LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Making a frame for a pair of ca.1900 J.B. OWENS scarab tiles

13K views 42 replies 18 participants last post by  LeeJ 
#1 ·
The scarab tiles








...
OWEN's scarab tile's are highly collectible, somewhat rare and valuable.
...
J.B. OWENS tile of Zanesville Ohio.
...
The Encyclopedia of AMERICAN ART TILES says J.B.OWENS started his company in 1885 and closed it in 1929.
...
a link to a little history about Owen's pottery
http://www.justartpottery.com/collectors_pottery/owens_pottery_history.htm
..







 
See less See more
6
#2 ·
Very interesting Dan. I think my wife would get a little creepy about hanging bugs on my wall though. Were all of his tiles ov a similiar design?
 
#3 ·
curly quartersawn white oak veneer made on table saw

not much of a story on making the veneer. I set my fence at .1875 and cut four thick veneers from a 1 inch thick board using a thin kerf blade, raising the blade a 1/2 inch or so at a time until it was at maximum height. After doing the side cuts, I lowered the blade and cut thru the center of the board, raising the blade a little at a time. When all three cuts are done I ripped the veneer off the 6 inch wide board as shown. A better startingnumber, would have been .156 ,but for what I'm doing, the .187 worked ok…. plan is to glue the thick veneer to some less figured quartersawn oak anyway.
below are the photos. Oak is as cut with a little lacquer thinner to highlight the figure a little for the photos.
...
Had this piece of wood for years …waiting for the right set of frames.
...



















...
FRED sent me an email,saying he saw my scarab tiles on Lumberjocks and asked me to make him some frames like mine for his tiles. His tiles came out of a really neat mission style home in Mission Hills, Kansas.
...
 
#8 ·
progress photos of quartersawn white oak and wenge frame

book-matched, glued,clamped, sanded, dark golden oak dyed and minwax mahogany oil stained.
..
..



































...
next steps are spray lacquer, seedlac and paste wax … stay tuned
 
#25 ·
done ...finished and before and after photos

Before and after on the tiles .. Fred wanted me to clean up the painted tile so it would match the one he had worked on years before. I used paint thinner and a brush.






<img>

















 
#30 ·
dan ,
you always come up with some very good designs
for your work .

a very creative eye for art !

well done .

oh , and your avatars are always something to yap about (LOL) !
 
#36 ·
wonderful work
once again dan

you must be enjoying it

it gets better
and you get younger

(you are starting to look
like john lennon)

maybe you will sing for us too
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top