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Gene DiNardo
03-03-2008, 10:14 PM
Hi All,
Thought I'd share a new piece.
This is an interpretation of a latter Boston area Chippendale piece.
The inspiration came from Fine Woodworking issue 166 Dec. 2003 pg. 78
The primary wood is air dried Walnut that I milled myself with a chainsaw.
Secondary woods are Maple and Spanish Cedar.
The serpentine drawers are slipped with maple and have spanish cedar sides,back and bottoms.
The runners and kickers are maple. The beads on the strechers are scratched and the strechers are dovetailed to the case sides.
The Hardware is from Ball and Ball.
Thanks for looking,
Gene

Roy Wall
03-03-2008, 10:34 PM
Gene -

Fabulous craftsmanship!!! Outstanding.........

Steve Rozmiarek
03-03-2008, 10:36 PM
WOW! Nicely done!

gary Zimmel
03-03-2008, 11:01 PM
Gene

Fantastic looking piece of furniture.

Excellent job on the 1/2 blinds...

John Thompson
03-03-2008, 11:06 PM
Excellent work, Gene..

Sarge..

Cody Colston
03-03-2008, 11:10 PM
That is an absolutely gorgeous piece of furniture and the craftsmanship is awesome. I'm not sure whether to be inspired or to sell my tools.

John Michaels
03-03-2008, 11:23 PM
Holy smokes that is gorgeous. I got nervous just looking at it. Thinking about how much stress it would take me to achieve something like that. My simple sofa tables are a handful for me since I've been doing woodworking a short time. Beautiful work.

scott spencer
03-04-2008, 12:06 AM
Wow Gene! That's incredible! Eat your heart out Norm! :D Beautiful piece...

Alan Turner
03-04-2008, 4:33 AM
Great piece, Gene. One heck of a large humidor.

Is the beading 3/16"? Are the vertical beads let into a rebate, or are they also intergal? How did you find the Spanish cedar to work with? I did a bunch of garden benches of it, and for 6 months I smelled cigar box fumes whenever I blew my nose. Given the softness of Sp. cedar, clever idea to slip it with maple. How thick are the drawer sides?

Very clean work.

Michael Handrinos
03-04-2008, 6:10 AM
Man, that's beautiful! Well done

Mike

Guy Germaine
03-04-2008, 7:10 AM
:eek:
Absolutely beautiful. I don't know what else to say.

Tony De Masi
03-04-2008, 7:12 AM
Stunning workmanship. WOW.

Tony

Sam Yerardi
03-04-2008, 7:20 AM
Gene

Beautiful workmanship! I love your choice of Spanish cedar in this project. Now I have a new secondary wood to think about!
Great job

Don Bullock
03-04-2008, 9:32 AM
What a beautiful piece!!! I used to dream of making furniture like that. It seems that every time I woke up I realized that I didn't have the talent or skills needed. It appears that you definitely have both.

Lori Kleinberg
03-04-2008, 11:11 AM
Wow!! That is a great looking piece of furniture.

Tim Malyszko
03-04-2008, 11:44 AM
That is one georgous piece of furniture. Excellent work. I love the look of Walnut.

Bob Rufener
03-04-2008, 12:00 PM
W'OW! Something to be very proud of building. Especially rewareing because you harvested and used your own wood. May I ask what you did for finishing it?

Lars Thomas
03-04-2008, 5:44 PM
Outstanding work. How is it finished?

Robert LaPlaca
03-04-2008, 7:45 PM
Gene,

Really nice work.. Plus it's extra cool you milled the Walnut yourself

Carl Eyman
03-04-2008, 8:13 PM
Just great in every way. I'm anxiously wait6ing for the answers to Alan Turner's questions.

May I make a suggestion? Don't you think it is better to avoid back lighting for your pictures? One loses so much detail when the piece is in shadow.

Gene DiNardo
03-04-2008, 10:32 PM
Thanks for the kind words, to answer some of the questions:
The finish is french polish, home brew with olive oil for lubrication (extra virgin of course,after all I'm Italian)
The beads are closer to 5/16" and scratched into the case sides as well and connected at the corners with a chisel.
the drawer sides are about 5/8" as are the bottoms.
I used Spanish cedar to keep the weight down and I love the smell. As for working with the cedar, I picked up a few really dense boards,more like cuban Mahoghany from Internet lumber before they stopped selling 20 bd ft. packs.
It was a joy to work. I used it for the drawer sides. I used the more typical lighter stuff for the bottoms.
The back of the chests are solid frame and panel with bridle joints,glued and pegged to the cases.
You can barely see it but the bonnets on the pediment are solid 5/16" angle dovetailed.
As for the pics being backlighted, It was overcast all day, of course the clouds broke just as I began to take the photos and I was pressed for time.
Thanks again for the kind responses.
I am not a professional, I only do this as a hobby. Yor compliments are very inspiring and appreciated.
Gene

J. Z. Guest
03-04-2008, 10:45 PM
Gene, how long did this take to build?

It is very nice.

Larry Fox
03-04-2008, 11:47 PM
Gene - outstanding work, just georgeous. You French Polished that thing - that by itself is quite an accomplishment.

BTW: I didn't know there were any fellow Creekers in Bala Cynwyd - I work there. :)

Steven Bolton
03-05-2008, 9:10 AM
Wow, heirloom city. Very, very nice.

Steve Bolton

Jim Becker
03-05-2008, 11:18 AM
Beautiful work, Gene. Thanks for sharing it!

Gene DiNardo
03-06-2008, 9:23 PM
Gene, how long did this take to build?

It is very nice.

Thanks Jeremy,
Took about 4 months, an hour here an hour there, you know how it goes.
If I did this as my regular job I could probably do it in about 2 weeks. not counting the finish. French polish has to rest several days, sometimes a week between final sessions.
By the way, my Son and his family live in Chesterton Indianna, just north of Chicago.
Regards, Gene

Jerry Olexa
06-24-2008, 4:48 PM
Gene: I'm sorry to be so late but just found this thread..Absolutely beautiful, attention to detail and craftmanship!! Outstanding results and like your finishing...

Vince Shriver
06-24-2008, 5:58 PM
That's a wonderful piece you've created, with meticulous attention to detail. If you have other pieces I know most of us would love to see them. Those highboys one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing.

C Scott McDonald
06-24-2008, 7:11 PM
Outstanding!!

Love the dovetalis on the drawers.

Scott

Mark Valsi
06-25-2008, 9:33 AM
Fabulous !! absolutely Top Shelf !

I love those dovetails in the drawers !!

Dave Anderson NH
06-25-2008, 10:17 AM
Beautifully done Gene. I'd love to have you take and post some more pictures of this project. Please!!

Brent Ring
06-25-2008, 10:29 AM
Absolutely Stunning! I loved the dovetails. I have some walnut that I milled that is air drying as well. I hope what ever I do looks half as nice!:)

Jon Grider
06-25-2008, 9:28 PM
Handsome piece,great workmanship,how many hours?

Mark Stutz
06-25-2008, 9:35 PM
Gene,
Beautiful job! Can't belive I mised this back in March...glad somebody else did as well.

I'll show my ignorance here...but I'm not quite sure what you mean when you describe the drawers as slipped with Maple. A wear strip on the bottom of the runner?

Mark