Whitnall Gardens Studio
Member
The Rock River Valley Chapter of SAPFM held a meeting on Saturday, November 8 in the Board Room of the Public Library in Waunakee, WI.
Ten members attended the meeting. As this was the first meeting in a number of years, the meeting started with a discussion about what the members hope to get out of their membership, which specific topics they would like to see discussed, what presentations the members would like to make at future meetings, and which furniture periods are of most interest to the group.
After introductions by each attendee, Mike Mason gave a PowerPoint presentation on building an 18th century chevalet de marqueterie, the hand and foot powered marquetry veneer cutting device that has a guide rod system to ensure that the cutting blade is perpendicular to the packet of veneers being cut at all times. Mike brought a pair of small marquetry examples, as well as the chevalet de marqueterie he built, to the meeting, so that members could examine them close up and try it out if desired. Steve Downes was particularly interested in the details as he is designing and building one of his own. The presentation included the history and differing styles of marquetry, photos of examples of fine marquetry from the 15th century to the present, a step-by-step explanation of the Boulle procedure on a packet of veneers, and some tips on building a chevalet de marqueterie.
During lunch, members socialized and had an opportunity to purchase tools from the tool sale table. A number of carving tools and a sharpening system were among the items for sale. Dennis Bork donated several one-gallon jugs of hot hide glue to those who had expressed an interest.
After lunch, several members showed items that they brought for the Show-and-Tell portion of the meeting. Carl Widder showed a small side table with drawer that he made entirely from some lovely tiger maple that he was given. The table design was generally based on historical examples, but it also had some design details, such as the turned legs, that were Carl’s.
Dirk Herr-Hoyman showed two marquetry pieces that he had made, using both hand and laser cutting techniques.
Timothy McKibben brought several modern wooden planes made by German companies E. C. Emmerich and Ulmia and explained how to adjust them and why he believes them to be economical alternatives to high-end metal planes.
Michael Stiennon brought a table saw jig that he designed to establish a straight edge on rough lumber.
After lunch, Michael Stiennon made a presentation on carving the convex and concave shells as are seen on six-shell Chippendale secretaries and bureaus. He passed around for inspection a dozen of more of his practice carvings, showing how his skills had improved over time. He generously gave a very detailed 60-page handout to all attendees that he had written on how to draw a Newport shell; the geometric construction of several different convex and concave shells; carving, scraping and burnishing the shells; and cutting the base molding and feet of a blockfront kneehole bureau.
Finally, Dan Schwank of Red Rose Reproductions (a small scale manufacturer and supplier of traditional woodworking tools, including molding planes, floats, wooden screws, work holding devices, Latta inlay tools, layout and bench tools and chisels) gave a presentation on sharpening plane irons, in particular how to reduce tear out via three methods of setting up a plane to do so, including closing the mouth of the plane, changing the cutting angle of the blade, and setting the cap iron to be within several thousandths of the cutting edge. Dan, who was a tool & die maker before engaging in his business full-time, passed around samples from a test he did to determine which of these three methods to reduce tear out resulted in the best finish. It should be noted that the molding planes that Dan makes by hand have extremely smooth surface finishes that are directly off the plane, with the only sanding being done to slightly ease any sharp corners of the molding plane.
Ten members attended the meeting. As this was the first meeting in a number of years, the meeting started with a discussion about what the members hope to get out of their membership, which specific topics they would like to see discussed, what presentations the members would like to make at future meetings, and which furniture periods are of most interest to the group.
After introductions by each attendee, Mike Mason gave a PowerPoint presentation on building an 18th century chevalet de marqueterie, the hand and foot powered marquetry veneer cutting device that has a guide rod system to ensure that the cutting blade is perpendicular to the packet of veneers being cut at all times. Mike brought a pair of small marquetry examples, as well as the chevalet de marqueterie he built, to the meeting, so that members could examine them close up and try it out if desired. Steve Downes was particularly interested in the details as he is designing and building one of his own. The presentation included the history and differing styles of marquetry, photos of examples of fine marquetry from the 15th century to the present, a step-by-step explanation of the Boulle procedure on a packet of veneers, and some tips on building a chevalet de marqueterie.
During lunch, members socialized and had an opportunity to purchase tools from the tool sale table. A number of carving tools and a sharpening system were among the items for sale. Dennis Bork donated several one-gallon jugs of hot hide glue to those who had expressed an interest.
After lunch, several members showed items that they brought for the Show-and-Tell portion of the meeting. Carl Widder showed a small side table with drawer that he made entirely from some lovely tiger maple that he was given. The table design was generally based on historical examples, but it also had some design details, such as the turned legs, that were Carl’s.
Dirk Herr-Hoyman showed two marquetry pieces that he had made, using both hand and laser cutting techniques.
Timothy McKibben brought several modern wooden planes made by German companies E. C. Emmerich and Ulmia and explained how to adjust them and why he believes them to be economical alternatives to high-end metal planes.
Michael Stiennon brought a table saw jig that he designed to establish a straight edge on rough lumber.
After lunch, Michael Stiennon made a presentation on carving the convex and concave shells as are seen on six-shell Chippendale secretaries and bureaus. He passed around for inspection a dozen of more of his practice carvings, showing how his skills had improved over time. He generously gave a very detailed 60-page handout to all attendees that he had written on how to draw a Newport shell; the geometric construction of several different convex and concave shells; carving, scraping and burnishing the shells; and cutting the base molding and feet of a blockfront kneehole bureau.
Finally, Dan Schwank of Red Rose Reproductions (a small scale manufacturer and supplier of traditional woodworking tools, including molding planes, floats, wooden screws, work holding devices, Latta inlay tools, layout and bench tools and chisels) gave a presentation on sharpening plane irons, in particular how to reduce tear out via three methods of setting up a plane to do so, including closing the mouth of the plane, changing the cutting angle of the blade, and setting the cap iron to be within several thousandths of the cutting edge. Dan, who was a tool & die maker before engaging in his business full-time, passed around samples from a test he did to determine which of these three methods to reduce tear out resulted in the best finish. It should be noted that the molding planes that Dan makes by hand have extremely smooth surface finishes that are directly off the plane, with the only sanding being done to slightly ease any sharp corners of the molding plane.