Yaakov’s “Chai-Boy”

From: Yaakov Bar Am

Website: FurnitureByYaakov.com

Location: Baltimore, MD

Amateur or Pro: Pro

Finish Used: This was one of those projects that needed to be finished before it was assembled. Each piece received a coat of boiled linseed oil, then a shellac top coat. I used a thin cut shellac then worked through the grits all the up to rotten stone. And the project was topped off with briwax.

Wood Species: Birdseye Maple, Walnut, Ebony

Project Description:
L?Chaim! To Life! As you may or may not know, ?Chai? means life in Hebrew. And upon seeing that word one day, it created a spark of an idea which was brought to life with this project; ?The Chai-Boy.? The Chai-Boy is a truly Judaic project, from the way it is shaped, to the deeper meaning in the dimensions. The two Hebrew letters that make up the word ?Chai? are Ches (the big letter) and Yud. In gematria (the numerical value of Hebrew letters), the Ches is equivalent to 8 and the Yud is equivalent to 10. So Ches and Yud together equals 18. If you add 18 plus 18 you get double ?life? or double happiness.

The Chai-Boy not only looks like ?Chai?, but it is 18? wide and 36? tall. It has seven drawers for the seven days of the week that G_d created, and it is eight inches deep, which symbolizes the 8th day of life when a boy receives his circumcision and receives his Hebrew name. The piece itself has a walnut top and legs. The sides and the drawer fronts are made of birdseye maple with ebony drawer pulls. The drawers themselves are made of poplar and have been flocked a lovely shade of blue. The ?Yud? is attached to the main body of the piece via rare earth magnets. The ?Yud? itself is what is known as a bandsaw box, and the drawer has been flocked to match the other drawers.