My two closest friends have just moved from Cape Town to Amersterdam. I am in the process of designing and building them two chests. These are a labour of love, not a commercial project so I will use the best woods I can find and labour over the smallest details. I want to make them in solid wood.
My biggest concern is how the climatic differences are going to effect the pieces when they arrive. I would love some of your help to make this project survive the distance.
Ps. I have just ordered James Krenov’s “A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook” from amazon.com. I have a picture of what I want to build in my mind – it’s a little different to Krenov’s work but I like his ideas about wood.
Replies
If the design of the chests properly allows for wood movement, the fact that the chests are being shipped overseas won't make any difference.
You probably have just as much seasonal variations at home because of seasonal changes in humidity, or because of where the furniture is located in a house, as the furniture will be exposed to by going to Amsterdam.
Virtually all cracking and warpage problems in furniture are due to a poor design that doesn't allow for wood movement. A correctly designed piece will hold up well in any climate, from bone dry desert to tropically humid.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine.
Hi John ,
Many years ago during my apprenticeship , a client of ours had a container of historical antiques and many beautiful pieces shipped from Austria . Most had marquetry works beyond belief . We were hired to do minor repair and restoration work . These pieces started to crack , I guess dry out because of the different climate and RH factors present . The pieces had to have humidifiers and such in each room they were in to help minimize damage and to keep them stable.
If you were to see these fine pieces I think you would agree the design element was not at fault . Perhaps it was the sheer age of the pieces , then a trip across the seas did not help much . I have seen pieces now and then that after years in the same place got moved to a different room or location , only to show signs of movement and such . So your statement may be a bit of a blanket statement , in reality there can be variables imho .
regards dusty
Dusty,
The marquetry pieces were not designed to handle a change in the humidity, which, in my way of thinking, is poor design. A lot of historically important furniture suffers from such problems, especially the ornate pieces, and this keeps museum conservators fully employed.
To be fair to the original craftsmen, it may have been difficult or impossible to create a stable substrate for the marquetry using the materials available at the time and it may not have mattered nearly as much in the relatively stable environment present in a marginally heated Austrian home of two centuries ago.
It should be expected that if a piece is moved to a new location it will gain or lose moisture and the wood will move, no matter how old the piece is or how long it was stable in it's former location.
The wood in a piece of furniture is never stable and a furniture maker must take this into account, especially today in a mobile society where furniture can be exposed to extremes, such as shipping containers, that cabinetmakers of the past never had to contend with.
John W.
Thanks for your advice, I will take it to heart. I think good design, careful construction and lots of love will keep it together.
Neither CapeTown nor Amsterdam have extreme conditions, and I wouldn't be concerned in this case about the pieces suffering from the change, if you use accepted practices in solid wood construction.
Pack them really well. If they are fitted into crates, take into account that the crate may get turned on its side. You wouldn't believe how badly stuff gets knocked around in transport. Insure the shipment. If possible, ask the shipping company not to put them in a container that is above deck (it can get very very hot inside a container that is in the sun).
DR
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