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#1 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

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#27 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
I will be watching while you work on this major undertaking and wish you a good eye and steady hand .
Looks like you got a good start and I like it already .

Klaus
 

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#28 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Thanks for the kind comments and encouragement. This can be a very frustrating pastime and your encouragement helps me keep going.

Greg, Yes, it is more about the journey than the destination because the journey can be as perfect as you let it be while the destination is limited by reality. ;-)

Dave, All I am using for green is Poplar but I have some very nice material that Elaine (justoneofme) gave me.it is thick by today's standards at ~1/28" but as that isn't enough here, I've laminated two layers. Good news: It sand shades without destroying the glue. Bad news: Now it's too thick but I can deal with that.
Patrice is working on some dying techniques and I'm sure he'll get results before long but for now there is no dyed thick veneer available, at least not in useful colors.
 

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#29 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Wow Paul that looks like a great project, I'm glad to see your cutting into that fine veneer you brought back. I can't wait to see what you do.
 

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#30 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Add me to the list of those anxiously waiting for the next installment.
 

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#31 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Paul, That looks amazing.
 

Attachments

#32 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Paul,
Looking good, that is definitely a major project. Looking forward to the blog .
All the best
Keith
 

Attachments

#33 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Paul,

Only four years . . . Amazing! This will be jaw-dropping. Thanks for taking us on your journey.

L/W
 

Attachments

#34 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Am still wondering about options for a true "natural" green. I have heard of greenheart, which is a bit of an olive color.
Some dyed veneers, go quickly brown if you try to sand shade them.

Hoping a natural will behave more controllably.

Hard to search out green veneers… as green keys into being "eco-friendly" and sustainable rather than the color green. Or else it is about wood that is still fresh/wet e.g. Green Turning

- DrDirt
Do you mean green like this?

It's green ,it's all natural, but of course it loses its color upon hot-shading…

Just sayin' :)
 

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#35 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Soda - looking for grass/leaf green.
like pics below.

Thanks Paul -
I had gotten some dyed green shades from Paul Schurch. It is a great color, but still dyed.
Green Bolivar. Great colors, and it is workable, but I would like to get to patterns that are all natural colors.

http://www.schurchwoodwork.com/tools/index.html#VENEER

These are what I got (pic from his website)

Brown Rectangle Wood Art Wood stain
 

Attachments

#36 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Indeed Chlorociboria stains more in the deep green than leaf green. Did you check Lignum Vitae? It's as leaf-green as you possibly can get in a natural wood… densest wood known to man, not cheap, but maybe it could fit your needs.
 

Attachments

#37 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Thanks sodabowski…. I will look into it.

Since we are talking about getting veneer pieces for marquetry, the material cost is not (likely) a deal breaker, given the need for thin small pieces to make leaves and stems.

All the marquetry I have done has been using the double bevel, rather than thick packets, so lots of little pieces are OK.

Paul - sorry to hijack the thread on your project. Not my intent.

PaloSanto and/or peteribi is green… but endangered, and used as incense. The wood (small pen blank size) I see for sale are all brown - but this project used it.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/35777
Product Rectangle Wood Flooring Wood stain
 

Attachments

#38 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Dave, No need for apologies. Those are nice greens for sure but at 1/42" they wouldn't work for me. This sawn veneer is 1/16". I actually quite like the Poplar. It looks greener than the photos and even when it fades it "suggests" green when surrounded by darker colors.

Thomas, I have used a fair bit of LV in boats here and there and always thought of it as a brownish more than green wood. ........ But now that you mention it, the sapwood might make a decent yellow.
 

Attachments

#39 ·
A tribute to my mentors

It seems like only yesterday that I built my first chevalet from a few photos on the internet and began to try to figure out how to use it. Well it wasn't yesterday and it wasn't last year either. It was almost four years ago and while I did learn on my own and produced some reasonably good pieces of work, things really started to ramp up for me when I attended The American School of French Marquetry in Feb of 2012 and 2013.

The skill training was invaluable but the inspiration far outweighed it in its effect on my work. I was suddenly able to understand what really good marquetry was and how long a road lay ahead of me. Patrick and Patrice are really amazing practitioners of this art and I feel very privileged to have met them and had occasion to learn from them.

One thing I remember that Patrick told me the first year, when I asked him what I should do to really improve, was "Go to France and buy as much sawn veneer as you can afford." It sounded a little out of my reach at the time but it grew on me and last year I went to Paris and did buy a big pile of sawn veneer.

So …............ after almost a year of procrastination, I am finally beginning my first project with this precious material and I think it is only fitting that it be an homage to my mentors. The project is, on the surface, a jewellery box inspired by the wonderful reproduction piece that headlines Patrick's blog.

Rectangle Wood Font Art Facade


I am not about to copy his work and in fact my box will be quite different but Patrick's box and the many fine pieces that he and Patrice have produced are all the inspiration behind it.

So what will mine look like? I don't really know exactly because I'm not finished it yet but there are a few parts that are now decided and I've started working on both the box and the marquetry so it's time to start a blog since it's been a while.

This is about as complex as plans get on paper for me and even this was done really more to describe it to others. The real design is all in my head where I can change it at a whim without an eraser (or eraser tool).

Rectangle Wood Table Outdoor furniture Tire


The top, ends, and drawer fronts will all have marquetry and like Patrick's, the background will all be ebony. There will be three pull out and six cantilevered drawers. The drawer fronts will be a series of modifications of this one from craftsmanspace.com.

Plant Rectangle Font Circle Terrestrial plant


I retraced it in Inkscape and added some variety in the flowers. There will be only three flowers but by using left and right mirror images and changing colors, they should all be different. Cutting for the drawers will be piece by piece as it lends itself to the repetition but the ends and top will likely be done in painting in wood.

Here is my drawer marquetry plan.

Rectangle Textile Font Pink Motif


And just to get your attention, jumping way ahead, here's a shot from today. The green Poplar pieces and the flowers are permanent. The rest are "practice pieces". I'll explain them next time.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Tints and shades


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
I too appreciate your expertise on marquetry and such. You da man. :)
 

Attachments

#40 ·
Beginnings

I put a lot of thought into what the first project would be for my fine sawn veneer before I decided on this particular idea. I would have to say there was also a lot of "putting it off" involved but once the project had been chosen the next question was where to start.

I wanted the piece to have interest in both decoration and in function (hence the cantilevered drawers) so before anything else I had to make sure the mechanics were sound. Here are a few shots of the hinge components being made up.

Wood Gas Wood stain Plank Composite material


Wood Rectangle Floor Flooring Wood stain


Wood Hardwood Wood stain Plywood Plank


Wood Auto part Metal Font Hardwood


All I wanted to check was that I could make the tolerances between the 1/2" hole and the Queen Ebony shaft close enough to turn freely but not have any play. This was as far as I had to get to see that so I ticked that box and moved on.

Maybe the main reason I moved on to the marquetry before making up a test drawer was that I had a chevalet demo to do at a local fine arts show and I needed a subject. I decided to do some cutting for this project, but what to cut? I didn't know what colors I wanted despite having made up sample boards like this one of my new stock.

Brown Property Rectangle Wood Brick


Then I had an idea that I should make up some "palette" packets from which I could cut a lot of samples at one time. As these pieces weren't intended for actual use in the box, I could cut them with the distractions of the demo and not worry about ruining anything. These are the "practice pieces" I referred to in the last blog.

I made up a palette of reds, one of white / yellows, and one of greens.

Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Beige Triangle Tints and shades


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Plywood Flooring


At the show, I cut a couple of the flowers and some of the leaves. That allowed me to generate a lot of options and look at them on a black ground to get a better idea of what veneers I wanted to make up dedicated packets from for the actual pieces.

Brown Rectangle Textile Creative arts Font


Rectangle Tablecloth Plant Textile Flooring


Amber Rectangle Orange Creative arts Art


Flower Rectangle Gold Creative arts Font


Gesture Art Rectangle Petal Paint


Rectangle Wood Font Art Linens


This gave me a better idea of what colors I wanted but the little pieces kept moving around on me so I decided to cut the first of three sets of three ebony backgrounds and look at the pieces trapped in their actual positions in the actual ground.

Cutting the background in piece by piece is a very important step and I was very careful to follow the lines as best I could. The background encloses everything else and it won't move. If you leave to much material, the pieces won't fit. If you take too much away, they will be loose. Loose is the side to err on however (if err you must) as black mastic will hide your sins. :)

This set of backgrounds will be for the three drawers that have these two flowers. Two will have the daisy on the right and one on the left so one piece is in the packet glue side down and two are glue side up.

Brown Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


First, I cut out the little black "islands" that were too small to be connected to the main ebony ground by bridges. I'll explain bridges later.

Rectangle Wood Yellow Art Font


Textile Organism Flooring Petal Red


As each area is cut free from the packet it is taped in to help the packet to retain its strength.

Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Hardwood


Here the packet is cut apart showing the three backgrounds and the scrap, still nailed together.

Brown Rectangle Wood Font Tints and shades


If you look at the pieces below you can see that the background is very fragile. It would be impossibly fragile except for the bridges. They are the little bars of background left in to join the different areas of ground. After the ground is securely glued to the assembly board, they are cut away to allow the inlay pieces to be fitted.

Brown Rectangle Textile Wood Font


In this picture you can see that in the top piece there are some pieces that could not be fitted with the bridges in place. The flower is fitted because no bridges were needed there. The leaves and trellis are sitting on top of the bridges at this point as the grounds are not yet glued up.

Rectangle Wood Dishware Pattern Serveware


I should say that what I have done here is not a method of attack that I would recommend in general. I just needed to experiment with several aspects of the project because I basically ….. well …. don't know what I'm doing. When Patrice does this, it is all organized and smooth running ......... but then I think he and Patrick know pretty much exactly what they are building before they start building it. :)

Well if you aren't sufficiently confused by now, I am so I'll call it a day.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#41 ·
Beginnings

I put a lot of thought into what the first project would be for my fine sawn veneer before I decided on this particular idea. I would have to say there was also a lot of "putting it off" involved but once the project had been chosen the next question was where to start.

I wanted the piece to have interest in both decoration and in function (hence the cantilevered drawers) so before anything else I had to make sure the mechanics were sound. Here are a few shots of the hinge components being made up.

Wood Gas Wood stain Plank Composite material


Wood Rectangle Floor Flooring Wood stain


Wood Hardwood Wood stain Plywood Plank


Wood Auto part Metal Font Hardwood


All I wanted to check was that I could make the tolerances between the 1/2" hole and the Queen Ebony shaft close enough to turn freely but not have any play. This was as far as I had to get to see that so I ticked that box and moved on.

Maybe the main reason I moved on to the marquetry before making up a test drawer was that I had a chevalet demo to do at a local fine arts show and I needed a subject. I decided to do some cutting for this project, but what to cut? I didn't know what colors I wanted despite having made up sample boards like this one of my new stock.

Brown Property Rectangle Wood Brick


Then I had an idea that I should make up some "palette" packets from which I could cut a lot of samples at one time. As these pieces weren't intended for actual use in the box, I could cut them with the distractions of the demo and not worry about ruining anything. These are the "practice pieces" I referred to in the last blog.

I made up a palette of reds, one of white / yellows, and one of greens.

Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Beige Triangle Tints and shades


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Plywood Flooring


At the show, I cut a couple of the flowers and some of the leaves. That allowed me to generate a lot of options and look at them on a black ground to get a better idea of what veneers I wanted to make up dedicated packets from for the actual pieces.

Brown Rectangle Textile Creative arts Font


Rectangle Tablecloth Plant Textile Flooring


Amber Rectangle Orange Creative arts Art


Flower Rectangle Gold Creative arts Font


Gesture Art Rectangle Petal Paint


Rectangle Wood Font Art Linens


This gave me a better idea of what colors I wanted but the little pieces kept moving around on me so I decided to cut the first of three sets of three ebony backgrounds and look at the pieces trapped in their actual positions in the actual ground.

Cutting the background in piece by piece is a very important step and I was very careful to follow the lines as best I could. The background encloses everything else and it won't move. If you leave to much material, the pieces won't fit. If you take too much away, they will be loose. Loose is the side to err on however (if err you must) as black mastic will hide your sins. :)

This set of backgrounds will be for the three drawers that have these two flowers. Two will have the daisy on the right and one on the left so one piece is in the packet glue side down and two are glue side up.

Brown Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring


First, I cut out the little black "islands" that were too small to be connected to the main ebony ground by bridges. I'll explain bridges later.

Rectangle Wood Yellow Art Font


Textile Organism Flooring Petal Red


As each area is cut free from the packet it is taped in to help the packet to retain its strength.

Wood Rectangle Wood stain Font Hardwood


Here the packet is cut apart showing the three backgrounds and the scrap, still nailed together.

Brown Rectangle Wood Font Tints and shades


If you look at the pieces below you can see that the background is very fragile. It would be impossibly fragile except for the bridges. They are the little bars of background left in to join the different areas of ground. After the ground is securely glued to the assembly board, they are cut away to allow the inlay pieces to be fitted.

Brown Rectangle Textile Wood Font


In this picture you can see that in the top piece there are some pieces that could not be fitted with the bridges in place. The flower is fitted because no bridges were needed there. The leaves and trellis are sitting on top of the bridges at this point as the grounds are not yet glued up.

Rectangle Wood Dishware Pattern Serveware


I should say that what I have done here is not a method of attack that I would recommend in general. I just needed to experiment with several aspects of the project because I basically ….. well …. don't know what I'm doing. When Patrice does this, it is all organized and smooth running ......... but then I think he and Patrick know pretty much exactly what they are building before they start building it. :)

Well if you aren't sufficiently confused by now, I am so I'll call it a day.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
I guess the veneer your using makes a big difference right? Great job.
 

Attachments

#57 ·
Reality Check

This entry is a little on the philosophical side. It is about expectation and reality (one of which is quite easy to achieve).

I guess that each of us is entitled to become good at something in our lives if we work hard and I can't complain as I think I was able to become a pretty good boat builder. The trouble is I want more. I want to be a pretty good marqueteur now …. but I want to be able to start at 60+ and still achieve it. We're just never satisfied are we.

I took photos of some of my cuts as I was working on my jewellery box today and as a practice in humility and as a reality caution to others with similar aspirations, I will share them with you along with a few excuses / reasons for the results.

These are what qualify in my world as good cuts (in a packet of three layers of 1/16" Araracanga). I was as careful as I feel I can be and had good light. The curves are smooth and the cuts are close to the line (1/100") and they would be just fine in Boulle or painting in wood styles but I'm doing piece by piece here. My best is borderline acceptable. My respect for Patrice is growing by the minute.

In the first one, my blade is getting dull and it is well out of the "good" range. My standard of "good" is based on how much red line shows inside of the cut. That signifies that the piece is too big and may not fit. Red line outside, while no better from a cutting quality standpoint, is preferable because the piece will fit and the error can be hidden relatively easily with mastic. The wavy line at the bottom is evidence of the dull blade. Araracanga is very hard and eats blades.

Art Font Pattern Rectangle Paint


The second is with a fresh blade and is much better. I have to accept that this as about as good as it gets for me.

Textile Art Font Wood Pattern


The third is in between, about my average ability. When I was cutting this, I thought it was near perfect. Even looking at it without enlargement it looks very good to me. (here comes one of those excuses) I think it may be more of an eyesight issue than a dexterity issue.

Textile Rectangle Wood Art Pattern


When I have cut piece by piece in the past, I have had better results and had actually started to think I was getting to be a quite acceptable cutter but when I stepped into the ring with these thick, very hard veneers all the rules seemed to change. Here are some of my early observations about this material.

1) Cutting: It seems that these veneers, besides being thicker are a quantum step harder than even the hardest sliced veneers I have used in the past. I wonder if this has to do with the extreme soaking / boiling etc. administered to the logs before slicing. It seems to be much harder to follow a fine line on the sawn veneer packets.

2) Fitting: In thinner sliced material, when you need to "squeeze" a slightly oversize piece in, The piece and its background both seem to give a little and you can sort of mash it in. Not so much with a 1/16" Ebony ground and a 1/16" Araracanga piece. If it is too big, you file it down or re-cut it.

3) Blade damage Thick sawn veneer seems to be harder on blades, not only in terms of dulling faster, but also in twisting the blade. This may again pertain to their hardness.

Here's an example from yesterday. I had just changed to a new blade. I started at the hole on the left, cut the arc at the top, and went back and did the vein in the petal. Then I went back to the right end of the arc and started to do a rotation away from the piece to get a sharp corner. As I started the rotation, I lost my grip on the piece and it swung freely (gravity) about 180 degrees. This was in the middle of the blade, not at an end. As you can see, the blade was toast. It was absolutely impossible to follow any kind of line at all with it. Again, I have done this more times than I want to admit in the sliced veneer packets and, while the blade was compromised, I have never seen this dramatic of a change before.

Vertebrate Mammal Wood Art Fawn


I won't go on with this little rant except to say that as a hobbyist who came to marquetry after retirement I have to temper my expectations with a good dose of reality and cut myself a little slack if I want to enjoy my hobby. It is a good life lesson for me and I don't mind sharing it. When all assembled, filled, and polished, this piece will look very good to the average onlooker and I have to be happy with that. Another marqueteur, or anyone with a magnifying glass, won't be so easily fooled.

Thanks for looking in

Paul
 

Attachments

#58 ·
Reality Check

This entry is a little on the philosophical side. It is about expectation and reality (one of which is quite easy to achieve).

I guess that each of us is entitled to become good at something in our lives if we work hard and I can't complain as I think I was able to become a pretty good boat builder. The trouble is I want more. I want to be a pretty good marqueteur now …. but I want to be able to start at 60+ and still achieve it. We're just never satisfied are we.

I took photos of some of my cuts as I was working on my jewellery box today and as a practice in humility and as a reality caution to others with similar aspirations, I will share them with you along with a few excuses / reasons for the results.

These are what qualify in my world as good cuts (in a packet of three layers of 1/16" Araracanga). I was as careful as I feel I can be and had good light. The curves are smooth and the cuts are close to the line (1/100") and they would be just fine in Boulle or painting in wood styles but I'm doing piece by piece here. My best is borderline acceptable. My respect for Patrice is growing by the minute.

In the first one, my blade is getting dull and it is well out of the "good" range. My standard of "good" is based on how much red line shows inside of the cut. That signifies that the piece is too big and may not fit. Red line outside, while no better from a cutting quality standpoint, is preferable because the piece will fit and the error can be hidden relatively easily with mastic. The wavy line at the bottom is evidence of the dull blade. Araracanga is very hard and eats blades.

Art Font Pattern Rectangle Paint


The second is with a fresh blade and is much better. I have to accept that this as about as good as it gets for me.

Textile Art Font Wood Pattern


The third is in between, about my average ability. When I was cutting this, I thought it was near perfect. Even looking at it without enlargement it looks very good to me. (here comes one of those excuses) I think it may be more of an eyesight issue than a dexterity issue.

Textile Rectangle Wood Art Pattern


When I have cut piece by piece in the past, I have had better results and had actually started to think I was getting to be a quite acceptable cutter but when I stepped into the ring with these thick, very hard veneers all the rules seemed to change. Here are some of my early observations about this material.

1) Cutting: It seems that these veneers, besides being thicker are a quantum step harder than even the hardest sliced veneers I have used in the past. I wonder if this has to do with the extreme soaking / boiling etc. administered to the logs before slicing. It seems to be much harder to follow a fine line on the sawn veneer packets.

2) Fitting: In thinner sliced material, when you need to "squeeze" a slightly oversize piece in, The piece and its background both seem to give a little and you can sort of mash it in. Not so much with a 1/16" Ebony ground and a 1/16" Araracanga piece. If it is too big, you file it down or re-cut it.

3) Blade damage Thick sawn veneer seems to be harder on blades, not only in terms of dulling faster, but also in twisting the blade. This may again pertain to their hardness.

Here's an example from yesterday. I had just changed to a new blade. I started at the hole on the left, cut the arc at the top, and went back and did the vein in the petal. Then I went back to the right end of the arc and started to do a rotation away from the piece to get a sharp corner. As I started the rotation, I lost my grip on the piece and it swung freely (gravity) about 180 degrees. This was in the middle of the blade, not at an end. As you can see, the blade was toast. It was absolutely impossible to follow any kind of line at all with it. Again, I have done this more times than I want to admit in the sliced veneer packets and, while the blade was compromised, I have never seen this dramatic of a change before.

Vertebrate Mammal Wood Art Fawn


I won't go on with this little rant except to say that as a hobbyist who came to marquetry after retirement I have to temper my expectations with a good dose of reality and cut myself a little slack if I want to enjoy my hobby. It is a good life lesson for me and I don't mind sharing it. When all assembled, filled, and polished, this piece will look very good to the average onlooker and I have to be happy with that. Another marqueteur, or anyone with a magnifying glass, won't be so easily fooled.

Thanks for looking in

Paul
Allright!!

Are those little nails you have driven into the packets to hold them together?
...driven, cut'em, and grind them smooth?
...brass rod…?

Looks like a lot of work… and you're just getting started! :)

Thank you
 

Attachments

#82 ·
Sand Shading and Organization

With my colors mostly decided I went about cutting the pieces and dividing them into two groups. One group contained all the "universal" pieces. Those are the pieces that occur in all nine panels. The were assembled in one tray while the pieces that differ from flower to flower were organized in another tray. This second group includes the flower parts themselves and the parts of the leaves that directly contact the flowers. As each flower is different so are the contacting pieces.

The universal tray is mostly the green Poplar leaves and I had a little problem there in that my Poplar was not as thick as the other veneer. It is actually quite thick at 1/28" but that's just not enough. I decided to experiment with laminating two layers. I knew this would work fine as I've done it before but I wasn't sure about the heat of sand shading it.

This is what the laminated pieces look like cut.

Wood Hardwood Font Fashion accessory Tool


Here's a shot of a scrap piece that I practiced on to see if the Poplar would shade before the glue popped. I was happily surprised. it was just fine.

Artifact Wood Fashion accessory Metal Circle


So on to the shading itself. I have to say that much of the organization and segregation of the pieces really took place during the shading exercise. Here is a look at most of the parts organized (poorly at this point) in a storage tray.

Brown Amber Wood Rectangle Art


Most of the shading was done in the sand tray as shown below. The temperature varies around the tray, hottest in the center so more delicate parts stay to the outside.

Food Ingredient Cookware and bakeware Cuisine Recipe


Food Ingredient Cuisine Dish Home appliance


I also shade some of the trickier and more delicate pieces with a spoon. using this method you can bring very hot sand up from the bottom of the tray and do lots of damage very quickly. You have to be careful.

I made this little video to show how I shade some of the very smallest bits. I generally don't do this at the same time as the other shading. I like to do it during assembly so I can take the piece directly from the sand and while still on the pick, touch it to the glue brush and install it. I was too busy with the video to do that here.





When all the pieces are shaded the tray looks more like this. This is now the universal tray and only has pieces that will be in all panels.

Insect Font Arthropod Pest Symmetry


Then it is put away to await assembly.

Table Dishware Wood Tableware Serveware


If you are thinking that the shading looks awfully severe in places, it does but when the surface is sanded much of that will go away and they wont look as "burned". ......... I hope ….... :)

Enough for tonight.

Thanks
for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#83 ·
Sand Shading and Organization

With my colors mostly decided I went about cutting the pieces and dividing them into two groups. One group contained all the "universal" pieces. Those are the pieces that occur in all nine panels. The were assembled in one tray while the pieces that differ from flower to flower were organized in another tray. This second group includes the flower parts themselves and the parts of the leaves that directly contact the flowers. As each flower is different so are the contacting pieces.

The universal tray is mostly the green Poplar leaves and I had a little problem there in that my Poplar was not as thick as the other veneer. It is actually quite thick at 1/28" but that's just not enough. I decided to experiment with laminating two layers. I knew this would work fine as I've done it before but I wasn't sure about the heat of sand shading it.

This is what the laminated pieces look like cut.

Wood Hardwood Font Fashion accessory Tool


Here's a shot of a scrap piece that I practiced on to see if the Poplar would shade before the glue popped. I was happily surprised. it was just fine.

Artifact Wood Fashion accessory Metal Circle


So on to the shading itself. I have to say that much of the organization and segregation of the pieces really took place during the shading exercise. Here is a look at most of the parts organized (poorly at this point) in a storage tray.

Brown Amber Wood Rectangle Art


Most of the shading was done in the sand tray as shown below. The temperature varies around the tray, hottest in the center so more delicate parts stay to the outside.

Food Ingredient Cookware and bakeware Cuisine Recipe


Food Ingredient Cuisine Dish Home appliance


I also shade some of the trickier and more delicate pieces with a spoon. using this method you can bring very hot sand up from the bottom of the tray and do lots of damage very quickly. You have to be careful.

I made this little video to show how I shade some of the very smallest bits. I generally don't do this at the same time as the other shading. I like to do it during assembly so I can take the piece directly from the sand and while still on the pick, touch it to the glue brush and install it. I was too busy with the video to do that here.





When all the pieces are shaded the tray looks more like this. This is now the universal tray and only has pieces that will be in all panels.

Insect Font Arthropod Pest Symmetry


Then it is put away to await assembly.

Table Dishware Wood Tableware Serveware


If you are thinking that the shading looks awfully severe in places, it does but when the surface is sanded much of that will go away and they wont look as "burned". ......... I hope ….... :)

Enough for tonight.

Thanks
for looking in.

Paul
I see patience and a beautiful project developing made of small pieces that make my eyes water just watching .
You have the patience of a saint and a skilled and seasoned craftsman .
I am starting to understand why thick veneer is of benefit in a project with small pieces like this that are just slightly larger than sawdust .
Sand Shading is interesting and is something to keep in mind as it may be useful elsewhere.

Klaus
 

Attachments

#97 ·
Drawer Front Marquetry Assembly

With all the cutting and sand shading done and all the pieces properly organized, it's time to have some fun. If you've done everything right up to this point, the assembly really is fun as you get to see the marquetry image materialize before your eyes.

Before I get into that however, a couple of notes on things I've learned so far on this project.

The first is the eyesight / cutting accuracy issue that I had when started using this hard veneer. I did a little research online on the subject of magnifiers and realized that the reason my headband magnifier wasn't working for me was that the focal length was wrong for the work I was doing. Further, that the strength of the magnifier could be altered with reading glasses worn in conjunction with it. It turns out that my headgear, although not marked, is probably a 3 diopter magnifier with a focal length in the 12" area. By adding 1.25 reading glasses I get a 4.25 with a focal length of about ten inches and better magnification. More importantly, once I could see, the cuts got better.

Vertebrate Art Organism Font Pink


The second was that removing bridges, especially those that supported very small "islands" was difficult and in many cases counterproductive. The photos below show the first background I cut and the last. You can see that I used fewer bridges and smaller bridges in the second. These were much easier and quicker to remove.

Brown Rectangle Wood Art Font


Rectangle Creative arts Wood Font Art


As for the assembly itself, I used French kraft paper type mounting boards and hot hide glue, working from my two previously organized trays. It all went quite smoothly with only a few pieces needing a little filing to fit. I glued in all the parts except the flowers which I assembled dry. I'll explain why they aren't glued later.

Here's a little video of some of the assembly.





Each mounting board carries three drawer fronts. They represent the three backgrounds with the three flowers, each set has two flowers so the sets are AB,AC,BC. I will now print the pictures below, cut the individual drawer fronts apart and arrange them in the actual order that they will be installed. Here's the part about not gluing the flowers …....... when I get them arranged I will for the first time get a real look at how well the flower colors are distributed and I will be able to change any that I don't like.

I did do a color distribution exercise upon which I based the colors I used but I still want to see the real thing before I glue things down. I've included a photo of the preliminary distribution exercise.

Brown Rectangle Textile Font Wood


Rectangle Textile Wood Font Flooring


Rectangle Textile Motif Flooring Font


Rectangle Orange Pink Red Material property


That's it for now. Next up is to make final decisions on the flowers and get them glued in and then on to making some drawers for them to mount on.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#98 ·
Drawer Front Marquetry Assembly

With all the cutting and sand shading done and all the pieces properly organized, it's time to have some fun. If you've done everything right up to this point, the assembly really is fun as you get to see the marquetry image materialize before your eyes.

Before I get into that however, a couple of notes on things I've learned so far on this project.

The first is the eyesight / cutting accuracy issue that I had when started using this hard veneer. I did a little research online on the subject of magnifiers and realized that the reason my headband magnifier wasn't working for me was that the focal length was wrong for the work I was doing. Further, that the strength of the magnifier could be altered with reading glasses worn in conjunction with it. It turns out that my headgear, although not marked, is probably a 3 diopter magnifier with a focal length in the 12" area. By adding 1.25 reading glasses I get a 4.25 with a focal length of about ten inches and better magnification. More importantly, once I could see, the cuts got better.

Vertebrate Art Organism Font Pink


The second was that removing bridges, especially those that supported very small "islands" was difficult and in many cases counterproductive. The photos below show the first background I cut and the last. You can see that I used fewer bridges and smaller bridges in the second. These were much easier and quicker to remove.

Brown Rectangle Wood Art Font


Rectangle Creative arts Wood Font Art


As for the assembly itself, I used French kraft paper type mounting boards and hot hide glue, working from my two previously organized trays. It all went quite smoothly with only a few pieces needing a little filing to fit. I glued in all the parts except the flowers which I assembled dry. I'll explain why they aren't glued later.

Here's a little video of some of the assembly.





Each mounting board carries three drawer fronts. They represent the three backgrounds with the three flowers, each set has two flowers so the sets are AB,AC,BC. I will now print the pictures below, cut the individual drawer fronts apart and arrange them in the actual order that they will be installed. Here's the part about not gluing the flowers …....... when I get them arranged I will for the first time get a real look at how well the flower colors are distributed and I will be able to change any that I don't like.

I did do a color distribution exercise upon which I based the colors I used but I still want to see the real thing before I glue things down. I've included a photo of the preliminary distribution exercise.

Brown Rectangle Textile Font Wood


Rectangle Textile Wood Font Flooring


Rectangle Textile Motif Flooring Font


Rectangle Orange Pink Red Material property


That's it for now. Next up is to make final decisions on the flowers and get them glued in and then on to making some drawers for them to mount on.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Well - that looks first class! I'm enjoying the story.
 

Attachments

#131 ·
Drawers, Dowels, and Dovetails

Well all the colour decisions have been made and the flowers are glued in. The next job is to build a jewellery box to glue them onto. I have decided on Baltic Birch plywood for the carcase because it is very important that the top and bottom do not warp. With no ends on the carcase itself the outer reaches of both are supported only on the back and inner edges.The bottom, back, and top are dovetailed and the dividers are in dados. I veneered both sides of the bottom and dividers but won't do the inside of the top until I can apply the top marquetry at the same time. The veneer is Walnut and , like the drawers, will be ebonized.

Wood Floor Flooring Workbench Hardwood


Wood Flooring Hardwood Rectangle Wood stain


Table Furniture Cabinetry Wood Interior design


Property Cabinetry Wood Rectangle Drawer


The drawers are solid Walnut with three corners dovetailed and the fourth attached to the hinge barrel.

In the first photo above and in the next one I am using a sawing jig that I made from David Barron's design.
In the article I used he suggested 7/8" magnets and I made the mistake of reading "Rare Earth" between the lines. The jig didn't work as well for me as I had hoped, partly because the magnets were WAY too strong and partly because my somewhat arthritic thumbs are not. In the subsequent photos below I have switched to the Veritas jig which works exactly the same except that the magnets aren't as strong and the screw clamp does the holding. My dovetails are better and my thumbs are much happier.

Wood Table Hardwood Workbench Wood stain


Wood Hand tool Gas Engineering Hardwood


Wood Musical instrument Hand tool Idiophone Tool


The hinge pins must be a very close tolerance to keep the drawers from drooping when open and resting on each other when closed. I know lots of people work with precision measuring tools and many are better turners than I am but I have always been a "measure from the work" kind of guy so this is how I achieved the necessary close tolerance. (The wood is Queen Ebony and I'm not expecting it to swell up at all.)

I cut a square of 3/4" plywood and drilled a 1/8" hole in the middle.

Rectangle Triangle Wood Flooring Tints and shades


Then I made a 1/2" hole half way through centering on the 1/8" hole.

Wood Rectangle Gas Composite material Circle


I roughed out a shaft and turned one end to 1/2", gauged with a 1/2" wrench, cut off the oversize end …

Wood Machine tool Tool Gas Machine


.... and fitted it in the block, now mounted on the live center. This allowed me to fit a cut off segment of one of my actual hinge barrels onto the shaft and move it along as I reduced the shaft.

Wood Gas Machine Metal Pipe


Doing it this way I was able to remove the dowel from the lathe and check for fit in the actual barrels and still return it to the lathe if it was too tight.

Furniture Wood Flooring Automotive design Wood stain


Wood Automotive design Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


When I was satisfied, I applied a little wax.

Wood Gas Cylinder Machine tool Machine


Here's a rough assembly. It still knocks apart and that's a good thing because it has to travel to Az. at the end of the week. There is minimal play in the hinges and no noticeable droop despite the appearance in the last photo. The apparent droop there is "wide angle droop". It corresponds to the apparent arc in the perfectly flat top. :)

Wood Rectangle Table Hardwood Plywood


Table Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood


That's all for now. My next entry will be from sunny Az. where I will be getting on with the rest of the marquetry.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#132 ·
Drawers, Dowels, and Dovetails

Well all the colour decisions have been made and the flowers are glued in. The next job is to build a jewellery box to glue them onto. I have decided on Baltic Birch plywood for the carcase because it is very important that the top and bottom do not warp. With no ends on the carcase itself the outer reaches of both are supported only on the back and inner edges.The bottom, back, and top are dovetailed and the dividers are in dados. I veneered both sides of the bottom and dividers but won't do the inside of the top until I can apply the top marquetry at the same time. The veneer is Walnut and , like the drawers, will be ebonized.

Wood Floor Flooring Workbench Hardwood


Wood Flooring Hardwood Rectangle Wood stain


Table Furniture Cabinetry Wood Interior design


Property Cabinetry Wood Rectangle Drawer


The drawers are solid Walnut with three corners dovetailed and the fourth attached to the hinge barrel.

In the first photo above and in the next one I am using a sawing jig that I made from David Barron's design.
In the article I used he suggested 7/8" magnets and I made the mistake of reading "Rare Earth" between the lines. The jig didn't work as well for me as I had hoped, partly because the magnets were WAY too strong and partly because my somewhat arthritic thumbs are not. In the subsequent photos below I have switched to the Veritas jig which works exactly the same except that the magnets aren't as strong and the screw clamp does the holding. My dovetails are better and my thumbs are much happier.

Wood Table Hardwood Workbench Wood stain


Wood Hand tool Gas Engineering Hardwood


Wood Musical instrument Hand tool Idiophone Tool


The hinge pins must be a very close tolerance to keep the drawers from drooping when open and resting on each other when closed. I know lots of people work with precision measuring tools and many are better turners than I am but I have always been a "measure from the work" kind of guy so this is how I achieved the necessary close tolerance. (The wood is Queen Ebony and I'm not expecting it to swell up at all.)

I cut a square of 3/4" plywood and drilled a 1/8" hole in the middle.

Rectangle Triangle Wood Flooring Tints and shades


Then I made a 1/2" hole half way through centering on the 1/8" hole.

Wood Rectangle Gas Composite material Circle


I roughed out a shaft and turned one end to 1/2", gauged with a 1/2" wrench, cut off the oversize end …

Wood Machine tool Tool Gas Machine


.... and fitted it in the block, now mounted on the live center. This allowed me to fit a cut off segment of one of my actual hinge barrels onto the shaft and move it along as I reduced the shaft.

Wood Gas Machine Metal Pipe


Doing it this way I was able to remove the dowel from the lathe and check for fit in the actual barrels and still return it to the lathe if it was too tight.

Furniture Wood Flooring Automotive design Wood stain


Wood Automotive design Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


When I was satisfied, I applied a little wax.

Wood Gas Cylinder Machine tool Machine


Here's a rough assembly. It still knocks apart and that's a good thing because it has to travel to Az. at the end of the week. There is minimal play in the hinges and no noticeable droop despite the appearance in the last photo. The apparent droop there is "wide angle droop". It corresponds to the apparent arc in the perfectly flat top. :)

Wood Rectangle Table Hardwood Plywood


Table Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood


That's all for now. My next entry will be from sunny Az. where I will be getting on with the rest of the marquetry.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Paul, I am really excited to see how this turns out. Looks like a fantastic project.
 

Attachments

#155 ·
Messing With a Master

My last entry here was almost a month ago and I was about to leave for Arizona for the winter. Well, I've been here (Az.) for almost a month now and I'm just getting around to the jewellery box. When I left off I had just dovetailed the drawers and dry assembled the whole box to assure myself that going on was in fact, a good plan. There's a little more to the drawers but I'll deal with that another time.

This entry is dedicated to Pierre Gole, one of the truly gifted "masters" of the Louis XIV era. I had originally wanted to do the top and ends with some Jean Henri Riesener tracings I had done and use a lozenge background as he often did. It might have looked something like this. The top here is a colored printout of my tracing and the drawer fronts are printouts of photos of my actual marquetry.

Wood Textile Interior design Rectangle Flooring


When I asked Patrice what he thought of the idea, he kindly pointed out that I was mixing Louis XIV with Louis XVI and that really wasn't right. After some study I wholeheartedly agree. He sent me off paging through my copies of Pierre Ramond's books and searching the internet for more epoch appropriate motifs. I haven't settled on a top motif as yet although I have some ideas but I think I have the ends figured out, pending approval from my mentors of course.

Here's what I found and what I've come up with for the side (end) motifs.

This is a photo from Google images of one of Pierre Gole's iconic pieces. Beside it is my Inkscape tracing (by hand, not autotrace). I don't know why they look so fuzzy here.

Rectangle Motif Art Pattern Flower


When I printed it out it was clear that it just wouldn't work in a 9" square area so I started "messing" with it. Whether it is tribute or sacrilege, I'm not really sure but I do know I'm not alone in doing it.
I enlarged the central part and eliminated the swirls in the top corners first but that left the top looking vacant and the motif was the wrong shape for the space so I "borrowed" some elements, re-sized them, copied them, flipped them, and rotated them and came up with what I think are complimentary corner motifs.

Rectangle Art Motif Ornament Font


To be sure that they were cut-able, I decided to do a practice run of the new corners before committing to the good veneer. As I was also looking at some other Gole motifs for possible inclusion on the top I made a little composition including the corners and a bird / acanthus / flower motif that I found in one of the "Masterpieces of Marquetry" volumes. This is a photo of part of a page.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Pattern


From that fuzzy photo I did a tracing of the motif and added a couple of extra leaves to suit my space.
the composition looked like this.

Head Organism Font Art Pattern


I cut it in a 6" X 9" format to simulate the size the corners would be on the jewellery box using dyed black, padauk, curly maple, and poplar in painting in wood style.

My wife really quite likes it so it will become a little box to sit on our breakfast table to house our various "nesting material" that accumulates there. This, however is likely as far as it will go for now as it was primarily an experiment.

Bird Rectangle Painting Flower Wood


The good news is that the experiment was a success and I should have no trouble cutting the pieces for the jewellery box from the "good stuff"

That's enough for now. I'll be back when there's more to talk about. It's getting exciting.

Thanks for looking in

Paul
 

Attachments

#156 ·
Messing With a Master

My last entry here was almost a month ago and I was about to leave for Arizona for the winter. Well, I've been here (Az.) for almost a month now and I'm just getting around to the jewellery box. When I left off I had just dovetailed the drawers and dry assembled the whole box to assure myself that going on was in fact, a good plan. There's a little more to the drawers but I'll deal with that another time.

This entry is dedicated to Pierre Gole, one of the truly gifted "masters" of the Louis XIV era. I had originally wanted to do the top and ends with some Jean Henri Riesener tracings I had done and use a lozenge background as he often did. It might have looked something like this. The top here is a colored printout of my tracing and the drawer fronts are printouts of photos of my actual marquetry.

Wood Textile Interior design Rectangle Flooring


When I asked Patrice what he thought of the idea, he kindly pointed out that I was mixing Louis XIV with Louis XVI and that really wasn't right. After some study I wholeheartedly agree. He sent me off paging through my copies of Pierre Ramond's books and searching the internet for more epoch appropriate motifs. I haven't settled on a top motif as yet although I have some ideas but I think I have the ends figured out, pending approval from my mentors of course.

Here's what I found and what I've come up with for the side (end) motifs.

This is a photo from Google images of one of Pierre Gole's iconic pieces. Beside it is my Inkscape tracing (by hand, not autotrace). I don't know why they look so fuzzy here.

Rectangle Motif Art Pattern Flower


When I printed it out it was clear that it just wouldn't work in a 9" square area so I started "messing" with it. Whether it is tribute or sacrilege, I'm not really sure but I do know I'm not alone in doing it.
I enlarged the central part and eliminated the swirls in the top corners first but that left the top looking vacant and the motif was the wrong shape for the space so I "borrowed" some elements, re-sized them, copied them, flipped them, and rotated them and came up with what I think are complimentary corner motifs.

Rectangle Art Motif Ornament Font


To be sure that they were cut-able, I decided to do a practice run of the new corners before committing to the good veneer. As I was also looking at some other Gole motifs for possible inclusion on the top I made a little composition including the corners and a bird / acanthus / flower motif that I found in one of the "Masterpieces of Marquetry" volumes. This is a photo of part of a page.

Rectangle Wood Art Font Pattern


From that fuzzy photo I did a tracing of the motif and added a couple of extra leaves to suit my space.
the composition looked like this.

Head Organism Font Art Pattern


I cut it in a 6" X 9" format to simulate the size the corners would be on the jewellery box using dyed black, padauk, curly maple, and poplar in painting in wood style.

My wife really quite likes it so it will become a little box to sit on our breakfast table to house our various "nesting material" that accumulates there. This, however is likely as far as it will go for now as it was primarily an experiment.

Bird Rectangle Painting Flower Wood


The good news is that the experiment was a success and I should have no trouble cutting the pieces for the jewellery box from the "good stuff"

That's enough for now. I'll be back when there's more to talk about. It's getting exciting.

Thanks for looking in

Paul
There are some pieces that are utterly incredible and you have made one of them Paul… You really are producing some awesome work.
 

Attachments

#180 ·
Tuning the Cantilevered Drawers

Now that I have the plan in place for the end marquetry there is a little housekeeping to be done with the drawers. The pull out ones in the centre column are straightforward and relatively easy so I have already glued the marquetry to them. The tricky ones are the cantilevered drawers in the side columns.
When last seen they looked like this. They were glued up but had no bottoms.

Furniture Wood Flooring Automotive design Wood stain


The bottoms will be 1/4" plywood veneered both sides with walnut and ebonized. Because the plywood can't show on the hinge columns and to strengthen the corner joint I half lapped a piece of queen ebony onto the hinge corner of each,...

Brown Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain


glued them on, and trimmed them flush. (Those of you who know my shops will notice that the last one was at my home shop and this one is in my Az. shop)

Countertop Wood Tap Rectangle Flooring


As the two inside edges of the bottoms will be seen when the drawer is opened, I routed a little rebate and inlaid a bit of solid walnut. The two outside edges will be covered with marquetry.

Wood Tool Floor Machine tool Hardwood


So that brings the construction details up to date. Now for the tricky part. I spent a lot of time trying to tune the cantilevers with my carefully turned ebony hinge pins but in the end the tolerances were just not good enough. I switched to 1/2" brass tubing inserted into the holes in the drawers and 7/16" for the pin. With 1/32" wall the fit makes a perfect brass on brass bearing with much less play.

The cantilevers will make or break the structural side of the project. They must move so smoothly that you can't stop playing with them. They cannot touch any other part when they swing, and they need to close leaving the front and side panels perfectly planar and with very small cracks because the end marquetry will be a single picture.
............. That's why it took so long but ….. I did get 'em done.

Wood Floor Flooring Gas Composite material


Here's a little video of the resulting hinge action.

Building Gas Machine Font Audio equipment




Now the rest of the drawer front marquetry pieces can be glued on and I can get started with the end motifs.
It may be a while before the next entry but at least I'm pretty sure there will be a next one. There were moments when …...

Thanks for looking in,

Paul
 

Attachments

#181 ·
Tuning the Cantilevered Drawers

Now that I have the plan in place for the end marquetry there is a little housekeeping to be done with the drawers. The pull out ones in the centre column are straightforward and relatively easy so I have already glued the marquetry to them. The tricky ones are the cantilevered drawers in the side columns.
When last seen they looked like this. They were glued up but had no bottoms.

Furniture Wood Flooring Automotive design Wood stain


The bottoms will be 1/4" plywood veneered both sides with walnut and ebonized. Because the plywood can't show on the hinge columns and to strengthen the corner joint I half lapped a piece of queen ebony onto the hinge corner of each,...

Brown Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain


glued them on, and trimmed them flush. (Those of you who know my shops will notice that the last one was at my home shop and this one is in my Az. shop)

Countertop Wood Tap Rectangle Flooring


As the two inside edges of the bottoms will be seen when the drawer is opened, I routed a little rebate and inlaid a bit of solid walnut. The two outside edges will be covered with marquetry.

Wood Tool Floor Machine tool Hardwood


So that brings the construction details up to date. Now for the tricky part. I spent a lot of time trying to tune the cantilevers with my carefully turned ebony hinge pins but in the end the tolerances were just not good enough. I switched to 1/2" brass tubing inserted into the holes in the drawers and 7/16" for the pin. With 1/32" wall the fit makes a perfect brass on brass bearing with much less play.

The cantilevers will make or break the structural side of the project. They must move so smoothly that you can't stop playing with them. They cannot touch any other part when they swing, and they need to close leaving the front and side panels perfectly planar and with very small cracks because the end marquetry will be a single picture.
............. That's why it took so long but ….. I did get 'em done.

Wood Floor Flooring Gas Composite material


Here's a little video of the resulting hinge action.

Building Gas Machine Font Audio equipment




Now the rest of the drawer front marquetry pieces can be glued on and I can get started with the end motifs.
It may be a while before the next entry but at least I'm pretty sure there will be a next one. There were moments when …...

Thanks for looking in,

Paul
Most people will think they have fully appreciated this piece by admiring the marquetry. They will only have gotten half of the experience! Fantastic work!
 

Attachments

#202 ·
Just Some Pretty Pictures

Once the drawer mechanics were sorted out to my satisfaction, I was able to apply the marquetry to the last six and get a first coat of shellac on them to protect the surface until finishing time. I was prepared for it but the beauty and colours of the sawn veneers took me by surprise. I'm guessing that the vibrancy of the colours has something to do with the fact that the logs were not abused prior to the veneer being cut as is the case with slicing.

Whatever the cause, the result is stunning IMHO. Just thought you might enjoy a look.
(Yes I did notice the blob of junk on my lens …. but too late for these photos.)

Table Wood Shelving Gas Machine


Rectangle Wood Art Visual arts Metal


Wood Font Art Rectangle Flooring


Wood Shelf Shelving Audio equipment Eyewear


Applying the shellac

Food Ingredient Sheet pan Font Cake




Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#203 ·
Just Some Pretty Pictures

Once the drawer mechanics were sorted out to my satisfaction, I was able to apply the marquetry to the last six and get a first coat of shellac on them to protect the surface until finishing time. I was prepared for it but the beauty and colours of the sawn veneers took me by surprise. I'm guessing that the vibrancy of the colours has something to do with the fact that the logs were not abused prior to the veneer being cut as is the case with slicing.

Whatever the cause, the result is stunning IMHO. Just thought you might enjoy a look.
(Yes I did notice the blob of junk on my lens …. but too late for these photos.)

Table Wood Shelving Gas Machine


Rectangle Wood Art Visual arts Metal


Wood Font Art Rectangle Flooring


Wood Shelf Shelving Audio equipment Eyewear


Applying the shellac

Food Ingredient Sheet pan Font Cake




Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Yep. Exactly the kind of awesomeness I was expecting both from you and from those great sawn veneers. And there's still more to come!
 

Attachments

#234 ·
Ten days of cutting .... but the end motifs are done

With the design decided and the drawer front marquetry installed the time finally came to tackle the cutting of the end motifs. This is by far the most ambitious motif I have ever attempted and I can say in all honesty, I wasn't all that sure I could do it.

I decided to use the painting in wood technique as the motif lends itself to the style and there were to be only two copies. I made up a packet with two layers of Poplar face to face, two layers of Ebony face to face and three layers of basswood waster to carry the other components. The two Ebony layers were made up of the previously fitted drawer side components veneer taped together. The flower and basket parts were added to the wasters and were Araracanga, Bloodwood, and Curly Maple.

Wood Table Font Flooring Office supplies


Very careful alignment of the layers to each other, and even more importantly to the pattern, was absolutely essential.

Rectangle Wood Flooring Floor Material property


Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Road surface


Then, at last, it was time to drill a hole (three actually) and start cutting.

Wood Gas Creative arts Art Font


This is the first piece that I cut. What you see is the bottom plywood piece from the cut placed in the top plywood hole. This is a check that I repeat often during stack cutting to be sure I'm not getting conical.

Brown Wood Textile Art Creative arts


As I cut, I assembled the parts in a drawer, closely fitted because there were so many tiny parts, many that looked very much alike. This was quite scary as the picture grew because all it would take would be to bump the tray and I would be spending hours trying to reassemble the parts. I took lots of pictures, one every time I moved a group of parts from my working tray to the storage tray.

Natural material Wood Ingredient Fashion accessory Cuisine


Organ Human body World Plant Sleeve


Art Rectangle Wood Font Symbol


Textile Yellow Art Symmetry Pattern


.... You get the idea.

Finally, after ten days and ~ 40 hours of cutting, it was done and I could at last open the packet and remove the backgrounds. This meant I could move the "loose" assemblies into the enclosure of the Ebony grounds and breathe a small sigh of relief.

World Wood Rectangle Font Map


At this point, if you are Patrice or Patrick, you shade all the pieces and then assemble on a paper mounting board with HHG but since I'm not and I'm nowhere near as confident in my shading, I pre-assembled on clear adhesive backed shelf liner. This gives me a chance to look at my motifs and make changes if I want and it also allows me to remove the pieces, one at a time, sand shade them, and replace them. I like to be able to see how the shading looks and maybe adjust my technique a little as I go.

Here are the two motifs as first assembled.

Textile Rectangle Flooring Art Font


Here I have changed some of the flower colors. I had three colors for each part and only needed two assemblies so I could make changes after seeing the finished pictures.

Rectangle Textile Art Flooring Wood


And after taking all that time to cut, shading only took about four hours for the first one. This photo shows dramatically how much difference can be made by sand shading.

Textile Art Font Flooring Rectangle


All and all, I am very pleased to have gotten this far without losing a single tiny piece and with no serious mishaps. It is by no means perfect but I feel like I have crossed a line in my marquetry journey with this cut.

Wood Textile Rectangle Art Font


I still have to shade the second one, mount them on paper mounting boards, fill with black mastic, and separate them into threes before they get near the drawer sides, but I feel like the hardest part is done ...... for this part.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#235 ·
Ten days of cutting .... but the end motifs are done

With the design decided and the drawer front marquetry installed the time finally came to tackle the cutting of the end motifs. This is by far the most ambitious motif I have ever attempted and I can say in all honesty, I wasn't all that sure I could do it.

I decided to use the painting in wood technique as the motif lends itself to the style and there were to be only two copies. I made up a packet with two layers of Poplar face to face, two layers of Ebony face to face and three layers of basswood waster to carry the other components. The two Ebony layers were made up of the previously fitted drawer side components veneer taped together. The flower and basket parts were added to the wasters and were Araracanga, Bloodwood, and Curly Maple.

Wood Table Font Flooring Office supplies


Very careful alignment of the layers to each other, and even more importantly to the pattern, was absolutely essential.

Rectangle Wood Flooring Floor Material property


Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Road surface


Then, at last, it was time to drill a hole (three actually) and start cutting.

Wood Gas Creative arts Art Font


This is the first piece that I cut. What you see is the bottom plywood piece from the cut placed in the top plywood hole. This is a check that I repeat often during stack cutting to be sure I'm not getting conical.

Brown Wood Textile Art Creative arts


As I cut, I assembled the parts in a drawer, closely fitted because there were so many tiny parts, many that looked very much alike. This was quite scary as the picture grew because all it would take would be to bump the tray and I would be spending hours trying to reassemble the parts. I took lots of pictures, one every time I moved a group of parts from my working tray to the storage tray.

Natural material Wood Ingredient Fashion accessory Cuisine


Organ Human body World Plant Sleeve


Art Rectangle Wood Font Symbol


Textile Yellow Art Symmetry Pattern


.... You get the idea.

Finally, after ten days and ~ 40 hours of cutting, it was done and I could at last open the packet and remove the backgrounds. This meant I could move the "loose" assemblies into the enclosure of the Ebony grounds and breathe a small sigh of relief.

World Wood Rectangle Font Map


At this point, if you are Patrice or Patrick, you shade all the pieces and then assemble on a paper mounting board with HHG but since I'm not and I'm nowhere near as confident in my shading, I pre-assembled on clear adhesive backed shelf liner. This gives me a chance to look at my motifs and make changes if I want and it also allows me to remove the pieces, one at a time, sand shade them, and replace them. I like to be able to see how the shading looks and maybe adjust my technique a little as I go.

Here are the two motifs as first assembled.

Textile Rectangle Flooring Art Font


Here I have changed some of the flower colors. I had three colors for each part and only needed two assemblies so I could make changes after seeing the finished pictures.

Rectangle Textile Art Flooring Wood


And after taking all that time to cut, shading only took about four hours for the first one. This photo shows dramatically how much difference can be made by sand shading.

Textile Art Font Flooring Rectangle


All and all, I am very pleased to have gotten this far without losing a single tiny piece and with no serious mishaps. It is by no means perfect but I feel like I have crossed a line in my marquetry journey with this cut.

Wood Textile Rectangle Art Font


I still have to shade the second one, mount them on paper mounting boards, fill with black mastic, and separate them into threes before they get near the drawer sides, but I feel like the hardest part is done ...... for this part.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Wow! That is pretty sensational!
 

Attachments

#268 ·
Mounting the end motifs

First off, here's a photo that shows why I like to use self adhesive shelf paper for initial assembly. It allows me to set the piece up with equal kerfs, (painting in wood and Boulle styles) sub in flower colors as explained in the last segment, and see my shading as it progresses. In the photo you can see one of the pieces has been removed and shaded (lying on the plexiglas, top) and you can see the progress of the shading in the motif. The low tack adhesive makes this removal and replacement easy.

Brown Leaf Rectangle Plant Wood


When I'm finished shading and I'm happy with the composition, I cover the glue side with masking tape, flip it over and remove the film from the show side.

Brown Black Wood Textile Rectangle


Brown Wood Beige Rectangle Art


Then I take the whole thing and mount it in one piece on (French) kraft paper with hot hide glue. After pressing (moderate pressure) and letting the glue dry, I remove the tape.

Textile Wood Publication Art Flooring


Here the piece has been filled with black mastic. (HHG, fine sawdust, black poster paint powder)

Rectangle Wood Flooring Floor Art


Here comes the scary part. Before I assembled the ebony layer of the packet, I cut the panels for the centre drawers to exact dimension. I then carefully aligned the layers in the packet. Now I have to separate the panels at exactly the lines of division in the ebony layer.

Wood Gas Audio equipment Machine Metal


Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Gas


Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Wood stain


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Art


As it turns out, I got the cuts done pretty much as I had hoped and heaved a huge sigh of relief. The relief lasted a few minutes before I realized that the really scary part was next. When you glue these to the substrate, you don't get to see them so you label and mark everything you can think of, dry fit ten times and then suck it up and apply glue and press them. If you get one upside down (or an eighth of an inch too high or low or left or right, or crooked), there is really no way to fix the problem. ....... hence the mulitple dry fits, marking etc.
The picture below looks pretty ordinary but represents a night of poor sleep, two actually as I did the other side the next day.

Water Wood Font Art Glass


To make a long story short, I got away with it this time. At my age this is firmly in the risk taking field as I seem to make little "slip of the mind" mistakes more often than I used to. But I made it this time so on to the next challenge.

Here's how they looked all mounted on the drawers and out in the Arizona sun.

Rectangle Wood Table Art Wood stain


Table Cabinetry Wood Art Rectangle


Table Cabinetry Wood Rectangle Flooring


Plant Wood Houseplant Interior design Flooring


You may notice that the 2" wide "bump out" strip looks a little bare in plain black. Well …....... be patient.

This is a picture of part of a page in "Masterpieces of Marquetry"

Brown Wood Amber Rectangle Creative arts


With that I'll sign off for tonight and get a good sleep.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#269 ·
Mounting the end motifs

First off, here's a photo that shows why I like to use self adhesive shelf paper for initial assembly. It allows me to set the piece up with equal kerfs, (painting in wood and Boulle styles) sub in flower colors as explained in the last segment, and see my shading as it progresses. In the photo you can see one of the pieces has been removed and shaded (lying on the plexiglas, top) and you can see the progress of the shading in the motif. The low tack adhesive makes this removal and replacement easy.

Brown Leaf Rectangle Plant Wood


When I'm finished shading and I'm happy with the composition, I cover the glue side with masking tape, flip it over and remove the film from the show side.

Brown Black Wood Textile Rectangle


Brown Wood Beige Rectangle Art


Then I take the whole thing and mount it in one piece on (French) kraft paper with hot hide glue. After pressing (moderate pressure) and letting the glue dry, I remove the tape.

Textile Wood Publication Art Flooring


Here the piece has been filled with black mastic. (HHG, fine sawdust, black poster paint powder)

Rectangle Wood Flooring Floor Art


Here comes the scary part. Before I assembled the ebony layer of the packet, I cut the panels for the centre drawers to exact dimension. I then carefully aligned the layers in the packet. Now I have to separate the panels at exactly the lines of division in the ebony layer.

Wood Gas Audio equipment Machine Metal


Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Gas


Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Wood stain


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Art


As it turns out, I got the cuts done pretty much as I had hoped and heaved a huge sigh of relief. The relief lasted a few minutes before I realized that the really scary part was next. When you glue these to the substrate, you don't get to see them so you label and mark everything you can think of, dry fit ten times and then suck it up and apply glue and press them. If you get one upside down (or an eighth of an inch too high or low or left or right, or crooked), there is really no way to fix the problem. ....... hence the mulitple dry fits, marking etc.
The picture below looks pretty ordinary but represents a night of poor sleep, two actually as I did the other side the next day.

Water Wood Font Art Glass


To make a long story short, I got away with it this time. At my age this is firmly in the risk taking field as I seem to make little "slip of the mind" mistakes more often than I used to. But I made it this time so on to the next challenge.

Here's how they looked all mounted on the drawers and out in the Arizona sun.

Rectangle Wood Table Art Wood stain


Table Cabinetry Wood Art Rectangle


Table Cabinetry Wood Rectangle Flooring


Plant Wood Houseplant Interior design Flooring


You may notice that the 2" wide "bump out" strip looks a little bare in plain black. Well …....... be patient.

This is a picture of part of a page in "Masterpieces of Marquetry"

Brown Wood Amber Rectangle Creative arts


With that I'll sign off for tonight and get a good sleep.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Excellent work bud. Fit for a king. Or queen?
 

Attachments

#304 ·
Bump-out Verticals

I left off last time with this photo from "Masterpieces of Marquetry" that I chose to adorn the bump-out verticals where the centre drawers stick out past the side ones.

Brown Wood Rectangle Amber Creative arts


After cutting the side motifs these little strips were easy, almost relaxing marquetry therapy. These are the painting in wood packet layers employing Curly Maple, Espenille, Padauk, Pink Ivory, and Poplar on an Ebony ground.

Wood Tints and shades Font Publication Musical instrument accessory


Here is the packet, ready to cut with my Inkscape tracing glued on top.

Brown Textile Wood Interior design Floor


Wood Wood stain Flower Hardwood Varnish


The cut pieces, glue side up, on shelf liner ready for shading.

Brown Flower Plant Wood Tints and shades


And here they are sand shaded, mounted on kraft paper, and ready for filling and pressing. That will have to wait until the top marquetry is complete.

Brown Flower Plant Rectangle Textile


An easy bit of marquetry and a short entry this time. Next up is the top, the most challenging cut I have attempted. It will also be cut in PIW style but I have a little twist on the old methods that I'll show in the next segment.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#305 ·
Bump-out Verticals

I left off last time with this photo from "Masterpieces of Marquetry" that I chose to adorn the bump-out verticals where the centre drawers stick out past the side ones.

Brown Wood Rectangle Amber Creative arts


After cutting the side motifs these little strips were easy, almost relaxing marquetry therapy. These are the painting in wood packet layers employing Curly Maple, Espenille, Padauk, Pink Ivory, and Poplar on an Ebony ground.

Wood Tints and shades Font Publication Musical instrument accessory


Here is the packet, ready to cut with my Inkscape tracing glued on top.

Brown Textile Wood Interior design Floor


Wood Wood stain Flower Hardwood Varnish


The cut pieces, glue side up, on shelf liner ready for shading.

Brown Flower Plant Wood Tints and shades


And here they are sand shaded, mounted on kraft paper, and ready for filling and pressing. That will have to wait until the top marquetry is complete.

Brown Flower Plant Rectangle Textile


An easy bit of marquetry and a short entry this time. Next up is the top, the most challenging cut I have attempted. It will also be cut in PIW style but I have a little twist on the old methods that I'll show in the next segment.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Great work, the pieces look lighter in color after shading than before shading ?
 

Attachments

#329 ·
21st Century Painting in Wood

Up until now I had been laying out my painting in wood layers by hand using lines that extended beyond the edges of the veneer area and after placing the veneer on the drawing, redrawing them on it to indicate the cut out areas. This is basically the "old way" and it works very well …. most of the time. A drawing that has been used for this sort of layout looks like this.

Handwriting Line Font Map Parallel


As this one was going to be large and somewhat complex, I decided to try another way. I retrace all my patterns in Inkscape anyway to create colour separations from photos or, in the case of patterns from books, to "clean them up" to be actually cutable ........ so why not throw in a couple of extra layers and make layout patterns for the different colours of veneer.

Map Font Rectangle Parallel Pattern


At the bottom below you see the pattern for the top of the jewellery box and above it are the printouts of the layers with the colours indicated by numbers.

Brown Textile Wood Sleeve Rectangle


Here is a better look at how they work. The alignment and accuracy are perfect but unfortunately operator error is still possible. Even though clearly marked #2 on the pattern, the large square (lower left) seems to be marked #1 and I in fact made the packet up that way. If you look at the surrounding area on the layouts you will see that that makes for a lot of #1 (Araracanga) in that end of the motif. I did catch it when cutting and managed to fix the packet before any harm was done. I may show that when I do a segment on the cutting.

Table Wood Automotive design Font Technology


Wood Ruler Font Creative arts Flooring


Wood Creative arts Art Triangle Font


You can use the cutout holes to locate the insert pieces in the waster (basswood) and you can use the cut out waster to mark out the veneer inserts efficiently.

Wood Rectangle Ruler Office ruler Shipping box


Rectangle Wood Road surface Brickwork Wood stain


Here the layers are assembled

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Road surface


..and here they are ready to go into the packet along with a full layer of Poplar and a full layer of Ebony.

Wood Rectangle Floor Flooring Material property


Table Flower Wood Rectangle Flooring


All the patterns and cuts were aligned with veneer nails located in holes at the corners of the original Inkscape layout.

Wood Wheel Automotive tire Gas Ruler


I'm into the cutting now and it will be a while before that is finished so this is it for tonight.
Pretty pictures next time, I promise.

Wood Lamp Table Event Engineering


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
 

Attachments

#330 ·
21st Century Painting in Wood

Up until now I had been laying out my painting in wood layers by hand using lines that extended beyond the edges of the veneer area and after placing the veneer on the drawing, redrawing them on it to indicate the cut out areas. This is basically the "old way" and it works very well …. most of the time. A drawing that has been used for this sort of layout looks like this.

Handwriting Line Font Map Parallel


As this one was going to be large and somewhat complex, I decided to try another way. I retrace all my patterns in Inkscape anyway to create colour separations from photos or, in the case of patterns from books, to "clean them up" to be actually cutable ........ so why not throw in a couple of extra layers and make layout patterns for the different colours of veneer.

Map Font Rectangle Parallel Pattern


At the bottom below you see the pattern for the top of the jewellery box and above it are the printouts of the layers with the colours indicated by numbers.

Brown Textile Wood Sleeve Rectangle


Here is a better look at how they work. The alignment and accuracy are perfect but unfortunately operator error is still possible. Even though clearly marked #2 on the pattern, the large square (lower left) seems to be marked #1 and I in fact made the packet up that way. If you look at the surrounding area on the layouts you will see that that makes for a lot of #1 (Araracanga) in that end of the motif. I did catch it when cutting and managed to fix the packet before any harm was done. I may show that when I do a segment on the cutting.

Table Wood Automotive design Font Technology


Wood Ruler Font Creative arts Flooring


Wood Creative arts Art Triangle Font


You can use the cutout holes to locate the insert pieces in the waster (basswood) and you can use the cut out waster to mark out the veneer inserts efficiently.

Wood Rectangle Ruler Office ruler Shipping box


Rectangle Wood Road surface Brickwork Wood stain


Here the layers are assembled

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Road surface


..and here they are ready to go into the packet along with a full layer of Poplar and a full layer of Ebony.

Wood Rectangle Floor Flooring Material property


Table Flower Wood Rectangle Flooring


All the patterns and cuts were aligned with veneer nails located in holes at the corners of the original Inkscape layout.

Wood Wheel Automotive tire Gas Ruler


I'm into the cutting now and it will be a while before that is finished so this is it for tonight.
Pretty pictures next time, I promise.

Wood Lamp Table Event Engineering


Thanks for looking in.

Paul
Paul!!!!!!Outstanding work!
 

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