Projects of Sid Letchford

Sid Letchford, shag@free2air.com.au of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia has sent in some of his latest projects. He describes them below.

"The unit I made from scratch a few years ago. I bought (at an auction) a few slabs of Rose Mahogany. I have stored it , wondering, what I will use it for. As I am renovating my bath room, I decided to use it.

The style is my interpretation of the antique wash stands that were in use when a jug and bowl were in use.

The units top is one piece - the splash back and top are joined but have been rebatted to accomadate an insert coved piece to advoid a sharp corner. The unit has two drawers each side with a false drawer in the centre.

The cupboard under the unit hides the plumbing and provides storage. The vanity bowl is an import from France, and the mixer fawcet is made in New Zealand, znd each a good quality product."   

"This captain's bed which I made for my grandson Caleb, is the first part of the set I will be making for my son's family. The design is my own and the bed has two drawers on each side, which slide into boxes to eliminate dust contamination. The dust boxes were made from Tasmanian myrtle. They have hand cut dove tails with a top and bottom framed section doweled with 1/4 ply fitted into a dadoe. The top and bottoms were then screwed to the three sided middle section to form the dust boxes. The sides are mortised and tennoned together, then pinned from the inside. The drawer's sides are Hoop Pine with a ply bottom, again hand cut dovetails. The bed ends are mortise and tennoned jointed and pinned with Ebony dowels. In the centre panels I carved a rosette. All of the slats are lose dovetailed into the bearers to keep them in position.

My preferred finish with New Guinea rose wood is Danish oil. I  gave the bed three coats, rubbing down between coats with wet and dry paper."

"I made this Chaise lounge, for a friend, as a present for his wife. The lounge is made from recycled Silky oak and packing from the USA. [believed to be spruce] To economize I faced the spruce with 1/4 inch silky oak from a large window frame I had given to me. I then made a moulding to go around the bottom of the frame, from 3/4 x 3/4 strips I had left over from a previous project. The legs I turned with 1 inch diametre spigots to lock into  the base cross members. They make for a sturdy foundation constructed this way.

I turned a few ladies waist type spindles with 1/2 spigots on each end to make the back rail doweling this into the arm rest support post. On the head rest section, I have carved a chip style carving using a small viener gouge to make the incision. They never come out well in photographs - too much sun light. To match the variation of colours in the lumber, I mixed a small batch of stains to get conformity of colour.

Orange shellac was used to finish the piece; 2 coats,,, rubbing down with 0000 steel wool then waxing with Liberon dark oak wax to give it that old feel one finds with antiques."

"Here's a few items I have made for family and friends over a period of time. My first attempt is a crockery cabinet made from Black Wattle finished with Tung oil. The timber is not used normally for furniture. It's very hard to work."

"The second pieces were Xmas presents for my three children. The plan came from the Fine Woodworker books on classic furniture. Bachelor bedside cabinets,,, four in Australian Walnut & two from Black Wattle. Drawer sides are Tasmanian Myrtle, drawer bottoms are from Hoop Pine, backs are from one piece of Hoop Pine. The project was finished with six coats of Tung Oil rubbed down between coats with wet and dry emery paper."

"My third item was for my neighbour. It's a vanity unit of federation style from Brown Quondong. The left raw tiles will be replaced later with hand painted ones painted by her children."

"Four is a blanket box made for an old friend for his daughter in recognition for her scholastic achievements this term .The timber is Camphor Laurel. I designed it to leave natural edges around the outside .The sides are joined with a sliding dovetail 2mill smaller at the top than the bottom. I made a couple of simple jigs to make the joints and set them up so as to make them tighten up for the last 20mls when fitting together. For the top I found a plank with a natural bulge at one end - I used this to form the handle. This was polished with matte sterol tung oil combo. The hinges are brass parliament hinges that I purchased at the local flea market. The Lass was so pleased with the box, it's now her pride and joy in her bedroom."

"I made this a chest of drawers for my son's girl friend. The wood is Tasmanian black wood which I brought back with me when my wife and I were there on holidays. When my son asked me to make one for Mallisa, this was just the best use that it could be used for. This wood is one of the top three timbers for furniture in Australia. The drawers are made from Hoop pine - the sides back and bottoms. It's finished with two coats of shellac then waxed with Liberon wax. Brass handles were used to blend into the appearance."

"This coffee table was made for for my son - it was this year's xmas present. It's made from New Guinea rose wood.".

"This is a mobile wood carving bench, to enable the user to wheel it into the house with his carving tools safely put away in the drawers .The drawers were designed to travel in both directions when in use."

"A good friend's daughter, who manufactures tiaras at home, wanted something with a difference: primarily a work area with access to the items needed for her work hence the dismountable shelves at the back where she attaches  glass jar tops. Screwing in the glass jar, with the goodies in them, allows her to find the items she requires for her work. The small box attached to the end is for acid used in the manufacturing process and is also removable . It also serves as a tea table when she has people visiting. The wood use is Hoop pine and uses mortise and tenon joinery. The drawers are hand dovetailed with solid bottoms beveled to fit into the trenched sides and front."

"Here are two bedside cabinets from reclaimed timber called silky oak. I made them to look old, as requested. The lady who received them went away pleased." 

"This is a coffee table I made for my son and family, the species of timber is New Guinea Rose wood, medium hard to work, the grain is on the wide side, so it has taken some time scraping with a steel scraper to get a get a perfect finish. I completed all the mortises prior on the legs prior, tuning them in the lathe. The Lumber for  top was a little on narrow side so I made it up to size by adding an edging strip around the outside, the same spices but a different color , the main portion is reddish with a birds eye grain , the edging a golden  tone , the result was very pleasing. The finish is 4 coats of Tung oil,rubbed down between coats with 1200 grit wet and dry paper. My sons child being adventurous, I put drop in handles on the drawers has a deterrent."

"The drop side table I made for one of my wife's friends. Having limited space she needed a table that will condense to a suitable size when she is normally at home, but have the capabilities of seating 8 when she has guests for dinner. Usually drop side tables are round. She wanted an oblong shape, so this is my interpretation of her request.

The dimensions are 750 mm x 1800, and it is made from White Cedar with all joints being hand made mortise and tennon, and pinned. The hinged joints were made with two routerer cutters,,, convex and oncave. Luckily I happened to have a matching set to make this joint. Special hinges are reset under to carry the wing sides. A polyurathene finish was applied by the wiping method, 4 coats each rubbed down with wet and dry paper, and then waxed with Liberon wax."

"This is a small writing table. Recently at our local Sunday markets, I happened to find an old turned leg, damaged, but with a beautiful design to copy from. Many years ago I happened to buy at a garage sale a small table top of cedar that was salvaged from a railway station prior to its demolition. This small writing table is the result of marrying the pieces together. Australian Cedar is regarded here as the premier furniture lumber, expensive and now more difficult to get a piece with a good color. All of the material used in this piece is reclaimed lumber. I finished the table with 4 coats shellac and then waxed it with Liberon base bees wax."

"The frame of Mallisa's glory box is from rose mahogany, the raised panels from camphor laurel. The front has a painting effect in the grain. I  have two shelves in side. There are 24 hand cut mortises in the frame. The corners are mitered and then biscuit jointed. The skirting is 1 1/4 thick, then rebatted to give the impression of a smaller size skirting to keep balance and give added strength to support the whole.  Recessed into the feet are nylon pads cut on a right angle 3/4 proud of the feet so it rides on these so avoid damage to the box feet if moved.  It has 6 coats of Danish oil, wiped down within ten minutes of application. Not having used this material on furniture before, I was a little hesitant, but now I know how it works so now I'll be using it more often on future pieces."

"These two pieces are night stands, again my own design , made from. reclaimed silky oak. I wanted some thing that hasn't a factory made look so I used mortise joints and the old fashion fine cut dove tails. The size on all my things I get from Furniture Designs, Inc. catalog which is so very helpful to have the overall  measurements.  I turned the handles as the brass ones I had intended to use never looked right. I used raised panels again cut on my saw bench . I recently bought at our local flea market, a top German 72 carbide tip saw blade for $70 great for making this type of cut - so smooth and very little sanding is required afterwards. The finish is 4 coats of Danish oil, then Liberon waxed with 0000 steel wool, then buffed to get the look I was after. I gave these to my mechanic as a swop for work done on my transport. I have 3 more things to make for him and we will be square then."

"The telephone table is my own design. It is made from pacific maple, again mortised, and finished with Danish oil. I tried to make it look a fine and elegant piece. I hope they will like it."

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