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English Victorian Style
I would never consider myself as a huge fan of Victorian style, probably because I haven’t seen the examples that would look just right for me. And this time I think I’ve found some. One of my latest commissions:
Theatre stage ( for short film)
I finished this project some time ago, one of my favourite commissions. I don’t have many photos, I mean good ones, sorry about that.
Well, the commission was to make a theatre stage for a short film, can’t go into details 🙂 It was supposed to be quite big – 75cm wide, 65 cm high and 40 cm deep. Almost like my dollhouse 🙂 Huuge. And heavy.
Bombe Chest – Almost There
My bombe chest is almost done. I need to make the inner parts of the drawers and also sand the trims of the outer parts. For two lowest drawers I needed to shape the sides, very easy to do, I used alder.
Read the news about Sketchup, they leaving Google and becoming the part of Trimble (never heard of them). It is said that they will keep a free version, I’m curious which direction the developers will take. Here’s official Sketchup team post about it.
New Old Book
This book has been in my wish-list for quite a long time. I didn’t see any good reviews of it, you know, I’m too curious, always wanted to know what was inside. “Making Miniature Furniture” is out of print, I saw it on Amazon available from different buyers (mostly US), but later found it on biblio.com. The book was available from UK, so I decided to give it a try.
This particular copy is 1997 edition, originally printed in 1988. It’s had a bit different approach than of Harry W. Smith, though I quite liked it. No metalworking chapters, only wood. Lots and lots about instruments, principles of work. There are no furniture projects like Victorian table or something like that, but mainly general – building frames and doors, drawers.
I liked these small references on different styles, nothing new, but still interesting.
Color illustrations are great too, just loved marquetry work here:
Too many details on this photo 🙂
Carving legs
I finished carving these legs last week. I’m almost pleased with result, I was even thinking of making another version of them but I have other projects to do too, so I decided on moving on. I really liked working with cherry, though with pear wood it would be absolutely different experience. The only problem I had is, when I was finishing working with spheres, some of those small claws started to split and fall off so I had to glue them back. But I liked how the joints and claws turned out.
Carving spheres was fun, they look just right from every angle.
The other details above the leg were supposed to be carved by Dremel, but I didn’t like the result at all, simple V-shape micro chisel 0,5 mm was the best option.
I also bought a set of Narex chisels lately. They are quite good for their price, but require additional work. Kirschen is still my number one choice.
I also started working on drawers, two of them were shaped according to the profile of the sides. The most difficult part here is done.
Finished!
Here it is! The project is finished.
Read more…
Drawers
The desk is not done yet!:)
My hubby developed a habit joking around if I have made my desk yet. Last few days I’ve been working on the drawers. First I’ve made strips then cut mortises for the bottom of the drawer. It would be easier if the drawers had the same height, but the lower half drawers have different one.
Dickens’ Desk – almost there
I never thought it would be so much work with this desk. When I just started I was amazed by all those little details, compartments and shelves. To be honest, I was never a fan of Dickens’ novels, though I liked one about him (well, almost), it was called Drood. As in his novels it’s all about quantity.
I spent a couple of days making a baluster gallery. I made two types of balusters with different design, and then decided which one to use. For the gallery I needed eleven balusters.
Two top pedestals were quite easy to make. I’m pretty happy with the result so far, especially considering the type of veneer I’m using. Now I can move to writing surface and drawers.
Compartments
On Wednesday I finished this central piece. The height of it is 17 mm and the width is 48 mm. I used my own mahogany veneer 0,8 mm. I was almost done with the drawers on the left and on the right of this letters compartment but decided no to use it and try to make another one.
Dickens’ Desk – The Process
Just a couple posts earlier I was writing about Dickens’ Desk, this time I’ll show more photos of the process. I began with the lower part of the desk.