Woodwould
21st June 2008, 12:44 PM
I made these two walnut stools for another dealer who had a stunning original dating from the latter half of the seventeenth century. He had acquired a sumptuous Flemish tapestry at auction which provided sufficient material to ultimately cover both new stools.
There is nothing extraordinary about the construction of the stool frames, but I thought some may find the turning of the legs interesting.
I am aware jigs exist which adapt hand-held power routers to turn spirals, but a) I don't have one of those contraptions and b) I don't like the bland, boring appearance of routed work. (No offence to those whose businesses rely on routers, but a router has no place in any proximity to an antique or antique copy.)
Even though this pair of stools would probably never be compared side-by-side with an original, they still needed to be constructed in the propper time-honoured manner.
The first stage in making a helix on one of the new legs or stretchers was to count the number of turns on the original barley twist components. A length of string was then taped to one end of the stock mounted in the lathe and the stock was then revolved the required number of rotations while stretching the string towards the opposite end. Before the loose end of the string was finally taped down, its entire length was gently patted to ensure it followed the most direct path around the previously turned cylinder.
Using a large soft lead pencil, the string line was followed leaving a dark, easily visible thread around the stock. With a turning gouge in hand, the lathe was started at a slow speed and the gouge introduced to the start of the thread. One has to be confident and determined when turning helixes as you obviously don't get a second chance with the first cut.
Once a rough helix has been cut into the wood, subsequent passes with the gouge open it up to the desired depth.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Furniture/Carolean_stools_01b.jpg
Further working with gouges and chisels transform the square-edged helix into the traditional barley twist form.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Furniture/Carolean_stools_02b.jpg
Final successive papering completes the job. The frames were constructed using the normal mortise and tennon joints which were assembled with pegs, but devoid of glue.
Thereafter the frames were sympathetically coloured and appropriately aged.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Furniture/Carolean_stools_03b.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Furniture/Carolean_stools_04b.jpg
As an aside; in the background of the last two pictures above can be seen a pair of George I walnut chest on chests c. 1720 belonging to a client. One was a copy, but unfortunately I can't locate any photos of it or the construction process.
There is nothing extraordinary about the construction of the stool frames, but I thought some may find the turning of the legs interesting.
I am aware jigs exist which adapt hand-held power routers to turn spirals, but a) I don't have one of those contraptions and b) I don't like the bland, boring appearance of routed work. (No offence to those whose businesses rely on routers, but a router has no place in any proximity to an antique or antique copy.)
Even though this pair of stools would probably never be compared side-by-side with an original, they still needed to be constructed in the propper time-honoured manner.
The first stage in making a helix on one of the new legs or stretchers was to count the number of turns on the original barley twist components. A length of string was then taped to one end of the stock mounted in the lathe and the stock was then revolved the required number of rotations while stretching the string towards the opposite end. Before the loose end of the string was finally taped down, its entire length was gently patted to ensure it followed the most direct path around the previously turned cylinder.
Using a large soft lead pencil, the string line was followed leaving a dark, easily visible thread around the stock. With a turning gouge in hand, the lathe was started at a slow speed and the gouge introduced to the start of the thread. One has to be confident and determined when turning helixes as you obviously don't get a second chance with the first cut.
Once a rough helix has been cut into the wood, subsequent passes with the gouge open it up to the desired depth.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Furniture/Carolean_stools_01b.jpg
Further working with gouges and chisels transform the square-edged helix into the traditional barley twist form.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Furniture/Carolean_stools_02b.jpg
Final successive papering completes the job. The frames were constructed using the normal mortise and tennon joints which were assembled with pegs, but devoid of glue.
Thereafter the frames were sympathetically coloured and appropriately aged.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Furniture/Carolean_stools_03b.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Furniture/Carolean_stools_04b.jpg
As an aside; in the background of the last two pictures above can be seen a pair of George I walnut chest on chests c. 1720 belonging to a client. One was a copy, but unfortunately I can't locate any photos of it or the construction process.