As a fellow wood worker, I will say that finishing the piece is half the work. Very good job in finishing this piece I must say!!!. There is a shop that always 'get's my goat' in Austin that's called "Furniture in the raw". What they do, is cut wood (usually pine), have the raw wood stapled together in their showroom, collecting humidity, etc., so people go in there thinking it's a really good deal. However, just walking around the shop you find edges so rough it's completely absurd (chickens have less feathers on them than these edges). All the drawers and cabinet doors don't close properly because the humidity has already gotten to them. Plus, your given finishing nails holding pieces together with no glue.
A long while back, one of my most favorite pieces... I spend about $500 on maple, 2S if I can remember correctly (not birds eye, but still very pretty) on a simple 3 shelf case, it took me twice as long to finish the piece than it did to build it. Popping the grain, sealing, dying, and clear coating, etc., it took ages. It turned out absolutely beautiful. I wish I had photo's. In essence, it takes a passion to build with wood.... if they don't have a passion, don't buy from them. But, if you do, your furniture will be a heirloom and last for many generations. I'm sitting at my desk as I type this now... the desk is cherry veneer with a thin lacquer finish. The veneer is already splitting from the commonly used areas. UGH~!!!
