As I write this, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, hundreds of attendees and a dozen or so presenters are enjoying the waning hours of the 27th annual “Working Wood in the 18th Century” conference. This year’s theme was “To Furnish a Town: High, Low, and In-Between,” and I was honored to be asked to reproduce for it a piece in the museum collection, a late 18th-/early 19th-century dovetailed blanket chest.
And I was very much looking forward to the other presentations, including CW joiners Bill Pavlak and John Peeler talking about the evolution of style and construction on drop-front desks and dining tables. Curator Tara Chicirda on how 18th-century homes were furnished (and how we outfit those same spaces today). Conservator Chris Swan on how furniture surface decoration and finish has changed over time. And lots more. I love this stuff! (Heck – I even bought a new car in large part so I didn’t have to worry about mechanical issues while driving from Cincinnati to Williamsburg – that’s how eager I was to go!)
I’m not sure if the CW folk consider this chest by an unknown maker as representative as “low” or “in-between,” and I didn’t think to ask. (But because I’ve never met a shell carving I wanted to carve or a marquetry panel I was slavering to make, it’s safe to assume they asked me as a representative of the vernacular, so not high.) Once I got a closer look at the chest, I categorized it as a “high low,” or “low in-between.” The joinery and simple design was well executed, and the dovetails were evenly spaced and well cut…but no city joiner would have chosen sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) as one of the primary woods for this piece. You know how we often say, “Wood hates you?” Well sweetgum loathes the very thought of your existence.
The maker used Southern yellow pine for the front, back, top and plinth; the sides and bottom are sweetgum. Notice the dovetails pulling apart at the sides. That’s the sweetgum working its warped magic. These dovetails are all wedged (the wedges are in the middle of each pin). In most species, that would lock the joints together for generations. I suspect these started pulling apart not terribly long after construction…because I got the same wavy and exciting drying in my sweetgum boards within a day of surfacing it – after it had been carefully dried, allowed to acclimate, flattened in stages to allow for moisture exchange and to accommodate movement, and generally treated like I would care for a sickly kitten: carefully and lovingly. Then the kitten poops on you.
I was lucky to find a wide slab of sweetgum at C.R. Muterspaw (it’s not typically a commercially available wood), and Shea Alexander of Alexander Brothers tracked down, cut and dried some gorgeous SYP for me. I needed stuff wide enough for single boards for the front, back and ends – those big boards were a lot easier to find 225 years ago, I’m guessing (or not…the original maker scabbed on narrow pieces to the top and bottom to make up the overall width – but maybe that was just poor planning).
The biggest problem I expected from the pine was sap, and of course I got it. I had to wipe my saw down with mineral spirits after every couple of cuts. But I also had a little trouble with the SYP splitting – so I incorporated that into my planned stage show. I cut and fit all the joinery in our shop, kerfed the pins for the wedges on all but the fourth corner, and cut the plinth pieces and moulding blanks for the underside of the lid (the original had some kind of moulding nailed on around the sides and front, though it’s now missing). I’d finish up the kerfs on stage, then assemble the chest…and enjoy the audience gasps as the SYP split while I tapped in the wedges. I figured if I anticipated the split, it might not happen – a reverse psychology play, if you will, on “man plans, the gods laugh.”
But gosh did the gods laugh…
Two weeks ago, as I was finishing up the prep on my chest pieces and making lists of the tools to pack for the trip (in my Dutch tool chest, of course!), I slipped on an icy Covington city street and snapped my ankle in three places. So instead of driving my new car to Williamsburg, I’m sitting on my couch (crutches within grabbing distance), with my ankle elevated above my heart and recovering from surgery. (Good thing I’ve plenty of editing to keep me busy in the coming weeks!)
I wasn’t able to do the presentation I’d planned (obviously), but I did manage to cobble together a slide show with voiceover – thank goodness I took lots of pictures of both the original chest and my own build process – and the folk at CW made it work (thank you to everyone there!). Then I Zoomed in for the Saturday morning session, and took questions afterward. (It’s weird to watch yourself on screen.)
I plan to get back to the chest build in a few months – I hate leaving things unfinished. I just have to hope the sweetgum pieces haven’t in the meantime warped into hyperbolic paraboloids. But I rather expect them to.
In the meantime, I’ll be here on the couch, writing and editing. The only ones happy about all this are Olivia and Toby.
Wishing you a speedy recovery so you can get back to the sweetgum.
Has to be one of your major disappointments of your lifetime! Good luck with your recovery and get yourself a set of those stud things that Lee Valley sells (or used to) to strap on your shoes.
You really couldn’t attend. You can’t argue with broken bones. Had it been anything else, you have friends and fans who would have practically carried you on their backs to get you there.
I’m a northerner; I wouldn’t know sweet gum from cotton candy, but I have to question your motivations in using such a cantankerous wood.
Well, it’s what was used on the original so I felt like I had to give it a go!
Condolences on missing Williamsburg and on the crutches-especially if you are supposed to be completely non-weight bearing. (I’ve been there.) Good luck with the recovery and with doing everyday tasks like carrying a dinner plate from the counter to the table. If you aren’t already using one, might I reccomend a small backpack or large fanny pack for carrying things?
What is the final destination of the chest? Unless it is replacing the original on display or some such, could you finish it with nice cooperative syp ends instead?
I’m sorry you couldn’t attend the conference. I hope you heal soon.
I’m very happy to be living in the land of white pine. I’d never want to dovetail SYP. I used Douglas fir, once, as a secondary wood, and the difference in hardness between early and late wood was maddening. That’s without the added sap. And now, thanks to you, I don’t want to get any closer to sweetgum.
Built my ATC sides out of old-growth Doug fir so I know where you’re coming from. I’ve heard it compared to strips of balsa wood surrounded by steel bands, which is a very accurate description. 😀
Megan, your Shakespearean cats have special healing powers. You’ll be back on your feet quickly, just in time for Toby and Olivia to try and kill you on the way to the food bowl at dinner time.
Oh, no! I was stretched out on a couch with my foot elevated with a broken ankle 2.5 years ago. It was far from pleasant even though my attentive feline “nurse” did her best throughout (which was deeply appreciated). Heal quickly and well!
Please take it easy and let your bones knit. Nothing in any way ‘funny’ about broken ones! Then back to the shop. I grew up with sweet gum everywhere. About the only uses we ever found for them was to fling the spiky seed balls as missiles and burn the ones we had to cut as firewood. You just know that some of the elders made planks out of it, though. Nothing went to waste for those folk.
The ground floor millwork and interior doors on all of the houses on my street are made of sweet gum. The legend has it that the trees were all cut and sawed when the neighborhood was developed (post Great Flood of 1913), and then they used the (fairly) dry sweet gum to finish the homes once the rest was constructed. They seem to have all stayed fairly flat, though the widest width of stock used in any of it was around 6″ so that probably matters more than anything. All of the lumber is basically flat sawn, except for door panels which are quartered or rifted.
What part of the U.S. are you in? (There is some speculation that the stuff in the Northeast is better than the stuff in the South…though it is a mystery as to why.)
Dayton, OH.
The city has leaned in to this lore – I think the most prominently planted tree by the city is sweet gum, I suspect my neighborhood has something to do with it. They are pleasant trees to look at – living with is another story. My kids are young enough that the spring cleaning chore of seed ball pickup is still considered “fun” 🙂
Huh – this stuff was from right around us, too. Maybe you got lucky 🙂
I still remember landing on those spiky balls in piles of leaves when I was a kid – ouch! (But this hurts more…)
Very sorry to hear of your mishap. I wish you a speedy recovery. I would also like to commend you on a brilliant job with the “Dutch Tool Chest”. I have enjoyed reading immensely.
Thanks, Eric!
Cats possess a healing magic. They usually are willing to work it on their personal food getters….. 😉Get well quick! 🤔
I was in the audience at the conference at Williamsburg, and I am here to tell you that your session was great! Would it have been better had you been there in person? Of course! Talk about grace under pressure! Given the circumstances, you performed very well indeed!
Too kind; thank you!
I was at the conference and your video presentation was great! I was disappointed you weren’t going to be there in person but you certainly did a great job (especially considering your injury!). Thanks for being a part of the conference! Hope to see that wonky wood being tamed into the finished chest! Get well soon!!!
Aw, thanks!
Total bummer Megan. I hope you’re back at it soon.
So sorry to her about your foot. Get well soon.
Thanks for sharing the story Megan. I hope you feel better quickly!
That sweet gum is awesome. Prayers for quick healing.
Oh, I’m so sorry Megan. I fell at almost the same time you did while spreading salt on the drive. Literally knocked the wind out of me and I knew I had broke a rib. I don’t bounce as well as I used to! Praying for your quick recovery and patience while healing!
Those aren’t wrinkles, they’re character lines. Although we’ve never met I am sure you have lots of character.