apologies in advance... WIP

[fletty]

Having just searched the forum to help out with my latest project, I have come to the conclusion that I may as well post an apology now and save some time later as all of the following have raised the temperature before on the forum

OK, here it is.....
I am doing a 'love job', a French Provincial style hall table, it will be made of pine (radiata), fully painted, crackle paint, distressed .... but the owner is very pretty!

Today I made, for the first time, cabriole legs. It took a while to get the design and proportions right but it went smoothly after that. These are the front legs, the back legs are different as they splay to the side only but not back.

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It was a pleasant afternoon in the shed. The bandsaw made some noise but the handtools and HNT curved base spokeshave swissshed me into a good space.

fletty

[NCArcher]

.... but the owner is very pretty!


No apology necessary Fletty. We understand :;

Nice legs, shame about the paint. :D

[Enfield Guy]

The things we do for lust!!

[Christos]

Another interesting one to follow.

[_fly_]

So, Nice legs and the face is nice as well.

[wheelinround]

You go shed time :o Bet those legs are better looking than yours after the weekend :;

How'd you turn the ends Fletty:p

[fletty]

Bet those legs are better looking than yours after the weekend :;

How'd you turn the ends Fletty:p

Actually the knee pulled up pretty well after City2Surf number 25. I'll have to get back into training if I'm going to do the half marathon in September though!

The turned ends are an old trick. I bandsawed the legs out of a 90 x 90 blank BUT before doing all of the cutting and shaping, I drill into the end with a hole cutter and then blend the sawn faces into the outer diameter.

fletty

[dr4g0nfly]

Well, I've always been a sucker for a well turned leg.

So I'd best watch this one closely.

Looking good so far.

[The Bleeder]

I'm a bit of a leg man.....but Fletty, a gentleman like you should not have to apologise.

[wheelinround]

Actually the knee pulled up pretty well after City2Surf number 25. I'll have to get back into training if I'm going to do the half marathon in September though!

The turned ends are an old trick. I bandsawed the legs out of a 90 x 90 blank BUT before doing all of the cutting and shaping, I drill into the end with a hole cutter and then blend the sawn faces into the outer diameter.

fletty

Thanks Fletty a neat simple way of doing that.

Good luck with 1/2 marathon :2tsup:

[fletty]

I’ve had couple of requests about how I made the cabriole legs. I didn’t take pictures for the front legs so this mini WIP is for the rear legs which are different in that they only splay sideways wheras the front legs splay both out and forward.

The design required cabriole legs where the cross section is always rectangular rather than the very sculptural curvy ones … thank heavens!

I cut a blank which is the final length and the width obviously is the maximum dimension of the splay. The front legs were cut from a 90 x 90 blank wheras the back legs come from 90 x 45

I’ve used a hole cutter to cut the outer diameter of the foot and the (splay) template is laid on it and the shape marked on opposite sides making sure that it aligns with the pre-cut hole

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the (no splay) template is then used to mark the other 2 faces

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after cutting out one of the dimensions, the pieces are aligned

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and taped together

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before the second dimension is cut on the bandsaw

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when the bundle is next separated the roughly shaped leg appears like magic

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I then remove the excess around the circular foot with a saw before rounding and tapering the foot on a belt sander

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The shape is then refined and smoothed by a curved sole spokeshave for concave faces

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And a block plane for convex faces

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fletty

[Christos]

Thank you for the post always good to see things from similar and different perspectives. :2tsup:

[fletty]

I got a bit more time in the shed today and finished shaping the legs although they haven't had a final sanding yet. I machined mortices in the legs via a simple dado but, with everything now being 'handed' I inevitably cut one leg EXACTLY the wrong way. Repair was a matter of inserting squared pine into the unwanted slots and machining new ones. I've cut the end aprons, fitted them and I've decided to glue it together and make the ends into subassemblies so that sanding might make it a bit more 'organic".
There is still no design so I will wait for the front to come to me in a red-induced trance........


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fletty

[fletty]

...... I will wait for the front to come to me in a red-induced trance........
fletty

I had an early mark today (courtesy of a typical Australian childhood of being sent outside semi naked from dawn to dusk) and spent a few unplanned hours in the shed.

Luckily the design came to me last night but, as you can see from the graceful curves below, the design came to me after Brown Bros liqueur muscat NOT red wine...

I cut and fitted the front and rear aprons,

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and then sliced and diced one of them to allow for drawers

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I then reassembled and started sanding and puttying

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one of the secrets previously only known by furniture PAINTERS is that you can use spakfilla as a putty

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and now I can start researching 'crackle painting!

fletty

[Scally]

Pine never looked so classy!

[Chief012]

"Jo Sonja" makes a paint on medium that when a top coat is applied leaves a cracked finish to the paint. It's available at all good craft shops yet very few butchers,...

[Sawdust Maker]

nice legs :2tsup:

And now I can see why I'm lacking in inspiration ... better ring Brown Bros for a case of muscat woops inspiration :p

[fletty]

"Jo Sonja" makes a paint on medium that when a top coat is applied leaves a cracked finish to the paint. It's available at all good craft shops yet very few butchers,...

thanks Chief, I found some today in the craft section of the BIG GREEN SHED, it's a bit thin on instructions so I'll trial it over the weekend.
I gather I undercoat, then a colour that is to show through at the cracks, then the 'jo sonja' by brush and then the final coat which, according to the minimalist instructions, cracks more if laid on thick..... a bit like me

fletty

[wheelinround]

So thats what all the screaming was about -2C temps and being sent to the shed.

Looks good maybe the Brown Bro's gave you more fortification then you figured. Images of a British Bulldog on steroids with looooooooong legs.:U

[Chief012]

Yes thats it fletty,..details on the bottle are a bit thin! :)

[fletty]

I scored a few hours in the shed this afternoon so I made and fitted drawer slides, drawers (simple gifkin boxes) and false drawer fronts. I normally make drawer guides and supports and fit then around the drawers with a singe thickness of paper for clearance

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It is now temporarily assembled and, after some more sanding, I'll apply the final finish of undercoat, base colour (probably tan) crackle medium and then ivory gloss which will/should/may crackle and expose the tan underneath

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fletty

[wheelinround]

Looking much improved since my last comment..

[Sawdust Maker]

looks like it's about to waltz off the piccy

[fletty]

As I said at the beginning the table is to be finished with crackle paint and I also confessed that I don't/didn't know anything about it! Well the forum and Uncle Google have helped out and I've now done my first sample piece before commiting to the table itself.


The paint story so far

puttied with spakfilla
finish sanded
2 coats of undercoat lightly sanded between and after
and then, on the sample piece only,

one coat of tan
one brushed coat of Jo Sonja crackle medium
spray coat of the final ivory colour
and then science, chemistry and voodoo take over with frantic crackling happening before my very eyes. I placed the sample piece on the table top to check the effect

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and, although I like the effect, I think it would be overwhelming on the whole piece.
I'm thinking of doing the top only with the crackle finish and 'plain' paint on the remainder,

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At least I can trial it by taking the top to the final finish ..... and having a look,

fletty
PS, the pics were taken on my mobile because it was too bl**dy cold to come up to the house and get my camera!

[dr4g0nfly]

... and now I can start researching 'crackle painting!
fletty

I've no idea what you want to paint it with but Jo Sonja does a Crackle Glaze (http://www.chromaonline.com/products/jo_sonja_s/mediums_grounds) for acrylics.

Fifth item down on the Web Page.

Looking forward to seeing the finished article now.

[wheelinround]

Your dead right about the cold door was down the whole time I was out turning yesterday had to come in and have a bath to warm up before grandies invaded for the evening.


Love the look and agree if the whole thing was crackle would be over the top.

[fletty]

I snuck a few more hours on the table but mostly to fix up the mess I made on the weekend. The undercoat, tan, crackle medium and top coat are all water based. When I painted the top coat it was too 'watery' and it seemed to smudge the crackle medium and I ended up with a mix of 'crackles' and 'smudges'. I removed the whole finish from the top and started again. This time I am happy with it ......

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all that is left to do now if fix the top with Z clips, clean up the paint job, (probably) a coat of clear to seal the top and fit rusty wrought iron provincial drawer handles...

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I don't think I'm ready to move completely to sculptural, soft wood furniture but it was fun,

fletty

[Christos]

Just my opinion but I think this needs a little more crackle. On the top of the legs for example.

[fletty]

Just my opinion but I think this needs a little more crackle. On the top of the legs for example.

I've been sitting looking at it and I think I agree with you. Maybe some irregular patches of crackle on the hips and legs. Problem is, to create a patch of crackle needs a matching patch of tan and crackle medium which won't merge smoothly with the surrounding UNcrackled areas ..... more liqueur muscat!

fletty

[fletty]

I was getting to the point where I should involve the owner in decisions about more crackle and 'distress' so I fitted some big-green-shed-French-provincial-handles and took it around tonight. They loved it!

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fletty

[wheelinround]

Wow suits the use thats for sure :2tsup:

[Christos]

Resolution is at hand. :)