Recent content by mikemcgrail

I am always wondering how so many 19th and late 18th century pieces seem to have survived "well" even though they are almost always veneered on only one side. I had always thought it was the lumber used for the substrate. It seems to me the backer was often a white pine or deal pine(on english...

As a shameless collector of information, I noticed this link that will guide you to 24 other pages about some Gould desks: http://www.clprickett.com/CLP4941pg01.htm The 24 pages make a pretty nice description for those of us far away from the real thing.

There is an oxbow chest on chest(attributed there to Benjamin Frothingham) I am interested in someday reproducing, easiest to see a photograph of it on page 122 of "The New Fine Points of American Furniture" by Albert Sack. The same piece can be seen larger in a Donald Sack advertisement in the...

I stumbled across this video on youtube, and found it interesting, at least the first part with the Parisian sawing veneer from antique cuban mahogany logs, I beleive he is saying his name is Patrick George. Anyway, I was just wondering how long ago this sort of veneering techhinque was used. I...

Okay, I can't see the scribe mark to saw the dovetails now. I realize this question may not belong here, but bear with me. I had to use the 1.50 diopter reading glasses from the drugstore to saw pins today. There are contacts now that claim to be multi-focal for people my age. Does anyone use...

Since we have Al Breed"s ear here, I have always wondered about how the three doors on the bookcase of the Brown Newport Desk were hinged. I have not looked at any pix of the desk in quite a while(okay, it been a few years), but I remember being concerned about how the hinges were mounted. I...

I have an english linen press I made several years ago that has had more exposure to sunlight on one of its doors than the other. The door closer to the window now looks noticeably lighter than its opposite, matching door. The pieces of wood were bookmatched, so it is definitely something the...