Colonial Washstand Circa 1760.pdf

Colonial Washstand

Circa 1760

made during the middle of the eighteenth century. It

was, as ours is, made from pine. The patina was a lovely

buttery color. Close inspection failed to reveal traces of

any finish other than many years of wax polishing. Most

found the original of this piece while on vacation

on Jekyll Island in Georgia. It was one of a pair in a

conference room at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel,

part of the island's historic district, and was probably

pieces like this, however, would have been painted. I've

chosen a scrubbed finish, a look I've seen often on such

pieces.

Before the advent of hot and cold running water,

washstands like this one would have been an essential

part of most early and Victorian American bedroom

suites. Towels, washcloths and other linens would have

been kept in the drawers while the galleried top would

have been home to a large ceramic bowl and water jug.

It's a look that's often duplicated to good effect today.

This washstand is a faithful copy of the one I found on

Jekyll Island. I've searched the books but have not been

able to find anything quite like it. In other words, it

seems to be unique.

ful to the original washstand, was bought from the

Woodworker's Store.

CONSTRUCTION OUTLINE

At first glance this is a simple piece, but first glances

can often be misleading. To make it you will need to use

almost every tool in the shop. When it's finished it will

provide you with a unique piece, as well as a real sense

of achievement.

Basically, this is a small chest of drawers with turned

feet, a nicely shaped gallery and rounded quarter pilas-

ters. The web frames are offset to accommodate the

pilaster and attached to the sides with glue and biscuits

(dowels would work just as well). The top is made from

furniture-grade pine a full 1" thick. The kicker is also a

solid piece of stock, nominally 1" thick, upon which the

carcass sits. There were no dust panels in the original.

The drawers were constructed using lap joints, but, as

I felt this was a quality piece, I've taken a liberty and

used dovetails. The feet are glued and doweled to the

kicker.

There are a couple of tricky areas: the pilasters and

the construction of the carcass.

The pilasters are made from two pieces of stock, 25"

long X 2" wide X 2" thick. The trick here is how to

achieve the quarter-round cross-section. I did it by tak-

ing pieces of stock 36 1/2"long X 4" wide X 2" thick

and gluing them together—only the first six inches at

either end—to make a piece 4" X 4 ". I then placed the

piece in the lathe and turned off the corners to give

me what was essentially an eight-sided piece—four flats

and four rounded corners. At that point I removed the

stock from the lathe and cut off the first six inches at

either end, thus the middle section split into two halves.

From there it was simply a matter of cutting one of the

two halves down the middle to give me the pilasters.

The two six-inch 4" X 4" sections? These I turned on

the lathe to make two of the four required feet.

The carcass itself is fairly simple to construct; just

take care that the offset web frames are accurately mea-

sured, made and dadoed into the sides. Note: One web

frame is 3/4" narrower than the other three. Attaching

the pilasters and fillers to the carcass, however, needs

special attention. First you'll glue and screw the spacers,

edge on, to the carcass (see top photo page 80), then

glue and screw the pilasters to the spacers (see bottom

photo page 80). Quite simple really.

The gallery or splash-back, as it's often called, is cut

from furniture-grade pine, a full 1" thick, and angled to

slope away at 6°. The ends of the galleries are lap-jointed

and secured together with glue and cut-steel masonry

nails for authenticity. The hardware, which is also faith-

BUILDING THE WASHSTAND

STEP 1 . Cut and shape the pilasters (see Shop Tip

below).

STEP 2. Cut the rest of the required pieces to size.

STEP 3. Run all the edges through the jointer.

STEP 4. Build the boards that will make the top, kicker

(base) and two sides.

STEP 5. Build the four web frames as laid out in the draw-

ing. Be careful to make one 3/4" narrower than the

other three; this one will go at the top of the carcass.

Also, be careful to make the offsets accurately as laid

out in the drawing.

STEP 6. Take the two pieces of stock that will make the

sides and cut rabbets 3/4" wide x 1/4" deep at the top

and bottom edges to take the top and bottom web

frames. Next, cut a rabbet down one long edge of each

side 1/4" deep to receive the back—make sure you

have a left and right side.

STEP 11 . Cut the biscuit slots to the pilasters and side

panels

STEP 12. Glue, biscuit and clamp the pilasters to the side

panels and screw the spacers to the pilasters

STEP 13. Set the piece of stock to be used for the top

trim in place against the narrower web frame and mark

for biscuits.

STEP 14. Cut the biscuit slots, then glue and clamp it in

place.

STEP 15. Build the drawer guide by gluing and clamping

the 3/4 " X 3/4 " facing strip to the end grain of the piece

that measures 15 3/4 X 6 3/4".

STEP 16. Glue and screw the drawer partition in place as

laid out in the drawing and top photo page 82. You can

screw downward through the upper web and upward

through the one below. The partition will also double

as the two center drawer guides.

Glue, assemble and clamp the carcass. Note how the front center

clamp is set at an angle to pull the structure square.

STEP 17. Build the drawer guides

STEP 18. Glue and screw the drawer guides to the

carcass.

STEP 19. Turn the feet to the dimensions shown in the

drawing.

STEP 20. Bore a 3/4" hole, 1" deep, in the top center of

each foot to take the dowel that will secure the foot in

place on the bottom of the washstand.

STEP 21. Using a 1/2 " bit in your router, round over the

front and side edges of the two boards that will be the

top and kicker.

STEP 22. Bore four 3/4" holes at each corner of the

kicker as laid out in the drawing.

Glue and clamp the trim piece in place on the upper web frame,

then fasten the two spacers in place on the web offsets using no.

6 screws.

STEP 23. Using one of the new polyurethane glues and

four pieces of 3/4" x 1 3/4" dowel, assemble the feet to

the kicker. Clamp and set aside overnight to fully cure.

STEP 7. Cut dadoes in the two side pieces as laid out in

the drawing 3/4" wide x 1/4" deep to take the two

center web frames.

STEP 24. Remove the excess glue from around the feet.

STEP 25. Take the three pieces that will make the gallery

and cut one end of both of the short sections and both

ends of the long piece to an angle of 10° as laid out in

the drawing.

STEP 8. Glue, assemble and clamp the four web frames

to the two ends—make sure the narrower web is at the

top. Square the structure, then set it aside to cure

overnight.

STEP 9. Glue and screw the spacers to the webs as you

see in photo above.

STEP 1 O . Set the pilasters in place between the spacers

and the sides and mark them and the sides for biscuit

slots.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: