Closets in blue/white laminate

With new door pulls

These are the closets that continue the colour theme in the kids room. The finish for the robe boxes and drawer boxes is a polished white marker board laminate by formica. This has a very tough surface and is easily wiped clean. The doors are atlantis blue laminate by wilson art, again very tough and hard to mark.

In between the two robes is the splash of colour in the form of cantilevered shelves. The finish on the shelves is a high gloss automotive paint in chartreuse. I had these sprayed at a auto finishers shop to achieve the same high quality finish you'd see on a new car.
The drawers are all dovetailed solid birch and run on Blumotion runners with limed ebonized oak drawer fonts. The door and drawer pulls haven't been chosen yet.

pete@pdwoodworking.com

Closets in wenge laminate with canary yellow drawers

These closets were made for a client in Aspen, Co. I can't really take credit for the design, (I copied the general design from a magazine photo) although I did tweek the original a little and use a different laminate finish. The carcass', drawer cabinets and doors are all premium MDF (medium density fiberboard) and the drawer boxes are dovetailed solid birch. With a laminate finish you really can't beat MDF as a carcass material. As it has no grain, it won't twist warp or move around which is imperative when laminating. It also guarantee's a dead flat surface which is essential for clean lines.

I used real wood Wenge laminate for the robe to contrast with canary yellow plastic laminate for the drawer stack. This has created an offset of a contemporary grained, although classical wood warmth with a retro 50's wipe clean formica.

pete@pdwoodworking.com

Four drawer roasted red oak chest, finished

Here is the chest installed. To get the black colour for the drawer fronts I ebonized the oak. Ebonizing is a technique used by finishers over the last couple of centuries to make wood black like ebony. Traditionally, a solution of white vinegar and iron oxide was applied to the oak turning the oak black. This is due to a chemical reaction between the vinegar/rust solution and tannins in the wood. Not all woods can be ebonized, only woods with high a tannin content. This method is a bit hit and miss with varying consistency in colour.
I used a black floor oil rubbed into the roasted red oak. This achieved a deep, jet black finish with a nice lustre. I tried this finish on natural red oak and got no where near the same colouring. Roasting the oak is the trick.

The prints, furnishings and wardrobes in this room were key elements to why I added colour to the unit. The effect you see on the drawer fronts is called 'liming'. This is another old technique I've borrowed from the past, but with a modern twist. Traditionally, liming involves opening up the porous grain of oak with a brass wire brush. Then you seal the surface with a spirit varnish, noticing that the spirit varnish doesn't fill the opened grain. When dry, a liming paste (usually a beeswax/alabaster mix) is rubbed onto the surface and then ragged off leaving the paste trapped in the open grain and creating a ghostly hue.
I wanted a similar effect but with vivid, pop out colours on a black background. I discovered that the black oil I used for the ebonizing didn't penetrate the opened grain, perfect for liming. I buffed the oil until highly polished and hard, then added the liming paste which I had coloured with tints. (drawer pulls not chosen yet)
I would like to continue this look as a line of kids furniture. Maybe add some bed side units, bunk beds and accents. Of course the photos do not do justice to the colours, they are much brighter in life.
pete@pdwoodworking.com

This piece is a four drawer chest in roasted red oak.
This technique involves kiln firing premium red oak. The oak is stacked on sleepers as you would to kiln dry, but the heat is cranked up and the wood is left to cook for a few days. The stack is arranged to allow for consistent and equal roasting so the colour remains constant. If you roast the wood too long it will burn and char, just like badly roasted beef. Once the oak has charred it has lost its character and is unusable.

I made the carcass of 4/4 (1") material to add a bit of strength as the unit is 50" wide. This thickness and the polished marker board back make this a pretty solid piece. All the carcass joins are hand cut through dovetails (haven't done those in a while-you can probably tell!) I have since acquired a very nice dovetail jig (thanks bro) made by Akeda. This will allow me to set and cut the 40 tails and pins in about an hour, not the three days it took by hand! These shots were taken in my shop and are pre finish.

I like the chocolate colour achieved by roasting and will definitely use this technique again even though it is expensive (thanks Shalom @ Reclaim!, Aspen, Co) But the reason I did use the roasted red oak was quite experimental. For the finished article I wanted an ebonized oak finish. Ebonizing is an old school finish where you turn the wood black, like ebony...

pete@pdwoodworking.com