Projects Created by Nick Van
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3-Drawer Writing Desk

Wood: English Brown Oak and Walnut

Finish: Shellac sealer and Min-Wax Wipe-on Polyurethane, finished with Mother's Glaze wax compound.

Comments:
The desk is made from English Brown Oak and Walnut substrates, all purchased from the Al Stratton cache. Bob Doop was a treasure in helping me with the veneered table top and Gary Holloman was a prince in allowing me access to his large slab sander to get the tabletop level. The design came from a short article in Fine Woodworking Magazine (April 2005, Master Class, Page 104) that I scaled from the picture. The desk was a joy to build, stretching my abilities in a number of areas, and providing ample opportunity to screw up. The finish consists of shellac as a wood sealer and Min-Max wipe on poly, finished off with Mothers Glaze wax compound.

Dark Oak Cradle

Wood: English Brown Oak

Finish: Min-Wax Satin Wipe-on Polyurethane

Comments:
I built this cradle for my great grandchild to be (in August). The wood is English Brown Oak acquired from Al Stratton and finished with both water soluble aniline and oil based pigmented stains and Min-Wax Satin Wipe-on Polyurethane with a fixing wash coat of shellac, topped off with carnuba wax. The pendulum is accomplished using standard machine bearings and a tee-nut and machine screw assembly. The plans were acquired from the internet website for "Becky's Cradle." There are a number of changes from the plans, not due to the inadequacy of the plans, but because if you botch something up, you don't call it an error, you change the plans.

Oak Desk

Wood: English Brown Oak & Western Maple

Finish: Min-Wax Semi-Gloss

Comments:
Here is a desk I have just completed. It's made from English Brown Oak purchased from the stash at Al Stratton's establishment. The secondary wood is Western Broadleaf Maple purchased from our member Steve Intveld and the finish is Min-Wax semi gloss. I had a ball completing it, and I'm definitely happy it's done.

Hope Chests

Wood: Peruvian Walnut

Finish: Shellac; Daly's Ben Matt

Comments:
A few months ago, the late Ron Grant offered to sell some "Argentine Walnut" to me. This project came immediately to mind as I had wanted to build something for my three granddaughters for many years. The Walnut turned out to be Peruvian Walnut, but what's 3,500 miles amongst friends. In addition, club member Bob Doop had previously introduced me to the finer points of veneering and, since I already had a sheet of teak plywood and some bird's eye maple veneer, and Bob had a quantity of cherry veneer, the project was hatched.

The construction is very simple, with ploughed joints using club member Ed Pysher's dado set. The only unique feature is the construction of the legs, which were fashioned by gluing two 3/4" pieces together and then gluing a 1/8" veneer across one glue joint. The resulting legs show no seams since one long seam is masked by the joinery and the other is covered by the narrow veneer.

The interior is lined with aromatic cedar (My shop smells great!) and the interior sliding shelf is walnut and aromatic cedar. Before glueup, the veneers were finished with shellac (many coats) and sanded between each coat (after the third or fourth coats). After glueup, the walnut framework was finished with Daly's Ben Matt, a polymerized tung oil.

Many thanks to our club members who were instrumental in making this project a success. At Christmas time, I'm hoping my granddaughter agree.

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Wall Unit

Wood: Acer Steverino Intveldius,
Argentinean Black Walnut &
Birdseye Maple Veneer

Finish: Profin & Shellac

Comments:
The project began as a pile of slabs cut by Steve Intveld from a single western broadleaf maple tree. After about one year of air drying, Steve and I face jointed and skip planned the boards, after which they were allowed to dry for another few months. The project is a simple construction, but the rough wood revealed an abundance of fiddleback and quilted figure that I tried to incorporate into visible surfaces. The lessons I learned about the giving and sharing nature of the members of our woodworker’s guild will be remembered for many years. Larry Tomovick shared his talents and his shop to assist in finished thicknessing and Rick Anderson also shared his woodworking experience and his wide belt sander. Julian Lee was kind enough to part with some of his share of the same tree when I was running low on material. And Bob Doop, bless him, shared his talents, his teaching prowess and his shop when veneering the doors. I’m indebted to each of you. And, most important, my wife, Allegra, is delighted with the result.

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Library Wall & Side Table

Wood: Birch ply carcasses, upper structure and filigree are yellow tulip (poplar), drawer fronts are black walnut.  Side table is black walnut.

Finish: Sprayed lacquer

Comments: Upper structure is joined to countertop with loose dowels. Countertop is solid poplar (surprise!). Hardware is Euro-style 35mm.
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