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I am attempting a block front chest from Gottshall's book Making Antique Furniture Reproductions There are two block front drawers topped by a third drawer which has the typical Newport convex/concave shells. I would like to make the block fronts from full thickness 12/4 mahogany and not by...

My glue pot finally died and I now have a double boiler. What is the temperature range for hide glue.

I have come upon a vexing problem. I am making fretwork for a Thomas Elfe chest on chest, I have been gluing the pattern for the fretwork onto a mahogany blank and then excavating the fret with gouges and then slicing off the fret with a resaw blade on my bandsaw. All of this is going nicely...

I have made fluted corner columns by hand using the method that Jeff Headley had previously outlined. I made a holding jig to secure the column and then made a device to hold a scraper that would be indexed on the holding jig and would run the scraper down the column to final depth of the...

I have it in my head that I want to build an Elfe chest on chest as pictured in Humphrey's book. The chest has chamfered stiles on the top half that are stop fluted. I am at a loss as to how this is done. Is it carved freehand or is there a jig set up with scratch sticks for the flute and then...

How were the double beaded drawer blades on Goddard Townsend chests made in the originals? Were the beads formed with a scratch stock and then the background between the beads chiseled or removed with a small router? I think a router would be unstable on a narrow (7/8") drawer blade. I think a...

I once (I believe) saw plans for a Goddard Townsend document chest. It is a small block front chest with the typical (but small) Goddard Townsend shells on the top. Is anyone familiar with this? If so where can I find these plans? Thanks Howard Steier

Several years ago I took a carving course with Alan Breed where we carved a McIntyre style fruit basket. I would like to do one again but I can't find the plan/tracing for the basket. Does anyone out there have a copy of this? Thank you Howard Steier

Does anyone know if basswood has been used as a secondary wood for drawer sides, bottoms etc? It is straight grained, planes easily and seems to be as dense as poplar. Howard Steier

Does anyone have any experience with the Gramercy (Tools for Working Wood) dovetail saw? I'm considering purchasing a small, light dovetail saw and would like user feedback. Howard Steier

I have Al Breed's plans for the Goddard-Townsend document chest. Has anyone out there made this piece in the past?  I'm stumped on the bottom molding. Howard Steier

I would like to have a full sized copy of John McAllister's corner chair plans from the "plans" section of this website. Does anyone know , if I download them and bring the file to Kinko's or the like, do the plans print out full sized? Howard Steier

How are the drawer blades in the Winchester bow front desk (shown in the last thread) attached? Are they rabetted or dovetailed? Howard Steier

Gene Landon did a six shell Goddard Townsend desk at Olde Mill about ten years ago. Does anyone remember how the desk board was connected to the desk sides. I believe it was a 1/2 sliding dovetail (at least that's what I see on the front of the desk that I made). I don't remember the...

I'm looking at making a fall front desk (hand tools). The desk board is held to the case sides by 20" long tapered sliding dovetails. I've been experimenting on scrap and have found chopping and routing the tapered rabbet (socket) to be very tedious. I see that ECE makes a "sliding dovetail saw"...

As I was sawing out eight knee blocks for an oval stool I began to wonder what would be the best way to smooth the sawn surfaces? I ended up using a file and sandpaper-very tedious. I know the sawn surfaces are not in plain sight, but nevertheless they are pretty rough when they come off the...

Does anyone own and have any comments on the Lee Valley "small plow plane?" I have a Stanley 45 and the smaller Record 44 that I use for cutting rabbets. They don't  cut rabbets well, the skates seem warped, out of parallel and out of plane. For a hand tool user like myself, does the Lee Valley...

I have a piecrust tea table base that has suffered a finishing/staining disaster of my own making. My only option is to strip and refinish. The baseand legs have a fair amount of carving. Should I use regular stripper? Would a heat gun soften the shellac if used before stripper? I have tried...

I spent a week in Winchester Va. a couple of weeks ago making a corner chair  with Jeff Headley and Steve Hamilton. I have finally recovered enough to make a posting. This was the most intense week I have ever spent in a shop. Jeff and Steve are truly master cabinetmakers. Steve did most of the...

Several years ago Gene Landon did a series of classes at Olde Mill to build the Gratz Highboy which is pictured in "American Furniture" at Winterthur. Does anyone who took that class have the plans and specifications for that piece including the various carvings? Howard Steier