It's been a while ..

Derek Cohen

Member
Messages
42
Location
Perth, Australia
.. since I visited and posted here.

I am finishing up a chest of drawers, cheekily referred to as the Lingerie Chest (as if my wife is going to fill it!). It has been an interesting build, a long build (some 13 months now), and one more to go. But it is at a stage where others would consider it done. The chest is a modern version of a traditional bombe - curved sides and bowed drawers. 95% done with hand tools.

The link to the full build is on my website. Just scan down to the Lingerie Chest if you have serious insomnia or are just a mad fool.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html

This is the current state of the build ...

TopOfTheWorldToYou_html_m11845893.jpg


The dovetail shot ...

TopOfTheWorldToYou_html_m233f38e0.jpg


and the top ...

TopOfTheWorldToYou_html_433ba9b2.jpg


The other piece I built before this, that you may enjoy if you have masochistic tendencies is the copy I made of Hans Wegner's The Chair. The factory built this with copy lathes. I used handtools.

Look on the same Index for the build.

WeavingSeatCompletingTheChair_html_m4441928f.jpg


WeavingSeatCompletingTheChair_html_2ebf780e.jpg


Enjoy.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Great to see you drop by, Derek! :wave: The chest and chair are both beautiful pieces. You've got some mad skills, sir. :thumb:
 
I'll echo Carols comments, great looking pieces, would love to see some of the build pics. :thumb: Welcome back! :wave:

My apology Darren, I should have replied a while ago. The builds of these two pieces - plus others - are on my website. The Index for the furniture page is ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html

The Lingerie Chest is now completed and the final chapter is here:

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/TheDevilLiesInTheDetails.html

This contains details of the Quaker Lock, a jewelry drawer and trays, and the completed leather work on the upper section that houses the mirror.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Oh wow is all i can say. Feel incompetent when i see your work Derek. Very inspiring. Blew my morning reading The Chair. Wow what a project. Friends of ours nearly tossed 4 of those chairs, the real deal due to webbing being worn and damaged. That was until i told them how cool they are and that they Danish design. At the time, they then looked them up and got a shock at what they were about to throw out. I should ha e kept my mouth shut and offered to take them but hey i am not that kind of guy. One has to run ones hands over the form to really appreciate the design. I think they so comfy to sit in supportive and relaxing.
Your version in Jarrah is just too cool.

While you here is Jarrah really eucalyptus. Reason i ask is i know eucalyptus as gum tree that was brought to South Africa where i come from, to use for mine prop wood. The prisons used it to make desk tops for metal framed school desks and it definitely did not look like any of the images i have seen on the web of Jarrah. Curly stuff aside.
I am thinking there must be a different strain i am thinking of. We called it blue gum trees. Man they burn like crazy in a forest fire.
 
Hi Rob

Hoe gaan dit? Ek is n ou Kaapenaar. nou omtrent 30 jare in Oz.

The eucalyptus you mention sound like Sydney Blue Gum. I did not know it came to South Africa from Australia. Interestingly, there are many common trees and vegetation. Proteas are also indigenous to Sustralia. Blue Gum is very hard. Jarrah is only grown (and nearly decimated) in Western Australian, where I live. It was exported around the world - used for piers, railway sleepers and even cobbled roads. It resists termites and the harshest sun ... and is pretty tough on plane blades.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Lol Derek ek so nooit gedink het dat u a Kaapenaar was. Dis ook lank laas wat ek Afrikaans lees en skryf.

So i did some research and found an academic paper written about the SA railways and their cultivation of what is referred to as plantations as opposed to forests. Turns out much of what ended up being grown was conifer and it needed to be dipped in creosote before it could be used. So they did end up importing Jarrah from Australia to use as railway sleepers.

Now if we could get our hands on those sleepers, they sell for around R250 for good ones, then one would have some heck of a nice wood.
They also used yellow wood from the Knysna forests.

I also learnt something about Eucalyptus that i did not know. You correct about the blue gum, there are a host of cousins to the Jarrah (Eucalyptus) tree .

I am going to see if the local exotic lumber place here has some of it. Thats real nice wood and as you say hard as heck.
 
Cool story and a wow score an item. I hope you have been able since then to get another blade for it.
I can tell you where to find one but it probably would mean trashing a coffin plane.
I have a coffin plane that was handed down from my Dad and it has one of those blades in it.
So i guess finding another of that type would not be such a big deal to get a blade.

That plane looks to be Jarrah no?

Oh Derek you brought back some really great times for me with that train story.
My Granny (note America...lol we called her Granny not Grandma lol) used to stay in a flat in Long Street Cape Town and my Dad would take me down to visit with her by train. Those were the days when dinning on a rail car of the SAR were like eating in the best dinning rooms in the world. Cutlery was silver polished nice heavy stuff, crockery was custom SAR and food was fantastic especially breakfast. But what i remember most was the fruit presentation. From the way it was served on a multi tiered cake server. The fruit was SA's finest fresh from where ever it was grown in the country. No cold storage crap in those days. Oh man just thinking about those trips riding in a sleeper cabin. And the table top that lifted up to reveal a wash basin for the morning. Nice crisp starched linen.
Was a 2 day journey and boy if you got caught on the milk train version then it was a long trip.
Great memories Derek, sadly no longer in todays times. I guess the Blue train is the closest thing today.
 
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