My finishing methods are pretty simple. The reality is, most period furnituremakers I know use a fairly singular approach to standard finishing. In fact, most everyone who makes a living building furniture tends to gravitate to a small group of repeatable finishes. It’s productive and consistent, two of the most common threads for making furniture for a profit.

Mark,

I’m glad to be posting again. I probably won’t be consistent on the twice a week thing but I’m sure I’ll make it at least once a week.

Yep, you see me using a chisel. I’ve tried the block plane approach and decided I can do it faster by paring in the pins with a chisel. Personal preference. The other thing that I didn’t go into in the post is that the half blind dovetails in the drawer front are actually beveled (this is the reason I stayed away from it in the original post now that I remember). In other words, my drawer fronts fit rather snuggly from left to right in the case. I then dovetail in the sides setting them in deeper than I normally would. I then used a chisel, bevel side down, to pare the pins off flush where they meet the drawer side and sloping outwards until they meet the front scribe line. This way, as the drawer closes, there’s plenty of space for the drawer sides to moove freely but when the drawer is pushed in that final 3/16″ the gaps close up and the drawer front automatically centers itself in the opening. This was another detail from the original that I adapted. It’s not common on period furniture but it does occur. If this doesn’t make sense, I’ll try to describe it again differently. Just let me know.

Chuck

Good to see you posting again. The Oxbow is taking shape nicely.

I was interested in the last couple of photos…you seem to be trimming the dovetail pins with a chisel. Do you usually use a chisel or a bock plane for this? I was wondering if there was a particular reason you were using a chisel for the operation.

–Mark
<a href=”http://thecraftsmanspath.com” The Craftsman’s Path

I’m interested in your finishing methods. I always look for good tips to increase my ability.

Charlie Mullins