Bentley Dressing Table

CUSTOM LADIES DRESSING TABLE

This piece is made of red oak and took about five and a half weeks to build.

It is mortised and tenoned throughout and dovetailed at the top-drawer blades. Dovetails again appear in all five of the drawers and sliding drawer boxes. The piece has been designed so each of the small box frames are removable. Notice the compartments in the center lap drawer - there are even trays for eyebrow pencils. The height was adjusted several times to accommodate modifications to the sitting bench. We worked to make it fit the lady, not the other way around. No detail is too small.

Serpentine Federal Table

FEDERAL STYLE INLAID TABLE

This is a Federal-style serpentine table that I built while working with Glen Huey and Chuck Bender (two acclaimed industry master craftsmen). The idea was to build a period-style table in five days. We chose to form a table apron using a solid piece of wood rather than laminating thin plies of wood over a form. We could have opted to glue pieces of wood (called “bricking”) and cut the form with a band saw, but we used this technique on the front. After all the parts (except the top) were prepared, we began cutting veneer and glued it to the right, left and center aprons. Next, we machined mortises into the legs and tenons onto the apron ends to be used in the assembly to the legs. They were formed on a jointer which is generally quicker than using the table saw. Then we placed stringing into the legs before the aprons were assembled, it’s made of holly and is 1/16th of an inch square. The leg cuffs were veneered - banding was applied at the ankles. When the table was completed, the banding at the waist was fitted and secured. We applied a light coat of linseed oil and finished with shellac. The wood for the table is sapele (a relative similar to mahogany).

Striking, wouldn’t you say?

Mahogany Spice Box

FIVE HIDDEN COMPARTMENTS

Spice boxes originated in the 1700s when spices were precious and needed to be locked up so that the help couldn’t pilfer them for themselves. This particular spice box is made of mahogany with a center box front of jarah. It has handcrafted moldings and cornice - I produced formal bracket feet true to the period.

There are eleven drawers and five secret compartments. It has one secret compartment that will accommodate files and four others for such things as valuables, coins or the like. The lock and hardware is from England behind the tombstone door. It measures 14 wide by 12 inches deep and 22 inches tall.

The box could be displayed on a counter or nightstand and they can be made with any combination of wood and dimension you like. Curly maple with walnut trim reflects a dramatic mix of light and dark. Some say that this combination gives it an almost Asian flare. The door can have glass inserts instead of a raised wood panel. The glass panel would showcase the drawers and they could be embellished with stringing around the hardware. This project generally takes about thirty days to build. You choose a design, I perform.

Inlaid Federal-Style Podium

SALINAS AIRPORT TERMINAL PROJECT #2

This is Part Two of the Salinas Airport Terminal Project. A federal-style podium was produced for the Salinas Municipal Airport.

Below, the first image shows me cutting out the legs from heavy stock after milling. The wood is sapele, a relative of mahogany. The second photo shows the stringing and the banding at the cuffs of the legs - the stringing is 1/16th of an inch thick and was steam bent to form the curves. The banding is maple, holly and dyed pearwood. This image shows the rough stock the leg is from and various stages of the stringing process. Image three shows off the bottom of the podium after the legs, aprons, and stretchers have been assembled. You are also able to see the beading details which reflect the Federal period which roughly extends from 1780-1820. The main drawers were fabricated with dovetailed poplar. The top of the podium is constructed as a slanted lift top and underneath is room for five pigeon holes and five drawers. The waist moldings were then routed and installed, then stringing was applied to the sides and front. Finally, “SNS” was then cut out of maple and walnut burl then wrapped with holly and inlaid into the front as a medallion. These are the call letters for the Salinas Airport used by pilots to identify.

Donated by J. Filmore Thompson to the Salinas Airport Terminal