by William Bundschuh
Description: This is a piece of furniture that I have wanted to build for over 15 years. In 2008, I first saw a photo of the casework online at the Yale University Art Gallery and I downloaded the image for future reference. As the years passed and my skills as a wood worker improved, I started making my own design drawings of this project in AutoCAD. I planned my project to closely replicate the picture both in size and appearance. I modified the original design by using a carved drawer image from another piece of casework that I preferred. This project was truly a challenge and I learned many aspects of advanced wood working techniques including improving my ability to perform relief and overlay carving. The entire case is made from just two pieces of mahogany, a piece of 5/4 and a piece of 12/4 wood. This was my first project with mahogany and I truly enjoyed working with it and the results that it can yield. I would also like to thank Tony Kubalak for answering a carving question that I had very early in the project. The hardware is from Ball & Ball Hardware Reproductions.