Almost Finished ET *Pic*

[Jim Guy]

Lots of firsts for me on this one. (At this point almost everything is a first for me.) Its the largest piece I've ever made. First time I purchased wood for an entire project. First time I put on shellac, then stain. (Woodcrafts mission oak gel stain)
Been working on this for a couple of months on and off. Like a friend of mine said, "I may not be very good, but I sure am slow."
Still needs a couple more coats of shellac and there will be a shelf which the T.V. will sit on allowing more electronics below.
It's for my son who just purchased his first home.
I'm open to constructive criticism.
Thanks for looking.

[Jim Becker]

"Constructive criticism"?? Ok. Build more like this!! You're doing a great job on the EC, Jim. More like outstanding.

[Dick Parr]

Very nice Jim

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Looks good to me! I'm with Jim. Only criticism is....you need to build more!
Great job!

[Bob Marino]

Jim,

Like the others have said, build more! Very nice job, beautiful wood, which will only look better with some more coats of shellac. Was this from a plan or your own design?

Bob

[Rob Littleton]

SCWEEEEEEEEEEEEET.....

Nice job.

Looks great from where Im sitting...

[Todd Burch]

Hey Jim - I like it! Kinda mission style. Good choice of wood too.

What flipper door slides did you use? What type of construction did you use for the drawer box?

When I use shellac, I like to finish it off with paste wax applied with #0000 steel wool. The steel wool takes off any dust nibs and evens the sheen. It feels great to the touch too. It goes pretty fast too.

Thanks for posting!! What are you going to build next? Looks like you have a dedicated shop there!

[Jim Ketron]

Great Job!!

Jim

[Waymon Campbell]

Beautiful design, well executed...

[Peter Stahl]

Very nice Jim!

[Jim Guy]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
Todd - I also looked at your ceiling and can see quickly that you are in a league all by yourself - great looking stuff.
I'm going to take your advice on the paste wax and steel wool. This being a mission style ET I don't want much of a sheen at all.

[Jerry Olexa]

Oustanding work!! Your quote reminded me in my earlier basketball days, when I was described as " He may be short but he's slow" or "he's only 5-10 but he plays 5-2". I used to live in Columbus over 10 years, Good job. Jerry:)

[Christopher Pine]

I also say great job! Did you say you put shellac on first then stain? WHy? DOes the shellace serve as a kinof sanding sealer?
Chris

[Jim Guy]

Chris - Yes the shellac does work as a sealer. The wood takes the stain much more even and not quite as dark.

[Bruce Page]

Beautiful piece Jim! The color is very pleasing - don't ya just love that gel stain? Your son is a very lucky man.


Ps., I've been saying "I may not be very good, but I sure am slow." for years. The bad part is, nobody argues with me! :o :o

[Tyler Howell]

Tastie, Very Tastie! ;)

[Kent Cori]

Jim,

My constructive critcism is that this beutiful EC is in your house, not mine. Please give me a call and we'll set up a time for you to bring it over. :D :) :D

[Mike Johnson - Chicago]

Jim,

Really nice looking piece of furniture you've got there. The QSWO is beautiful!

I'm kinda surprised that noone has found anything that they would "pick on" to provide the constructive feedback you asked for. So here goes...

The one thing that I would change is the relative sizes of the rails and stiles. Not so much that I don't like their sizes, but that there are multiple sizes and the graduation is not balanced.

Comparing the bottom arched rail (which feels thin in the middle) to the middle rail (which feels thicker, but being thinner than the door's rails makes the top have even more weight), to the top rail (which feels top heavy being thicker than the bottom rail). Then you also have another thickness for the legs.

I'm not trying to say that this ruins the piece. I'm sure that you would have no problem selling it for big bucks! But where I'm coming from is how someone like J.Krenov ends up with a cabinet that feels balanced and "right". And with your piece, had there been a bit more balance of the rails, stiles, and legs thickenesses...well the feel of the piece would have been taken to "the next level".

For examples of this, take a look at the Mission catelog on the Stickely website. http://www.stickley.com/gallery/index.html In particular pg 66 item 1722, pg 78 item 626 and pg 80 item 1127 (notice on the last one the lower door rails are oversized to anchor the piece...and the post/leg combined with the door stile is ballanced with the 2 stiles together where the doors come together in the middle).

In the end, my opinion is one of design, which is inherently personnal. But having felt like this is the hardest part of building your own furniture, I thought I would share some of what I feel like I am finally being able to see.

Considering this project contains many "first" for you...you have really got something to be proud of. As I'm sure your son will be.

Keep it up!
M.J.

[David Wilson]

Verry Nice

[Jim Guy]

Thanks Mike -
Your thoughts are exactly what I am talking about. You saw things I would never think of at this stage in my woodworking. I really do want to be able to build projects that take it to the next level. I'm saving the sites you mentioned for future reference. Thanks again.