KevinLBS

"Period", huh?

How about an earlier period -something really old and unique, like 17th century stuff? Not Louis XIV, but earlier pieces, before they start getting incredibly elaborate. Maybe something Spanish? Gothic? Renaissance? You could do the whole package with an accompanying article on reproducing centuries-old finishes & patina, and then add a Master Class about carving some of the old details and moldings found on the piece(s) you do.

The carving part seems like it's in high demand, and I definitely agree that I'd like to see more on that as well!

Personally I could do without yet another article of a highboy, lowboy, secretary, or for that matter anything with a shell carving on it.

It's time for you guys to try something a little different!

This guy needs to win the prize...

I just went to this exhibition this weekend, and I wanted to add what I came away with. It was a pretty eye-opening day...

Although I knew which pieces had won prizes before I went, it would have been pretty easy to see which ones were prize-worthy. The vast majority of these pieces of furniture had gone about 90% of the way, but then fell short in some painfully obvious way.

- The biggest problem was when it came to finishing. Some really excellent furniture had what was obviously the standard can of semi-gloss polyurethane, carefully applied but then left alone, leaving the thick plastic look that was even worse on open-pored woods like mahogany. Or a dining table said to be finished with Waterlox had big patches where the finish looked dulled or damaged.

-I saw lots of tables where there were gaps at the mortise & tenon joint at the leg & apron.

-I saw more than one case where (what should have been) a floating panel had a huge split down the middle of it, perhaps siezed during contraction from the drying winter weather?

-A long flat curved arm of a beatiful rocking chair still had the telltale bumps and ridges from when it was cut on a bandsaw but subsequently not quite smoothed enough - I would have guessed it was only done with a sander...

Part of exhibiting furniture at the show meant that each piece was for sale and had to have a price on it. Of the 60+ pieces that had been sitting there for sale for the last month, only 3 had been sold.

Maybe I'll submit a piece for this show someday. I'll admit I'm still not good enough. But when I do, I'll make sure I get all my details right.