I liked this video far more than I thought I would have. I kept imagining what the craftsman would have thought about the video if he could watch you critique his work. Would he have appreciated the praise on a job well done or would he think you're a fool to imagine there was any other way to make a dresser. Thank you for mixing it up and making such great content.
I've just started reading Thos. Moser's excellent book, "How To Build Shaker Furniture: The Complete Updated & Improved Classic." In it, he mentions several of the points you've made. One thing he wrote was that typically (but not always), Shaker chests of drawers would have graduated drawer sizes, with the largest at the bottom, where you'd store larger, heavier items, and smaller ones at the top, for smaller, lighter things. The book is loaded with great history, furniture details, info on wood, etc.
We can learn so much looking at (well made) antique furniture. Many times the olde days menial tasks like panels and dovetails were relegated to the apprentice, who was being yelled at to hurry up, ergo some pretty sloppy work sometimes. The master labored over the “money” - exterior carvings, turnings, etc. This is a nice history lesson looking fwd to more.
This might be one of my favorite videos. Very well thought out without too much conjecture. Good learning experience for those who are interested in identifying period piece furniture.
Simply outstanding James! Very much enjoyed you explaining the anatomy of the shaker style. I'd like to see more of this approach. Don't see many explaining anymore.
I love seeing the little bits of history in furniture. Do you recommend any resources for starting to learn the various clues you mentioned in the video? (ie types of screws used, drawer pulls, wood type and size, proportions, etc)
Great presentation of what Shakers could do. It's probably a Shaker made furniture that they sold to outside customers, as they did in larger lines of production when their furniture became rightly popular, as the finishing details are not as perfect as their own production. I loooove your old tools collection on the wall behind.
Very insightful, thanks so much. I've just recently begun to study Shaker furniture, and also just bought a book on the topic. Living in Scandinavia, it strikes me how similar some of these 100+ years old pieces are very similar to for instance classic Danish and Norwegian furniture made in the 1950- and 60s. I wonder if there's a connection there.
How are those large wooden bodied planes being held, or mounted on the wall in the background? I'm looking for ideas to accomplish the same thing, or similar. I already know of a few ways to do that with metal body planes. I'm interested in how it can be done with the wooden bodied planes.
Hi, Can you help me? I am looking for a book that shows the various characteristics of the different styles of furniture. eg shaker, mid century, mission etc. can you recommend one?
This was helpful. I wondered how the shakers approached drawer slides over floating panels. I have the shaker drawings book which I think I saw you refer to in another video. The drawer slides are consistently overlooked.
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. The few pieces of furniture I have bought, I looked at the 'hidden' areas. On one occasion, an elderly salesman said he hadn't seen anyone look inside a chest of drawers in a long time, especially not a young person. Even though it was of modern construction, I wanted to spend my money on real wood.
@@EngineeringVignettes The Amish are trying to slip into the spot left empty with the disappearance of the Shakers. Their furniture is well made, but most people won't pay what it's worth. That's why there is not much well made furniture out there. If you are looking for a first rate maker, there was a referance book of makers a rew years back. (Published by Taunton Press I think)
7:00 - I repaired and sold a piece similar to this one, but in tiger maple. The runners were grooved so badly from years of wear that the drawer faces were tilted back and wouldn't align with the cabinet front. I replaced the runners with maple sticks I had in my shop bin. I chose a hardwood so they'd add years to the piece without a recurrence of the grooving. It worked well in realigning the drawers.
+Maurice Blok -Thanks! In part two we examine the clues that point to the age of the piece. (Screws, hardware, etc.) You'll find that very interesting too! It will be in the next issue of Stumpy Nubs Woodworking Journal in about two weeks.
We had my dad's old dresser (not Shaker) restored after he passed away and the restorer did the same trick seen here to fix the badly worn drawer sides, i.e. replacing the worn out bottoms of the drawer sides with new wood, including fitting the new wood into the existing dovetails like on this piece.
Boy Stumpy, folks like to try to prove you wrong...this was a great informational video! I think the maker would’ve had soft hands, using tallow and all lol.
Great info. Love that floating center back panel design. Would personally like to see the tapered legs, but as you said, some shaker craftsmen did utilize a lathe and turned some feet/legs. Nice piece.
Fascinating for a UK viewer. You didn't mention what I take to be the light-coloured wear strips on the bottoms of the drawer sides; are they a Shaker feature?
Thats a nice piece of info James.I would like to see a video on English dovetails WHEN you get the chance James and maybe some FORGOTTEN joints from yesteryear. Thanks.
Howdy Stumpy Thanks for sharing this. I have been watching a lot of NYWS videos and am always curius about shaker philosophy. This is interesting and hands on. Keep on trucking ! (from France)
Great information. I've recently purchased a very old dresser in that style, all hand cut as you point out. Oak and maybe poplar. Have you ever heard of the person who crafted a piece sign it? There is a very old loopy signature of some sort on the back of a drawer.
This is a great video, thank you for making it. I like all of your content, but I really enjoyed this one. I hope to see more videos like this in the future.
Stumpy, great video, lots of details and a great learning experience. I had one question about the drawer sides. I t appears on both sides the maker (or some one else) use a different type of wood on the bottom or slide edge of the drawers. was this a repair or part of the original?
Stumpy, can you direct me to any good resources to learn more about Shaker furniture? Practical information I can use to start creating replica pieces that is.
Why make such narrow pins on the dovetail? Seems like that would not only make it more succeptible to breakage or splitting, but also more difficult to cut.
Thanks for sharing. I was wondering about some of that stuff. I recently picked up a solid wood dresser that is made of all rabbits. I'm guessing it's more than 60-80 years old, but is a mass produced piece. I'm just replacing all the drawer bottoms a deeming it as a shop cabinet...it's really not built as well as I would like. But, I would like to build one sometime.
I enjoyed this video SN. In my opinion the one thing that needs to be addressed was whether or not the shakers also had larger drawers at the top. This piece has a large drawer at the top that overshadows the rest. The shakers were very proportional and used the golden ratio often. This piece doesn't really follow the law of progression found so often in their pieces, i.e. larger bottom drawers to smaller top drawers.
Stumpy, perhaps you could paint in some background on the Shakers for us, about their mode of worship, their peculiar living arrangements and why they died out :)
+Michael Anderson Shakers were celibate; procreation was forbidden after they joined the society (except for women who were already pregnant at admission). Children were added to their communities through indenture, adoption, or conversion. Occasionally a foundling was anonymously left on a Shaker doorstep. They welcomed all, often taking in orphans and the homeless. (source: Wikipedia)
+Michael Anderson Shakers were celibate; procreation was forbidden after they joined the society (except for women who were already pregnant at admission). Children were added to their communities through indenture, adoption, or conversion. Occasionally a foundling was anonymously left on a Shaker doorstep. They welcomed all, often taking in orphans and the homeless. (source: Wikipedia)
+William Brown As a long term model for success it apparently had short legs. But while it lasted they designed and made some sweet furniture, didn't they?
I liked this video far more than I thought I would have. I kept imagining what the craftsman would have thought about the video if he could watch you critique his work. Would he have appreciated the praise on a job well done or would he think you're a fool to imagine there was any other way to make a dresser. Thank you for mixing it up and making such great content.
At 00:32 I think you meant function over form.
Yes, I said it backwards.
Ah well.. Thanks for the quick reply and all the instruction!
Form follows function.
Very well spotted . What are you doing here? You are one of my other channels . Back to work teacher. Ha ha ha .
This comment is what I scrolled down looking for.
I've just started reading Thos. Moser's excellent book, "How To Build Shaker Furniture: The Complete Updated & Improved Classic." In it, he mentions several of the points you've made. One thing he wrote was that typically (but not always), Shaker chests of drawers would have graduated drawer sizes, with the largest at the bottom, where you'd store larger, heavier items, and smaller ones at the top, for smaller, lighter things. The book is loaded with great history, furniture details, info on wood, etc.
Enjoy your videos. What took my eye was the work bench at the side. Beautiful
We can learn so much looking at (well made) antique furniture. Many times the olde days menial tasks like panels and dovetails were relegated to the apprentice, who was being yelled at to hurry up, ergo some pretty sloppy work sometimes. The master labored over the “money” - exterior carvings, turnings, etc.
This is a nice history lesson looking fwd to more.
What an excellent commentary on wonderful craftsmanship. Sometimes old really is gold 👍
This might be one of my favorite videos. Very well thought out without too much conjecture. Good learning experience for those who are interested in identifying period piece furniture.
I love your deductive reasoning. Interesting investigation of I agree well made piece.
God I love this video! Please do more like this, I've watched at least 5 times now. So much info and a much needed dive into furniture history.
Simply outstanding James! Very much enjoyed you explaining the anatomy of the shaker style. I'd like to see more of this approach. Don't see many explaining anymore.
Very well put together video filled with a lot of great information, thanks James
Clear explanation, lots of respect for those ‘oldtimers’ and for your craftsmanship too
Wow I didn't know how complicated a simple chest of drawer could be.
Thanks for this video, it's a master class.
This was fantastic, loved the detective work and woodworking history. You packed a lot into this. Can't wait for part 2.
I love seeing the little bits of history in furniture. Do you recommend any resources for starting to learn the various clues you mentioned in the video? (ie types of screws used, drawer pulls, wood type and size, proportions, etc)
Excellent review of the craftsmanship of this piece!
Awesome video, I love Shaker furniture. Now I know what I can look for when searching...Thanks.
James, one of your best and most thoughtful video. Very informative and I learned a lot. Thanks.
This may have been my favorite video from you. Very intelligently done sir.
Joseph is my friend, he loves shaker furniture, thank you for the video, it makes him happy which in return makes me happy. Lets all be happy =)
Great presentation of what Shakers could do. It's probably a Shaker made furniture that they sold to outside customers, as they did in larger lines of production when their furniture became rightly popular, as the finishing details are not as perfect as their own production.
I loooove your old tools collection on the wall behind.
I learned more from your explanation that if you would have done a build of it. Nice job.
Thank you Stumpy I love the way you respect the true woodworkers. Julien
Very old stuff I know however Stumps ol’boy one of your very best and not a tool touched!
Bob
England
Very insightful, thanks so much. I've just recently begun to study Shaker furniture, and also just bought a book on the topic. Living in Scandinavia, it strikes me how similar some of these 100+ years old pieces are very similar to for instance classic Danish and Norwegian furniture made in the 1950- and 60s. I wonder if there's a connection there.
Remarkable forensics, based on an impressive body of knowledge. Well done, sir.
How are those large wooden bodied planes being held, or mounted on the wall in the background? I'm looking for ideas to accomplish the same thing, or similar. I already know of a few ways to do that with metal body planes. I'm interested in how it can be done with the wooden bodied planes.
Hi, Can you help me? I am looking for a book that shows the various characteristics of the different styles of furniture. eg shaker, mid century, mission etc. can you recommend one?
This was helpful. I wondered how the shakers approached drawer slides over floating panels. I have the shaker drawings book which I think I saw you refer to in another video. The drawer slides are consistently overlooked.
now that is a proper product tour! very in depth reasoning and very interesting thanks stumpy!
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. The few pieces of furniture I have bought, I looked at the 'hidden' areas. On one occasion, an elderly salesman said he hadn't seen anyone look inside a chest of drawers in a long time, especially not a young person. Even though it was of modern construction, I wanted to spend my money on real wood.
+Lyonhardht
I have done that on a few modern stores pieces. Then I got depressed and walked away. The junk they sell these days...
@@EngineeringVignettes The Amish are trying to slip into the spot left empty with the disappearance of the Shakers. Their furniture is well made, but most people won't pay what it's worth. That's why there is not much well made furniture out there. If you are looking for a first rate maker, there was a referance book of makers a rew years back. (Published by Taunton Press I think)
Extremely well done and educational analysis. So much can be discerned with a careful inspection. It is a shame we often don't take the time.
Fascinating video James! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
Thoroughly enjoyed this !
A beautiful piece of furniture. I would love to own such a cabinet.
Are the pulls made of just wood? how are they attached?
7:00 - I repaired and sold a piece similar to this one, but in tiger maple. The runners were grooved so badly from years of wear that the drawer faces were tilted back and wouldn't align with the cabinet front. I replaced the runners with maple sticks I had in my shop bin. I chose a hardwood so they'd add years to the piece without a recurrence of the grooving. It worked well in realigning the drawers.
Stumpy Nubs, how is the top fastened to the body? Just glue?
Very informative. How did they attach the top?
Fantastic review of the Shaker architecture and style.
Great video. Thank you for all of your pointers.
One of your best videos, love the details of knowledge you are passing along. Thank you Stumpy!
Really like the reasoning you do. Great find in good condition. Off to your follow-up video :-)
+Maurice Blok -Thanks! In part two we examine the clues that point to the age of the piece. (Screws, hardware, etc.) You'll find that very interesting too! It will be in the next issue of Stumpy Nubs Woodworking Journal in about two weeks.
Looking forward!
Nice review! I have read (flatsawn) planks cup away from the pith, but you stated the opposite?
Boards tend to cup away from the center of the tree. If I said otherwise, I must have misspoke.
@@StumpyNubs 🙏🏻
Nice video. Out of curiosity, does anyone know how the top was connected to the piece?
Great video stumpy!I'm going to build a shaker workbench this summer,can't wait.And then ill build shaker furniture on it,or maybe try.thanks
Love shaker, Craftsman and mission style
This makes me want to make. Thanks Stumpy!
We had my dad's old dresser (not Shaker) restored after he passed away and the restorer did the same trick seen here to fix the badly worn drawer sides, i.e. replacing the worn out bottoms of the drawer sides with new wood, including fitting the new wood into the existing dovetails like on this piece.
Great video! Very educational like the rest of your videos!
A very well put together video. Very informative. I concur with the comments below. I think it is one of your best videos.
Great vid. This is now one of my favorite videos and will go on my re-watch again and again list.
Boy Stumpy, folks like to try to prove you wrong...this was a great informational video! I think the maker would’ve had soft hands, using tallow and all lol.
Great info. Love that floating center back panel design. Would personally like to see the tapered legs, but as you said, some shaker craftsmen did utilize a lathe and turned some feet/legs. Nice piece.
4S, the legs are somewhat dowdy
Fascinating for a UK viewer.
You didn't mention what I take to be the light-coloured wear strips on the bottoms of the drawer sides; are they a Shaker feature?
Thats a nice piece of info James.I would like to see a video on English dovetails WHEN you get the chance James and maybe some FORGOTTEN joints from yesteryear. Thanks.
Watching from Yosemite Kentucky.
Whats all those flat things lined up on the top shelf over there?
Well done as always Sir .
Is poplar more or less stable than cherry if there is a difference could that be the reason?
Howdy Stumpy
Thanks for sharing this. I have been watching a lot of NYWS videos and am always curius about shaker philosophy. This is interesting and hands on.
Keep on trucking !
(from France)
Great information. I've recently purchased a very old dresser in that style, all hand cut as you point out. Oak and maybe poplar. Have you ever heard of the person who crafted a piece sign it? There is a very old loopy signature of some sort on the back of a drawer.
If you mean would a shaker, it would be very unlikely.
This is a great video, thank you for making it. I like all of your content, but I really enjoyed this one. I hope to see more videos like this in the future.
Stumpy, great video, lots of details and a great learning experience. I had one question about the drawer sides. I t appears on both sides the maker (or some one else) use a different type of wood on the bottom or slide edge of the drawers. was this a repair or part of the original?
+Daniel Webber That's covered in part two: ua-cam.com/video/SAIQooVQR9g/v-deo.html
Congratulations on a very good video. Your analysis was interesting and informative. Thanks
I thoroughly enjoyed this video, Mr Nubs.
Nice to hear historical facts!
How was the top attached?
Very interesting, Mr. Nubs. Will you be discussing the seemingly different wood on the runner portions of the drawers?
+Tommy Evans - Yes, that's in part two. It's an indicator of the age.
Very informative. Thank you Stumpy
Wow! Your know so much!
Very nice piece of furniture too. Lots learnt!
Very interesting, thank you for sharing your knowledge
So much information in this video. Thanks for the knowledge
Nice. Did somebody let in a pine coloured wood in the bottom of the drawer sides ?
Those are patched made many, many years after it was built to replace parts that had worn away from use.
@@StumpyNubs Thanks . Appreciate the prompt reply.
WOW, great information! Thanks Stumpy!
Wow,this is one of the most interesting woodworking videos I have seen,nice work!!
great video and interesting topic. Can't wait for the next episode!! wondering how he attached the top...
I'll give you a hint... wooden pegs.
+Stumpy Nubs (James Hamilton) interesting - I'd love to see that (not on this piece). Glad it wasn't "Shaker" pocket screws...
I was hoping to hear an explanation for the drawer sides having two types of wood at 5:00
They have been repaired. Over the generations the sides wore down from sliding in and out. Someone patched the worn away portions.
@@StumpyNubs Thanks, sorry if it was mentioned in the video and I missed it.
Stumpy, can you direct me to any good resources to learn more about Shaker furniture? Practical information I can use to start creating replica pieces that is.
This is a really good review with great research evident.
Always learn something new.
I have a project coming up and this will help alot. Thanks. Very informative video
Excellent lecture, Professor!
what's the type of finish on this piece?
Excellent piece. Thank you.
These two videos rank up with the best on woodworking..very informative!
Nice rundown
Why make such narrow pins on the dovetail? Seems like that would not only make it more succeptible to breakage or splitting, but also more difficult to cut.
Just a great video all around. Thank you
Thanks for sharing. I was wondering about some of that stuff. I recently picked up a solid wood dresser that is made of all rabbits. I'm guessing it's more than 60-80 years old, but is a mass produced piece. I'm just replacing all the drawer bottoms a deeming it as a shop cabinet...it's really not built as well as I would like. But, I would like to build one sometime.
Fascinating. Thank you good man.
"the best way to judge the skill of a craftsman is to look inside his drawers"😂
I enjoyed this video SN. In my opinion the one thing that needs to be addressed was whether or not the shakers also had larger drawers at the top. This piece has a large drawer at the top that overshadows the rest. The shakers were very proportional and used the golden ratio often. This piece doesn't really follow the law of progression found so often in their pieces, i.e. larger bottom drawers to smaller top drawers.
That is covered in part two- ua-cam.com/video/SAIQooVQR9g/v-deo.html
That would explain it. I didn't know there was a part 2. I will head on over and check it out. Lol
Very interesting analysis. Thank you for posting that.
Well done. One of my favorites.
Outstanding video !
Stumpy, perhaps you could paint in some background on the Shakers for us, about their mode of worship, their peculiar living arrangements and why they died out :)
+Michael Anderson
Shakers were celibate; procreation was forbidden after they joined the society (except for women who were already pregnant at admission). Children were added to their communities through indenture, adoption, or conversion. Occasionally a foundling was anonymously left on a Shaker doorstep. They welcomed all, often taking in orphans and the homeless.
(source: Wikipedia)
+Michael Anderson
Shakers were celibate; procreation was forbidden after they joined the society (except for women who were already pregnant at admission). Children were added to their communities through indenture, adoption, or conversion. Occasionally a foundling was anonymously left on a Shaker doorstep. They welcomed all, often taking in orphans and the homeless.
(source: Wikipedia)
+William Brown As a long term model for success it apparently had short legs. But while it lasted they designed and made some sweet furniture, didn't they?
Very true Michael.
What a great video! Thank you, thank you for this tutorial!
Wow，what a knowledge!
Very informative! Thanks for sharing!