The world's fanciest sock drawer?

After a very busy few weeks, I've finally finished my Taunton Chest.  I left off in my last post having just finished the actual painting of the artwork on the front of the chest.  The painting isn't perfect, I messed up some of the lines and I need to learn to roll the brush, but for a first try at painting I'm pretty happy. Here is the final product...

 Since that time, I coated the piece with several coats of tinted shellac to darken the artwork and to give a dirty, grungy brown-yellow tone to the whole composition. I also did the final install of all the hardware.

 The layout of the vinework is influenced heavily by the original, but I wanted to add some of my own patterns in. So I rounded the hearts more (they were quite flat in the 1729 piece) and I added both my and my wife's initials to the piece on the first full length drawer.

I also cut back on the number of birds.  The original had at least three that I could make out under the gunk, but I thought that was a bit too busy. So I just went with the most prominent one painted on the top two drawers and the divider.

Gratuitous end grain shot for your joinery fans out there.

 The woodwork was very quick but still done with quality. The dark line you see on the top of that tail in the drawer is the pencil line (I've since erased it) that marked the joint out. When someone says 'split the pencil line with the saw' this is what they mean...

A number of people who saw my piece suggested that I make the feet more closely resemble the original.  But, having studied a number of similar chests, I've decided that mine are more than adequate since this isn't an exact copy (I did change the painting after all).  I have left them unglued, so that I can redo them should the fancy strike me.  Currently, it is sitting in my bedroom, on top of my main dresser, holding my socks, and the turnings don't bother me at all.

I'm currently finishing another version of the same basic form.  It is the same layout and size, but with bracket feet.  I would consider it a transitional William and Mary to Queen Anne form.  This one is also in pine, but I'm planning to try my hand at grain painting thanks to Stephen Shepherd's willingness to share his knowledge...

Painted the vines and berries of my Taunton Chest...

Well, I bit the bullet and gave it a try. I bought some artists oil paints, thinner, pallet knives and two different striping brushes at Grand Art Supply downtown Lansing.  Great store, if you should find yourself in the area.

Having laid out the pencil work freehand, I figured I could paint it that way as well.  I was mostly right...

Please forgive the crummy camera-phone photos. Hardware not totally installed in this pic

I've since added several coats of tinted seedlac, so that the paint has a nice aged look.  The retina-searing white is now a nice yellow / gold, the blue and red berries are no longer so bright.  It looks really good, I will post more photos once I've rubbed out the surface with wax.

I'm unhappy with a line or two, but will leave it that way as a reminder to roll the brush when turning corners. This is to store my socks in my bedroom (old houses are awesome but the bedroom storage space is abysmal) so I will look at it every day.  Even with a couple of crummy lines, I'm still ecstatic.  This is my first ever attempt at painting this way...

Meanwhile, my next small chest is well under way... This one is the same basic build as the above chest, but is on bracket feet. This makes this chest a little later in style, more of a transitional piece between William and Mary and Queen Anne.

Check out the massive pile of pine shavings. That trash can is also full

This shot shows the glue block / actual leg. Brackets haven't yet been cut

Center joint, nice and tight thanks to my new 3/8" dado plane from Josh Clark.

It actually sits on glue blocks, which extend roughly 1/8" below the bracket feet. In these photos, the brackets haven't been cut out yet, but they have been now.  New photos will be taken as soon as the clamps come off.

This one will have the same pulls as the painted chest, but will just be painted brown. I am contemplating a "graining" effect, simulating walnut, but I haven't yet decided.  If I do that, I may just want to keep it instead of put it up for sale...

Zach