Rustic Mexican furniture

**JaredDrake** · 11-02-2005, 10:44 AM

I've tried finding plans for rustic mexican furniture on google but can't. Anybody know where I can find some? http://www.puebloviejo.net/RusticoLine.html
Something like that.

**Keystone** · 11-02-2005, 11:53 AM

Jared, try a goggle on Southwestern Furniture. I didn't find any plans, but I did have thousands of hits.

**Sawduster** · 11-02-2005, 12:37 PM

The stuff bearing that description that I've found in stores has been generally others styles that were not done well and without much in the way of finish.

**DougB** · 11-03-2005, 10:04 PM

I've got a whole house full of Mexican furniture. It is very solid, very heavy and not too finely finished. First thing we would do when we bought a new piece was to wipe it completely down using Minwax Natural stain to get most of whatever that junk is they put on it off. Then follow that with several coats of poly. It cleans up real nice.

I would not be surprised if there are no plans at all for the furniture...probably passed down from generation to generation without any plans at all.

It is obviously crafted mostly (if not completely) using hand tools. A lot of places you can still see the saw, chisel, and hammer marks.

I have to admit that a lot of my woodworking influence has come from the Mexican furniture we have purchased...you can see a lot of the joinery that is used (or at least figure out how it was done) just by inspecting it. I looked at that furniture and thought...Heck, I could do that! And eventually, I could.

They also seem to have a little different kind of pine that is used to make it - lots of red color in it, very beautiful, and dense wood. Wish I could find some like it.

In my minds eye, I can picture a poor Mexican family, using crude but treasured hand tools working in the small back room of their dirt floor adobe home, shared by the livestock as well as the carpenters and their little helpers running around barefoot fetching whatever is needed for the job at hand.

Probably an overly romantic and totally incorrect fantasy on my part, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

I love the Mexican furniture we have, and it's obvious flaws only remind me that something doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. That took a lot of pressure off me when I started trying to make my own - the little mistakes are just character that show it was made by hand.

**PETSUDEH** · 11-04-2005, 01:56 PM

Hey all,

Coming from New Mexico, I have studied alot of the mexican furniture. From what I can see, most of it made with Ponderosa Pine. Ponderosa tends to have a nice red tinge to it on some of the grain. As for plans, they dont exist, at least not to the public. The best thing you can do is study a piece you like and do your best to create some plans of your own. Good luck!