Tuesday, April 29, 2008

So Far

It seemed like the carving of the curved settee seat was a good candidate for a photo essay. I have been saving this design, and the wood for the seat for a special occasion, so documenting the progress has been rather natural. The tools that I mention are used to arrive at the stage pictured immediately beneath.



Here is the adze work. You can still make out the kerf that I made with a circular saw to define the depth of carving.



Here is the result of the inshave. I only work to remove and refine the adze work, preferring to let the travisher do the majority of the surfacing.



The surface below has been shaved with the travisher. It is a fast and consistent way to hog off material and leave a uniform surface.



Finally the spokeshaves and even a block plane come in to smooth the surface.




Here is the piece as it stands now, all the parts are made and the bent parts, such as the curved stretchers seen in clamps, are drying. I will hopefully get the whole thing together on Monday after the parts have thoroughly dried. Until then, there are lots of spindles to shave.

3 comments:

  1. Pete, your settee looks great. Very nice lines and proportions. Do you normally drill the leg holes all the way through the sear before you sculpt it out? I've wondered about drilling the holes first and sculpting away any tear-out. Just wondered if it causes problems with the scorp or travisher. Thanks.

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  2. Steve,
    I have always been an advocate of drilling first for a couple of reasons. One, the tearout, if any and the tearout from reaming is carved away, but more importantly, the flat reference of the seat before carving makes accurate drilling simple. Rarely in the world of woodworking do we obliterate a good flat reference and then try to refer to it! I never have any issue with the tools carving the seat, but the travisher and inshave that I use are relatively flat curves. Also, I don't bother scraping until the legs are glued in place. I have often been asked about this practice, but I think you'll find that once you try it, you'll have few problems, if any, and enjoy the benefits. Let me know how it works for you,
    Pete

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  3. Pete,

    That all makes sense. I'll try drilling the holes first on my next chair (a comb-back arm chair).

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