China Hutch/Buffet (wordy and several pics)

[mater]

Absolutely beautiful work.

[kwgeorge]

I like it! I am about to do a large buffet myself. Going to be quite the challenge in my little shop for sure. You have done an excellent job on yours.


Ken

[Whaler]

I'm at a loss for words, all I can say is that you can be proud of that.

[John Hunter]

Very nice!

[Brian G]

Thanks for all of the kind words.

Ray, I didn't know I had a plinth; I had to look that one up. I've heard of "plinth block". So now I learned something new. . . thanks. I contemplated several versions of cutouts, most with some kind of sweeping curve. None seemed right. There was something similar in one of the woodworking mags (Wood, I think), and I went that direction.

One thing I forgot to mention about the finish, which may be helpful to anyone choosing to use water-based dye is how I applied it. I didn't use any kind of pore filler, mostly because I didn't want to mess around with it. When I was fiddling around with finding the right color, I noticed that the solution often didn't fill into the pores because of surface tension. I found that using a fingernail brush to work the solution around as I applied it with a spray bottle helped get full and even penetration.

Other things I learned:

-If you're going to make your own molding with molding bits, take the time to make a simple, horizontal router table. It can be done with a vertical fence, but as I made deeper passes, there was less and less material in contact with the table. I can't say enough about how pleased I am with the performace of the Holbren bits.

-Setting up sliding dovetails can be a fussy process, but once you get dialed in it will become a joint you'll appreciate. Glue-ups are much easier, if you choose to use glue at all.

-After making the stick cuts in the straight pieces of stiles and the bottom rail, and before you remove the guide fence on your router table to make the stick cuts in the curved stile, run the flat ends of the curved stile against the fence to cut the sticking profile in the ends. This will help you keep from ruining the coped ends on the curved stiles. I know this from experience. . . . twice.

-Make faceframes about 1/16 oversize (i.e., so that about 1/32" overlaps the sides). Then use a flush trim bit to trim it even with the sides. I read that tip in one of the mags. It works and looks nice.

-I used medicine cups (hold 30mL) with various graduations (mL, dram, oz) for helping make test dilutions of the dye. It was easy to establish ratios, and minimized waste.

[Wood_workur]

Really nicelooking. I like that book math on the sides, as it looks nice, without looking 'artificial'

[lcm1947]

Truely an amazing job! It's beautiful. I see something like that and just can't believe a human made it. WOW!

[charliex]

Great job brian. I enjoyed the "wordy" part I need all the help I can get.

[cabinetman]

Brian

You did a nice job with the details and finish. Good proportions. You mentioned "horizontal router" and I tried that a long time ago and it is a great way to use a router. I set mine up on a sliding frame, to adjust for height. Did a lot of drawers and dadoes that way.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[gerti]

Outstanding!

[jabe]

Great looking hutch!

[Brian G]

Thanks for the additional comments.

[hermit]

Hi Brian, That is one gorgeous piece. No wonder it took a year. I like the attention to wood selection and your joinery choices. Truly an heirloom there. Congrats!

The finish is nice too. I never messed with dyes, but I've learned to love shellac. You're method of BLO, shellac, the wipe on poly is basically what I've come to like.

Todd

[havighurst]

Absolutely stunning!!! Great work!