and picking it back up this year.

I have attached a couple of detailed shots if anyone is interested in more pictures.

Thanks again, Cal

[Calvin Hobbs]

Ernie Hobbs said:
now that you've finished your corner cupboard and dressing table, what's next?

Ernie,

I am planning to do a simple turned plant stand with tripod legs, hopefully for Christmas (better get moving). After that, a Charleston slab table to replace that old office credenza in the dining room. After that, two easy chairs to match the one you have, after that.....

I have too many projects really to mention, but I love the process of each of them, as you know.

Look forward to seeing your progress on your federal card tables.

Cal

[Rick de Roque]

Calvin,
Excellent. Love the details. Did you take some carving classes or did you read and learn on your own?

Rick

[Calvin Hobbs]

Lou Sansone said:
great piece. I also want to try my hand at some of the Philadelphia school pieces. I may start on a pie crust table with caved legs as well.... anyway, just love the piece.. low boys are real neat pieces of furniture. how about a photo of the top and let's see how you fastened it to the base. It has been my experience that many of these cross grained built cases split on the sides near the bottom. any thoughts on that?

legs look great and so does the center drawer. really can improve on any of it. might like a detail on the quarter columns. I have seen them done a couple of different ways.

Lou,

Thanks for your comments. The top was a sweet single board I scabbed (and paid for) from my Dad's inventory last summer. It has a neat stripe of figure as you can see. I attached it with wood screws through pockets in the side apron. I also dropped them in muriatic acid to take all the modern coating off them so they will rust up. I elongated the holes so hopefully it will be ok with movement.

As far as the side cracking, I debated different methods, but in the end I just made 3 tenons and glued them all, like a period piece. If it ends up cracking, hey it's more authentic, right?? If this were a commission, I would probably glue the bottom tenon and peg the others with an elongated hole, as I have read and seen discussed.

Also, the 1/4 columns were turned as one piece, not 3 as was seen mostly in the 18th century. I turned it solid and ripped it on the tablesaw, slightly larger than 1/4 each. (My first attempt was too small and looked wrong on the leg, so I chopped them out and redid them). The flutes were roughed out with a homemade scratch stock, after it was glued in, using the leg itself as a guide for the fence on my scratch stock. I cleaned up the rougher parts and the ends with a small carving gouge.

I made on of the tea tables a few years ago for my brother (Matt), using the Ron Clarkson book, which was a huge help. They are great projects and fun, I will definitely do another (someday).

Thanks again for your comments and questions, I love talking period furniture.

Cal

[Neil Lamens]

Calvin:

What a beautiful piece of furniture. Absolutely magnificent!!!!!

[Calvin Hobbs]

Rick de Roque said:

Did you take some carving classes or did you read and learn on your own?

Rick,

I have never taken a carving class, but would love to someday from maybe Allan Breed, Gene Landon, Mack Headley or someone like that. As you probably know from the Creek, I grew up working in my Dad's workshop (working around school, football, etc.) and Dad is a fine carver and showed me the fundamentals. We used to play around with small animals, plaques, letters, etc.

What has improved my carving is carving (Profound, huh?) But also going to museums, looking at period examples, reading, etc, asking for feedback from Dad and my brother Matt (who was a fellow at Winterthur in DE). I have a wall of reference material on period furniture up in Springfield, come see it sometime. When I started drawing up this project, I must have looked at 50 different lowboys from my "library" to get a feel for not only the carving, but all the scope of the piece.

I actually struggled with the cutout above the ball behind the ankle, most period claw feet are relatively straight in this location. This put the foot really high up on the ball, but they ended up looking fine.

Thanks for your comments, we need to set up a "Creeker sighting".

Cal

[Jason Tuinstra]

Calvin, truly stunning. The attention to detail is fantastic on this piece. The legs turned out great. I love the fact that you did some of your carving in the hotel room. That's classic. Thanks for showing it off.

[Calvin Hobbs]

John Whittaker said:

What color or color combination of dye & shellac did you use to get that wonderful finish?

John,

Finishing of this piece was pretty simple. I am definitely gaining confidence in each piece I finish. Here is the schedule for this piece:

1. Sanded all exterior surfaces to 220, carvings were lightly sanded or left from gouges.
2. Wet down piece with water, all raised grain was sanded after drying.
3. Heavy coat of aniline dye, a mix of Mosers Red Mahogany and Some French Walnut from Merritts (out of KC). I was going for a strong reddish brown.
4. BLO. I wanted the end grains, legs, feet, carvings, etc to soak it up and get dark, like an older piece.
5. Brushed on a coat of orange dewaxed shellac (homestead). Thoroughly sanded with 400 grit to remove any raised grain, nibs, etc.
6. Glazed with minwax Red Mahogany oil stain and wiped off, leaving residue in the corners, carvings, etc.to give it a little grimy look.
7. Three coats padded orange shellac, brushed in carved areas. Then sanded and/or steel wool. One more coat of shellac, rubbed with steel wool after drying. Carefully on carvings to prevent rub through.
8. Will rub out the top to satin after curing a couple of days.

I get a lot of info and input from my Dad on finishing, but also have learned much from Rob Millards postings on finishing. Now he is a finisher to look up to!

Thanks for commenting, Cal

[Calvin Hobbs]

Rob Millard said:
Many people try to “capture” period carving, but few do (I’m one that can’t with vine carving). You have succeeded, especially on the vines, the punch work around the shell and the quarter columns.

Rob,

This is a great compliment, coming from you. The worst sort of pieces I see are those that may be well executed, with inappropriate details. I continually try to observe good period work and try to emulate it. The shell on the original piece had that hurried, try to make a living look to it, while being well executed. I have tried to somehow reproduce the flow that the old masters had and not look too technical or tedious, you know what I mean?

I loved your write-up on your Chippendale chest on frame, and knew I needed to copy your texturing on the insides of the knee blocks, etc. What do you think (picture attached)?

For finishing I continually refer to your work and your posts. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge to other woodworkers. Cal

[Ernie Hobbs]

Calvin:

I went back and looked at some pictures of your Philadelphia Tea Table from a few years ago. I notice that your carving and finishing has improved quite a bit (not that it wasn't good back then).

Attached are a few pictures that I took of your table a while back.

I've also attached some pictures of the carved animals from when you were a teenager. Sorry about the picture quality- they weren't the focus of the original picture; I cropped them from the larger one. In the last pic, of the animals on the mantle, the two on the right are yours, along with the one on the far left. I think the second from the left is Matt's Princeton Tiger and just beside it, you can barley see the small dog I carved when I was about twelve. In the fourth picture, Melanie is playing with your carved horse.

[Bill White]

OK. I quit. Come get my stuff. I'll never compete in your class.
Great job is not worthy praise.
Bill

[John Timberlake]

Terrific job! Great job on all the carving. Love the shell and floral on the drawer, ball and claw feet, and knees. The quarter columns look great. Over outstanding project. Nice even finish. Don't worry about the time it took. It will bring a lot of pleasure for a couple hundred years.

Did you use plans or just inspiration from the past?

[Alain Tellier]

Cal, this is worthy of a page/shot in FWW mag. Really nice piece of work.

I agree with Dave, this is definitely FWW material. I would definitely submit it.

Nice colors and carvings!

[David Duke]

I'll just add my WOW!!!! along with the rest of them.

[glenn bradley]

I can only echo the sentiments of others here, Beautiful work!

[Mark Singer]

Terrific work on a nice period piece!

[Jerry Olexa]

Cal, outstanding work!!! Great attention to detail. Love those legs....

[Alan Turner]

Nice work!!

[Ben Hobbs]

You certainly did a great job. All those years of work and study is really paying off. Thanks for sharing your work with us all. Dad

[Sean Schwendinger]

Calvin,

As usual I am in AWE of your work. It was great that I actually got to see this in the various stages IN PERSON. As far as carving, I hope to one day carve as well as you do!!!

Cannot wait to see the next one!!! I have to come over and see this in it's home!!

Sean

[Ben Hobbs]

Calvin,

You really did a great job. Everything looks great especially the carvings. Don

[lou sansone]

great pie crust table. got a question about the acanthus leaves on the legs. do you first shape the leg as if it did not have leaves and then carve into the leg the leaves? do the leaves actually sit proud above the leg surface or how do you do it.

hope this makes sense
love all of the hobbs work
lou

[Todd Solomon]

Calvin,

Absolutely gorgeous! I've just finished an 18th century settee with trifid feet, and will take on a lowboy next year. I've carved a prototype ball and claw that I'm fairly happy with, but struggle with carving a 3D foot from 2D photos. I too have a number of books with excellent examples. I'd like to obtain a sample leg that I could use as a model. I am considering buying one from one of the furniture supply companies, but don't know how good a CNC-routed leg would be as a model. Any advice on whether I should use a model, and where to find a good one?

Thanks

Todd

[Calvin Hobbs]

Lou Sansone said:

got a question about the acanthus leaves on the legs. do you first shape the leg as if it did not have leaves and then carve into the leg the leaves? do the leaves actually sit proud above the leg surface or how do you do it.

Lou,

The legs are shaped as if there were no carving (I have seen some articles say you should leave extra thickness there but I didn't). Then you "set in" the outline of the carved area with appropriate gouges and lower the ground around. Smoothing all this out will have the carved areas sit proud of the leg. Ron Clarkson's book is great at showing this process. (Classic Carved Furniture: Making a Pie Crust Tea Table). This is the same process I used for the knees of the dressing table. Cal

[Calvin Hobbs]

Todd,

Seeing a 3D example is of great value. And I agree 2d is usually not enough, although good pictures are very helpful.

Definitely DO NOT buy a ball and claw leg from one of the CNC routed folks like Adams, etc. They do a good job, but hand carving is far superior. If you are near a museum, go there and look, it is surprising how delicate the carving is on a good period piece. Where are you, I can see if I know anything close to where you are?

Lastly, I would contact Allan Breed, Robert Whitley, or Olde Mill, etc. for a casting of a well done ball and claw. Allan Breed offers a Newport foot on his website, and Robert Whitley has one for a Boston Bombe Chest. His website shows a Philadelphia Dressing Table to be coming soon, it may have a casting ready to go.

The FWW articles by Randall O'Donnel and Gene Landon are really good, also.

Then again, most are not as nerdy (or nuts) as I am about the period details, but those would be the best options, or at least they could help you in the right direction. To copy a modern routed CNC piece would be selling short, in my opinion.

Thanks for commenting and post pictures of your settee, if you get a chance. Cal

[Rod Upfold]

That's a jaw dropper - fantastic


Rod

[Todd Solomon]

Thanks Calvin, I've been searching for a source for a long time. I ordered the Newport ball and claw casting, from Allan Breed's site.

I'll take some snapshots of the settee and post in the coming week or two.

Take care, and again, beautiful work!

Todd

[Calvin Hobbs]

Well,

At some urging by some members and other woodworkers including my brother, I submitted this piece to the FWW gallery. No dice this time, but they say it might be considered for the online gallery...

It was fun to be considered, I'll try again soon!

Thanks, Cal