All in a day's work

With the warmer weather, these roughed out bowls are drying too fast on the outside.

So I have dammed up the stream and thrown a couple of blanks in there. I have placed the bowls in bins of water, to slow down the drying. I am taking them out each day, working them further, then placing them back in at night. Seems to be working.

I have been making a bowl horse from an ash log.

I needed some dry pegs to fix the foot pedal together, and remembered these white oak sticks from Peter Follansbee's course last summer, were still in the van door.

I finally managed to get sidetracked back onto the chest with drawer. I wasn't sure of the rear board arrangement behind the drawer, so asked Peter. He was happy to oblige with details and examples. Thanks Peter.

So the floorboards for the upper chest fit into a groove in the front middle rail and are nailed up to the rear middle rail. Then a board as shown is chamfered on the two ends and after the chest is assembled is slid up a groove made in the rear stiles. There is no rail below this. Instead a rail is fitted with bare-faced tenons forward of these board grooves. The chamfered board is then nailed to the back of this rail.

If I had thought about it before contacting Peter I could have returned to Totnes Museum (where I was a few weeks ago) to examine this example.

I am not sure it will prove useful, I need to give it a closer look to assess it's age.

The cupboard next to it is more interesting.

Tucked away on it's own this genuine 17th century chest.

Note peg showing through stile.

 And hinge ends splayed and recessed into lid.

 Other great stuff there. This inexplicably damaged panel.

And a corbel.

 

I spent some time in the archives, trying to find some details of 17th century joinery shops in Totnes, but to no avail.

I feel another visit coming on soon, though.