His Cabinets Look Like Tractor Hoods
After retiring from a healthcare career, Joe Rolwing turned to woodworking and an idea that had been rattling around in his mind for years. “I learned how to drive tractor on a John Deere Model A back on our farm in southeast Missouri,” Rolwing says. “I decided I’d try to design a cabinet that looked like the grill on those iconic 1950’s Deere tractors.”
One day, Rolwing spotted a run-down John Deere B along a Tennessee highway and stopped to photograph the tractor and record the dimensions of the grill. He says the first cabinet took him 2 years to complete. It’s built to 65 percent scale and constructed of both hardwood and various thicknesses of plywood. The grill veins are glued onto the hardwood pieces.
The grill doors on the finished cabinet swing open, left and right, to reveal eight drawers on each side.
So far, Rolwing has built three Deere cabinets. The second was of a Model A, with seven grill veins rather than the B’s six. This cabinet also had drawers, while a third cabinet was built with compartments for six wine bottles. He says the Deere-design cabinets require too many hours of construction to sell at a realistic price, but he’s working on a set of plans for woodworkers who would like to construct their own cabinets.
Rolwing says curiosity has led him in many different directions in his woodshop. Years ago, he purchased 50 board feet of “wormy chestnut” that had been stored in a barn loft for 50 years. (Wormy chestnut is wood salvaged from trees killed by the American chestnut blight in the early 1900’s.) One of his chestnut projects was a mountain dulcimer, with the top and bottom shaped similar to a violin. “I had hoped that building the dulcimer would give me the incentive to learn to play it. Unfortunately, it didn’t,” he says with a smile.
He’s also made five models of the C-121 Super Constellation airplanes that he navigated while in the Navy. Three of the planes had 18-in. wingspans (dimensions copied from a plastic model), and two had 60-in. wingspans (following paper plans). “I’ve discovered that I get greater satisfaction working without plans on projects that many folks would consider more on the unusual side,” he says.
Some of Rolwing’s other projects have included a pie safe hiding his stereo equipment, a coopered barber pole, several hobby horses, a small cabin with a completed interior, a doll house modeled after his first home in Knoxville, Tenn., and a bench made from salvaged pine beams.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joe Rolwing (joerolwing@bellsouth.net).
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His Cabinets Look Like Tractor Hoods FARM HOME Furniture After retiring from a healthcare career Joe Rolwing turned to woodworking and an idea that had been rattling around in his mind for years “I learned how to drive tractor on a John Deere Model A back on our farm in southeast Missouri ” Rolwing says “I decided I’d try to design a cabinet that looked like the grill on those iconic 1950’s Deere tractors ” One day Rolwing spotted a run-down John Deere B along a Tennessee highway and stopped to photograph the tractor and record the dimensions of the grill He says the first cabinet took him 2 years to complete It’s built to 65 percent scale and constructed of both hardwood and various thicknesses of plywood The grill veins are glued onto the hardwood pieces The grill doors on the finished cabinet swing open left and right to reveal eight drawers on each side So far Rolwing has built three Deere cabinets The second was of a Model A with seven grill veins rather than the B’s six This cabinet also had drawers while a third cabinet was built with compartments for six wine bottles He says the Deere-design cabinets require too many hours of construction to sell at a realistic price but he’s working on a set of plans for woodworkers who would like to construct their own cabinets Rolwing says curiosity has led him in many different directions in his woodshop Years ago he purchased 50 board feet of “wormy chestnut” that had been stored in a barn loft for 50 years Wormy chestnut is wood salvaged from trees killed by the American chestnut blight in the early 1900’s One of his chestnut projects was a mountain dulcimer with the top and bottom shaped similar to a violin “I had hoped that building the dulcimer would give me the incentive to learn to play it Unfortunately it didn’t ” he says with a smile He’s also made five models of the C-121 Super Constellation airplanes that he navigated while in the Navy Three of the planes had 18-in wingspans dimensions copied from a plastic model and two had 60-in wingspans following paper plans “I’ve discovered that I get greater satisfaction working without plans on projects that many folks would consider more on the unusual side ” he says Some of Rolwing’s other projects have included a pie safe hiding his stereo equipment a coopered barber pole several hobby horses a small cabin with a completed interior a doll house modeled after his first home in Knoxville Tenn and a bench made from salvaged pine beams Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Joe Rolwing joerolwing@bellsouth net
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