Treasure Box Series II Progress

Treasure Box Series II Nearly Complete

The day Kristen and I left to fly to Winston Salem, Patrice finished cutting out the ebony background packet and was ready to start putting it together.

This Treasure Box is twice as difficult as the first series Treasure Box, and it includes subtle complexities that makes it even more challenging.   Patrice and I have worked together on this project for an entire year to get it to this point, and we hope to complete the project, with four identical boxes by the end of this year.  Or sooner, if possible...

After the success in selling all four of the first series, we were encouraged to start working on the next series.  I selected the original box from a web search and began working on the box construction.  You can search back in this blog to see how long ago it was that I was cutting the full blind dovetails for the corners.

We decided to do the interior in bloodwood veneer and we found a nice large and colorful bloodwood board in Oregon to cut down for the solid partitions to match.  The design includes three birds, each different.  Two are sitting in trees inside the box itself.   One is on the top outside center, surrounded by bone inlay.

Patrice refined the overall design using illustrator, which produces a line composed of very small dots.  It is essential to use a dotted line to cut the pieces properly.  That is because we are using the Classic Method to produce these boxes, and, if you have been following this blog, you realize we are "cheating."  What I mean by this is that the original box, made in the late 17th century, was made using the Painting in Wood process.  With this process, you only are able to generate one copy of the design at a time.  In order to made these boxes "affordable" we are using the Classic Method, which the French perfected in the mid 18th century, and with that process we can make multiple copies all identical.

They look like Painting in Wood, but the fit is perfect since the saw kerf is eliminated, so an expert would be able to determine that they are not "of the period."

To cut out the background for the top, Patrice had to first cut out the elliptical bone cavity around the center bird.  Then he had to take apart the package and install the bone strips in each background.  Since the four backgrounds then had to be put back into a packet absolutely perfectly, with a new design placed on the front of the packet, there had to be some way to keep the alignment of each layer without any error.  I suggested using pins which would be placed in holes that were first drilled through the first packet.  Then Patrice was able to keep the second design in the right position by locating these pins.  It worked perfectly.  Absolutely zero error.

For more about this part of the job visit Patrice's blog here:Patrice's Lumberjocks Post

So, after cutting the packet for over three days, full time, he was ready to start putting the pieces together.  We flew to Winston Salem on a Wednesday.  On Thursday night we were looking for a place to eat and walked into a crab shack around the corner from the hotel.  As we looked at the menu, we were dismayed to find everything was fried.  When the waiter arrived and asked us what we wanted, we said "anything organic and anything not fried."  He kindly said, "You are in the wrong place.  You need to go down Liberty Street on the other side of the interstate and eat at Willows."

Boy, was he right!  We ended up eating there four nights in a row and enjoyed every bite.  For example, here is the "Grilled vegetable Napoleon -layered puff pastry, with grilled asparagus, grilled portabella mushrooms, grilled artichokes and fontina cheese, finished with roasted red peppers."  I had it twice!

Excellent Food Properly Presented

So, as Kristen and I sat and enjoyed our delightful dinner together on Thursday night, I received the first photo of the marquetry that Patrice had just put together.  Kristen actually cried when she saw it and I stopped breathing for a few moments.  It was just too beautiful!  I know how the masters in the 17th century felt when they looked at their work.  One part of the brain (the technical side) focuses on the slight defects that are always present.  The other part of the brain (the artistic side) just smiles, knowing the satisfaction of a job well done.

To quickly review how we got to this point, I will briefly summarize the process we used.  After Patrice had completed the drawing, I laid out 32 different packets of sawn veneers and coded each part of the design with the appropriate wood.  The top has nearly a thousand separate pieces, and each had to have a color, keeping in mind the overall goal of making it look authentic.  I then glued each piece of the paper to the packets and fed them to Patrice, who was kept busy cutting 4 layers of each element over nearly a month of work.

He is responsible for placing each piece in hot sand to create the artistic shadow, as I no longer have the patience to do that part of the work.  It is an essential part of the process, but very tedious.  Patrice has the eye and understands exactly how the final result will look.  He did a great job.

At this point all the sides for the four boxes are assembled and all the tops are nearly ready.  The inside marquetry is done and glued down.  There is one last issue to resolve: green bone.

If you look closely at the marquetry you will see that a lot of the places where leaves should be are empty.  These spots will be filled with green bone leaves.  Also, in these places you can see small strips of ebony crossing the empty space.  These strips are "bridges" which are a feature of the Classic Method.  By leaving "bridges" in the design, the various elements of the background can remain exactly in the proper place until the worker is ready to install the proper element.  The worker just cuts out the bridge and installs the leaf, in this case.  We will do that as soon as we complete the process of dying the white bone a proper green.  Green bone elements were a very popular feature in late 17th century work.

I am so proud of this recent work that I want to show you some closeups, even though the work is not completely done.  Note you are looking at the back side of the marquetry, which is being assembled with hot glue on an assembly board which is covered in stretched Kraft paper.  When all the parts are in place, any gaps which remain will be filled with mastic.  Then we can remove the panels and finally glue them in place on the outside of our boxes.

We are very fortunate that three of these boxes have been sold and paid for.  That means that there is only one Treasure Box Series II which remains available.  It is our hope that we will find a patron who is able to purchase the last box and perhaps donate it to a museum.  We believe that this work is worthy of being in a museum where it can be enjoyed by the general public.  I think it is very important in this modern disposable world that the public has the chance to view objects which will stand the test of time.  This work is equal to that produced centuries ago, as we have been very faithful to the craft.

Exciting WIA Week in Winston Salem

Fortunately, I had decided to arrive several days in advance of the WIA conference and stay a few days after, so Kristen and I were able to spend some quality time in old Winston Salem.  In fact, the last time I visited Winston Salem and MESDA was in 1978, during one of my several trips to visit East coast museums and historic settlements.  I am sorry it took so long for me to return.

The weather was great, in fact, with only a slight spot of rain and moderate heat.  While I was away, on the other hand, San Diego had a heat wave, with several days above 100 degrees.  Poor Patrice had to work at the bench, building the top of our Treasure Box (Series 2) while I got to wander around from place to place, thinking perhaps I should have packed a sweater.

Last year, during this time, I was teaching at Marc Adams school, and only had a short time late on Saturday to get away.  I broke several speed limits driving from the school to Cincinnati to see the WIA event.  I got there about 30 minutes before it closed, with just enough time to get my signed copies of Roubo from Chris.  As it turned out, I also had to sign a few copies, since I wrote the Forward.  The best part was that I got to have a nice dinner with Roy later that evening.

This year, I was a speaker, and presented two lectures to a rather enthusiastic and supportive audience.  The first was a talk on "Historic Marquetry Procedures,"and went through basically 500 years of the traditional methods used to create this art form.  The second was "Building and Using a Chevalet."  At the start of this lecture, I mentioned that I have been working for nearly 20 years to introduce this unique tool to woodworkers in North America.  Then I foolishly asked if anyone in the audience knew about this tool.  When nobody raised their hand, a person in the back shouted, "You haven't been very successful!"  As they always say in law school, "Never ask a question if you don't already know the answer."

I shared the lecture room with Roy Underhill, which is always an experience.  As I was setting up my talk, he was putting his things away.  They had scheduled a half hour break between speakers.  Just about the time I was ready to start, Roy had the brilliant idea to "introduce" me. You probably already know he can be theatrical, to say the least.

He said the first time we met was at the Great Salt Lake, and there was a stampede of brine shrimp.  Tim Webster was sitting in the audience, and had the quick thinking to pull out his camera and video it, posting it on YouTube soon after.  I was speechless and had to hold my tongue, while he went on and on, creating a story that was more and more amazing.  My mike was turned up to the max and when I did comment it was way too loud.  Near the end I asked him to turn down the mike, and he crawled under the screen to adjust the volume.  I thought I had a quick wit, but there is no way I can keep up with Roy when he is "on."

Here is the video: Underhill introducing Edwards

While I was having fun in the lecture hall, Kristen was in the Trade Show, where we had a booth for both the ASFM school and OBG.  She is a master of working these shows, and I am very grateful for her talent, as I usually lose my voice and patience trying to compete with the noise.

Of course, Roy had to stop by and pick up some glue...

At the end of the show, they gave away a rather expensive band saw.  I wondered if it would fit in the overhead compartment on the plane, but fortunately I was not in the contest to win it.  However, they asked all the speakers at the show to sign it.  I asked, rather incredulously, if they really want me to sign a power tool?  They insisted, so I did.  You can see my name, with the comment added 

"Use hand tools."

After the show Kristen and I went to MESDA where we had a nice tour with Daniel Ackerman.  We also enjoyed a private home tour by Tom Sears, both of which are members of SAPFM.  We had dinner with Jerome Bias, who is the joiner at Old Salem, and then visited him at work, where he demonstrated his Roubo veneer saw.

Across the hall Brian Coe was using the foot power lathe to make some turnings.  That is a rather impressive tool, made from massive pieces of oak.

All of this activity was in the Brothers House, and it was full of woodworkers from the show, having a great time sharing stories.  There was a warm sense of camaraderie and mutual friendship.

I made a promise to myself not to wait another 30 years before returning to Winston Salem.  Thanks to Megan, Don, Roy, Jerome, Daniel, Phil, Freddy, Martin, Tom, Brian, Will, and too many others to name.  You know who you are!

Woodworking in America Calls

I am really looking forward to meeting all my good friends and woodworking peers this weekend.  I have been asked to teach a couple of classes, and my wife Kristen and I will also have a booth in the Trade Show area of the conference.

To see a list of classes click here:WIA Lectures

Our booth will be representing the American School of French Marquetry, and I hope to attract new students both to my school in San Diego, and also to Marc Adams School of Woodworking, where I will return to teach next fall.

Marc has graciously sent to the conference one of the chevalets he built for my class.  Unfortunately, the classic chevalet doesn't fit into the typical baggage requirements, so having one of his on loan is a great help.  Thank you Marc.

We are also selling bottles of Old Brown Glue at our booth.  That is assuming the TSA doesn't look at a 49 lb bag of gelled organic glue as a threat.  We included in the package the MSDS just in case.

I used to wonder at Don Weber, the "bodger of paint Lick, Kentucky," when he would stay with us.  His baggage contained a dozen razor sharp turning tools.  I guess if you look authentic, they don't mess with you.

I have had my share of interesting stops by TSA.  One I am thinking of was the time I transported 2 kilos of sand, which I paid a good price for in Paris.  This particular sand comes from Fontainebleau and is used for burning wood in marquetry.  As they ran their hands through the sand, looking for something, they finally asked me, "What is this?"  All I could say was "Sand."

But the most memorable and dramatic event was when I arrived from Paris to clear customs in Philadelphia.  I had a bag which was 50 pounds.  I had purchased a variety of traditional stains, in powder form, as well as kilos of pumice and "soie" which is a silk filtered mineral for French polishing.  At the same time, since American pewter is different than traditional French pewter, I had several sheets of 1mm thick pewter lining the sides of the bag.

So, when I was asked to open my bag for inspection, the inspector looked into a bag, lined with lead sheeting and filled with hand made brown paper kilos of different powders.  He asked me to empty the bag, and as I lifted each kilo out to place it on the table, different colored powders would leak out.  I tried as best as I could to explain why I had placed pewter on the sides of the bag, but he wasn't impressed with my knowledge of traditional marquetry and special materials.

As he reached for the telephone to call a superior my heat sank, thinking my stop over in Philadelphia was going to take longer than I had expected.  However at that same instant a 777 had just arrived and there were about 300 people rushing the gate.  He just gave up, looked at me sternly, and said, "Pack your bag and go."

I guess it does matter if you look authentic. Hope to see you in Winston Salem!

A Simple Painting In Wood Etude

Always Start With The Basics

When I decided to open up my marquetry workshop to students, I had to decide what kind of curriculum to follow, knowing that I would have a wide range of students with a wide range of abilities and experience.

Therefore, I followed the musical format which I learned during the decades I was involved with classical music.  At the age of 12, I saw a kid playing the violin on the Ed Sullivan show on TV.  I immediately told my parents that I wanted to learn the violin.  Fortunately, they were able to buy me a moderately good quality instrument and find someone to teach me.  I went every week to get a lesson and made a good effort to practice daily.  I was not always successful, and my teacher would always know when I had practiced or not.

There were fingering exercises, bowing exercises, scales in every key, and very simple practice etudes. It was all about technique.  My teacher was a very old man, and had learned himself from a Russian teacher.  He insisted that I learn the basics before I even thought about playing anything by some composer.  He was right.  I was soon able to join the Civic Youth orchestra, where I sat first chair, second violin section.  (I never had any aspirations to play first violin.  That takes a certain ego.)

In college, I naturally took music and had the good fortune to study with Bert Turetzky, a famous double bass player.  He listened to me play my violin and immediately said, "Forget it.  I need a viola player.  Can you learn to play the viola?"

I went back to my teacher, who was in his 90's and retired and asked him if he could help me.  He was generous enough to show me what I needed and I spent my college years playing the viola in the UCSD quartet.  Some of the most rewarding days of my life.

My point is that, if I had not been shown how to hold the instrument, how to tune the instrument and how to execute the most basic technical aspects of it, I would never have been able to perform Schubert's string quintet in C major successfully.

Thus, since I only teach two weeks of classes every quarter, it is essential that I teach the basics.  How to fit the chevalet to the worker.  How to hold the saw frame and set the tension.  How to make a packet and cut it. How to execute simple etudes over and over.

The first week is the Boulle method, where it doesn't matter much if you can follow the line.  Most students are able to learn fast enough and have enough control to stay on the line by the end of the week.  The second week is the Classic Method (Piece by Piece) where it is essential that you not only follow the line exactly, but are able to cut away exactly half the line consistently.  That takes good eye/hand coordination, and that takes much more practice to master.

There is an etude which is in between these two methods: Painting in Wood.  With this method, you do not have to follow the line exactly.  The pieces always fit, since you are basically using the Boulle method of cutting the layers of the packet in super position.  That means the elements of the design are cut at the same time as the cavities of the background, which is in the same packet.

With the Classic Method, the elements of the design are cut in a separate packet and the back ground is cut in a separate packet, so if you are not careful, they will not fit.  The French developed the Classic Method and were able to keep most of the secrets of this process in Paris.

At the end of the 17th century, the rest of Europe began to evolve the Boulle Method into the Painting in Wood method, as the desire to create more naturalistic marquetry designs became the fashion.  With Boulle, the packets were usually layers of ebony, pewter, brass or tortoise shell, and the overall design was either a positive or negative form of the design ("premiere-partye" or "contre-partye").

Boulle Marquetry Project for Art Institute of Chicago

When the fashion began to change, and the desire to include more types of woods as well as more naturalistic images of flowers and birds became popular, marquetry artists developed the Painting in Wood process.  Instead of solid sheets of material in the packet, they began to include smaller pieces of exotic wood veneers, strategically placed in ares of the design where they were needed.

I wrote an article explaining this process in detail in Woodwork, February 2008, where I show how I made one of my tall case clocks.

The success of this method depends on making sure the elements of the wood you need for the design are exactly in place inside the packet, and that you are able to include as many different species of woods as possible in the fewest number of layers.  Generally, using 1.5mm sawn veneers, I limit my packets to 8 layers of veneer, plus the 3mm back board and the 1.5mm front board.  When using 0.9 sliced veneers, it is possible to include as many as 12 layers of veneer.

I first make multiple copies of the design.  Using those copies, I begin to place my woods in each layer where they are needed.  Then I fill in the gaps with a scrap veneer so there are no voids inside the packet.  I am careful to keep the outside corners of the design for proper orientation.  I usually include at least two different species of woods for each flower, which gives me the option at the end of selecting the proper woods for the best effect.

Working from the back of the packet, I first start with a 3mm back board and a layer of grease paper.  The back layer of veneer is always the back ground, which in this case is ebony.  Note I have colored on the design those parts of the background which are isolated and would tend to get lost if I didn't pay attention while cutting.

Layer F (Background Veneer)

(Note there is no ebony veneer in this photo, since it was used in the project.)

Each of the following photos shows the design for that layer on the left and the layer of the packet on the right.  Since this example is one I use in class, I have covered the layer of veneer with clear packing tape, and you are looking at the back of the layer for clarity, since it is covered with veneer tape on the face which holds everything together.

The next layer is generally either a layer of green or brown for the branches or leaves:

Layer E

Here is the next layer in the packet:

And so on, each layer with its design:

Layer D

Layer C

Layer B

Layer A

Note that I have colored the design with yellow for the parts I need.  That allows me to quickly visualize the final result, making sure I have the desired woods in every part of the picture, before I assemble the packet and begin cutting.  As you can easily see, this process allows for efficient use of small pieces of veneer which otherwise would be discarded.  Plus you can place the grain direction the way you want for the best result.

I make a final drawing and use it when I cut out the packet.  This design shows me all the information I need to select the proper layer of wood from the plug of veneers, each time I cut them out.  The rest is discarded.  I keep only the woods I need for the picture.

Cutting Guide

There are several reasons I like Painting in Wood.  Since I am not very good at drawing, but I am very good at cutting, this process allows me to "improve" the design as I work.  As I said already, it also allows me to use very small scraps of my sawn veneers, which are expensive.  I also find it very stimulating to mentally create the final image and "see" the picture while looking at the layers of the packet.

One of my students, Paul Miller, seems to have also found this process interesting.  After he returned to his workshop and built his chevalet, he sent us a card with the photo of this etude on the cover:

Paul Miller's Card

I really appreciate it.  Soon he will be performing Schubert!

Jewel Cabinet Backstory Revealed

A Little Pride Showing

When I started this blog, I selected one of my favorite pieces to use as the Banner.  The Jewel Cabinet I made nearly 10 years ago has an interesting story and I often use it during my lectures on Painting in Wood to illustrate my favorite method for decorating surfaces.

This Jewel Cabinet was first exhibited in the SAPFM member's exposition, "Contemporary Classics: Selections from the Society of American Period Furniture Makers," at the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia, and I distinctly remember it as being the only piece of European furniture in that show.  Subsequently, it was also on exhibit here in San Diego, at the Mingei Folk Art Museum, as part of the "Forms in Wood and Fibre" exhibition.  I must say it also stood out from the rest of the show, as being from another planet.  My good friend, John Lavine, editor of Woodwork Magazine, was kind enough to place this cabinet on the back cover of issue #101, October 2006.  It is in a private collection today, and I get to see it from time to time.  The last time I looked at it, my first comment was "I could do much better today!"  Then I realized that my thoughts should best be kept to myself.  This craft is an amazing thing: you spend 45 years working every day trying to master it only to find out that there are still many more things to learn.

The art of French polish is a good example. Once, in the most prestigious restoration shop in Paris, I approached a worker who had spent 10 years in that shop and his only job was polishing.  As he was working on a beautiful mahogany table, rubbing away, I watched his darkly stained hands moving expertly over the surface and asked, "Can you tell me some of the secrets of French polishing?"  As I understood his response, in French, I heard, "I've been doing this every day for 10 years, and I still have a lot to learn."

As the photo of this Jewel Cabinet is an iconic part of this blog, I thought it was time I should explain what led me to make such a thing.  Also, since Paul Miller just wrote me and asked if he could use my piece as an inspiration for him to make something similar, I want to post some more details for him to use.  I have no problem with others copying my work.  I have done the same thing all my career.  The difference is that the craftsmen I choose to copy have all been dead for a couple centuries.

In any event, I first saw this cabinet in London, at one of the most well known and expensive antique dealers in that city.  I will not name the company, for reasons which will become obvious in this post.  As I walked through their showrooms, I was impressed with the quality of the objects and the perfect condition they appeared to be in.  In one room I was stopped in my tracks by a wonderful marquetry cabinet with ivory feet and pulls.  I asked the salesman for more information, as I "might have a buyer" and he obliged by handing me three glossy 8 x 10 photographs and the price sheet.

Here is the description on the price sheet:  (Dealer name covered by blue tape)

Name Deleted to Protect the Dealer

There are several points raised by this sheet to consider.  First of all, it is attributed to "France, circa 1690."  Secondly, it is called a "Cartonnier."  Third, it is very strongly attributed to Boulle, without exactly saying so.  (The word is "comparable.")  Forth, it is 116cm wide (this fact will soon be recognized as very significant.)  And, finally, it is 18,500 British pounds.

As soon as I was able to return to my library and do basic research, I found this document:

The Evidence Exhibit A

The type is hard to read, but it says: "Flemish..Antwerp, in the manner of Van Soest..." This page is from an auction sale around the same time as I saw the cabinet in London, and the auction estimate was 7-10,000 British pounds.  I do not know how much it sold for.  I do note that the top section is"a removable superstructure of inverted breakfront form, with a central cubgoard door inlaid with a vase of flowers, flanked by eight drawers..."  More importantly, the width of the cabinet is 116cm.

I doesn't take a lot of conjecture to imagine a person buying this desk, throwing away the base section (since it needs a lot of work), adding ivory feet and pulls to the upper section and calling it French.  The motive is simple: you double your money.

My first suspicion that something was not right, was the term the dealer provided for the object: "Cartonnier."  I know from my reading and visiting museums that a cartonnier in French furniture is a different shaped cabinet which stood at the end of the bureau plat.  In simple terms, it was a filing cabinet for the paper work.  Generally quite tall and shaped to match the Louis XV forms popular at the mid century.  The dilemma faced by the dealer was what to call it, since it no longer was associated with the Flemish desk that used to support it.

In any event, here are the photos supplied by the dealer and what I did with them:

"Comparable to Outstanding Boulle Marquetry"

This first photo is of the central door and two of the small drawers.  The marquetry is very crudely executed.  My process is to trace the designs, rather quickly on tracing paper, so I can begin to memorize the details.  This is the result:

Rough Drawing of Original

At this point, I was convinced that I would not use any of the marquetry designs on the piece.  I could do much better by adapting some of the traditional French designs that are included in all of Pierre Ramond's books.  So I kept the same dimensions and form and redrew the designs completely as follows:

Final Drawing of Marquetry

You might notice that I am not afraid of cutting very little pieces.  The eye of the bird, for example, is less than 1mm in diameter.  I prefer the way the flowers stand in the vase and the perspective of the table top supporting the vase gives depth to the image.  I like to use olive oyster sawn veneers for the vase, as it lends a look of marble to the object.

I cut out the solid woods for the carcase, using quarter sawn white oak and beech.  I rough out my stock and set it aside, with stickers, for a season (at least one year) to adjust to my climate.  I cut out more pieces than I need, so I can pick the best ones when it comes time to build the piece.  While the wood is set aside, I turn my attention to cutting out the marquetry panels, using the Painting in Wood process.  I remember there are 18 panels plus the running bands on the face.  Several of the panels are identical in design but inverted in polarity so as to appear different.

For example, the two large panels on the top ends are the same design, but mounted left and right, with the individual colors of the elements selected as opposite colors.  The 8 drawers are made from only two drawings.  One has an orchid in the corner and the other has a rose.  By flipping the images left and right and changing the woods, it appears that there are 8 different designs.  There are 32 different wood species and all of them are natural colors, except the blue and green woods which are tinted using traditional methods.  Of course all the veneers are sawn material I purchased in Paris from Patrick George and are 1.5mm thick.

Here is the top of my cabinet:

Top of Cabinet

I needed ivory for turning the feet and pulls, so I contacted my friend, David Warther.  He kindly sent me the proper pieces of ivory along with a legal "Affidavit of Origin" documenting where he purchased it:

Legal Ivory

I included this paper with the cabinet when I sold it.  You may check recent posts on this blog to see how current legislation is affecting the trade in ivory, both legal and antique.

I might mention that I like to use full blind dovetails for my cabinets and boxes which are veneered.  This way the dovetail pins do not telegraph through the surface over time.  I did the same for this cabinet.  Everything was hand surfaced and toothed so I could press the veneer in place.  After the panels were laid down, the cabinet was glued together and the ebony and boxwood banding applied.

Here is the front of the original cabinet:

Made by Hand in Antwerp late 17th Century

Here is my cabinet:

Made by Hand in Southern California 21st Century

Here is the back of the original piece:

Back of Cartonnier

Here is the back of my cabinet:

Credit for Design to Louis XIV Coffer 

When I applied the shellac polish, I found myself being detached from the object in a very strange way.  As I stepped out of the job of making the cabinet and transitioned into the job of polisher, I began to wonder "who made this?"  It sounds strange, but when I am in the middle of a project, I can think of nothing else.  But when it is done, I forget all about it and move on to something else.  So, as I polished the ebony and marquetry surface, all I could think of was how amazing this object was, and how lucky I was to be able to work on it.

All told, I spend 800 hours building this cabinet and it sold the day it was finished to the first person who saw it.  Life is good.  There is still a lot to learn.

New Furniture?? Not My Problem!

Me Looking At New Furniture

During my career restoring antique furniture, I have gotten fairly good at screening calls.  I am always amused at prospective clients who have lived with a piece of furniture for years, perhaps even their entire life, and who have never really looked at it.  Until it broke or was damaged somehow.

Then they call a refinisher to see about getting it "restored."  Of course, these people are people who actually have jobs and hobbies and spend their time doing other things than looking at furniture like they were in love with it.

So I have a series of simple questions, like: "What wood is it?"  When they don't know, I ask the back up question: "Is the wood red (ie. possibly mahogany), brown (walnut?) or yellow (oak for sure).???"

Another series of investigation starts out "What do the feet look like?"  To which the standard answer is "I don't know, I never looked."

The final question is the most obvious: "How old is it?"  And I always get the same response: "It's old!"  Which, of course, is meaningless.  Old compared to what?  Your car?  Your dog?  At this point I hit them with my best shot: "Is it an antique?"  That is when they always say, "I'm not sure, but I know it's old.  I got it from my grandmother."  Always the same type of response.  In the end I insist that they send me a photo since that is the only way I know what they have.

I anticipate the email with photos so I can find out exactly what kind of work is involved.  The majority of the time it is disappointing, and some of the time amusing (to me; not to the client I'm sure) and in rare instances it is amazing and exciting.  A good example happened this week when a caller asked about repairing water damage to their dining table.  Here is the photo I received:

"Water Damage"

Clearly, if you have a table made of MDF with paper thin veneer and finished with a conversion varnish, it is probably not the best idea to use it outdoors in the rain.

I am writing this post since there were three instances this week alone which made me think of the consumer and modern furniture production.

The first one was a call which mentioned a Mission Oak Dining table and "several mahogany pieces."  When I arrived I was shown a Mission Oak table which was very clearly brand new.  The finish on the entire top had peeled away from the wood, leaving large bare spots all over the table.  The finish which was not peeled was cracked and ready to delaminate.  When I asked how old was the table, they informed me that they had bought it two years ago, new.  The "mahogany pieces" were actually mahogany (African) and old (1940's).  I sent them to another refinisher.

Then something exciting happened.  A young couple came in and purchased 4 nice New York dining chairs from me.  These chairs were made in 1850 and were solid Brazilian rosewood, with the original seat upholstery.  They told me they had been buying IKEA furniture, but it always fell apart after a few years, so they wanted to "do the right thing" and buy something with a "low carbon footprint."  I think that furniture manufactured over 150 years ago must have a very low carbon footprint.  Actually, I think at that time it was a whale oil footprint.

When I delivered the chairs, they immediately placed their IKEA chairs out on the curb and, within 5 minutes they had disappeared.  Talk about recycling!

But the most amazing story just happened here at work.  The door bell rang and I opened it to find an older gentleman.  He asked me if I could fix his drawers on two chests he had.  I started to explain that wood drawers often wear out on the lower edge of the sides and the wood runners would also need some repair.  He said that wasn't the case.  I then said that some more modern drawers have a center slide under the drawer, and if that was not in the right place the drawer would be hard to open.

 He said "No.  Actually there are metal slides for the drawer."

"Oh, I see.  What you have is more like office furniture?"

"No," he replied, "It's high end furniture I just bought it, and I paid a lot of money for it."

At that point I told him that I couldn't help him.  But he said that what was wrong was the screws holding the slides were coming out and he could see that they were in the way.

"Why don't you just screw them back?" I asked.

"Because it would void the warranty," he insisted.

"But, if it's high end furniture and under warranty, why don't you just have the store fix it?"  (I suppose this was a dumb question, but I was now in new territory.)

"They have already sent out a repair man twice and he can't seem to fix it!"  He was exasperated.  All I could mutter was "I am sorry, but I can't help you."

As I closed the door of my workshop, I was relieved somehow that it was actually closing out the modern world, and that I could return to my glue pot and workbench in peace.

OBG Raises Questions and Provides Answers

Made Possible by Old Brown Glue

I developed and used Old Brown Glue nearly 10 years before I began selling it to the "public." That was almost 15 years ago, and I was naturally concerned about how others would be able to use this glue and what questions they may raise.  Since that time this glue has been used for making American Indian rocket ships, artificial kidney stones, as a bonding agent for exterior sprayed finishes, applying veneer to 10' tall architectural columns in Florida, Alaskan native drums, "craquelure" finishes, and too many other odd projects for me to remember.

Of course, my intention in making and selling OBG from the start was so that other woodworkers would be able to use it and appreciate its unique features, as I have.  So I was pleased to see the increasing number of furniture makers and luthiers who are using this glue on a regular basis.  And, since my name and phone number is on the label, I am constantly hearing from these people and answering their questions. I am happy to be of assistance, and always ready to respond to emails or phone calls, since I feel somewhat responsible for the success of their projects.

In order to fully understand how glue works, it is instructive to discuss not only the glue but the properties of the wood itself.  How the wood is prepared, what species it is, how it is joined and other factors contribute to the success or failure of the work.  That is why studies of adhesion spend a lot of time discussing the material and how it is prepared.  See the article in Fine Woodworking, "How Strong is Your Glue?"

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines an adhesive as a substance capable of holding materials together by surface attachment.  There are a variety of forces at work which make this possible.  The most common is called "mechanical bonding" meaning that the surfaces are held together by an adhesive that has penetrated the porous surface while it is liquid, then anchored itself during solidification.  With some adhesives, there are also other physical forces of attraction, which are referred to as "specific adhesion".  These include intermolecular attraction forces which form bonds between the adhesive polymer and the molecular structure of the wood itself, such as van der Waal's forces and hydrogen bonding.  I believe that covalent bonding is also a factor, which is 11 times stronger than hydrogen bonding, but at this time there is no clear evidence that such bonds constitute an important mechanism in adhesive bonding to wood.

The reason I suspect that these molecular forces are a factor is that water has a strong molecular attraction to wood, primarily through hydrogen bonding with hydroxyl groups of the cellulose which is in the wood.  Since protein glues are carried by hot water, it is obvious to me that they would have excellent penetration into the wood surface and form specific adhesion with the molecules of the wood itself.

Animal glues are derived by the hydrolysis of the protein constituent collagen of animal hides and bones.  They are described as "hydrolyzed collagen', and are actually various amino acids which join in polypeptide linkages to form long chain polymers.  Studies have indicated that most glue molecules consist of single chains terminated at one end by an amino group and at the other end by a carboxyl group.  Cross linkage between protein molecules is possible through hydrogen, ionic and covalent bonds.

These glues are manufactured in a wide range of average molecular weights but are graded for commercial use by a test instrument called a "Bloom Gelometer." In general, woodworkers use glues rated at 192, 222, or 251 average gram strength.  The higher the number, the faster it sets and the more brittle the bond.  The lower the number, the slower it sets and the more flexible the bond.  I have used Milligan and Higgins hide glue, gram strength 192 for the past 45 years, both in the glue pot and it is the basis for the formulation of Old Brown Glue.

The addition of urea to protein glues acts as a gel depressant, simply lowering the gel point.  Franklin and Titebond both manufacture and sell a similar liquid protein glue, and they use other chemicals to achieve the same result, such as ammonium thiocyanate or dicyandiamide.  Because of the large number of hydrogen bonding sites on the protein molecule, an amazingly diverse number of additives can be used to modify animal glues, producing a wide range of results.  My goal was simply to lower the gel point, using the most basic organic chemical, and I chose urea.

The inspiration for this decision was my participation in a research group in France some 20 years ago.
The group was called ADEN, and was a joint collaboration between the Musee des Arts Deco, in Paris and the Ecole nationale Superieure des Technologies et Industries du Bois, in Nancy.  One of the research projects involved testing the use of protein glues, with and without modifiers, in bonding wood to wood and wood to metal.  Long term environmental stress testing was done to anticipate aging.  The results wer published in a paper in a paper by Aurelie Garcet in 1996, titled "Etude des Colles D'Origine Animale Utilisees Pour la Restauration de Marqueteries Anciennes."  The general results of that testing included adding thiourea to the glue but thiourea is a known carcinogen.  The only difference between urea and thiourea is that thiourea contains a sulfur molecule, so I decided to do my own testing with urea after I returned to my workshop.  It took me 37 different formulations to achieve the results I wanted.  Surprisingly, it did not take a lot of urea, but for obvious reasons, I cannot exactly state how I formulate the glue.

The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) has a subgroup, the Wooden Artifacts Group (WAG) which I have been a member of in the past.  This group publishes papers in their WAG Postprints, and in 1990 published a paper by Susan Buck, from Winterthur.  The title was "A Study of the Properties of Commercial Liquid Hide Glue and Traditional Hot Hide Glue in Response to Changes in Relative Humidity and Temperature."  Of course, this was before OBG was developed, so she used "a new, unopened bottle of Franklin Liquid Hide Glue with an expiration date of January 1991".  I should mention that Franklin was the first company in America to sell liquid hide glue.

Her conclusion states:

Based purely on strength characteristics this testing indicates that liquid hide glue is the glue of choice for repairing a join which will undergo significant stress, such as the structural join of a chair in regular use.  But, more importantly, that decision must also take into consideration the environmental conditions.  Under normal conditions of 50% RH and room temperature liquid hide glue provides the strongest bond.  However, hot hide glue proved to be the more stable of the two glues under extreme conditions of high heat or high humidity, and thus would be the ore desirable choice if fluctuation environmental conditions are anticipated."  The "extreme" conditions in her testing occurred at 84 % RH and 150 degrees F.  This is not surprising, as protein glues are reversible and those are the exact conditions under which the glue converts from solid to gel to liquid.

In fact, reversibility is one of the most important features to me in deciding to use protein glues in my work.  All furniture needs repair.  If you cannot reverse the finish or bonding agent easily, the furniture cannot be repaired easily.  One of the reasons antique furniture has survived for centuries is that it can be easily repaired.  As soon as modern adhesives or modern catalyzed finishes or epoxy fillers are used, the antique is damaged severely.

The fact that protein glues are "reversible" always raises questions, since modern synthetic adhesives are not, in fact, reversible.  You need to get both humidity (water molecules) and heat to the surface of the glue to liquify it.  That means that, if the wood joint is well made and tight, and there is a protective finish applied to the wood, and perhaps a wax is applied to the finish, and the object is in an environment which is not the surface of Venus, then the glue will hold.  However, if you throw the chair or guitar into the jacuzzi and leave it overnight, it will come apart.  Seriously, luthiers need to repair their instruments, and I understand that they use a range of glues for different reasons.  Liquid hide glues as well as hot hide glues in different molecular weights are commonly used and work perfectly, and there are instruments which are centuries old to serve as a testament to this fact.

All modified liquid protein glues have a shelf life.  Unmodified dry hide glue has an infinite shelf life, but when the protein is in solution the presence of water facilitates a chemical breakdown of the glue.  The pH changes over time.  Normal protein glue is in the 6 to 6.6pH range.  OBG is formulated to start at 5.5pH when fresh and decay to 6.0 after 18 months in the bottle, regardless of storage conditions.  Keeping it in the refrigerator prolongs the shelf life, and it can be frozen and thawed as many times as you wish, further extending the useful shelf life.

What happens to the glue over time in the bottle is that the viscosity changes as the pH changes.  It starts out as a gel in the bottle, which requires heating to use, and eventually becomes quite thin and liquid past the due date.  It also develops a strong ammonia smell, as a result of the chemical breakdown of the urea, and this is an indicator that the glue is no longer good.  I always recommend you buy it and use it fresh, before the due date, and if you are not sure, do a simple overnight test.

You can also heat and cool it for normal use as often as you want and as many times as necessary.  We do this all day long to adjust the viscosity for our work.  Simply take hot water from the tap and place the bottle in the water.  In a few minutes it is ready for use.  One advantage is that you can use the water to clean your hands since the glue gets very sticky and we often use our fingers.  Of course it is not toxic at all.

There are questions about how the urea affects the glue strength over time and why it is softer than hide glue on the surface.  My research seems to prove that OBG cures over time by loss of moisture, which is a factor of the wood and environment.  Thus, when the glue is applied to a joint or other surface and pressed together, the wood absorbs the moisture, allowing the glue to cure fairly rapidly.  However, the glue which squeezes out and rests on the surface retains a high degree of water for a fairly long time.  It might take days or weeks for it to completely dry out, which makes it softer than hot hide glue, which always dries brittle and hard.  I think this is an advantage in my work, since I often work with period finishes and the hot hide glue will damage the finish when I try to remove it.  I find the liquid glue cleans up easily with cold water and a sponge, conserving the original finish.

Thus, inside the joint, after the water has dispersed and the glue has cured, there is no longer any reaction between the protein glue and the urea modifier possible.  The glue is stable over time, and I have tested many projects over my career which gives me the confidence to continue using and promoting this wonderful material.

Further reading can be found in my article, "Why Not Period Glue?", published in the Society of American Period Furniture Makers Journal, November 2001.