Masterful Reproductions
David Anderson
Cabinetmaker David Anderson writes: This is a reproduction
I made that closely copies one of the dozen or so desks made by noted
Annapolis cabinetmaker John Shaw in about 1795 for the Old Senate Chamber.
I made some minor variations - I seem to remember that the original had
only a single draw pull, but I preferred two. On the original desks, the
scalloped gallery at the back had an ivory oval mounted at the center
with the individual Senator's number engraved thereon. There is none on
my copy. Honduras mahogany, with rubbed shellac finish.
David Anderson - Cabinet Maker
903 Brandenburg
Cedar Hill, TX 75104
Telephone: 972-291-2796
FAX: 972-291-4004
fdander@attglobal.net
I was allowed to photograph the sideboard and, on several occasions, to take some measurements to supplement construction plans that I already had. This was quite helpful as the plans, while basically accurate, deviated from the original in several areas.
The completed reproduction, shown at right and in detail below, is an almost exact copy of the original. Except for the back, bottom interior partitions and drawer interiors, it is made of Honduras Mahogany. Straight grained and crotch mahogany veneers, used on all door and drawer fronts, were chosen to match the original as closely as possible. The most difficult task, by far, was constructing the individual inlays seen on the front. Except for the rectangular borders surrounding the large ovals on the left and right cabinet door fronts, each inlay had to be made up from individual pieces by hand.
Orange shellac was used for the finish for two reasons: first, I believe this was the finish used on the original, and second, orange shellac on a dark mahogany highlights the natural color and texture of this wood and gives a warm tone finish. I applied 5 coats of thin (1 pound cut) shellac to build up to the final coat and to partially fill the natural open grain of this wood. The final coat was rubbed down with pumice stone in oil and then rottenstone in oil. Paste wax was then applied and buffed to give some protection to the finish.
James Luck
Left Cabinet Door: Straight grained
mahogany veneer on the outer sections of the door contrasts with the crotch
mahogany center. The oval inlay is made of crossbanded satinwood bordered
by thin holly lines. Holly was also used for the inlay lines on the front
four legs.
Corner Brace and Lower Rail Detail: The inlaid
fan is made of shaded satinwood. I darkened the edges of each of the six fan
sections by heating a shallow container of sand and scorching the edges to
add a sense of depth to the assembled fan. The lower rail is inlaid with alternate
triangles of holly and mahogany. Horizontal borders are ebony and holly. Over
250 separate pieces of wood were put together to form this inlay piece.
Sideboard Upper Corner: All door
and drawer edges were bordered with holly strips as shown here. I had
to form the curve on the edge of the sideboard top by hand as I could
not find a cutter bit or plane with the same curve as the original. I
used a standard hand plane to make successive cuts at increasing angles
to approximate the curve and then sanded smooth. Quarter round molding
was made up to fit under the extended edge of the top.
Center Door Detail: After gluing up the inner
zebrawood oval sections (using oversized pieces), I made up a template to
use as a guide in cutting the inside and outside curve of the oval. Next,
I glued up and cut out the outer holly and ebony oval in the same way. Three
thin holly strips were used to separate the two ovals and border them. The
strips were soaked in water and formed to approximate shape using a hot bending
iron and then glued to the assembled ovals. The mahogany veneer for all doors
and drawers was applied first and the oval inlays were then added as a single
piece. The completed oval was used as a guide in cutting a channel (inlet)
into the mahogany to insure a good fit. Clearances for brass keyholes were
then cut into each door/drawer front.
Center Section: - The large center
door opens to expose the three smaller drawers shown here. I suppose they
were used for knives, forks, spoons, etc. Each is fitted with a small
brass knob and holly inlay strips are used for accent.
Small DrawerDetail: The hand-cut dovetails joining
the drawer fronts to the sides are approximately the same dimensions as the
original. Note the small size of the “pin” portion of the dovetail
(the mahogany part) as compared to the tail section. This type dovetail was
characteristic of many old pieces of furniture.
Back of Center Door: Although
not part of the original, I inlaid an oval, cut from holly veneer, into
the back of this door. The border of the oval is a thin ebony strip which
I soaked briefly in water before bending to shape on a hot circular pipe.
I used a small router with a very fine bit to etch the words which were
then filled with a paste mixture of mahogany sawdust and glue thinned
with water. A scraper removed the excess paste after drying. Note the
construction used for this door. Each door was made of three pieces of
mahogany - the narrow outer pieces and the large center piece. This type
construction minimizes expansion and contraction of the door due to changes
in humidity (the two outer pieces constrain the center piece).The back
of the brass lock is seen on the right. Each was chosen to duplicate the
original as closely as possible.
Large Door Front: The mahogany center was cut
from the same veneer sheet as the door fronts. The rectangular border surrounding
the center veneer is made of stripped cherry. The brass knob drawer pulls
are the one major deviation from the original which had cut glass knobs. It
would have been almost impossible to duplicate them. The thistle pattern I
used was suggested by Mr. Berry (of J. William Berry & Sons) as characteristic
of John Shaw, who was of Scottish descent.
Large Drawer: Dovetails on this drawer are also like the original. All drawer bottoms are of pine. I used old, wide planks which my father-in-law had obtained a number of years ago. He got them from a sawmill where they had laid around for many years. Grooves were cut into the inside of each drawer front and side. The bottom fits into this channel.
Large and Small Drawer Sides: Dovetails in the drawers can be seen in more detail here. All drawer sides and backs are made from poplar ( I believe the original used it also). This wood is of uniform grain and lends itself to detail work, such as dovetails, much better than pine. Pine has contrasting grain hardness between early and latewood growth which makes it difficult to work cleanly with a chisel.
