On Tuesday, April 24, 2012 6:41:49 PM UTC-7, notImpressed wrote:
I just finished my version of Thomas Stangeland's Anderson Server that's
pictured in Darrell Peart's book G&G Design Elements book. Photos are up
in photobucket http://s789.photobucket.com/albums/yy180/trsni
der/Greene%20and%20Greene%20Table.(delete the s in the link --
trying to spambot proof).

I took a lot of time working out dimensions and proportions with the
bracket sizes, lower shelf support (angles, width, placement,...),
drawer sizes, .. Cardboard models helped with dimension / placement
choices for the overall look.

I was going to build it out of maple initially and got talked into alder
at the place where I get lumber. Alder was a mixed blessing - really
easy to work with but very susceptible to dings, dents, scratches, and
finishing woes. Frame construction was straight forward. No major
mishaps except the shelf mortises on the back were cut on the wrong
third of the back legs. But that's really not noticeable unless you're
familiar with the design. Details of the plug holes, shapes of ebony
inserts, and finishing make (or break) the piece. The alder was almost
too soft to get a nice crisp plug hole. Shaping the plug tops took some
(well a lot) of time to get right. I didn't try the jig in your book, I
just free handed them and polished them up on the grinder.

I finally understood the point of care during finish sanding. The
radiuses everywhere could've used more attention. 1/8" on alder
disappeared quickly with surface sanding. Maybe the radius would've
stayed defined on a harder wood.

Finishing almost broke the piece. I put a wash coat of shellac down
first. The main finish was ½ clear shellac, ½ amber shellac, and medium
brown tint. I was trying to simulate a mahogany finish, maybe a slight
degree of success. Next time I'll finish the piece prior to assembly and
insertion of the plugs. I think that would help a lot. You'll probably
see a lot of finishing issues in the pictures.

I think the lines of the table are great. Next time I'll probably try
the piece with a different type of lumber. Have you ever seen a Greene
and Greene piece out of walnut with maple plugs? Thinking about
something like that. It'd be different but maybe not in a good way.

BTW - You can see in my 'auction' album on photobucket. I scored big in
the lumber dept. The man had cut, dried, and milled oak and walnut. I
bought ~350 bd ft of walnut for 1.20 a bd foot. Most of the pieces are
7" - 14" wide and 9-11 ft long. I also got 5 pieces of red oak 15-18"
wide 11 ft long for $40 total. There was also a stack of 4 pieces of oak
26" + wide x 11 ft. long. I didn't buy that - just didn't know what to
do with pieces that massive. He had ~14 piles of lumber with 100-150 bd.
Ft. in each pile. It was a great sale!

Really nice work. I actually thought the finish was well done and wouldn't have guessed Alder. I would have made the cloud lifts a little "pillowe-er" and I agree the edges lookm a bit sharp in a few places but those are just preferences and have nothing to do with the quality. Very nice.

Walnut and Maple? Sorry, not for me. Maybe Cherry and Ebony or Africian Mohag like Derrel uses.