Enfield Shaker Cabinet

Jamey Amrine

Member
Messages
11
Since this seems to be the place to show off, my first post is a gratuitous shot of the Shaker Cabinet I built for my mother for Christmas this year.

The design is from last Fall's Woodworking Magazine article on the Enfield Chimney Cabinet. Rather than the cherry used in the article, I used pine and poplar, painted with milk paint with natural, bookmatched red oak panels in the door. Most of the construction was done with hand tools.

shaker_cabinet_crnr.jpg


shaker_cabinet_int2.jpg


The molding was hand cut using moding planes and built up from a couple of pieces:

shaker_cabinet_mldg.jpg


Here's an illustration of how I tackled the molding:

molding_buildup.jpg


And here it is in Mom's kitchen:

cabinet_at_moms.jpg


Thanks for looking,

-Jamey
 
The black is "pitch black" milk paint from the Odl Fashioned Milk Paint Company (www.milkpaint.com). They recommend 1 cup of water to 1 cup of paint powder. I have found that with a thinner mixture (maybe 3:1 or even 4:1 water to powder) I get a better finish. At the 1:1 ratio, the mixture is kind of grainy. The thinner mixture requires more coats (there are maybe 3-4 coats on this piece), but you get a smoother, more even finish. Milk paint tends to have a lot of uneven coloring, which is part of its "charm," I guess. You can beat this htough by using more thin coats and rubbing it out. I find a paper towel or brown paper bag rubs it out nicely. Doesn't take a lot of rubbing, just enough to knock off the little bit of grit left behind.

I followed the paint with a light coat of BLO. I wipe it on one surface, wipe it on the next surface, wipe it off the first surface, wipe it on the 3rd surface, wipe it off the second surface, etc. It doesn't penetrate a lot, but leaves a soft luster and a warmer, more even color.

If you have any other questions, let me know.

-Jamey
 
we'll have to call you sorehand:)

if i didnt know you jamie, i would ponder the handwork but i do and know your definalty a hand tool dude, glad you joined this group. and very nice cabinet.. i am gonna try and get to one of those jamestown meetings. just to see how it used to be done. was it done with green wood like you talked about earlier?
 
Larry, you will have to come down for one of our Galoot meetings one of these days. Brad knows where to go, so tag along with him. I wouldn't trade my planes and saws for all that noise and dust. :)

-Jamey
 
Very nice. I'm a big fan of all things Shaker. You did a good job on this one. I didn't know there were woods besides cherry, but I'm learning :D Thanks for sharing it with us.
 
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