Chippendale Chest of Drawers

Since you recently featured a project from some younger students, I thought I’d send some pictures of a project just finished by an “old fogey” student. I’m working towards a degree in craftsmanship at the University of Cincinnati. Even at 37 years old (a far cry from the high school guys) I’m not the oldest in the program by far. There’s a retired doctor who, at the age of 86, has been taking up turning and does some amazing work.

These are some pictures of the project I just completed this Spring. It’s a Chippendale style chest of drawers. The design was actually Glen Huey’s who once taught in the UC program and was the instructor for the class my instructor was taking at the time.

It’s cherry, secondary wood is poplar. The carcass is joined with hand cut dovetails, used a jig for the half-blinds on the drawers. All parts that needed mechanical fasteners (backs of the drawer runners and the ship-lapped back boards) were joined with reproduction cut nails, which are a booger to drive.

Finish is three coats of a homemade oil/varnish blend (I admit it, it was David Marks who sold me on the look of that finish) top-coated with three coats of gloss sprayed-on poly acrylic.