Mary came to me with definite ideas on what she needed for her dining room. ALL NEW! Two corner hutches, a  5 foot round extension table with two 12 inch leaves, and a set of wheat back chairs. 

Mary chose the Federal style leg for the table. Made from all antique yellow pine, this combination is a great choice.

 The wheat back chairs are a perfect match for the room. The two corner cabinets (sorry, I couldn't get a decent picture of the entire room) are the result of combining a picture from a catalogue, Mary's ideas and a sketch. 

Since Mary had a picture then the details in the sketch really only needed to define basic design parameters like overall height, width, depth, modifications like fluting, crown moulding, door and drawer requirements, etc.  Without a picture then a sketch may need a bit more detail than this. I couldn't show the picture here because it is protected by copyright.

The hutches and the table were made from the same lot of antique yellow pine salvaged from a 90 year old 3 story home located on the Central Missouri state campus in Warrensburg, Missouri. All of the exposed surfaces are hand-planed and protected with multiple coats of hand-rubbed polyurethane for the table and lacquer for the hutches. A special glazing technique is used to bring out the rich color of the antique pine and to add the look of 100 years of gentle use and care.

OK. My secret is finally out. I was born with naturally blue hands. Momma was always  encouraging. Always telling  me that one day they would be the envy of TV personalities around the world. Eat your heart out Norm Abraham.

The hand carved pineapple motif set into the fluted arches is historically significant.

Pineapple has enjoyed a rich and romantic heritage as a symbol of welcome, friendship and hospitality. 

The first encounter between a European and a pineapple occurred in 1493, when Christopher Columbus went ashore on the Caribbean island of Guadaloupe where the sailors ate, enjoyed and recorded the curious new fruit. Cultivated in European hothouses during the 17th century, it became the favorite fruit of royalty and the elite.  Pineapple as a motif in furniture and architecture reached North America with colonists.

Colonial sea captains, returning from their far-reaching travels, often displayed a pineapple at their doors or on their gate posts, thus giving public notice to friends and acquaintances....

"The ship is in! Come join us. Food and drink for all!"

And so, as the internationally recognized symbol of hospitality, pineapple is often displayed today in homes and business. It suggests to all a welcome sign of friendliness, warmth, cheer, graciousness and conviviality.

The crown moulding is a custom design and milled from the same lot of antique yellow pine that everything else is made from. The profile was shaped from 1-1/8" thick stock using the table saw and hand planes.

The picture on the left shows how the table saw is used to mill a large radius profile from the stock. The stock is pushed through the blade at an angle. Multiple shallow passes are necessary to achieve the final radius/depth. The profile radius gets tighter as the angle of attack increases. This profile called for a fairly steep angle. I've penciled in where the next cuts will be made to finish the profile. The angled cuts, marked on the left will be simple chamfer cuts using the table saw. The two rounded beads on the right are done using my antique Stanley No. 45 combination plane.