When I received the kit of parts for the Edwardian Dressing Table before examining the parts and plans, I read through the list of furniture available as kits. I was truly astonished at the variety and vast range - like being handed the key to a sweet shop. However, to get to work.
The parts come in polythene envelopes which make it easy to check against the parts list without undoing the packs.
Next I examined the top panel and the legs and cross stretchers, the wood so beautifully smooth and the detailed turning of the legs and stretchers really first class. This kind of standard will give anyone confidence that they will end up with a very fine piece of furniture indeed.
The assembly plans are in easy steps, with ample drawings for each stage of the assembly. The names for some parts were a little strange to someone who has made furniture all his life, however, it is all written in plain simple everyday language that anyone can understand.
I decided to forget my workshop and assemble it, as a true beginner, on the kitchen table, using an old tea tray to contain the parts and act as my worktop. The only tools I used were a small steel square, a pair of tweezers, a 3 ins square of fine emery paper glued to a flat board, a pen knife, a fine syringe glue applicator and a few cotton buds.
Following the plans and only opening the pack that I was working on, it all proceeded quite smoothly The fast drying wood glue I used cut down the waiting time for glue to set. Any surplus glue I cleaned off with a moistened cotton bud.
I found the mirror assembly a little tricky and know it could be made more simple. In conclusion, drawers fitted with just the tiniest adjustment. All assembly went together without any modifications and the standard of machining on the parts was really first class.
This type of furniture was usually made in American Whitewood veneered with satinwood with birchwood for the solid parts such as legs, and polished to a rich golden honey colour, so a clear varnish would be perfect on this little dressing table.
Really a first class kit. My wife fell in love with it and feels the picture on the packet does not do it justice.
Charles Parker
Available from A & G Sledge (Miniatures),
100 Watton Road, Ware,
Hertfordshire SG12 0AY Tel: 01920 466443
Dolls House World, Issue 43, April 1996, p67.
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Updated 26th April 2003