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11-30-2016, 07:41 PM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,301
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For the woodworkers
We visited the wife's family this past thanksgiving and during the trip her mother wanted to pass down some family furniture. This coffee table was made by her grand uncle for her aunt, and then was passed on to her mother (when the aunt died).
I'm really impressed with the workmanship. I can't figure out how he made the table top -- the wood pieces are all unique, there are no gaps, and some would require cuts at very sharp angles. Whenever I've cut wood for projects, I've never been able to obtain sub millimeter precision -- not even close.
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11-30-2016, 07:47 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,078
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Thanks for sharing. Amazing details.
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11-30-2016, 08:58 PM
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#3
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Kerrville,Tx
Posts: 3,361
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photoguy
We visited the wife's family this past thanksgiving and during the trip her mother wanted to pass down some family furniture. This coffee table was made by her grand uncle for her aunt, and then was passed on to her mother (when the aunt died).
I'm really impressed with the workmanship. I can't figure out how he made the table top -- the wood pieces are all unique, there are no gaps, and some would require cuts at very sharp angles. Whenever I've cut wood for projects, I've never been able to obtain sub millimeter precision -- not even close.
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Is it possible the table top is veneer (look at the underside of the table). If it is veneer then the veneer is likley less than 1/8 inch thick and can be cut with a good scissors, giving greater cutting flexibility.
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11-30-2016, 09:05 PM
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#4
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 16,603
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For the woodworkers
That table is incredible. I agree-top could be veneer. I've never worked with veneer, but from what I've seen, it wood be a little easier to make with veneers rather than with thicker pieces.
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12-01-2016, 07:51 AM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,229
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Probably used several types of thin veneer and did the cutting with a straight edge and very sharp razor blade. Not sure if that was done as an inlay where you usually cut a pattern first then scribe it on the work surface. Maybe start with one big piece of veneer cut to the size of the table top and lay the pattern out then cut the prices, then you can use the cut pieces to duplicate on different types of veneer. In any case I'm sure it took a long time, probably more artwork then woodworking.
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12-01-2016, 08:20 AM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Kerrville,Tx
Posts: 3,361
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In looking at this I discovered that for furniture like the above table there is a term
Marquerty that covers it defined as: "
Definition of marquetry
- : decorative work in which elaborate patterns are formed by the insertion of pieces of material (as wood, shell, or ivory) into a wood veneer that is then applied to a surface (as of a piece of furniture)"
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12-01-2016, 08:37 AM
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#7
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Little Trailer Down By The River
Posts: 190
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If you are interested, marquetry is done with very sharp knives and/or saws with essentially no kerf and very thin blades. Plus a lot of patience. In my youth I did a bit, I am too impatient to enjoy it, too much like knitting.
__________________
"Here's to them who would read,
Here's to them that would write.
There's none ever feared that the Truth would be heard,
But those whom the Truth would indict."
Robert Burns
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12-01-2016, 08:53 AM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Huntsville, AL/Helen, GA
Posts: 6,002
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He was quite an artist in veneering.
I sleep in a bed made by my grandfather for my mother, and he was an artist with a lathe. And I ended up with his whole woodworking shop which I cherish--and all his wood. I have a walnut timber 4" x 14" by 12' from a tree he felled in the 1930's.
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12-01-2016, 09:14 AM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,301
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Thanks for the info -- I had no idea there was a specific term for this type of work. We don't have the piece on hand but we will pick it up when we drive to visit at christmas (we flew this time). MIL also has a sister piece, which isn't in as good shape due to children (DW and her brother).
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12-01-2016, 09:15 AM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 5,867
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However it was done, that table is beautiful!
__________________
Give a Man a fish, he will eat for a day.
Teach a Man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.
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12-01-2016, 09:41 AM
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#11
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 16,603
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meierlde
In looking at this I discovered that for furniture like the above table there is a term
Marquerty that covers it defined as: "
Definition of marquetry
- : decorative work in which elaborate patterns are formed by the insertion of pieces of material (as wood, shell, or ivory) into a wood veneer that is then applied to a surface (as of a piece of furniture)"
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Yep - and I'm fairly certain that they get precise cuts by cutting one piece of veneer first, then use that piece as a template for cutting adjacent pieces. Gluing sawdust into cracks is another trick to make the seams look seamless.
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12-01-2016, 09:56 AM
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#12
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: https://www.google.com
Posts: 750
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Beautiful work.
This probably doesn't apply to this particular table, but marquetry is also being done by woodworkers with amazing precision with todays laser cutters. I own one of these laser cutter/engravers (small biz out of my home) and it can cut to hundredths of a millimeter precision.
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12-01-2016, 10:39 AM
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#13
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 756
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You can take a bit of a shortcut and buy the marquetry pieces on various types of backing, from veneer all the way up to 3/4" stock. Several online sites to just browse, choose, and order from.
I ordered a circular one a few years ago in veneer and glued it onto a 1/4" ply backing:
And then used that to inset into the top of a navigation table on a sailboat I was refitting:
__________________
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” ― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
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12-01-2016, 04:39 PM
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#14
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 16,603
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^ Nice work!
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12-02-2016, 07:22 AM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 9,525
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Great work from original poster and I always enjoy the talent of wood workers. Nice job. I just wanted to share a few carvings I do when I have some extra time. These are all hand carved I don't use electric tools etc. I use knives hand gouges etc.
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...1&d=1480688350
I don't know how to rotate picture so very sorry.
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12-02-2016, 11:52 AM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,375
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poorcarver
If you are interested, marquetry is done with very sharp knives and/or saws with essentially no kerf and very thin blades. Plus a lot of patience. In my youth I did a bit, I am too impatient to enjoy it, too much like knitting.
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I thought that the OP table might be a really high end chipboard.
Just kidding.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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12-02-2016, 12:11 PM
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#17
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: On a hill in the Pine Barrens
Posts: 9,722
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That is definitely marquetry.
Pieces of veneer are overlaid, and then cut with very sharp instrument, like a razor. That's my guess.
I would cover that with glass. It is a valuable heirloom and collectable.
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12-02-2016, 07:09 PM
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#18
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,896
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pb4uski
I thought that the OP table might be a really high end chipboard.
Just kidding.
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Actually, it isn't uncommon to put work like that on a high quality 'chip-board' (MDF - medium density fiber board).
MDF is more dimensionally stable with humidity, so makes an excellent substrate for veneers.
-ERD50
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12-02-2016, 11:16 PM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,765
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Quote:
Originally Posted by street
Great work from original poster and I always enjoy the talent of wood workers. Nice job. I just wanted to share a few carvings I do when I have some extra time. These are all hand carved I don't use electric tools etc. I use knives hand gouges etc.
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...1&d=1480688350
I don't know how to rotate picture so very sorry.
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Nice! Now that I'm down in FL with the cypress swamps I've been thinking of trying my hand at carving a few cypress knee wizards. I doubt they'll be as good as yours, though.
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
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12-03-2016, 07:37 AM
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#20
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: North TX
Posts: 1,834
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Nice work, real art in my opinion. I work with a CNC router and dabble in the woods... limitations, but super accurate...
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