i got a buffet and china cabinet passed down to me from my grandparents when they had to move closer to medical care. it was obvious when we got it, that it had been painted and varnished over several times. my wife and i began the task of totally stripping the two pieces to see what we had to work with underneath all the years of cover-up and damage. what we found was extremely interesting.
on both pieces, the sides and tops were made of oak.. nothing surprising there. we had taken all the doors and drawers off the pieces, so we hadnt even started on those yet. we cleaned up the main bodies, and then started on the doors and drawers. my wife was the first to realize, as we were stripping and sanding away, that the door she was working on was birdseye maple. i didnt believe her at first, but as she continued to clean, it was obvious it was birds eye. as was mine.. we quickly started grabbing each door/drawer one at a time and cleaned a small part to ensure it all matched, and it did. we have no idea why these pieces were made with oak bodies, and birdseye maple doors/drawers?? we are fairly positive they are original, and even if they wernt, who would use birds eye maple as replacaments?? i found out from my granny, that they bought the furniture set used in 1941. she said it was already painted when they got it, and that my papaw had put one coat of brown paint and a varnish on it in the 60's. that seems like a stupid thing to do these days, but apparently it was very common back then. anyway, i have nothing else to go on, and i just think its a neat story.
BTW- the doors/drawers look spectacular. we have sanded off all the paint, and just put a light urethane coat. in the sunlight, the birds eye almost looks like it has gold flakes in it.. and although the contrast against the oak is kinda odd, the overall look is very impressive.
just thought i would share.
bigjohn
