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Bread Boxes Reproduction Furniture Cabinetry Accessories Fireplaces General Finish Work Customer Comments and Feedback Links  Susan & Jim Ginter 2495 County Road G Nekoosa, WI 54457 (715)887-4282 coldcreek@charter.net | 
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 This is an authentically reproduced pie safe, with slight variations, in vertical grain Red Oak. Original pieces in White Oak were made along the middle Atlantic shipbuilding ports, most notably the Chesapeake Bay area, between 1780 --1810. While not as easy to work as Cherry, Maple, or Poplar, White Oak lumber was inventoried in abundance at shipbuilding ports due to the necessity to utilize huge White Oak trunks, including upturned parts of the stump, as main beams for American warships. These oversized beams made the ships into floating battering rams.The Oak lumber, still used years later to produce furniture, was a by- product of the logging and milling effort to produce these beams.
The design of this pie safe originated in areas of Pennsylvania settled by Germans. Painted pieces from there were made in Poplar, oil finished pieces were usually made in Cherry. 
We hand punched the copper panels using a design from Gaelic paganism. While originally implemented to ward off evil and bad luck during the dark ages, this design remained popular for decoration after the onset of Christianity and settlement in the New World, even though the original intent had lost meaning by this time. What the heck, to this day, it doesn't hurt to try and attract some good luck, does it?
 We used our aged copper panels in lieu of tin, a far more common metal at that time. It is unlikely that copper sheet goods were commonly available here as early as 1810. Original pie safes had the ragged punches to the outside, which offered more restriction for insects. We placed the ragged punch to the inside, offering more of a pleasing exterior look.
The joinery is pegged mortise and tenon, common construction of the period. There are 64 mortise and tenon joints in this piece. The Oak is stained to match the color of burnt umber, a common stain medium of the period. It is 3-coat spray finished with a durable easy to clean flat lacquer, which offers the look of the the original hand rubbed oil finish. Plantation Desk 
Once education was encouraged in earnest around the beginning of the 18th century, Country people had a need for efficient work spaces to read, write and store stationary and books. One could say that the Plantation Desk was the original country "home office". A simple box or cupboard would no longer do once schooling started and this was the first style of desk in rural America. The desk was especially popular around the agricultural areas of Kentucky and Georgia, hence the title "Plantation Desk".
This is an authentically reproduced Plantation Desk in Pine. It is a 2 piece unit with the upper cabinet nested into base moulding attached to the desk. Some originals had the raised panel doors to the inside, exposing the flat panel. We do not know why this is. Some Country woodworkers may have thought the flat panel had a better appearance. We prefered it raised to the outside. The purpose of the raised panel is to provide thin edges to insert into the door frame, and is not glued or fastened to the door frame, but allowed to ' float' within the frame as it expands and contracts from natural movement. For this reason the panel was painted prior to insertion in the door frame. Joint construction is all pegged mortise and tenon. Dimension are 68" high, 38" wide and 32"deep. From time to time you may wish to drag your children away from their computer screens, sit them at this desk and remind them of how easy they have it today. | |
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