Early Access Video: Furniture Forensics with a Corner Cabinet
Added 2023-08-05 11:00:04 +0000 UTCFriends:
You all know I was in CT last month for family stuff, but I snuck in some filming time with a fascinating corner cabinet in my brother's house. (Big thanks to my brother and his family for letting me shoot in their living room).
The piece is wonderful and tells an engrossing story about period furniture, problem solving, and the mysteries of the old objects in our lives. In many ways, this video leaves us with more questions than answers, but that's just as fun.
Happy Saturday!
--Rex
Comments
Maybe the butt joint was because that side was too shout for a rabet.
Fred Gosbee
2023-08-19 23:28:27 +0000 UTCRex… we need to talk about the Yankee Candle situation in this video.
Eddie
2023-08-11 04:42:47 +0000 UTCI love corner cabinets; new ones can be occasionally found in rural Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other communities with Amish and Mennonite cabinetmakers (like Ohio and Indiana). Often in yellow pine or inexpensive hardwood.
JKlarinet
2023-08-08 16:11:25 +0000 UTCWanted the drawer depth for something that length?
Bill Rhodes
2023-08-07 11:47:41 +0000 UTCThis is like watching an art historian in front of a painting, revealing details one by one, educating the eye. Marvelous. Thank you.
Joseph Vaughan
2023-08-07 04:52:05 +0000 UTCI had that thought too but then why didn’t he cut down the other side to even it up?
Richard C von Brecht
2023-08-06 23:47:20 +0000 UTCCome aspects of this piece, such as the drawer and the doors, suggest to me that they may have come from one or more other pieces. Many skilled rural craftsman had no problem re-using parts from other pieces. This takes nothing from the skill and artistry on display here. Adapting used components effectively is efficient and is its own type of skill.
Mark Petersen
2023-08-06 17:37:57 +0000 UTCWhat a interesing blend of pragnatism and detailing. I love how it is seemingly made from a grab bag of woods. Nothing goes to waste but somehow it is blended together for strength and beauty.
Richard C von Brecht
2023-08-06 15:36:38 +0000 UTCReally enjoy these FF videos. Thank you Rex and thanks to your brother and his family.
Matt Evans-Koch
2023-08-05 21:34:22 +0000 UTCReally cool! On the drawer, does the bottom groove show on both sides? I'm wondering if the drawer was wider in a previous life, and that's why the back is a butt joint on one side, the side that was cut off (maybe)?
David Bumpus
2023-08-05 18:14:55 +0000 UTCYour FF videos make me look at old furniture pieces all the time. I love seeing the stuff that was normally hidden to see makers marks and where they did short cuts because they could! Love this stuff!
Gerald Eddy
2023-08-05 17:36:00 +0000 UTCMy first thought was it built much earlier and then refurbished in the 1950s. Then you caught that as well.
Skully Wood and Metal
2023-08-05 16:52:56 +0000 UTCI wonder if the half lap joint on the left side of the drawer was skipped because the scrap wood piece might have been too short.
Jeff Griest
2023-08-05 16:38:31 +0000 UTCMy gosh I love these FF videos. Thank you. And what a surprise ending! My house is from 1911, and every drawer is built less than this. Nailed rabbets for front-to-sides using 6d wire nails. Same bottom but they tend to be 3 boards with a center nail on the backest one. Sides-to-back are butt, nailed through the sides with 6d wire nails. Quite crude compared to this but mostly durable. I’ve had to do some work on the most-used ones. Lovely video with lots to think about as I go through my day. Thank you!
Meryl Logue
2023-08-05 16:38:09 +0000 UTCI think the marks on the rear of the bottom of the drawer are wear marks. If band saw marks, they should be distributed more. And I bet the butt joint was because he cut it wrong. I did that once.
Bill Rhodes
2023-08-05 12:52:23 +0000 UTCWhoever build this cabinet, really nailed it...
Frans van Ballegooijen
2023-08-05 12:34:14 +0000 UTCDid anyone else notice that there is a very strong family resemblance between Rex and his nephew? I love furniture forensics.
Brian Taylor
2023-08-05 11:40:09 +0000 UTC
