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Thread: Chinese multiplication tables
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16th May 2012, 09:13 PM #16
some observations on Chinese drawers ... and the meaning of life
Chinese furniture is an enigma. It ranges from palace to regional to rustic. It can be exquisitely decorated inside and out or plain. The finest dresser I have seen was in fact an indoor chicken coop! However, in spite of this enormous range there is one thing missing ... it's what we would call fine furniture.
I have looked closely at furniture in palaces in museums and, other than decoration, it is to the same design and form as the furniture I bought in quiet rural villages.
The joinery is fairly standard but so beautifully designed and (usually) made that so much very old furniture has survived the years, tumult and enormous variations in temperature and humidity.
The enigma to me however is that, inspite of this complex joinery making the structure so strong and elegant, the 'additions' such as doors and drawers look like they've been thrown on from a great distance and seldom fit!
On my coffee table the drawers were obviously a much later addition and made by someone who roughly copied either the original drawers or some others close at hand.
Attachment 208600
Looking closely at the existing drawers and presuming they have some features of the original drawers, I decided to copy and improve rather than ignore. The interesting features are the depth of the front dovetails and the unusual joinery at the back to capture the drawer back and provide runners that guide the drawers into their housing.
Attachment 208601
I checked some of my other stored (= stacked under the deck!) furniture and found even more extreme examples of the deep front dovetails. The drawer opening is much wider than the drawer, there are traditionally no drawer runners and the drawer flops around until the drawer front nests into the flared drawer opening
Attachment 208602
These drawers also showed that the method of fixing the drawer back and providing a lead-in runner is quite common
Attachment 208603
so I figured a couple of thousand years of experience probably had the jump on what my Grandfather showed me so I made a 21st Century version of the drawer except I have made it to fill the opening and work with lateral guides so that the drawer front will sit inside the opening but a raised panel aligns with the front face
Attachment 208606
I slightly modified the back joinery as I found so many variations even within my own collection. I will now be making all of my drawer backs like this. With handtools only and virtually no marking out, it is very quick, very strong and self aligning ..... sorry Grandad
Attachment 208607
I hope to finish and mount the drawers on the weekend and then start the brackets between the aprons and legs. I may have found standard drawer joinery ... but the range of decoration is huge ... and it has meaning. I don't want to 'say' the wrong thing!
flettyLast edited by fletty; 16th May 2012 at 09:58 PM. Reason: .... there's 2 i's in finish?
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16th May 2012 09:13 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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16th May 2012, 09:45 PM #17
Thats some joint Fletty I think I see the use of the additional tail to give support on the back edge.
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16th May 2012, 09:59 PM #18
Does mean you can pull the drawer out all the way without it falling to the floor.
Always annoying when I have to get something from the very back.
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16th May 2012, 10:27 PM #19
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20th May 2012, 04:34 PM #20
The UBeaut EEE worked a treat and the table is starting to look usable, it feels silky to the touch but it's history is still on display. The new drawers and drawer guides are fitted and I am very happy with the result.
Attachment 209070
Attachment 209071
Half way through a job like this you start to forget the progress so I'll indulge with a few before and afters
Attachment 209072
Attachment 209073
Attachment 209074
Attachment 209075
Attachment 209076
I mocked up a couple of designs for the brackets between the legs and aprons but kept coming back to the first one I made. What makes it look good is that it is a traditional design and the 'cutout' reflects the same proportions as the drawer fronts BUT ... and there's always at least one ... I'll thin down the thickness of the timber and put on a radiused edge.
Attachment 209077
As you can see in the pics I have (temporarily?) fitted a couple of suitably distressed wooden knobs because only one of the original (?) drawer pulls has survived and it may take a while to find one exactly the same OR 2 similar. Wooden knobs are historically accurate but SWMBO will of course happily go back to China and trawl the antique markets in Dong Tai Lu to find replacements for the one that miraculously has survived...!
Attachment 209078
So, whats left to do? I'll make and fit the 8 brackets, sympathetically distress the drawer fronts ... and start searching for an extra drawer pull ....
flettyLast edited by fletty; 21st May 2012 at 09:29 AM. Reason: finger trouble....
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20th May 2012, 09:49 PM #21
One of these may suffice Fletty
http://www.chineart.com/Hardware/DoorKnobsNO.13.JPG
I think you can order direct but I didn't read that far.Those were the droids I was looking for.
https://autoblastgates.com.au
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20th May 2012, 10:58 PM #22
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10th June 2012, 08:44 PM #23
.... the journey done
I decided on a design for the leg brace, cut some NSW scented rosewood into strip, set up my cross sled on the table saw with a thin kerf blade and zero clearance insert and a cross sled on the router table with a 90deg V bit. The geometry was simple BUT fiddly.....
Attachment 211874
I hand carved the curved ends on the raised bead
Attachment 211875
and then dipped them all in clear shellac
Attachment 211876
to check progress I temporarily mounted them all with hot melt glue
Attachment 211877
Attachment 211878
the leg braces are slightly different for the long spans to the short spans to better match the tables proportions
Attachment 211879
and, although I'm happy with these, I know I have a loooong way to go!
Attachment 211880
... and thus endeth the lesson,
fletty
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10th June 2012, 09:52 PM #24
No wonder no answer.
Looks good love that joinery
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10th June 2012, 10:20 PM #25
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15th June 2012, 02:22 PM #26
Not being able to catch up on my reading until now. Interesting.
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