The Phoenix Table

Last September I posted an entry here about an elderly lady who lives in a historic Craftsman house just a few blocks from the shop. I mentioned that her entire house went up in flames (actually it exploded) when some very stupid refinishers tried to strip all the woodwork with the windows and doors closed and the water heater turned on. She was lucky to get out alive.

At that time she had a very large pine table which had been made in New York some 50 years ago. It wasn't an antique, and it wasn't particularly well made, but I had been hired by her previously to refinish it with a more "authentic" finish than the yellow lacquer.

She had a particular attachment to that table, since it had been made for one of her dear friends who had a large family, and it brought back good memories of her past. Although it was very large, it was one of the few items in the house that the brave fire fighters actually moved outside while fighting the fire.

When I saw the smoke from the fire, while standing in the front door of my workshop, I rushed over to see which house was burning. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to see that table sitting on the lawn, smoldering. Naturally it was beyond saving.

Fortunately, this lady had good insurance, and the strong determination to not only rebuild, but to restore the home exactly as it was built in 1926. She found some experienced contractors and supervised every step of the job, fighting the city code during the entire process. She moves in to the "new" historic house next month.

Since all of her antique furnishings were lost, she has been collecting replacements. That is why she came back to me to rebuild the pine dining table. I don't usually work in pine, but it is a change of pace to just do "timber framing" and "rough" hand planing. Where the original table was held together with dowels and bolts, this version is strictly traditional: wedges, pins and mortise and tenon construction.

The top is the same size as the first table, 4 feet by 8 feet. It fits well on the top of my bench. Tomorrow I start the process of finishing it and by next week she should have the table sitting on her new hardwood floor in the dining room.

I don't think she will have the woodwork in the house stripped again.

ASFM Student Humor

I have a lot of fun in my business. I enjoy working with fine furniture and solving challenging problems. I take pride in the results, so there is a serious side to the job. However, when I teach students in the American School of French Marquetry, I try to bring humor into the discussion, and find it extremely interesting how the different personalities respond to my approach. Sometimes it works and sometimes it dies a slow death.

Over the years, I have resorted to a few "pat" jokes (pun intended) to spice up the lecture. I admit that these are not really the kind of jokes that will earn me a television series, but, in the context of the class, they provide a kind of break in the day.

The first "joke" usually comes at the lunch break on Monday. Since the historic business community, North Park, where my business is located, has become a major attraction for excellent and upscale places to eat, I always draw a map on the chalk board and discuss the options. The closest place to eat is directly across the street from the shop, KFC. It was also one of the first places to open some 30 years ago. I should point out that the KFC is West of me and we usually have a mild ocean breeze blowing from the West. After some 30 years of the "aroma" of KFC filling the shop, I have developed an aversion to their food. So, I start out with a variation of the joke as follows: "You can eat at KFC, but don't come back to school." Then I point out all the other great places nearby.

OK, not much of a joke. I warned you.

So, since all the class I students are required to make a Boulle picture of their face, I received a portrait of the Colonel executed by a student which I now use to illustrate the bad joke. The marquetry is better than the joke.

Another "joke" is used to generalize the typical motifs found in American marquetry. Perhaps I will be accused of being an elitist, but I am not trying to be mean. I just want American artisans to expand their horizons. Think outside the box. Explore your creativity.

What I mean is that, in looking at many, many examples of marquetry, I began to realize that a majority of them had 4 essential elements: Boat, lake, tree and mountain. Patrice and I became obsessed with looking at marquetry online, watching "how to do it" videos, and looking at marquetry newsletters, to find examples. We would score them, from 1 to 4, depending on how many elements of the "required" motifs were used. For example, we would say: "It has a nice tree, big mountain and a lake, but where's the boat? I give it a 3."

Not very nice, but it makes a "joke" that I use to illustrate to my students how they can use the French methods to add more sophisticated elements to their design.

So I just received a nice card from a recent student, who enclosed his project: "Marquetry in America, a study of the relationship between the lake, the mountain, the boat and the tree." He included a note that included this disclaimer: "Not submitted for adjudication. Just for fun."

Is it me or does the boat remind you of an Italian cruise ship? Anyway, we gave it a 4.

Take life seriously, but be sure to have fun while you're living it.

Old Brown Glue at Rockler

Two weeks ago we received another order from Lee Valley in Canada for a shipment of Old Brown Glue. At the same time, we received confirmation that Rockler, in America, will proceed with distribution of our product. This is great news for us. We were involved in discussions with Rockler for several weeks, processing papers and going through the requirements for insurance, shipping, billing, MSDS data sheets, and all the other details that were required.

However, when they approved their first order the same week as the new order from Lee Valley came in, I had to go into overtime cooking. I bought another 150 lbs of protein glue, more urea and some new double boilers and went to work.

Mixing, cooking, bottling, labeling, packing, shipping, and all the little details which are required to complete such a large order took me several days. But by the end of the week, there were two shipments, neatly boxed and secured to pallets, properly labeled and ready for the pick up. What a nice feeling of satisfaction.

I am pleased that such a large segment of woodworkers have tried protein glue and take a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that my formulation of traditional hide glue is a part of so many important projects. If you haven't tried it yet, what are you waiting for?

Get it here.

Treasure Box Déjà Vu (Again?)

Patrice has been sick for a few days. Sinus headache. Not a pleasant situation, so he stayed in bed. Today he showed up, but is still not running on all cylinders. While he was home, he had a chance to read my recent posts about the box photos.

Since we worked very closely together to make the box, he was anxious to fix the problem with the photos. So, this morning he crawled into the shop and sat down at his computer and, within 10 minutes, seemed to fix the problem.

Here are his versions of the photos. This is the closest to the real thing so far. I probably have spent way too much time on this digital photography thing, but I have discovered that a lot of woodworkers who read this blog are, in fact, very talented professional photographers. I have learned a lot from their emails and comments. Thank you all.

Treasure Box I (Encore)

I got a lot of comments on my questions about digital photography. I need to confess that, over the years, I have carried my Nikons and hundreds of rolls of film all over the museums of America and Europe, and that I am, in fact, an analog thinker. I mean, what kind of person has 18,000 slides of just furniture catalogued in conservation boxes? Each piece has a front view, 3/4 view and detail close up shot. The weird thing is that I can remember exactly where I was when I look at a shot. Talk about a strange talent...

In any event, my good friend Chuck, did some work on the photo I posted and sent this one back. Although it is still not exact, it is an improvement on the "professional" shot. Next week I will see what I can do to correct the original and post it.

Thank you to all the kind readers who sent me their opinion. I appreciate that others have found my work interesting.

Treasure Box Series I (Part D)

I am not sure about digital photography. Just not sure. I do not trust something that can be manipulated so easily. So, anyway, I paid a photographer, with a lot of expensive equipment, to take a picture of the box. I will post it here.

However, since it is made of exactly the same materials and has the same finish as the jewel box at the masthead of this post, why does it look different? Trust me, I will find out what is wrong with this picture and repost it as soon as I can get it right.

In the meantime, here is a shot of the outside and inside of the finished box. Enjoy.

Remember, I have three more just like it...

Treasure Box Series I (Part C)

Cutting out the background, using the Classic Method is actually fun. Kind of like the homestretch run in a race. If you have done your training properly and paid attention to the basic details, the final distance in the race is an endorphin high.

We first glued newspaper to the face of the ebony veneer, so that it would hold together in the fragile areas. Then we made a packet, starting with 3mm backer board, grease paper, 4 layers of 1.5 mm ebony (paper side up) and a 1.5mm front board. On the front of the packet we glued the design, using hot protein glue. Then we taped the outside edges and nailed all the interior elements together with veneer nails.

Drilling a hole in the design, we began cutting out the pattern, following the edge of the design, going counter clockwise. That is the genius of the Classic Method. You cut all the inside elements following cutting around each in a clock wise direction. You then cut the back ground in a counter clockwise direction. By this simple change of direction, you can cut away the outside (or right side) of the line exactly each time. The result is a tight fit, without any saw kerf visible.

When the entire background is cut out, the packet is taken apart and the result is 4 identical backgrounds, ready for the pieces. To assemble the project, we have made an assembly board with Kraft paper (90gm/square meter) and set up the work table with the tray of parts, assembly board and glue pot.

Each piece of the picture is laid down into the appropriate cavity of the background, which is laid face down in hot glue on the Kraft paper. You need to be sure all the parts are well glued down, so fresh, hot glue needs to be added as the work progresses. Since all the parts are very tight fitting, it is necessary to use a special veneer knife to lever them into place. A lot of the success depends on compressing the wood elements enough to press them into place. It can be a challenge sometimes, but the results are amazing.

Since we are making 4 identical marquetry boxes, we decided to create variations in the interior fittings. The first box has sawn olive, kingwood, tulip and boxwood inside, with a secret panel for hiding treasure. I designed a brass release and lever to allow the user to open the panel. Inside this panel we put our label: "Edwards and Lejeune". The beech wood box is assembled with full blind dovetails at each corner, to prevent the joints eventually pushing up through the marquetry.

The marquetry panels are glued to the beech ground, which has been toothed properly, using Old Brown Glue. After the glue has dried, the Kraft paper is soaked with cold water, begins to dissolve, and gentle scraping removes the paper and glue from the surface. The marquetry is scraped flat and the polishing begins.

Once the hardware is cut in (lock and hinges), the box is ready to deliver. The first one is sold and we have three more.

I will post better pictures in a future post.