This piece was for the wife, and it is all solid cherry the sides and panels were from a flitch that I bought whole. The stock was 5/4 finished to 7/8" except for the corners that were 8/4" I picked through a lot of wood to get the pieces used. Even the secondary wood on the inside was FAS cherry (overkill but this one was special) the drawers were made of maple. The top is floating with figure eights holding it down. This was the widest parts and the most prone to movement. The sides of the top are bookmatched and are put together and small enough individual pieces (5.5" each) that movement while allowed for are not a major concern. The wood for the most part is QS where movement would potentially be an issue. Slidding dovetails for the shelving(again to allow the outsides to move). I'd say where crossgrain attachment occurs be extra carefull. Something else, don't hurry the construction. When I would get my stock, I would rough finish the parts and let them sit! (for me at least a week) and finished both sides equally. Don't rush the rough stock to finished and then assemble. It will cause you pain (I know I did it before and learned from the mistake). This piece took a long time to complete as I only could work on it on week-ends due to the day job. I wrote a nice note on the bottom and sealed it in finish. No one even knows it there, and the discussions have already begun on who gets it when we go to our great reward. I'd love to see how the cherry darkens over the next 50 years or so but know thats not likely, but then I really don't want to be around 50 years from now, drooling and such. But it is nice to know it will be around for a while. I went through a ton of domino's!
