Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-3, страница 13

Letters

-▼-

Moving Away from Boring Wood

Our readers take editor in chief Rob Johnstone to task about which woods look boring and which do not. Richard Monckton's chest of drawers built of yellow poplar is "Exhibit A" in the argument.

Mail Call! Contact us by writing to "tetters," Woodworker's Journal, 4365 Willow Drive, Medina, Minnesota 55340, by fax at (763) 478-8396 or by email: letters'Swoodworkersjournal .com We ask that all letters, including emails, include a mailing address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

Beauty of the Boring?

So editor Rob Johnstone thinks ["The Cost of Beauty," February 2009] that boring wood makes a boring project. Gosh. So when I used to admire all that old Chippendale and Hepplewhite furniture made of ordinary woods, I really should just have been thinking "boring." A Stradivarius violin, made of native Italian wood? Boring. That grandfather clock of ordinary oak and maple that stood for so many years in my great-grandfather's study — boring. The railing of that twin spiral staircase at the Shaker Pleasant Hill community? Plain old cherry. Borrrring.

Building on success, reader Douglas Green improved Chris Marshall's outfeed table design. Our field editor liked Doug's approach so much that he is adding the modification to his own saw.

I really appreciate your opening my eyes to all the terrible misjudgments I have been making over the years. I will never again look on a Greene and Greene piece of furniture without making sure it is made of some exotic wood before I deign to admire it.

Christopher Hodgkin Friday Harbor, Washington

I would say your assumption that only pricey materials will yield spectacular results is off the mark. Poplar is a much maligned wood which most see as only firewood or paint it to cover it up. I produced a very nice chest of drawers out of poplar because the wood I chose had all the color spectrum of poplar — white grain followed by green stripes and purple stripes and finally a very deep purple face on a drawer. I will admit (he end of the project did not stop at just plain old poplar. I highlighted the best aspects of the faces of the drawers

with walnut accents. I used the walnut only lo frame the more spectacular poplar colors and backgrounds. If you have an eye for plain, you will stop at plain. A woodworker's quest is to present the beauty Mother Nature created in the wood. Our passion is lo unlock the beauty inherent in that plain old poplar into something of beauty.

Richard Monckton Canaan, New Hampshire

WJ Responds: Richard, that's a very nice piece of furniture! The point I was trying to make (and clearly missed the mark in some way) is well illustrated by Richard's project. It's not the species that is in question, it's the careful eye of the woodworker. Make an effort to select beautiful wood (figure and grain), and you will end up with a beautiful project. That's what Christopher's old masters did, and that's what Richard did.

—Rob Johnstone

12

June 2009 Woodworker's Jou ma I