Tying up some loose ends around the shop...

Did you ever wonder about the origin of the phrase - the cobbler's children have no shoes?

Answer:

Origin unknown; however the essence of this phrase is used to describe the phenomenon where certain 'professionals' in any given area are so busy with work for their clients and their teams that they neglect using their professional skills to help themselves or those closest to them. For example - the painter & decorator who never decorates his own house, the web designer that hasn't finished their website, or the accountant who is late in submitting his own tax return!

That's what's happening in my life - I've been without dining room chairs for two years, and this bookcase/dresser has been sitting in my shop for three months. 

It's enough to make me scream!

I've been thinking about carving the drawer fronts for this piece, and since there's a Carving Class running for the next four weeks, I thought it might be a good time to finish this one up.

I'm planning on four drawers in the lower area - but before I start anything, I want to make the drawer fronts. 

The digital protractor proves that everything is square. Gotta love right angles!

 

I chose a couple of beautiful straight grained boards for the drawer fronts - carving oak is going to be tricky enough. 



I don't want to encounter any knots or difficult areas to carve. 

Here they're rough cut to size, carefully chosen for attractive grain management. 

As I started trimming them to final size, I propped them into place. 

The top two pieces were slightly warped, so I flattened them on the jointer, and then planed all four drawer fronts to a uniform thickness. 

Hopefully, I'll be carving these drawer fronts later this week. It's just a start; I still have to choose the design to carve, and that is a much more difficult decision!