End Table in Cherry
$1,800 - 17.75" x 17.75" x 20.5"
Cherry, Hard Maple, Douglas Fir and Bloodwood
Available for immediate sale!
When a drawer is fitted just right (using hand planes), it glides like it's on air. It should tighten as it's pulled out, gripping the pocket gently before it can come all the way out unexpectedly. It feels very good to use a drawer that is fitted with that sort of care. A quality drawer should have sides of hard wearing wood -- hard maple in this instance, and a fragrant bottom is an added delight every time the drawer is opened: Douglas fir has a cinnamon-like smell I really enjoy. I almost forgot to mention dovetailed joinery, such a cliche as the "hallmark of fine craftsmanship". Yes they are important, the best corner joint there is, when done well. But then there are dovetails and there are dovetails: ones that have been cut by hand and fitted to perfection; ones that show a little playfulness or intention in their design, that work with the scale of the drawer and integrate well with all the drawer details. I carved the handle from bloodwood. The accents in the corners are also shaped from bloodwood. This piece uses veneers for the top that are almost 1/8" thick (that's about 5X the thickness of commercial veneers) that I bandsawed from a plank. This approach let me play with the grain pattern, avoid the endgrain appearance on two of the sides, and rigidly attach the top to the skirt for a very sturdy construction. The legs look straight until the little swoop at the bottom, but they aren't: the inner corner is tapered about 1/2" and radiused for the last 10" or so. Without that further shaping, the legs appeared to get heavier at the bottom -- not an effect I was looking for. A lifetime investment in fine furnishing meant to be proudly handed down for generations to come.