Monthly Archives: February 2010
Mahogany in the Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Centuries
Mahogany has been called the furniture timber and was certainly the most important commercial timber of the eighteenth-century. Its massive trunks afforded hitherto unobtainable wide boards which soon found their way into English dining rooms as tables and sideboards – … Continue reading
Peg versus Pin versus Dowel
In my career as an antiques dealer, antique restorer, furniture-maker, and championship winning driver of a state-of-the-art racing car (built from the ground up using the latest CNC machinery), I have encountered both pegs and pins in woodwork and metalwork … Continue reading
Making a ‘Mulberry’ Corner Cabinet – Part Four
I boarded the back of the upper tier this morning and attached the cornice to the front. The hot weather (27°C or 80°F) has already had an effect on the cross-grained mouldings which have begun to ‘crinkle’, creating small gaps. … Continue reading
Making a ‘Mulberry’ Corner Cabinet – Part Three
The upper tier carcass The weather has been abysmally hot and sticky and I don’t thrive in those conditions, so productivity has slowed down to an even more glacial pace. However, I did go out to the shed in an … Continue reading
Shocking Pink
Q. What’s hard and pink and sticks out of your pyjamas in the morning? A. Your head, of course. . Q. What’s soft and pink and protects your fingers? A. This stuff:. Adhesive-free, self-adhering bandage. One of our dogs went … Continue reading
English Furniture Timbers of the 17th and 18th Centuries
Furniture timbers employed in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England were a diverse lot, not only in their figure, colour and workability, but also their origins. Pine and oak (for carcasses) was imported from the Baltics and Holland respectively, walnut from France … Continue reading
Ash in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Centuries
The common ash or European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is native to Europe and as far east as Turkey. It is a deciduous tree attaining a height of 20-30 metres (65-100 feet). The common ash. Ash buds, foliage, keys and … Continue reading
A Surreal Moment
A call from George Walker for some woodworking proverbs and Laws according to Murphy caused me to reflect on a few moments during my career. I will recount some of the more amusing occurrences at a later time, but I’d … Continue reading
Making a ‘Mulberry’ Corner Cabinet – Part Two
Composite mouldings Because I don’t have any drawings and very few dimensions to lead me on this interpretation of a two-tier corner cabinet, I wanted to visualise the proportions of the cornice before embarking on the upper tier. The untrained … Continue reading
Pegs and 'Tails 