Completed Project - Chest of Drawers

[Jeff Considine]

Not my first completed project, but first time I've posted pics to the group. To be honest, after seeing so many outstanding projects in these forums I was a little hesitant to put mine up. The talent pool here is so deep, but I figure what the heck, someone has to swim in the shallow end every now and then, might as well be me.

Carcass is ebonized walnut with several coats of tung oil, w/ several coats of wax; drawer fronts are copper gilded with a chemical patina applied (thanks David Marks), sealed with shellac and topcoated with wipe on poly for a little better protection. Drawer handles are also ebonized walnut.

I was going for a chinese lacquered cabinet kind of look.

Any and all criticism is greatly appreciated, I have much to learn, and have learned much here already.


Thanks

Jeff

[Trent Flemming]

Hey Jeff, if you are in the shallow end than I haven't even managed the kiddie pool yet. :) Very nice. Kudos to you!

[Jeffrey Makiel]

To be honest, after seeing so many outstanding projects in these forums I was a little hesitant to put mine up.

Jeff...Are you kidding!!!! This piece is absolutely cool. Pleeeeeease...don't be hesitant in the future!

I like the funky design. Very unique. And the amount of steps in your finish intimidates me. Unfortunately, photography, in general, doesn't seem to emphasize the beauty of finished woodwork. I bet it looks and feels fabulous.

Nice work...keep 'em coming.

-Jeff :)

[Michael Weber]

I admire and respect creativity and craftsmanship. Looks like you score pretty high on both counts.

[Jim Becker]

To be honest, after seeing so many outstanding projects in these forums I was a little hesitant to put mine up.

Umm....put up more of your work! It's outstanding and unique.

[Jeff Considine]

Thanks for the kind words, I consider it very high praise.

[Ken Shoemaker]

Wow.... I now know what I wanna be when I grow up... Jeff, real nice work!!!!!

[Glenn Clabo]

Jeff...your work is unique...and inspirational. Please do not hesitate to present your creations.

[Michael Handrinos]

Well done!! Thanks for posting. I like the design. How hard was the ebonizing to do?

Mike

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Jeff, Thanks for posting that beautiful work. We all learn from these kinds of projects. Alan

[Raymond Fries]

I really like the unique drawer fronts. Nice touch...

[Dave MacArthur]

Great work! Do you have any closeups of the drawer fronts? I'd love to see that patina up close!

[Jason Tuinstra]

Jeff, my only criticism is that there aren't more pics of this wonderful piece of craftsmanship. Great job. Sounds like you have a lot of work in the finishing process as well. It turned out very nice. Keep up the good work!

[Jules Dominguez]

Wow! Great piece of work!

[Jeff Considine]

Well done!! Thanks for posting. I like the design. How hard was the ebonizing to do?

Mike

Thanks Mike, the ebonizing is pretty straightforward, I found the recipe somewhere (probably here): Standard household vinegar, 10 ounces or so, and one piece of 0000 steel wool in a glass jar. let the steel wool soak for a few days then strain it out. I found out the hard way it's important to leave the top either very loose, or completely off the jar while it's doin it's thing. Also found out the hard way that it belongs in the shoparage while it's open - LOML had some "input" there.

Apply the mix as liberally as you like, it will react with the walnut within a couple of minutes. It also raises the grain, so there's some extra work there. One thing I've noticed with this is that it will very quickly obliterate very curly grain so when working on a highly figured piece, I've lost the figure.

Have fun.

Jeff

[Craig Thompson]

"Hesitant to post",yeah right. NOW... I am hesitant to post....

Creative piece... like the lines and material choices.
How about some close up of the drawers and the carcass details????

[Joe Unni]

Just gorgeous Jeff. Nicely done and great design.

Thanks for sharing,
-joe

[Mark Mazzo]

Jeff,

You should be proud of that work. It is both beautiful and unique. Excellent.

--Mark

[Chris Foley]

After that...I think I will keep all my work to myself! lol

[Zahid Naqvi]

I think you are just being modest.

Since everyone is offering praise I thought I might add some remarks. The piece is wonderfully crafted, but to my eyes looks a little too loud, if you know what I mean. It would limit the choice of accompanying pieces which can go in the same room/setting.

You skill in executing the project qualifies you to swim on the deeper side of the pool, or else some of us shallow swimmers may have to step out all together.

[Bill Brehme]

Very intriguing piece! How did you get the curve on the side panels of the carcass? Is that bandsawed, bent, or carved?:confused:

[Jeff Considine]

I think you are just being modest.

Since everyone is offering praise I thought I might add some remarks. The piece is wonderfully crafted, but to my eyes looks a little too loud, if you know what I mean. It would limit the choice of accompanying pieces which can go in the same room/setting.

You skill in executing the project qualifies you to swim on the deeper side of the pool, or else some of us shallow swimmers may have to step out all together.

Zahid,
Thanks very much for the feedback. I am my own worst critic, and I suspect I am not alone there. The positive comments I've gotten for this project is a real shot in the arm for me.

As for your other observations, I think I agree that it is overstated. The original design called for ebonized walnut drawer fronts with gilding only on the drawer pulls, but since this was for the girl of my dreams for these past 30 some odd years, and she liked it the other way around, that's how it went...

Clearly a trap, as I am now starting on the rest of the bedroom set so she has matching furniture... You'd think I would have seen that coming.

Thanks again, I appreciate it.

Jeff

[David Duke]

Very nice Jeff, the design is a little out there for my taste but the execution of the piece is spot on.

I too would like to know how you made the curved end panels, its hard to tell from the picture but it looks like the stiles may have a groove milled in them on the radius with plywood slid into it (1/4"?)

Once again great work..........keep posting its pieces like this that give us all inspiration.

[Roy Wall]

Jeff,

That is very creative piece and well done! You've got some great talent and terrific finishing skills!!

[Jeff Considine]

[quote=David Duke;657138]Very nice Jeff, the design is a little out there for my taste but the execution of the piece is spot on.

I too would like to know how you made the curved end panels, its hard to tell from the picture but it looks like the stiles may have a groove milled in them on the radius with plywood slid into it (1/4"?)

Thanks David, you have it exactly right. Made a jig for the router table with a roundish point on the end positioned to place the groove where I wanted it (bout 3/8" from the edge). it was probably not the safest setup, but I took very small bites each pass. Since I have to do more of this, any ideas on how to improve that process would be most welcome.

by the way - I'll send you my home address, you just let me know when you want to start my kitchen. Yours is awesome.

Jeff

[David Duke]

Jeff, you may have better luck making a template and using a bushing guide in your router to mill the grooves although if you are making pieces with different radius you would have to make a template for each one.

Thanks for the good words on my kitchen project.

[Craig Che]

Can you get a better picture of the gilded copper and how you did that? I might want to try that on a future project. Amazing job though, like some others I am now really hesitant to put up pictures as I am on the wading end of the pool.

[Richard Link]

Here's a dumb question....why "ebonized walnut?" I like the ebonized look but if you are going to take something all the way to black, why start with a costly dark wood like walnut? Is it a texture thing or was the ebonizing much easier because you started so dark to begin with? Does the walnut starting point impart something extra to the ebonized look (i.e. grain, texture)?

I've not done any ebonizing myself, so bear with me on it. Do folks that choose to ebonize have a smaller pallet of woods to choose from that work well?

Rick

[Zahid Naqvi]

I revisited this thread as it was pointed to through another ebonizing thread in the finish forum. Richard asked a few question that I would be interested in knowing as well.
Jeff said something about the vinegar/steel wool mixture reacting with walnut(we all know Walnut has oil in it), perhaps that is a clue. I guess one can always make test batches on various woods and find/file the results. I agree if it was possible to ebonize any wood using this method I'd go with Maple or Poplar, both of which are quite inexpensive in teh south compared with Walnut, Oak is another commonly available local wood.