Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Tall Chest of Drawers - Drawers




Drawer Parts


Here are all the parts of the drawer before assembly. The red oak rails will attach to the front and back stiles.

Drawer Joints

Four brass, flat head screws will hold the red oak drawer slides to the drawer sides. Screws will hold the rail to the stiles. (See the photo below.)  The slide is inset in a groove so that the load in the drawer bears on the slide and not on the screws holding it in place.  In the event of wear on the slides and rails, they can be replaced easily. I could have used manufactured self closing drawer slides instead of the wood ones, but my client, my wife, wanted wood ones. There will be a self centering bracket on the drawer bottom to assure that the drawer is centered between the stiles in the closed position. I'll show that detail later. Please be aware that there are several variations on drawer construction.  Any design must have a way to keep the drawer centered and level.  Cheap commercial construction short-cuts this feature.  If you want to see a good example in the flesh, visit a Stickley showroom.


Rail Detail Showing Adjustment Hole
The rails on which the drawers slide must be adjustable up and down.  This insures that the drawer front and drawer are centered in their space between the stretchers. and the narrow space between drawer fronts is uniform. (Remember, each drawer front in my design closes against the stretcher, which I have carefully placed.)  I do this by drilling a 1/2" (1.3 cm) diameter hole with a brad point drill, deep enough so that the adjusting screw head will not interfer with the drawer slide. Then I drill three 3/16" (.46 cm) holes side by side. With a file or Dremel tool, I smooth the three holes into a slot, which will allow for adjustment up and down.
Posted by Chuck at 22:25:18 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Anagama Kiln Opening

Yesterday, April 19, Cathy and I made the hour drive up to the anagama kiln opening north of Madrid, New Mexico. It was our fifth or sixth kiln opening. The kiln is located down a steep, rocky drive in a small canyon about a mile north of Madrid off New Mexico 14. We were excited. Often University of New Mexico ceramic students have a lot of pottery in the kiln, but this time six experienced potters were firing work, potters whose work we'd purchased in the past.  Everyone was disappointed. Some shelves bearing pottery collapsed during the firing, and parts of the kiln reached temperatures that melted some of the pottery. Over half the kiln contents were ruined. But we still managed to find some items to buy.


Anagama Kiln, Madrid, New Mexico




Kiln Entrance




Chamber through the Kiln Entrance




Looking Left toward the Firebox.
Most of these pots are fused together.  That did not keep an eager collector from buying the fused piece for $300.  That covered the kiln furniture.  The ceramics were free.


Looking Right up the Flue




Potters Ben McCracken (l) and Jesse Scott (r)




Potter Joe Kroenung




Two Hole Facilities near the Kiln






Posted by Chuck at 22:10:10 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Drawing with Edna





Untitled Drawing (Flower Portfolio), 29" x 23" (74cm x 58cm),
black Pastel and charcoal pencil on Strathmore 2 ply rag Bristol



Untitled Drawing (Flower Portfolio), 29" x 23" (74cm x 58cm),
black Pastel and charcoal pencil on Strathmore 2 ply rag Bristol
These drawings are from a session Edna Casman and I had almost two weeks ago. Last week's session produced several interesting ideas, but nothing we'd put our names to.

Posted by Chuck at 20:30:33 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |
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