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National Woodworking Month Woodworker Spotlight: Binh Pho
  About five years ago my cousin Tom Ronayne visited us from his home in Dublin, Ireland. Tom, an accomplished wood turner and shop teacher in Dublin, had flown over to see his family living in America...
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National Woodworking Month Woodworker Spotlight: John Warner
 Locally, There were laddderback side chairs, arm chairs, and rockers made in Loudoun County for much of the 19th century. These chairs are commonly known as "Waterford Chairs" because many were made...
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National Woodworking Month Woodworker Spotlight: Mark Sfirri
  Todays choice in my month long homage to woodworkers is Mark Sfirri. I first read an article on Mark Sfirri several years ago in a woodworking magazine and was captivated by his novel approach to...
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National Woodworking Month Woodworker Spotlight: Martin Fair
A few miles from my shop, off of Harpers Ferry Road in Loudoun County is a shop near the top of a mountain ridge that separates "Between the Hills" from the Loudoun Valley. The shop is owned and...
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Two Empire Chairs (ca.1800)
The Completed Chairs Recently I worked on two chairs made in France circa 1800. It is a little difficult to firmly put these chairs in one stylistic category, although I conservatively lean towards the...
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Making a Key for an English Lever Lock
Every Time I restore a chest of drawers or cabinet that has locks, I take the locks out of the piece, clean them, and, if no key is present, I cut a new key that works the lock. After I cut the new...
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Signed Edwardian Wardrobe (1902)
The Completed Wardrobe The period in furniture history known as Edwardian lasted form 1901 to 1910 and coincides with the reign of Edward VII, son of Queen Victoria. The style shows a clear movement...
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Locust and Bog Oak Urn (2014)
The Completed Urn I usually do not post things of a personal nature on this blog, but the purpose of this blog is to chronicle my journey as a woodworker and the various projects that I take on. This...
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Stickley Music cabinet (2014)
The completed Music CabinetRecently I was commissioned by a customer to build a reproduction of a Stickley music cabinet no.70, which was first produced by the Gustav Stickley Furniture Company around...
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Custom Altar (2014)
The Completed AltarThere is a story told of a woodcarver commissioned to carve a large carving for a church in Europe. the carving was vast and reached up to the highest parts of the church. One day, a...
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Cedar Lawn: Late Classical Bureau (Ca. 1820)
The Completed BureauThis blog post concerns a piece I recently restored for an estate in Jefferson County, West Virginia called Cedar Lawn. If you are interested in viewing other pieces restored for...
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A Fantasy Vanity (Ca.1940)
The Completed Vanity Sometimes I am asked to do something out of the ordinary, something that pushes the limits a bit. Something that takes the same amount of concentration and steady hand to produce,...
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Late Classical Mahogany Rocker (ca.1840)
The Completed RockerWhat is good mahogany? What do people mean when they say "This is good mahogany, or that piece has fine mahogany in it"? The answer to these questions could fill up a book, in fact...
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X- Frame, or Campeche Chair (ca.1820)
The completed ChairStrictly speaking, this is not a Campeche chair. The Campeche chair is a type of chair popular in the plantations of the south and was made in Mexico and in the southern United...
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National Oak Roll Top Desk (1917)
The Completed deskOne of our recent restoration projects was an oak roll top desk made in 1917 by National Desks. Presumably, this is the same company as the National Furniture Company of Mt. Airy,...
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Arts and Crafts Oak China Cabinet (ca. 1920)
The Completed China CabinetOnce and a while we get a restoration job where the piece we are working on really sees a major transformation. Pieces that are painted usually fall into this category. A...
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Pennsylvania Chippendale Tall Chest ( ca.1790)
 The Completed ChestI recently got an interesting piece into the shop. I really did not do that much to it, but I thought it had a lot of different points of interest that were worth sharing. The piece...
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A Great Bow lathe Video
A friend sent me a video today I thought I would share. It is of a Moroccan wood turner using a very old style of lathe called a bow lathe. Essentially, The lathe is powered by a bow that has a string...
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Plastic Injection Molded Chair (2014)
The Completed ChairThe Plastic Chair. It is everywhere. Gracing the lawns of America. Trainspotters in Sandy Hook, Maryland keep their soot covered chairs close to the tracks. Every Metro stop in...
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English Dressing Table (ca. 1760)
The Completed Dressing TableIntroduction.As a restorer of antique furniture, I see a lot of different pieces in my shop. Each piece requires specific repairs and offers up new challenges. That being...
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Hitchcock Style High Chair 3 (1970)
The Completed High ChairDeja Vu all over again! One of the interesting side effects of writing this blog is that several of my posts have been read by people with a similar or, in this case, the exact...
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A Visit to the Stickley Music Cabinet
I recently went to see the customers I built a reproduction of a Stickley music cabinet for. I always love to see how a piece looks after a bit of time away from the shop. I was pleased to see the...
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American Empire Chest of Drawers (ca. 1830)
The Completed ChestI have written a fair amount about American Empire period furniture on this blog. This furniture was produced from around 1830 to around 1860. The use of thin veneers of crotch...
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Painted Chairs (ca 1990)
The Completed ChairsOne of the things we have started doing this year on occasion is to paint furniture for customers. We were hired earlier this year to paint a set of eight chairs and reupholster...
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Some Recently Completed Pieces
19th Century English Cherry Dressing TableI have developed a bit of a backlog of photos of completed work over the past couple of months. In an effort to catch up I am showcasing some of the more...
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