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Marie's Table... A Marquetry Adventure

65K views 266 replies 66 participants last post by  Jim Jakosh 
#1 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".



To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.



I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.



If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.



This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.



There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).



Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.



I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
 

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#2 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Paul
Painting in wood is the perfect description of your art here. Beautiful work.
Jim
 

Attachments

#3 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Paul,

Have you been to the Getty Center in LA? There is some work there you would like. A couple of desks in particular.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
as always, Paul…masterful. I would think that by now, you would know not to ask yourself…"how hard can it be".

My wife tells me I'm not interested in doing something if it's not impossible.

Lee
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Paul,
You're no fool, but you can paint me green with envy. This is meticulous work and I hope I can approach it one day. BTW, I have found a man to teach a marquetry class at my shop in the near future. I told him about you and your chevalet. He was amazed, and had only ever seen one in pictures.

Ken
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
This looks like its going to be an amazing table. I think that's my favorite part of woodworking is doing a project and having to problem solve your way through it, what better way to encounter those "learning experiences"! I look forward to the rest of this blog.
 

Attachments

#7 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Wow, I can only imagine all the things that can go wrong.
I love the journey also - what fun.

It is looking really great,
Steve
 

Attachments

#8 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Your detail work is incredible! I'm happy if I can get a tight fit for a flying dutchman or butterfly inlay to reinforce a slab bench that has a crack through the slab.
 

Attachments

#9 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Paul: I great treat to see a master at work. Thanks for offering us this journey.
 

Attachments

#10 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Wonderful wooden painting. I would lose too many of those little pieces, if I could even cut them out. Thank
you for sharing your journey with us and letting us dream.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Another learning experience here at LJ. I have a couple of marquetry pieces that came from my grandparents and I love them. I would have not been able to describe how they were made. At least now I can start describing it. I am looking forward to more installments - I have a lot to learn.

Some questions though-
It looks like you end up with lots of extra pieces - in fact are all of the pieces cut out of each veneer? Does that explain why I sometimes see the same design in a different color scheme? If you do not want multiples are the extras just trashed (cries) or do you take a different approach with your cut sheets?
 

Attachments

#12 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
what a fantastic and fun project to take on, i also have a furniture piece planned for this fall/winter that will be fun for me, not on the same scale as what your doing but ..you know what i mean, this is a great learning tool for those who are doing or trying to enter into this type of wood work, thank you for sharing your talent, its always a joy to see
 

Attachments

#13 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
I sure admire your courage in tackling such a complex project Paul, and even more so your ability to do it really well. The work so far looks just looks amazing to me. This blog is a real treat. Don't worry about your blog being too long as I'm sure many others like myself will just enjoy it all the more.

When you get the time I sure would appreciate hearing about the advantages of the Chevalet over a power scroll saw. I am sure there are a few, and it would be interesting to have your take on the subject.
 

Attachments

#14 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Paul,

Don't worry about length, you are teaching and inspiring so much. It is a joy to read and see your work!

Nate
 

Attachments

#15 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
This is going to be a great blog!! Wow!
 

Attachments

#16 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
I'm in "awe" with the complicity of this project! Your work and skill just seem to improve by leaps and bounds with each project. Seems almost criminal that one person should be blessed with so much talent but I'm not criticizing or bemoaning your talents. Almost seems like you're another Davinci or Michaelangelo in the making? I'll be following your posts and dreaming!
 

Attachments

#17 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Simply amazing project… for the journey will be outstanding. Looking forward to see it progress Paul.
 

Attachments

#18 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
You do amazing stuff Paul.
 

Attachments

#19 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Amazing. When I tackle something new I scale it way down. I am in awe at your willingness to take on this type of project.
 

Attachments

#20 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Awesome work. That is going to be one incredibly beautiful table. Looking forward to your next postings.
 

Attachments

#21 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Thanks for the interest. I hope I can live up to your expectations.

Al, No I haven't been there but I have some awesome books full of masterpieces to inspire me.

Lee, you just gotta love a challenge. .... and by the way, my wife says that a lot too.

Kay, In the different styles of cutting there will be more or less scrap. When you see a pair of pieces one light on dark and the other dark on light, it was likely cut Boulle style and may have left no scrap at all. Check out my cutting styles blog. It should answer your questions.

Mike, I'm not sure that the chevalet can do much that a power scroll saw in the hands of a real pro can't but for me at least I find that having everything moved by my hands alone, with no external input, ie: motors, gives me better control over the operation. Very tiny pieces may be a problem with scroll saws but I'm no expert on them.

Thanks again
 

Attachments

#22 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Paul, absolutely amazing. Can't wait to see how it turns out.
 

Attachments

#23 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
To use some over used descriptions. "Wow, and Awsome!" Your work shows the progress of an artisan. I remember when you weremaking the marquetry press. LOL! Patience and motivation appear key here, along with talent of course. I may get there some day? But for now I can be an admirer of your talent. Your journey is inspiring and intimidating! LOL!
 

Attachments

#24 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Man that packet looks thick.
What is the thickest packet you have cut with your chevalet?
 

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#25 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.



I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.



If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.



This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.



There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).



Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.



I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Very interesting…

You are a true artist in motion…

Thank you.
 

Attachments

#26 ·
Where it all Started.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago I posted a new segment in my blog about marquetry cutting styles describing the "painting in wood" style. Well, once I started cutting the classic French design (pattern in the back of the workbook from ASFM) I started musing about where it might end up. I've made enough boxes and while they were a good venue for some simple marquetry and served well to practice on, my real interest is in bigger projects and more furniture kind of pieces.

To make a long story a little shorter, I decided to go for one of the most common items seen adorned with French marquetry, the writing table. One of the problems you face when you start looking in Pierre Ramond's books to get a feel for what you want to build is that you soon discover that in France, in the days when the chevalet was developed, they put a lot of marquetry on their furniture. I don't mean that the top was completely covered with it (although it would have been) but that every flat surface on the piece was covered with marquetry…...........and some of the curved ones.

The question that always gets me in trouble: How hard can it be?

So I started by designing a nice little writing table with lots of marquetry and it just sort of snowballed from there. I'm currently at around twelve to thirteen hundred pieces and I haven't started assembling the table yet.

Here are a few photos to get you up to speed.

This is a sketch I made several months ago, a little musing about making a fancy table in the old French style (of which I know nothing of course). It immediately came to mind when I did the painting in wood piece. The finished table will actually look a lot like it. That's surprising for me because my projects often end up very different from the "concept drawing".

Rectangle Wood Parallel Tints and shades Font


To start with I thought I would cut the "music" motif from the painting in wood segment above in an ellipse and do a leaf garland to set it off.

Art Wood Rectangle Creative arts Font


I decided to do a macassar ebony border around the table top and add elaborate corner marquetry. I matched and mitered the ebony veneer and then stack cut all four corners in four colors in Boulle style. That means the packet was sixteen layers plus 1/8" plywood wasters top and bottom, about 3/4" thick.

Dishware Rectangle Wood Eyelash Serveware


If you want things to fit after cutting a packet this thick you had better have a very square blade setup.
This picture shows the check I did to be sure. The piece fitted in the hole in the bottom waster plywood is actually the piece cut out of the top waster piece 3/4" away. This proves that the bottom piece and the top piece are exactly the same size. It took a little adjustment but the built in adjusters on the chevalet handled it perfectly. The piece at the side is one of the ebony layers from the same cut.

Brown Bird Wood Font Art


This shot shows the layers in the packet. There are four of dyed yellow, four purpleheart, four pale green poplar and four ebony. The Poplar was thicker and caused several problems down the road.

Human body Plant Gesture Tree Wood


There are something like two hundred and sixty-eight pieces in the corner motifs (total).

Brown Purple Leaf Textile Rectangle


Here is the rough laid out border with the corners assembled into the background and the central medallion sitting in rough position. The garland has yet to be trimmed to elliptical on the outside.

Wood Creative arts Art Rectangle Circle


I think that's enough for one night. I am skipping a lot of little things but this blog will turn out to be long enough as it is. I have a ton of photos of this thing. Next time I'll try to cover the rest of the table top and include a few of the "learning experiences" I was fortunate enough to encounter.

I hope you enjoy this blog half as much as I am enjoying the build. I keep hearing strains of "Fools Rush In" when I'm working on this..????

Thanks for dropping in. Comments, critiques, and especially questions are always welcome.

Paul
Wow Paul. Just wow.
 

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