W & M Highboy???

9/16/01, 1:44 PM #1

Joe Burke
Guest

W & M Highboy???

On page T36 of the most recent issue of WOODSHOP NEWS there's a beautiful William and Mary highboy. The front facade (drawer fronts and bottom apron) are all matched crotch veneer.....at least I assume it's veneer. Which leads me to my question....

If that front facade is veneer, it appears to me that the grain on the veneer is vertical. The grain on the substrate members must run horizontaly. It also surely must be solid lumber. This creates a prpendicular relationship between the veneer and the substrate. How do you get away with that? Do you have to veneer the inside of the drawer fronts and the apron to balance things out? If so, do you run the veneer verticaly as was done on the face? Is the substrate likely from the same species as the face veneer or from some secondary wood?

I've always thought this particular look (matched crotch fronts) was about as pretty as it gets. I've also pondered all these questions.

Educate me oh learned ones.......

Re: W & M Highboy???

9/16/01, 11:46 PM #2

Stephen Shepherd
Woodwright
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965 posts

Registered: 11/19/00
Website

Re: W & M Highboy???

Joe,

I just checked out the picture of the William and Mary Highboy. Not much detail, but here is what was done in the eighteenth and nineteenth century on similar pieces. Some were veneered on the inside with the grain matching the general direction of the front, not necessarily the same species. And some were not veneered at all. I have a nice Empire style chest of drawers made of pine with cherry as a secondary wood and the drawer fronts are veneered with verticle grain crotch mahogany veneer. There is also mahogany veneer cross banding between the drawers on the framework. There is no backing veneer on the inside and the only damage is minor chipping to the edges of the veneer, not bad for a piece 160+ years old. If I were to make a reproduction of this piece I would veneer the inside (matching grain direction of the face veneer) to counter the difference in shrinkage. The old growth wood that our ancestors used is/was of a higher quality and probably doesn't move as much as second or third growth timbers.

Stephen

- - -

Full Chisel Hi, I�m Stephen Shepherd, I have been doing woodwork for a living for over 40 years but my interest began at an early date. In first grade (1954) I won an art contest and first prize was a �Handy Andy� toolbox, I wonder what that would be worth today. While studying Philosophy at the University of Utah I got a job as an apprentice Cabinetmaker at a large cabinet shop in Salt Lake, all European craftsmen from Germany and England. A friend owned an antique shop and I started repairing furniture and collecting old tools. I also attended a vocational school in an apprenticeship cabinetmaking program, which they no longer offer. When I became a journeyman I started working for museums in the West and Midwest and opened my own shop in 1979 doing antique restoration and traditional woodwork. I have written several articles and books on woodworking and hope to have my first book Shepherds� Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker originally published in 1981, published in paperback in 2004. Hide Glue - Historical & Practical Applications was published in 2009, as was the reprint of the 1824 Universal Receipt Book. In 2011 I published Shellac, Linseed Oil, & Paint-Traditional 19th Century Woodwork Finishes. I found WoodCentral in 1999; I wish this had been around when I started. I enjoy the discussions and the chats and am fortunate enough to be able to host the Tuesday Night Hand Tool Chat. I have yet to meet personally anyone I have met on line, with the exception of Barb, Dan, Mike, Bruce and John P. but many of the people on WoodCentral I consider friends. Stephen Shepherd

W & M Highboy???

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