Sometimes I am reminded why I do what I do. Particularly, I am reminded why I don’t finish the insides my drawer boxes. What reminds me of this technique that I feel so passionate about? It’s my handkerchief, don’t laugh.
My hankie is changed every day. Sometimes, the cloth measures 30 cm square. As the cloth is stored in an unfinished drawer, the pine scent soaks into it. Its pure unadulterated eastern white pine or Pinus strobus.
However, I must admit that this is not the reason why I don’t finish my drawers. It’s just a pleasant side effect of the process. Three factors are the real reason why I don’t add stain or finish to my drawer boxes.
First, I watch the PBS series Antiques Road Show. I like the Keno brothers and had the opportunity to meet Leigh Keno at the Philadelphia Antiques Show. Theres no kindred relationship. If I happened to be his highboy, he wouldn’t know me. But, I like their views on furniture and how it should look in order to be classified as an authentic antique.
Natural patination is a key feature that they highlight, especially on the case backs and drawer boxes. These areas can be a great indicator of the authenticity and condition of a period piece. This can often mean a significant difference in value, sometimes even thousands of dollars. I decided at that time I would not finish my drawers. I don’t want to make my customers suffer in the future. Yeah, right!
While the Keno message does enter into my thought process, there is another reason. In the early stages of my quest into building furniture I did finish the drawer boxes. I also felt I was doing a service by making the drawers out of a solid 3/10 cm-thick material (I actually used that as a sales pitch.) However, that never came back to haunt me as did the finished drawers.
It was a great show in Boston. We sold lots of furniture. In that mega-batch was a custom-built piece, a Shaker-style cupboard. Delivered to the customers home and set in place, the piece seemed perfect. My customer did not have air conditioning at the time, which I didn’t notice until October. In six months, my customer discovered that the contents of the drawers in the lower drawers were to remain there until winter. Oops! My drawer fit was a bit on the tight side.
Finally (I did say there were three reasons), I took two identical drawers and began the finishing process, keeping time with a stopwatch. Pretty sad, huh? It was worth the extra time it took to finish the drawer’s interior. I saved more than a half hour on one drawer alone. Well, I was in business to make money. Time was money. No more finishing of the drawer boxes for me.
I had more than enough information to convince me to leave the drawers plain. Not only that, I had a response when potential customers asked why (and they always did). The best part is that I have a pleasant scent in my handkerchief. Now, even the occasional head cold isnt so bad.
