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Woodwould
18th July 2008, 06:58 PM
I really miss my lathe and I have a little turning job which would be perfect for a Saturday afternoon. Ah well. :C

Anyway, if anyone is interested in a paying job, here it is; I would like a pair of candlesticks made to a drawing which I can send it to any turner who is genuinely interested in producing these sticks for me. I will make the drawings available later if anyone else would like them.

Each stick is in two parts; a base and a column. The column has a dowel turned on the lower end which locates in a hole in the centre of the circular base. There is also a 1/8" diameter hole in the top of the column to accept the spigot of the brass nozzle. The height is just under 10" (not including the nozzle). The diameter of the column is 1.75" and the base is 4.75" diameter and 1" thick.

The wood needs to be either European walnut (Juglans Regia) or American walnut (Juglans Nigra). One of the Juglans hybrids (grown for their nuts in Eastern Australia) would be equally suitable - just not Queensland walnut (Endiandra palmerstonii). :U

Would any interested woodturner please PM me with their email address and I will email them the PDF file containing the two drawings.

The sticks only need to be sanded to 220 grit (or thereabouts) as I will finish them and attach the fittings.

Below is a sketch of the candlestick.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/Geo_III_mahogany_candle_sticks_c178.jpg

Groggy
18th July 2008, 07:04 PM
I really miss my lathe and I have a little turning job which would be perfect for a Saturday afternoon. Ah well. :CIf you are near Werribee and would like access to a VL300 lathe to do the job yourself I'm happy to let you use it.

Woodwould
18th July 2008, 07:12 PM
If you are near Werribee and would like access to a VL300 lathe to do the job yourself I'm happy to let you use it.

Unfortunately my body isn't as willing as my mind and I'm housebound these days, but thank you for the very kind offer all the same!

Chipman
18th July 2008, 07:12 PM
Groggy,

It is people like you that make this forum such a good place to be!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Regards,

Chipman

Groggy
18th July 2008, 08:08 PM
Groggy,

It is people like you that make this forum such a good place to be!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Regards,

ChipmanThank you, but to be honest and in addition to helping, I was hoping to look over his shoulder and learn something :B

Woodwould
21st August 2008, 01:25 AM
After posting an appeal for a compassionate woodturner to make me a couple of two-piece candlesticks (columns with separate bases), our very own Tea Lady kindly took on the job. I sent her the drawings and a week or so later, the self-confessed amateur turner presented me with a very professional looking pair of sticks.

The first step I took was to wet the pieces down with water to raise the grain.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_01b.jpg

When they were dry, I gave them a light sanding with 320 grit aluminium oxide paper, being very careful not to dull the corners.

Even though I want to impart a degree of age to these sticks, it's important to remember; when woodturners made their wares centuries ago, they didn't sand the edges off all their sharp mouldings, so there's no reason to do it in the pursuance of aging the sticks now.

With furniture, chair rungs and legs often show heavy wear from decades of people abrading them with grit-impregnated leather soled boots and shoes, but generally speaking, the softening of sharp edges of mouldings etc. comes from years of day-to-day rubbing and compression of the wood fibres and not drastic removal with sandpaper or files.

I cooked up some horse sauce and stuck the columns into the bases. When the glue had set, I applied some water stain over the sticks and left them to dry.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_03b.jpg

A thin coat of shellac was brushed on to seal the stain into the wood, followed by the physical ageing process of bruising and scarring.

A light coat of tinted grain filler was brushed on next so the simulated years of grime (the tinted filler) is rubbed into the grain and the nicks and scars, thereby beginning the patination build-up.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_04b.jpg

Ageing is a time-consuming process and if not carried out thoughtfully, can leave the finish looking very phony through not enough wear, too much wear or wear in unlikely places. Minutely studying similar antique examples of the same age, in the same wood and under the same usage, all the while querying how the wear and marks occurred, is the only way to accurately determine how much wear to subject the wood to.

All the tales you've probably heard of restorers and fakers whipping furniture with chains and grinding screws into the surface of the wood are evidently true as can be witnessed in some contemporary furniture stores. It is a wholly ignorant process and looks utterly atrocious! I've never seen a genuinely old piece of furniture with repetitive chain link marks across it, nor have I ever seen an old piece of furniture with screw threads impressed into its surfaces!

Repetitive marks are a dead give-away to a faked finish. The restorer's ageing toolkit should contain many diverse 'tools' to impart genuine looking wear to the surface of a piece of furniture. One of the implements I used for simulating wear on the bottoms of table and chair legs was a fist sized piece of a concrete block that I salvaged from a backyard incinerator when they were banned some years ago. It was ideal as the aggregate was small rounded gravel and having been super-heated in the incinerator; it gradually crumbled, revealing a fresh pattern as it did so. I called it my 'Rock of Ages'.

If you imagine a piece of furniture in use and consider how it may have been treated over hundreds of years and apply the same degree of wear, but in a much shorter time frame, you'll soon be able to produce a convincing patination. Imagine large silver, bone, horn or brass cuff buttons rubbing on the arms of a chair; the buttons are relatively smooth, so their constant knocking against the chair arms would compress the corners, not abrade or remove any of the wood.

Similarly, a wooden candlestick would have been subjected to thousands of minute compressive bruises caused by things as elementary as the rings on the fingers of persons carrying the stick (but only on the lower half of the stem).

The periphery of the base will be bruised where it was pushed up against objects of greater mass. The outer upper surfaces of the base will show bruises caused by other objects being set down in close proximity to the stick.

The stick is bound to have been knocked over on occasions, so it will exhibit bruising to the moulding around the top of the column. It's conceivable the stick will have been dropped a number of times over a period of a few hundred years; so again, it will demonstrate heavier bruising and maybe some chipping to its extremities.

There will undoubtedly be some staining to the upper surfaces of the base from dripping tallow (old candles weren't the clean, user-friendly paraffin wax items we are familiar with)¹ and there are bound to have been many glowing tapers and latterly, glowing match sticks, carelessly cast onto the candlestick's base.

The list goes on ad infinitum, but it's only by this process of 're-living' the candlestick's history that an authentic looking pattern of wear and patination can be built up.

Another lick of shellac seals the grain filler and the patination continues to build. Successive amounts of ageing and coats of shellac compound the illusion. Knowing when to stop is an acquired skill; too little or too much will betray the deception.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_05c.jpg

The candle sockets on period wooden candlesticks were more often integral with the sticks, but separate brass, paktong or silver 'sconces' were also widely used.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/brass-mahogany_candlesticks_02b.jpg
All-wooden taper-twist walnut candlesticks, c.1760.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/brass-mahogany_candlesticks_01.jpg
Multi-form mahogany candlesticks with brass sconces and in-built bobeches, c.1775.

Having examined quite a number of antique wooden candlesticks with metal sconces, I suspect some were in fact replacements for the (probably damaged or missing) wooden sockets. Wooden sockets are more susceptible to breakage when dropped or knocked over, largely due to the manner of having small diameter necks just below the sockets. Also, wooden sockets are known to have been scorched (to the point they would no longer hold a candle safely) or completely consumed by candles being allowed to burn too low.

I've made quite a few copies of all-wooden candlesticks and chambersticks and in many ways, they're more attractive, but with this particular pair of sticks, I opted for brass sconces with separate bobeches. The sconces and bobeches are cast in the correctly alloyed copper, tin and zinc of the period to ensure an accurate colour and with a little persuasion it's fairly easy to get them to take on an authentic patination too.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_08c.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_11c.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_17c.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_18c.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_19c.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/I-Got-Wood/Misc/wcs_20c.jpg

A word of caution at this point: Never leave a burning candle unattended whether the stick has a brass sconce or not!

NOTES:
1. "The first named (candlesticks) are chiefly seen with a small socket and flange to catch the running tallow, the last mentioned (chambersticks) have larger dishes which catch the drips from candles which are being carried about.
The candles were made from various fats, much of which was accumulated in the kitchen during the processes of cooking, supplemented by other ingredients deemed best for the purpose".
Fred W. Burgess, Chats on Household Curios, T. Fisher Unwin 1914.

ss_11000
21st August 2008, 01:37 AM
cool:2tsup:

great work getting the two sticks to match Tea lady :clap:

prozac
21st August 2008, 01:53 AM
Woodwould thanks for another fascinating read. Very professional job there TL.

prozac

Stirlo, does mum know you're still up?

Ed Reiss
21st August 2008, 02:37 AM
Hi Woodwould....

Wow, am just blown away with your knowledge about candlesticks, also am impressed with the finish on the candlesticks that Tea Lady turned (apparently a very accomplished turner!!).

Thanks for posting a very informative article and pics.

Ed :D

Calm
21st August 2008, 07:42 AM
Tea Lady i think you have been understating your ability. A great job.:2tsup::2tsup:

As with the finished article.:2tsup:

Cheers

Rum Pig
21st August 2008, 08:43 AM
Well done to Woodwould and Tea Lady you both have done an excellent job:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

I always thought candle sticks were a bit boring but you certainly make them interesting. I might have to have a go one day:rolleyes:

Ozkaban
21st August 2008, 09:01 AM
I am impressed!

You have both done a top job on this one. I don;t know who the self-confessed amateur is, but they're not involved in this work...

Cheers,
Dave

steck
21st August 2008, 09:22 AM
Congratulations to Tea lady and Woodwould
Another fascinating story on this forum.
Thank you for sharing and for letting us in on the secrets to patination and candlesticks!

Groggy
21st August 2008, 11:44 AM
Excellent story there, WW and TL, what a team! :2tsup:

Waldo
21st August 2008, 12:28 PM
:yes: :whs:

RETIRED
21st August 2008, 06:35 PM
TL can't respomd at the moment. Busted puter.

jefferson
21st August 2008, 07:47 PM
Woodwould and TL when you get back, a sensational joint effort.

It gives me a standard to aspire to! I really like the design and the turnings, both spindles and face plates. Great.

Now I am assuming Woodwould that you have an apprentice in training. We don't want to lose all that knowledge about reburbishing antiques. And copying them too.

Jeff

Sawdust Maker
21st August 2008, 08:44 PM
TL
you said you were a beginner:!
you sure learn fast
very nice candle stick holders:brava:brava

very nice finish Ww

Toasty
21st August 2008, 09:15 PM
That is some bloody nice work, from the both of you!

Groggy
21st August 2008, 09:19 PM
TL can't respomd at the moment. Busted puter.Cat got her mouse? :roll:

TTIT
21st August 2008, 11:53 PM
I normally skip any posts so long I have to scroll through them but that was a very informative and enjoyable read Woodwould :2tsup:. Particularly liked the comments regarding the commercial methods of "ageing" - saw some stuff recently where they had 'parked' an electric plane here and there as though it looked 'natural' :arge:- what a waste of wood :~
Love the 'look' you achieved on the candlesticks - just perfect - real craftsmanship. Hope your health improves enough that you can get back to the lathe yourself soon.

As for you TeaLady - hmmpphhhh :~. Passing yourself off as a newbie just to get our attention eh :o - shame on you. ,,, Nice work on the sticks though :;

tea lady
21st August 2008, 11:53 PM
They look great finished, I love the aged look, and the very pattable surface. Would wood. :2tsup: Thanks for all the comments guys. I'm still only a beginner as it took me forever, instead of doing them before morning tea like prolly could have done. But I'm pleased with the finished pieces.:cool:

Woodwould
22nd August 2008, 12:22 AM
Thanks for all the positive comments.

Welcome back TL and I'm glad you like the finished sticks - I know some members would be horified at what I've done to the 'natural beauty' of the walnut.

So what should we do next... a thrown chair? :;

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Turned_chair_Wells.jpg/480px-

Waldo
22nd August 2008, 12:33 AM
... I know some members would be horified at what I've done to the 'natural beauty' of the walnut.


Dunno why, not when you're trying to match something new to something old, assuming that was the intention. If you didn't match it it'd stick out like the proverbial.

Sawdust Maker
22nd August 2008, 10:27 AM
....

So what should we do next... a thrown chair? :;



TL
could you knock that up before elevenses? :U

tea lady
23rd August 2008, 09:57 PM
thanks for all the positive comments.

Welcome back tl and i'm glad you like the finished sticks - i know some members would be horified at what i've done to the 'natural beauty' of the walnut.

So what should we do next... A thrown chair? :;

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/turned_chair_wells.jpg/480px-

:c

funkychicken
23rd August 2008, 10:04 PM
Well done TL:2tsup::2tsup: