Oxbow chest

W

wallysandcrab

Well-known member
I'm going to start on oxbow chest inspired by that on p. 103 of Sack's Fine Points of Furniture: good better best, superior masterpiece.  I have two unknowns I'd like to request help with:

1.) How proud is the bulge? and

2.) Does the concave center recede behind the plane defined by the front edges of the case sides?

Does anyone have information on this?  It doesn't have to be specifically about this particular piece.

Thanks in advance

JD
 
Let me renew the question:

On a generic, but well done oxbow chest, there are two convex (proud) sections, and a center concavity.  Does anyone have a good idea for how far out the proud sections project?

Thanks in advance.

JD
 
Not a clue but it's a fine looking chest. Sack's book is all about the form of pieces but virtually nothing about their dimensions.
 
JD- The one I copied was a federal one, and I don't believe the projection of the swell crossed the plane of the front of the case. I'll check my patterns today and let you know-Al
 
Maybe the attached sketch will help to see what I'm after.  I've drawn a few full scale attempts on plywood, but the more I do this, the more I realize how critical the dimensioning is.  It looks from the picture that the bulge could be as much as an inch or even more.  Plus I have to consider what thickness the draw fronts will require, and the wood I'm planning to use is presently not more than 1 3/4 thick.

JD
 

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As I recal, the book "Masterpieces of Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings" by Verna Cook Salomonsky has basic drawings for a really lovely Oxbow chest. It may serve as a guide:

http://www.amazon.com/Masterpieces-Furniture-Photographs-Measured-Drawings/dp/0486213811/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299876817&sr=1-1-spell

If you don't have a copy handy and if you would like, I can look at my copy and see if it has something that may help you. But that will be a different chest than the one you are referring to.

Another alternative is to import the photo in SketchUp, and scale from that. I've done that with great success on squarish things, but haven't tried it on something so curvy. Perhaps someone with more experience can chime in. I do know that the photo has to have minimal lens distortion to make sense out of it.

BTW: you don't have to learn SketchUp to simply import a photo and scale dimensions from it. There are a couple of you-tube videos out there that are good, short tutorials on how to do it. That's all I have done, and it wasn't difficult, nor did it require a great investment of time and effort. It's a powerful tool worth learning IMHO.

 
I would like to think that both sides could and were sawn out of 16/4 thick stock. I have seen the same grain pattern transfered through the opposing side on many cases. My question is how was it done. A saw wide enough to saw through 20" would not let you cut the arc needed. I would bet that they would not waste a 12/4 board for one side.
 
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