Popular Woodworking 2009-12 № 180, страница 13

Arts & Mysteries

fact, I get the distinct impression the builder was seeking a variation of color, perhaps to help distinguish the different drawers. This appears in evidence in the Edward Evans "Scrutore" (on display in Colonial Williamsburg's Wallace Dewitt gallery). So the sense I get is that the cabinetmaker foraged for scraps of different colors and planed them to V2".

Cabinetmakers could change the thickness of their stock by planing it down. This can be a time-consuming process, but it makes sense when a small amount of wood is required (as on these drawer fronts). Anglo-American craftsmen from this period began the process with a jack or fore plane, a medium-length plane. If a high degree of flatness was required, they might have followed the jack plane with their longer "try" planes. A smooth plane would have typically finished the exterior.

Resawing

It was possible for cabinetmakers to resaw lumber in their own shops. Long frame saws, resembling miniature pit saws, were used to resaw narrow stock, veneer or small amounts ofwide stock in European shops throughout

the 18th century. I've not seen evidence of these saws in 18th-century Philadelphia shops, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had them. The same cuts can be accomplished with only slightly more difficulty by using a standard ripsaw (saw the corners out). On this spice chest, the pine drawer bottoms would have been significantly easier to resaw than the white oak used for the drawer sides.

My interpretation is that where thin stock was needed in widths inconvenient for riving, an easy-to-saw wood (such as pine) was chosen. My feeling is that the thin stock used for drawer construction throughout the period presented Colonial-era woodworkers with a significant challenge. What began as riven oak sides and sawn pine bottoms, ended with riven white cedar drawer sides and bottoms. Virtually every other piece of wood in a case piece (of any size) was 4/4, mouldings excepted. I think this speaks to the difficulty of resaw-ing and thickness planing.

Riving

Colonial American furniture often shows evidence of riven (split) lumber. This fact

Not so hard. Despite the look of despair on my face, this saw is pretty easy to use. The problem I've had is controlling it! The tool is a reproduction of one depicted by Roubo dating from the 1760s. Its blade is 4' long and features two teeth per inch. It's difficult to start but cuts aggressively once the kerf is established.

seems to be lost on those concerned about the cross-grain joinery and wood stability. Riven wood is the most dimensionally stable cut of wood, widthwise and lengthwise, varying primarily in thickness (percentagewise). In the 18th century, riving was also the fastest way to process stock.

We usually think about riving as old-fashioned in the 18th century, or reserved for "country" craftsmen. As more people like us examine period furniture, I suspect we'll see increasing evidence of its use on a wide range for products. It may seem a little silly or uncontrollable, but it really is a practical way to produce superior furniture parts.

Conclusion

I think we can look at old furniture as archeo-logical finds, analyzing the remains for clues about lost civilizations. In this case, I looked not only at surfaces for clues about stock preparation techniques, but also at thicknesses and ring orientations to try to piece together a narrative ofwhat might have been happening in this particular cabinet shop. Here's the story I think I'm hearing:

This cabinetmaker had 4/4 walnut. He was able to use the narrower stock, sawn closer to the sapwood, for the carcase. For the door and drawer fronts, he foraged for figured material. What he found, he planed to ¹/2" thickness for drawer fronts. They were scraps and it wasn't a lot of material, so planing was the easiest method to prepare this stock.

For the narrow drawer sides, riving was fastest. Oak rives best and was plentiful, so oak was used. Sawn lumber would have been a more expensive choice with quartersawn material particularly expensive.

For drawer bottoms he needed wide, thin pieces. Splitting out wide, thin pieces is much harder than splitting narrow stock. So he decided to saw these. He could have chosen oak to match his drawer sides. But pine was easier to saw than oak. For the interior dividers, 6" to 8" wide material was required. Six inches is really no problem for an ordinary handsaw. But 8"-wide material is pushing it. My guess is he used some kind of frame saw like mine. But don't let me put you off resawing by hand. I've resawed 12" material with my handsaw. No matter how hard it seems, it's still easier and faster than planing it down by hand.

14 ■ Popular Woodworking December 2009