Wood plant

Moving On

"Moving On" Completed 11/13.


Built with knotty pines and black cherry for the case, doors, and back. Rosewood and Bloodwood exotics trim out the details. The interior drawer fronts are spalted maple.


 The wall cabinet is 31 1/2" tall, 17 1/2" wide and 8 1/2" deep.


The exterior is finished with two coats of Watco Natural Danish Oil followed by a hand buffed paste wax top coat.


The interior is finished with burnished in beeswax using the polissoir method rediscovered by Don Williams. With the exception of the drawer fronts which received the same Danish Oil and Wax treatment as the exterior.


 Though the piece was inspired by the work of James Krenov. I was compelled to add some of my own flair. Lately I have been experimenting with the linings of boxes, particularly with paper. I will hand marble my own paper, and infact I did so for the interiors of the drawers, but the doors required larger pieces of paper than I have been able to turn out.

I found the lining for the doors at an area art supply store.


Its difficult to be objective about a piece when youve finished it so recently. I would call this the most ambitious and challenging thing Ive produced, and then there is little wonder why I feel the near insatiable desire to nit pick the whole thing to death. As I look at it I can see every detail I missed, see different design decisions I should have made, and see every wayward straying of both hands and tools.


Still, I believe it has accomplished the overall goals I set out for myself in the beginning.

1) To build a case piece ala Krenov that would push the boundaries of my abilities in design and execution by stepping outside my comfort zone. .

2) To use materials I had been "saving" for a long while.

3) To build without a measured drawing or even a completed plan in place from the start and complete the process from "The Point Of The Tool" with minimal use of a linear measuring device. Instead I tried to let the material help dictate the outcome of the piece.


I titled the piece "Moving On" because that is an apt interpretation of what the work here really means to me. For one, its deciding to be done with this piece that has haunted me, for years in my imagination and for months on my workbench. For another its road marker that breaks from my focus on the techniques of "How" I make something and just dives deeper into the making.


I used to build pieces and break them down on the "How" It was important to me "How" I flattened my stock, or "How" I cut my joinery, The handwork I focused on was my personal badge of honor and the chip on my shoulder. Since starting work in my new shop Ive had the space, power, and convenience to rediscover a lot of my old shop machines that spent most of their time covered in tarps in the old shop. This cabinet saw more time on the table saw than any project Ive built in the last three years. The way I use my table saw is markedly different than how I used to, but I am using it again. Who knows, at this rate I may even shake hands with my router table again.


Its become less about "how" I make something, and more about "what" I make. And in my mind thats opening the doors to many other areas of the craft Ive found fascinating from a distance, but have never been able to muster up the confidence to move into. Veneer work is one of the next things in my sights and not just thanks to the recent "Roubo on Marquetry" book Ive come to adore. Id collected half a dozen books on veneering before I managed to get my hands of Roubos tome, but I was reading them and saying "someday." Now Im ready to revisit them, move on, and say tomorrow.


Im ready for the next step in my evolution.

Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf