1999 - 2003 - Early Efforts with Solid Wood

I started on these two dressers shortly after we moved to Anchorage. I wanted to work with local material, so I bought several rough-milled boards of Alaska Spruce. That turnned out to be a mistake as unfortunately they were not kiln dried, and even after months acclimating in my shop, the boards warped horribly once they were assembled into the furniture. Live and learn, I suppose... So the warped wood coupled with the fact that my joinery skills were at this point fairly primitive led to furniture that was a long shot shy of any display of mastery. But, almost 10 years later they still work, they still look pretty good (if you don't look too closely), and taught me alot that I was able to apply on my later endeavors.

A year later I built two of these bedside tables to go in the same room. This time I used kiln-dried pine boards and lo and behold, no warping! My joinery was vastly improved - though still pretty rough. If I had it to do over again the tables would have been an inch or two taller, but aside from that I am happy with how they turned out - even all these many years and projects later. Note the cherry legs on both this piece and the dressers above: They have a peculiar torpedo profile that I saw in a store and liked - so I tried my hand at it. On every project I consciously try to include something I have never done before in an effort to expand my skills.