Serpentine chest of drawers

[Mike Allen1010]

Mark, your work on the curved mouldings is fantastic! Is that Maple? if so you are truly a masochist. Also what type of veneer did you use for the drawer fronts? Often I end with with some kind of light/dark contrast, but really like the overall "lighter" look of your complementary primary wood and veneer combo.

Thanks for sharing- really enjoying progress!

Cheers, Mike

[Mark Rainey]

Thanks for the feedback Mike, the molding is figured cherry. It is enjoyable to do it with carving gouges & scrapers, but I admit I am having dreams at night of a power router. The veneer is commercial veneer from Certainly Wood. It is thin but it makes it very easy to bend over curves. I imagine 200 years ago they must have used sand bags to keep the thicker veneer in place after hammering with hide glue.

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful job on the molding, Mark. I’ll just throw in my two cents on routers. I don’t use much power in my work, but I’m pretty sure a router is my most used power tool. Great tool for inlay and moldings, although the more curved work is done by hand.

The molding you made could have been done with a template, or it could have been routed first, then bent. And that all depends on if you can source the proper profile bits. But here’s the thing; it can screw something up real fast. Plus, I avoid using a router when working with cherry. It’s easy to burn cherry. And any sanding or scraping to remove the burn marks can flaw the work. Especially small detail work to the point of needing to start over. I guess my point is that I think you made the right call to do this by hand, especially because it is cherry and you have the skill and tools to do it.

Thanks for the updates; enjoying following along.

[Mark Rainey]

Beautiful job on the molding, Mark. I’ll just throw in my two cents on routers. I don’t use much power in my work, but I’m pretty sure a router is my most used power tool. Great tool for inlay and moldings, although the more curved work is done by hand.

The molding you made could have been done with a template, or it could have been routed first, then bent. And that all depends on if you can source the proper profile bits. But here’s the thing; it can screw something up real fast. Plus, I avoid using a router when working with cherry. It’s easy to burn cherry. And any sanding or scraping to remove the burn marks can flaw the work. Especially small detail work to the point of needing to start over. I guess my point is that I think you made the right call to do this by hand, especially because it is cherry and you have the skill and tools to do it.

Thanks for the updates; enjoying following along.

Phil, thanks for your insight into methods of work.

[Mark Rainey]

Serpentine molding carved with gouges fitted to case - the miters are challenging - they measure less than 90 so I divided the angle by two and cut.serpentine fitted.jpgserpentine miter.jpg

[Phil Mueller]

Lovely detail, Mark. Nice job on the hand gouged moldings. Love the little molding detail going up the side. I’m still struggling with bending some cherry...but this old dog doesn’t give up easily. Thanks for the continued inspiration!

[Mark Rainey]

Thanks Phil, I created the fluting by filing a scraper. I remain very interested in your bending of cherry. Michael Fortune has a plans for a unique Adirondack chair in a past Fine Woodworking. It involves bent laminations, and I was interested in using cherry. He used mahogany. I am a bit concerned about using cherry. Related to that, I usually get those cheap 20 plastic Adirondack chairs. They last a few years. The last one cracked and I found myself pitched backward facing the sky. Luckily, no significant injury. Next winter project.

[Christopher Charles]

Mark, looks fabulous, that's a tight detail on the moulding. I have a scraper that looks just like that but haven't used yet.

[Mark Rainey]

Mark, looks fabulous, that's a tight detail on the moulding. I have a scraper that looks just like that but haven't used yet.

Thanks Chris! I have not used a curved scraper much in the past, so was a bit unsure as I proceeded. I was able to get a burr on the curve I needed and after a little practice, was able to get some really good shavings from the scraper. I am envious of those who wield scrapers so effectively, and when I am
'in the zone" it is a sweet feeling to see the shaving fly and the surface smooth. I am going to do some clean up work, especially where the front curve going into the short straight piece at the cant at the miter joint. I do not think there was anyway to get a perfect match, so using some tools I will try to blend the profiles as best as possible.

[Phil Mueller]

Mark, I think you will have infinitely more success with bent laminations as long as you keep the individual pieces thin enough. These kiln dried 3/8 x 1/2” moldings are a bugger to bend. Funny thing is the first trial piece bent like a noodle.

It’s about a 22” circumference. Here’s the trial piece, and useable if all else fails.

899FD152-25AD-402F-BE35-A704EBE78540.jpg


I’m thinking this trial piece was the most outside cut of the board and perhaps more straight grained with less imperfections than all the subsequent pieces.

When it comes to bending solid wood, I’ve read mahogany is pretty tough (depending on thickness). By nature it resists water. Lots of chatter among boat builders on technique. They say it’s tough with thicker pieces even with some relatively minor curves.

From what I’ve experienced so far, the cherry will bend pretty well to a more relaxed curve, so I think a bent lamination with pieces in the 3/16 to 1/4” thickness should handle a subtle bend easily.

PS: Don’t want to sidetrack this thread on your beautiful build. Looking forward to your next update!

[Mark Rainey]

I love using my HNT Gordon dado plane, and therefore my dados were through, showing up front. I hammer veneered to cover them up and it worked out.

cant 1.jpg cant 2.jpg cant 3.jpg

[Mark Rainey]

DF5F7D05-EF8C-4FA2-A15A-AA787E4A77C3.jpg Gluing up top for chest of drawers

[James Pallas]

All very very well done Mark. Have you ever made a negative story stick for your curved work. It does help in layout work. When doing your shaping work with spoke shaves and such you can chalk the edge of your negative and get an idea of high and low spots.

[James Pallas]

One other thing i would suggest is used the fence on your router plane and a narrow iron for a marking gauge if the radii are long enough. It gives a nice square cut line.

[Mark Rainey]

All very very well done Mark. Have you ever made a negative story stick for your curved work. It does help in layout work. When doing your shaping work with spoke shaves and such you can chalk the edge of your negative and get an idea of high and low spots.

Thanks James. The negative story stick is a great idea. When shaping with a spokeshave I had to check and recheck with a square to keep the curves uniform. I will try that next time.