Thread: A George II Virginia Walnut Chest of Drawers

Even I'll come back to watch another WW reincarnation, you won't convert me to this old frilly furniture but I still like to watch a craftsman Ok work your magic WW.

Woodwould, I'm not sure if this would be of assistance or not, but I have a copy of a Charles Hayward book that includes the dimensions for this chest 'Drawn from the original in the possession of Collins Antiques Limited, Wheathampstead'.

This chest is veneered but I'm not sure if your sample picture is of a solid design.

Thanks for the offer Fuzzie, but I already have the dimensions for the chest I'm making.

The proportions of the chest you show are taller and narrower than mine and interestingly, its original bun feet have been replaced with bracket feet. This was a common practice and a fairly simple method of 'modernising' old furniture.

Such vandalism wouldn't be considered nowadays, but at the time, it was no greater crime than say, going out now and painting a 1960s chest for a child's bedroom.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

They're in the W &M walnut chest I made a while ago. This one will be the napery chest.


My plan is to convert as many lost souls as possible before I depart.

Hope that will not be any time soon WW

Originally Posted by Peter36

Hope that will not be any time soon WW

That big red bus could be around any corner.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

That big red bus could be around any corner.

Well then! You have the solution . Just stay away from the Old Dart .
Haven't seen many red buses around here.

Much of the construction of this veneered chest echoes the methods employed in the build of the cabinet-on-chest and the kneehole desk, so I will spare you much of the repetition. That said, I'm incorporating a few alternative construction techniques that were mentioned previously and which I feel are worthy of note.

I previously glued narrow strips of wood to the underside of thin, lapped dustboards to act as kickers for when the drawers are withdrawn, but in this instance I have adopted another eighteenth-century technique where pine off-cuts were rubbed onto the undersides of the dustboards. One advantage of using this method was that, should the dustboards shrink or expand a significant amount, the kickers – with their grain oriented in the same direction as the dustboards – should move in unison with the dustboards and not break their glue joints.

With the carcase upside down the thin dustboards and kickers are clearly visible (fig. 1). Also visible is one of the narrow drawer dividers which is demi-dovetailed into the carcase gables, affording improved structural integrity over a plain housed divider.

Fig. 1. Kickers glued to underside of the dustboards.

The vertical drawer divider is dovetailed into the top rail and first divider (fig. 2), again, adding strength to the carcase as a whole.

Fig. 2. Vertical drawer divider.

The carcase was hammer-veneered with 5/64" (2mm) thick Black Walnut veneer which will be cleaned up with a scraper once the lipping has been glued onto the fronts of the drawer dividers and carcase edges.

Fig. 3. The veneering done.

Applied lipping – either veneer or thicker strips of wood – was the norm for both veneered and solid carcases. Its purpose was two-fold; it allowed the use of sliding dovetails to secure the drawer dividers to the carcase while simultaneously concealing the joints. "Nobody likes a show-off!" my old headmaster would say as he strutted around in his Savile Row suit.

The second reason for lipping carcases was to protect the front edges of the gables – particularly those that were veneered. Like cockbeading, lipping is sacrificial, providing protection against damage and is easier and less costly to replace than effecting repairs to major components.

Before I put the veneer away, I took some off-cuts and glued them onto scraps of pine to make the bracket feet from.

Fig. 4. Veneered bracket foot stock…

Fig. 5. …and subsequent bracket feet.

I love reading your WIP's WW I lern something every time.

Watching too.

Another wonderful WIP - is that radiata you're using for the carcass?

Originally Posted by seriph1

... is that radiata you're using for the carcass?

It is, though it's the quality, clear variety which I prefer to call Monterey Pine as opposed to the twisted, knotty crap one associates with Bunny's and the like.

Yesterday provided a brief respite from the seemingly incessant rain we've been experiencing recently, so I hurried out and removed the tarpaulin from the carcase. The sun even came out for a spell which saw the temperature soar to a lofty 11° C (52° F).

The first order of business was to glue the lipping onto the front of the carcase, which done and dried, I tidied up and scraped the veneered top and carcase ends in readiness for attaching the mouldings.

Walnut lipping covering the carcase edges, drawer dividers and joints.

The mouldings were made a few days ago in anticipation of a break in the weather. I was also eager to attach the feet while the weather held, so I glued and nailed the base moulding onto the carcase first to allow the glue a little time to set before subjecting it to any great amount of stress.

The top moulding was simply mitred and then glued and nailed to the carcase.

I mitred the front bracket feet, glued and rubbed them together in pairs and then rubbed them onto the base of the carcase. The rear feet were rebated, glued and nailed together and similarly rubbed onto the carcase.

One of the techniques I had intended to incorporate in this chest was horizontal blocking of the bracket feet – as discussed in Bracket Foot Construction – but when I approached the task, I just couldn't bring myself to go through with it. I was keen to illustrate an alternative eighteenth-century method of supporting the chest and bracing the brackets, but I realised the fallacy of stacking horizontal foot blocks on this chest. This is a real piece of furniture that, I am hopeful, will remain in my family for some generations to come and, not wanting to create premature restoration headaches for my descendants, I'm afraid I reneged and, in stead, rubbed the ubiquitous vertical, split corner blocks into the bracket feet.

Lipping, mouldings and feet on-board.

Menacing black clouds in the distance began rolling my way which curtailed the day's activities. The backboards must wait until another day.

WW, I've been trying to understand your categorical statement that the chest in the Hayward measured drawing originally had bun feet and they had been replaced with bracket feet at a later date.

Initially I thought this must be based on style differences. A relatively ornate chest on angular bracket feet. However looking at your treatise on bracket feet construction you show a similar flat bracket design dated at c1720.

How do you come to the conclusion the Hayward chest has been modernised? What design elements of the chest indicate it should be on bun feet?

How did you cut the top moulding, Woodwould?

Regards, Peter