Woodworker: J. Albert Hudson

Hudson was so inspired by the double oxbow Salem secretary in Home Furniture #7 that he vowed to reproduce it. Twelve years later, at the age of 88, he did just that, making a few design modifications along the way. As a retired engineer, scaling the photograph and producing detailed plans was easy, but finding the right wood wasn’t. A friend came to the rescue, selling him a quantity of quartersawn bee’s wing mahogany. In addition, he used crotch mahogany, poplar, tiger maple, and crotch cherry. Set on using a French polish finish, but not wanting to try his inexperienced hand on this piece, Hudson applied aniline dye before turning over the secretary to professional finisher David Reeves to complete.

Photo: John Lucas

From Fine Woodworking #201