Popular Woodworking 2006-10 № 157, страница 48

Furniture reproductions are never exactly like the originals on which they're based. In some cases, that's because the skill and artistry of the reproducer don't measure up to the skill and artistry of the original craftsman. In other cases, it's because the reproducer consciously made the decision to vary from the original, substituting, for example, curly maple for cherry or machine-cut dovetails for hand-cut dovetails. In other cases, it's because the reproducer decided that the original could be improved on in some way.

The last is true of my version of this delightful little blanket chest from the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, which is located outside Harrodsburg, Ky.

The original was appealing in several ways: diminutive size, charming country-style details and solid joinery. But it also had some problems. Instead of the chest bottom's edges being let into grooves cut on the inside surfaces of the four sides of the case, the bottom of the original was simply nailed inside the case with the result that, when the solid-wood bottom underwent inevitable shrinkage across its width, gaps appeared on either side, visible when you look into the case from above. Also, the material was, I believe, simply too thick for this relatively dainty form. The material of the original was dressed to a chunky ⁷/8", a thickness that would have been more appropriate for this chest's bigger, full-sized brothers.

I opted for ⁵/s" material throughout, and I set the edges of the bottom into grooves, although in the drawing, I showed the original ⁷/8" material.

I have a theory about the original. I think it might have been an apprentice piece. The master in the shop would have discouraged the youngster from testing his skills on a full-sized piece with a full-sized appetite for material, directing that youngster instead to this little miniature.

At least that's my theory.

So why would I reproduce a piece that I think might have been the work of an apprentice?

Well, I like it.

The Big Three-hearted Tree

Material selection and arrangement is always critical, but it is, I think, doubly so in the case of a simple piece like this on which there isn't any carving or veneering.

When I'm gluing up panels for such a simple piece, I begin by pulling boards with similar color and figure.

I then begin to lay out the cuttings on the surfaces of those boards, making an effort to ensure each panel will be glued up of pieces taken from the same board. This means, for example, that the five pieces from which the lid is glued up were all taken from the same board. Three 25"-long sections of that board came together for the lid's main panel. The breadboard ends were then ripped from the offcut left behind. This approach is critical, I believe, because even though all the boards I might pull for a particular piece will have similar color and figure, the very best matches are those taken from the same board.

We woodworkers are often tempted to cut our stock from the edges of our boards. That is, after all, the logical way to proceed.

If possible, cut lengths from the same board for each piece of a panel you are going to glue up. This strategy offers the best possible color and figure match.

by Kerry Pierce

Kerry is the author of "Authentic Shaker Furniture" (Popular Woodworking),

"MakingShaker Woodenware" (Sterling) and numerous other books. He teaches Shaker chairmaking at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking.

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