Sons wedding present

Dave951

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Oldest son called one day, he's active duty, in his mid 30's, says, dad, I'm gonna get married. I says to whom exactly? I knew he wasn't gay, but had no idea he was even dating anyone. Come to find out he'd been dating this young lady for about 10 years. He met her in tech school, she did one and out, he's a lifer but they stayed in touch. So fast forward, son says I only want one thing from you and PawPaw for a wedding present, so thinking this might be a somewhat loaded question, so what do you want? Time, labor. He says we need some furniture and you and PawPaw don't build crap stuff. Son said he'd pay for materials and don't scrimp. So after some design consults and a pile of 1/4 sawn white oak, here's the result. He specifically requested unfinished.
original-49fe9bd7088c06444fc53ab59d2cdae0.jpg

under construction
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side detail
original-70784db2e8743008bbbcd878ca33b00a.jpg

other side
original-81958cf942a2d5de42ef652a1943ccee.jpg

top, t&g picture framed maple splines
original-3be5d0d9da7f0405914c0c618e4a9424.jpg

finished view, ready for final finish
Details-
All joints are M/T or halfblind dovetails
Drawer material maple
one panel has a bullet hole from the original tree, I was specifically requested to leave that in
Front square door is actually 3pcs of wood but through shop majic good luck finding the joints
Top is T/G, M/T with maple corner splines
Only ply is drawer bottoms and back dust cover
Yes, it's blinkin heavy

He finished it with multiple coats of hand rubbed tung oil and used wrought iron fittings. Overall effect is quite stunning. Can't buy that piece in any store. Customer happy, new DIL very happy, wedding went great. Only sad part to this story is we left for Hurlbut Field for the wedding as my mom was being operated on for a pancreatic tumour. I waited to leave till she woke up from anesthesia. Dad called later just after the ceremony to tell us mom was terminal. Good day, sad day.
 
Wow. That's some very nice work. Looks excellent. You guys should have a store. You can't buy that quality stuff anymore.
What I sell is usually in connection with a remodel job. The problem with stuff like this is cost. The materials alone for that dresser, draw slides and all, at the lowest pricing I could get were on the order of $700. There is alot of expensive wood in that piece. Couple that with people having a Walmart mentality and they want to get something like what I built for about $500, that just don't compute. So it's a very specialized type of thing done only on comission with all parties understanding custom ain't cheap. Like Chuck Yeager was reputed to have said, if you want good oats, you buy'em before they've been through the horse.
 
BTW- the bullet hole is evident in the first picture of just the frame. It's a dark smudge on one of the panels. I guess somebody shot the tree a long time ago and it never properly healed up and left the goobered spot.
 
Outstanding work!
 
BTW- the bullet hole is evident in the first picture of just the frame. It's a dark smudge on one of the panels.


Art is about imperfection. That dark smudge is character, and a story. That's badass man. Great job!
 
Great looking project.

Are you worried that expansion will separate the miters on the top eventually? I might have gone with the more traditional breadboard edge.
 
Nice work, but you know that's the size of a changing table right??

what is he not telling you?
 
What I sell is usually in connection with a remodel job. The problem with stuff like this is cost. The materials alone for that dresser, draw slides and all, at the lowest pricing I could get were on the order of $700. There is alot of expensive wood in that piece. Couple that with people having a Walmart mentality and they want to get something like what I built for about $500, that just don't compute. So it's a very specialized type of thing done only on comission with all parties understanding custom ain't cheap. Like Chuck Yeager was reputed to have said, if you want good oats, you buy'em before they've been through the horse.
And this I do understand, but there are a few of us left that will take quality, craftsmanship, and attention to detail over walmart. Again nice work sir.
 
Grein the middle is floating.t looking project.

Are you worried that expansion will separate the miters on the top eventually? I might have gone with the more traditional breadboard edge.
Nope. Joints are m/t, splined corner, everything in the middle is floating
 
Very nice piece of work and thank you for sharing your skill set with us here. Great to know that you've made an investment in future generations with your quality workmanship sir.
 
Wow! That looks great. Nice work.
 
Sir, before my elevator career I worked at a custom cabinet and furniture shop where evrything was done by one of three people. That looks like some damned fine work. You have some wicked skill. Your son is a fortunate groom to have you and Pawpaw.
 
From someone who's tried fine woodworking, that's gorgeous work Dave. I hope to learn a fraction of the skills you have forgotten.
 
My condolences for your mother. Circle of life and all that...

Outstanding work, something to be very proud of, both the object and the fact your son recognized the value of having something dad and pawpaw made.
 
Beautiful craftsmanship.
 
Prayers sent for your mom, sorry to hear that.

Very nice work, I'm sure your son and DIL will cherish that for many years and past it on to a child that will also.
 
This piece was made during a pretty roller coaster time in my life several years ago. One left and one gained in the family.

Thanks for the thoughts guys, mom was 80 and had beaten cancer 3 times prior so even with losing the last round, she was batting .750. One of the last things she requested was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. She was adamant about arrangements and laid out what she wanted and emphasized to not spend money on the funeral and all the times I've not done what she wanted, I couldn't skate on this one, so 6 months after making and delivering that chest, on my wedding anniversary, I was in the church cemetery personally digging her grave. Church wanted $250 to do it and I'm convinced mom knew that since she said don't pay it. She was cremated, the hole wasn't big, just large enough for the urn to be 18" below grade and 14" dia but still the hardest hole I ever dug. Took a couple hours.

Back to the wedding- being USAF, son was Red Horse at Hurlbut Field, wedding was what I'd call military red neck. Ceremony was at a gazebo on the sound just past the end of the active runway. Now Hurlbut is a small base, but it's home to the AC130s and PaveLo Spec Ops helos. Those are two pretty darn nasty customers as aircraft go. So the wedding is going on, they walk the boardwalk to the gazebo, there's some preachifying, they I do & I do, and just at that moment a pair of AC130 gunships roar low overhead from the runway at Hurlbut. Son says he planned it, yeah, right, but still cool. Reception was a bbq like only a military heavy construction crew of rednecks can put on. More great food than we could eat and some folks had to stay sober to drive home but at least nobody said "hey yall, watch this". And yeah, both son and new DIL were wearing cowboy boots. While mingling with my new inlaws, they outed my son and that's how I found out they had been dating for 10years. Every leave when he didn't come home I figured, would I come home from AK or Wasatch Mnts of UT? Come to find out, it was my DIL who asked him to marry her. Now you've got to know my oldest, he's about as all guy as they come but is a huge softy inside. He skydives (wingsuits), blows things up (job demo certified), shoots guns, tinkers with hot rods, scuba dives, all adrenaline activities and oooh look at that kitty, but ask a girl to marry him?! That's too hard! I even have a short vid somewhere of when he was deployed where he was hanging out with the Security Forces troops and he volunteered to put on the bite suit and let the dog attack. Though the dog tried, it didn't knock him down. Dog has his arm and son's waving this shep around like a stuffed puppy.

Long winded story coming to the end, son is now getting heavily into woodworking and his skills are growing rapidly. He's made a set of night stands that match the dresser as his first project. He learned a lot on that project and has gotten so into it he's selling his restored 67 Chevelle to make more shop room and fund more tools. He's already sold some stuff locally to other active guys. One thing was a shadow box for a folded flag. Material was Purple Heart wood (appropriate for the box in more ways than one) with splined corners with canary wood. It's a vary striking piece. When I was there visiting with him and my youngest son (they were stationed at the same base for a short while, both are USAF) we made a small play table for my grandson and at the same time finished up the jet riding toy. It's nice to know that when I'm gone, my tool load out isn't going to some auction although I'll probably pass them along when I get too old to be safe.
 
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