Charleston double chest

[Ben Hobbs]

My sons and I have been meeting one week each year to work on a project. This year Don Harris joined us. Many of you saw the corner cupboards we did 2 years ago. This year we copied the frontispiece on the cover of Samuel Humphrey's book on Thomas Elfe cabinetmaker. We used wide and figured South American mahogany from Irion lumber, cypress from a local NC mill, pulls from Ball and Ball, locks and repro wrought nails from Horton Brasses, and key escutcheons from White Chapel. I dyed mine with water soluable aniline dye and finished with orange shellac and wax.

All dovetails are hand done, and as usual all interior surfaces are handplaned. The exterior was scraped and lightly sanded, wetted, sanded with 320, wetted, sanded with 320, dyed, finished, and waxed. It is always fun to have the sons home. Thanks for looking, and look for others just like it soon.

Ben

[Johnny Kleso]

Very Nice,
I building a Lonnie Byrd Chest of Drawers and hope its 1/2 as nice as yours...

[J. Z. Guest]

Wow Ben. You don't post much, but when you do, it is always a jaw-dropper.

Very. nice. work.

[gary Zimmel]

Ben

My hat is off to you.... What a beautiful piece of furniture.

Fantastic job.

[Mark Stutz]

Hard to find words...WOW doesn't seem enough. Please tell me that it took you more than 1 week, though! It sounds as if you each made one. Even more impressive.

Mark

[mreza Salav]

Fantastic pieces!! Very very nice. How did you do the detailed work on the tops (3rd picture) or did you get them pre-made?

[Alan Turner]

Nice work! Are the drawer fronts veneered? What is the diameter of the cockbeading? Can you post a photo of the dovetails you chose for the drawers?
Thanks.

[Ben Hobbs]

We certainly did not get all of this done in just a week. I estimated that it took about 150 hours to build this piece. Calvin bandsawed strips, scraped, and stacked them. After attaching the pattern, he scroll sawed them. We then cleaned them up with chisels(actually Don did mine). Matt and Calvin came up with the fluting jig. Don and I prepared stock and made the tails of all the tops and bottoms. One real chore in all of this is stock preparation. With full dust boards and all, it took a lot of cypress. My middle son, Ernie, couldnn't come this time.

We are now trying to decide what's next. Thanks for looking.

Ben

[Dave Anderson NH]

Another superb job Ben. I always look forward to your posts. Your description of the work methodology sort of sounds like how I suspect that the larger 18th century cabinet shops worked. Kind of a Neanderthal production line.:D

[Jim Becker]

Not only is the work exquisite, the way you bring the family together to do these projects is just plain awesome. Wonderful, Ben.

[John Thompson]

Outstanding reproduction of the Elfe chest on chest by Hobbs & Sons. Very beautiful even though after my wife upon seeing a reproduction, could not see into the small, upper drawers well. I always questioned why so high after that even though I know the answer is visual effect.

But a breath-taker none the less. Keep up the out-standing work by you and the "boys".

Regards...

Sarge..

[Ben Hobbs]

The drawer fronts are solid wood. The original was veneered, but since my resawing capacity isn't very good we decided to do in the solid. It also helps to have first class materials.

Ben

[Brent Ring]

Impeccable and Beautiful! Thanks For Sharing - Quite a Tribute to you and your family that you get together for these things. What are you going to do with it?

[Norman Pyles]

Beautiful work.:cool::cool::cool:

[alex grams]

Ben, I have to say that the work is beautiful on all parts, but that your journey and experience along with memories with these projects has to be the most inspiring.

[Ben Hobbs]

It is already in our bedroom. I have the upper 6 drawers, and my wife have the rest. Now I need a bed that complements the chest. Ben

[Dewey Torres]

Very nice... thanks for sharing
Dewey

[Bill Wyko]

That is some absolutly wonderful work. What a great way to spend time with the kids.:)

[Calvin Hobbs]

Dad,

Great to see the chest here online. It turned out beautiful. Would you say the color matches the first picture or the detail shot which is a little darker? It is hard to tell from the photography.

Let me also say that the work that Dad put into this project was considerable (besides building his chest). He prepped literally hundreds of BF of cypress and mahogany before we got there, which took no small amount of time. And he made most of the molding, also. Because he got there first he also had nearly all of the steps lined out so we had much, much less head-scratching when there were things to figure out. And his careful supervision keeps a relative novice like me from messing up some incredible materials.

Not to mention Dad has always been a great teacher, the days I had after school in the shop will always be cherished. That is the main reason I like to haul myself from the midwest and work each year side by side with my mentor and idol, a man I always wanted to be like. And woodworking is just a part of it.

My chest is coming along, I hope to get it finished by the end of June, which was my original goal. Day job gets in the way.... I will try to snap some progress shots to show that I am trying to hold up my end of the bargain. Cal

[Ben Hobbs]

Here are some pictures of the dovetails and a picture of Benjamin Calvin Hobbs, III. Thanks for all the kind words. Ben

[Roy Wall]

Some more Awesome Work by the Hobb Family!!! Ben - really wonderful work........and you have GOOD HELP!

I had the pleasure of viewing some of Calvin's work this last Feb 3-5..and he is certainly a chip off the old block. Calvin, hope all is well and I'm glad the chest is getting close to completion. Call me when it's finished!

[Chuck Saunders]

We certainly did not get all of this done in just a week. I estimated that it took about 150 hours to build this piece.

Whew, that's a relief. I was getting up to throw all my tools in the river and look for a new hobby. 150 hours is still way out of my reach, but better than a week. That is a beautiful piece.

[John Timberlake]

Great job. Love the design and you did a wonderful job of maintaining the classic look. The finish looks terrific. Wish I could get my sons to come do something like that. Maybe when I retire, I'll go to their place. Keep up the good work.

[C Scott McDonald]

Wow Sir!

simply wow...

Scott

[Don Bullock]

Outstanding!!! BRAVO!!!:D

[Rick de Roque]

Ben,

Absolutely beautiful. And great way to get together with the sons.Thanks for posting.

Rick

[Ernie Hobbs]

Dad,

Sorry I couldn't make it this year. I'm sure Don served well as your "adopted son".

The chest looks really nice. I especially like the detail with the scroll work. I look forward seeing it live sometime this summer.

[Clara Koss]

My sons and I have been meeting one week each year to work on a project. This year Don Harris joined us. Many of you saw the corner cupboards we did 2 years ago. This year we copied the frontispiece on the cover of Samuel Humphrey's book on Thomas Elfe cabinetmaker. We used wide and figured South American mahogany from Irion lumber, cypress from a local NC mill, pulls from Ball and Ball, locks and repro wrought nails from Horton Brasses, and key escutcheons from White Chapel. I dyed mine with water soluable aniline dye and finished with orange shellac and wax.

All dovetails are hand done, and as usual all interior surfaces are handplaned. The exterior was scraped and lightly sanded, wetted, sanded with 320, wetted, sanded with 320, dyed, finished, and waxed. It is always fun to have the sons home. Thanks for looking, and look for others just like it soon.

Ben
very very great job...when you look at the photos the love you put into it shows through...love the decorative areas around the top...;)

[Ben Hobbs]

Thanks to all who commented and/or looked. These projects sometimes look almost impossible to do, but when you realize that they are only a series of many fairly simple steps it is not so intimidating. Once a few basic skills(such as dovetailing, mortise and tenoning, planing, scraping, and sharpening) are done competently, you can tackle about anything. Ben

[Calvin Hobbs]

Here are progress pictures of my double chest, hopefully to be complete in the next few(???) weeks. It has been a fun challenge but I am anxious to get on to something else. Thanks, Cal

[Mark Mazzo]

Ben (and the rest of the Hobbs'):

Truly beautiful and inspirational work! The fretwork is very interesting and certainly sets the piece off. I also really like the idea of doing the project with your sons. One day I hope to be doing the same with my son.

Fantastic work!