Bombe Chest – Almost There
My bombe chest is almost done. I need to make the inner parts of the drawers and also sand the trims of the outer parts. For two lowest drawers I needed to shape the sides, very easy to do, I used alder.
Read the news about Sketchup, they leaving Google and becoming the part of Trimble (never heard of them). It is said that they will keep a free version, I’m curious which direction the developers will take. Here’s official Sketchup team post about it.
Carving legs
I finished carving these legs last week. I’m almost pleased with result, I was even thinking of making another version of them but I have other projects to do too, so I decided on moving on. I really liked working with cherry, though with pear wood it would be absolutely different experience. The only problem I had is, when I was finishing working with spheres, some of those small claws started to split and fall off so I had to glue them back. But I liked how the joints and claws turned out.
Carving spheres was fun, they look just right from every angle.
The other details above the leg were supposed to be carved by Dremel, but I didn’t like the result at all, simple V-shape micro chisel 0,5 mm was the best option.
I also bought a set of Narex chisels lately. They are quite good for their price, but require additional work. Kirschen is still my number one choice.
I also started working on drawers, two of them were shaped according to the profile of the sides. The most difficult part here is done.
Bombe Chest
I decided to try one more project from Harry W. Smith’s book that I really like.
This chest is made of mahogany in the book, but I really wanted to try cherry for this one. The most interesting part was to make curved sides. Usually I follow all the tips from this book, but this time I was a bit confused. I didn’t like the way of shaping these parts – with a small drum sander held in a flexible-shaft machine. I tried it and found the results inconsistent. Working with a bandsaw was absolutely different experience, very easy and precise. The original thickness of a stock was 8 mm and I shaped it to 2 mm.
Then I cut dovetails for the dividers and glides. All fitted nicely.
The back was also easy to make. Then I needed to carve four claw foots. Something like this:
I’ve seen several how-to videos about carving them, I highly recommend those from Popular Woodworking. Though they all are really helpful, especially their references on different shapes and forms. I’ve been working on them for the last week or so, not really happy with the result but I’m close to the OK version 🙂 Hope to show you them soon.
Drawers
The desk is not done yet!:)
My hubby developed a habit joking around if I have made my desk yet. Last few days I’ve been working on the drawers. First I’ve made strips then cut mortises for the bottom of the drawer. It would be easier if the drawers had the same height, but the lower half drawers have different one.
Dickens’ Desk – almost there
I never thought it would be so much work with this desk. When I just started I was amazed by all those little details, compartments and shelves. To be honest, I was never a fan of Dickens’ novels, though I liked one about him (well, almost), it was called Drood. As in his novels it’s all about quantity.
I spent a couple of days making a baluster gallery. I made two types of balusters with different design, and then decided which one to use. For the gallery I needed eleven balusters.
Two top pedestals were quite easy to make. I’m pretty happy with the result so far, especially considering the type of veneer I’m using. Now I can move to writing surface and drawers.
Compartments
On Wednesday I finished this central piece. The height of it is 17 mm and the width is 48 mm. I used my own mahogany veneer 0,8 mm. I was almost done with the drawers on the left and on the right of this letters compartment but decided no to use it and try to make another one.
Dickens’ Desk – The Process
Just a couple posts earlier I was writing about Dickens’ Desk, this time I’ll show more photos of the process. I began with the lower part of the desk.
Something New
[nocrosspost][/nocrosspost]I decided to take a break from house building. Yesterday I found this wonderful Dickens’ Desk. The desk where Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations. It was made of mahogany. This desk fetched almost 900 000$ at auction in 2008. I also found different variations of it on several antiques’ sites.
Stool
As with the mirror the stool is made of walnut, one more commissioned piece. I enjoyed working on it – played with router bits, getting some new profiles. I also like the top of the stool.