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English Victorian table – part two
Well, here it is – the first part of the work, the most difficult is over, this will be a game table.
Victorian Style
I always though I was making lots of art nouveau furniture, Victorian was on the second, no, third place for me. But seems like I was wrong, and Victorian will soon take the lead. First of all, because it’s one more commission for me 🙂 Second of all, there are too many very rare, very unusual items that you can find in antiques catalogues and auctions. So this time it’s a table again, but not the usual one. All the details will be revealed soon!
About two weeks ago I started making the working drawing for this table, carving/construction etc. And I started actually making it only last week. This time I’m planning on making two tables, one I’ll be making for myself as it’s very unusual and pretty piece of furniture.
I started with making veneer on my bandsaw then started cutting patterns for a router.
Dining Table
It was pretty fast work, just two weeks I guess. I took the design from French architect and designer Leon Benouville (1860-1903). I just changed the curve of the legs a little bit. Dimensions of a table top – 10 x 15 cm, height – 7 cm.
Second Floor
I finished the chairs and moved on to my dollhouse, now it’s the second floor, lots and lots of work here. The rooms are dusty and look very sad without lights, I need to make several lamps ASAP 🙂
Morris Chair – hard choice.
It’s hard to believe but it’s almost done. 🙂
Morris Chair
I started a new project from Scale Cabinetmaker magazine – two Morris chairs. I couldn’t find the right prototype on Internet, but you’ll get the idea, I hope.
bombe Chest – Done
One more commissioned piece is done. I only managed to make several photos of it.
It’s funny but the projects that look difficult are quite easy to make. Well, that’s how it works for me, at least. The drawers were easy to form, claw foot was also a simple task, I had enough practice with the previous piece as you can remember. 🙂
I made the inner parts out of mahogany as well, don’t know why, I guess I just love the color of it and thought it would look very nice. And it does, actually.
As for the hardware, this time I had to use the handles from Houseworks, I’d rather use the ones from Phoenix Model Developments, but there wasn’t the right size and from, I managed to use them only for the top drawer here. The back was trick, as you form the sides manually, with Dremel and bandsaw, so you spend a lot of time fitting it, the pattern won’t do here.
Despite its looks – it’s very light and you almost don’t feel it on your hand.
I actually love the mahogany covered with shellac, to me it’s so much nicer than cherry wood, though my husband thinks otherwise. The surface is so shiny and smooth under shellac. With so much practice I finally can achieve such results with French Polish.
I guess it won’t be the last bombe chest that I made, I’d love to have a similar one for my dollhouse.
First Fitting
I started making drawers, at first I cut them out with band saw, then sand with Proxxon rotary tool.
New Old Bombe Chest
My first bombe chest has found the new owner already, so I’m making the new one! Don’t ask me why, I don’t know personally. But my husband is a huge fan of such chests, so he challenged me to try to make a bit more difficult shape. I have to shape not only the sides of the chest, but the drawers too.
This model is from the old Popular Woodworking issue. I loved the article. I was surprised that such chests were much more popular in US rather than UK. I also found that in Europe the carcases were made of several glued up pieces and then veneered. In US, woodworkers worked with solid wood.
So I’m making it American way. To cut out the pieces I’m using a bandsaw.
Then the long hours of sanding and final shaping. I hate working with makore, but the color of it and the grain is so beautiful that I simply can’t resist it. It’s so much better than cherry wood or pear wood for me. The only drawback – I have to wear a mask.
After couple of hours:
Now for the top and the bottom, I need to sand it a bit more.
Next time – all the inner parts.
Miniaturas Magazine
To all who subscribed to my site updates through email – sorry for Friday spam. I’ve been translating and moving some old posts from my English blog to this one. I totally forgot that I needed to disable my “Follow” plugins.
The good news this week – my first Miniaturas magazine arrived yesterday. I’m totally thrilled, I had couple of issues found on Picasa, some through my friends in Spain. I really wanted to subscribe to this wonderful mag, as it proved to be one of my favorite. The only problem was – my Spanish not that good, not good at all. Oh, and there was another problem – no digital subscription. That’s what was stopping me actually. But when one of my English mags subscriptions expired I immediately thought of Miniaturas. It was worth it in the end.
The cost is about the same as some English mags, but the quality is beyond compare really. I love it to bits! 🙂 I expected to receive one issue, but I got two actually! What a great surprise!
The quality of paper, photos is a-ma-zing. Period. Usually I skip through the pages quickly to discover only one or two articles worth reading, but this time I enjoyed every single page.
And a little present for me 🙂
The best way to learn Spanish, don’t you think? 🙂