Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-5, страница 38

Queen Anne Highboy (Part l)

By Kerry Pierce

Every piece of furniture has a story, and the story of this highboy begins three summers ago, with an ad in the local paper offering air-dried walnut and cherry for $1 a foot.

The author's stunning highboy was created out of some truly exceptional walnut lumber. The combination of fine design superbly executed with high quality material results in an heirloom piece worthy of the term.

Moving aside battered hand tools, cases of motor oil, bits and pieces of machinery, I unearthed a stickered pile of rough-cut 5/4 cherry and walnut planks. The top layers were scattered with knots and splits and wane, but as I worked my way into the pile, the quality of the material improved. I dug deeper, and suddenly, I was face-to-face with some breathtaking material: boards 16" wide, 10 to 12 feet long, composed entirely of clear, straight-grained walnut heartwood.

In half an hour, I pulled out a dozen planks of the finest American hardwood I've ever seen.

I heard a door slam at the back of the house, and a woman approached the building in which I was working. She, too, was about my age. She was the sister, she explained. Her brother had cancer, and the material he'd cut some years ago with the intent of someday turning it into furniture for his home he now wished to turn into cash because he had no medical insurance. And that's where the story of this highboy begins.

38 October 2009 Woodivorker's Journal

When I arrived at the seller's home, a man in his late 50s directed me to a building 35 yards from his back door. He was rail-thin with patchy gray hair, watery eyes and a quavering, nicotine-stained handshake.

He pointed through the building's overhead door at a stickered pile of wood tucked into a dark corner. He explained there was more out back. Then, with a rasping, expectorant-laden cough, he retreated to the house.