That is beautiful Carl. Did you have an original that you patterned this after?
Steve
Steve,
The pattern is from an Early American Life Magazine when they still did colonial patterns in the magazine. The copy is packed away but here is the article:
http://books.google.com/books?id=dPsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=falseThe original was painted a mossy green, but I wanted a different look.
As I said, the wood is blistered maple. The round areas were cut with a hole saw before cutting out the pattern with a band saw and then all areas were filed using various needle files. The back, front and drawer front were taken from one piece of wood to keep the pattern consistent. The sides were sawn together as one piece using some double stick tape--don't use too much or you will never get them apart. All pieces were was sanded to 150. I assembled the pieces using finish steel cut nails from Tremont Nail Co--only ones in the US that carries them any more. They are expensive, but essential to get the period feel.
Then I used a very dark leather dye--any water based dye will work. This is my set coat. I then sanded to remove all of the surface dye so only the soft wood keep the color--almost back to the bare wood. This will really make the maple stand out. I did the same to the little tiger maple keeping chest I made for my wife for Mother's Day:
Then come in with a med brown, then sand back. I did this process about 4 times--each time the contrast gets better. Then sand any futher wiskering with #0000 steel wool. Take Boiled Linseed Oil--heat this OUTSIDE to where it just smokes. Don't do this step inside and make sure you do not take your eyes off of the pot. Take a natural bristle brush--not synthetic as it will melt. I get mine from Lowes for less than a buck. Paint on a liberal coat and let sit for about 10 mins. Check back and keep appling for 30 mins with as much oil as the piece will take. Once the time is up, use a cloth to wipe completely clean. For the next few hours, keep wiping the piece down as the wood will push some of the oil back out. Let this sit for about a week. During that period, the oil may seep out of the wood making little beads on the surface. After the week of waiting, take a green scrub pad--the one in the cleaner section of the grocery store and dip this in a small pot of oil--no need to heat this time. You are looking to rub a little bit of oil into the wood, taking away the "beads" while burnishing the piece with the pad at the same time. Let this sit for at least a few days to ensure all of the oil has dried--remember, this is just a very thin coat. Once this is dry, I use armor seal (semi-gloss), three coats with a buff of #0000 steel wool in between. I hope this helps--just yell if I confused anyone...
