First off, here’s a photo that shows why I like to use self adhesive shelf paper for initial assembly. It allows me to set the piece up with equal kerfs, (painting in wood and Boulle styles) sub in flower colors as explained in the last segment, and see my shading as it progresses. In the photo you can see one of the pieces has been removed and shaded (lying on the plexiglas, top) and you can see the progress of the shading in the motif. The low tack adhesive makes this removal and replacement easy.
When I’m finished shading and I’m happy with the composition, I cover the glue side with masking tape, flip it over and remove the film from the show side.
Then I take the whole thing and mount it in one piece on (French) kraft paper with hot hide glue. After pressing (moderate pressure) and letting the glue dry, I remove the tape.
Here the piece has been filled with black mastic. (HHG, fine sawdust, black poster paint powder)
Here comes the scary part. Before I assembled the ebony layer of the packet, I cut the panels for the centre drawers to exact dimension. I then carefully aligned the layers in the packet. Now I have to separate the panels at exactly the lines of division in the ebony layer.
As it turns out, I got the cuts done pretty much as I had hoped and heaved a huge sigh of relief. The relief lasted a few minutes before I realized that the really scary part was next. When you glue these to the substrate, you don’t get to see them so you label and mark everything you can think of, dry fit ten times and then suck it up and apply glue and press them. If you get one upside down (or an eighth of an inch too high or low or left or right, or crooked), there is really no way to fix the problem. ....... hence the mulitple dry fits, marking etc.
The picture below looks pretty ordinary but represents a night of poor sleep, two actually as I did the other side the next day.
To make a long story short, I got away with it this time. At my age this is firmly in the risk taking field as I seem to make little “slip of the mind” mistakes more often than I used to. But I made it this time so on to the next challenge.
Here’s how they looked all mounted on the drawers and out in the Arizona sun.
You may notice that the 2” wide “bump out” strip looks a little bare in plain black. Well …....... be patient.
This is a picture of part of a page in “Masterpieces of Marquetry”
With that I’ll sign off for tonight and get a good sleep.
Thanks for looking in.
Paul
-- Paul M ..............the early bird may get the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese! http://thecanadianschooloffrenchmarquetry.com/
35 comments so far
TheFridge
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10863 posts in 2540 days
#1 posted 12-30-2014 06:07 AM
Excellent work bud. Fit for a king. Or queen?
-- Shooting down the walls of heartache. Bang bang. I am. The warrior.
Druid
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2205 posts in 3849 days
#2 posted 12-30-2014 06:14 AM
Seems like you lost sleep for no reason. Looks wonderful Paul.
-- John, British Columbia, Canada
Joe Lyddon
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10961 posts in 5106 days
#3 posted 12-30-2014 07:16 AM
.... I can breathe now…
... was holding my breath for a long time during that Hitchcock dialog…
Sure glad it turned out OK… It’s nice to breathe again! LOL
What a Beauty of a Job / Project!
Thank you for the Pins & Needles experience…
... I can sleep better now…
Gnite… ZZZzzzzz….
-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: https://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/index.php?media/albums/users/joe-lyddon.1389/
Texcaster
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1293 posts in 2727 days
#4 posted 12-30-2014 10:01 AM
Top job Paul! It’s the scary stuff that makes it real.
-- Mama calls me Texcaster but my real name is Mr. Earl.
MontanaBob
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874 posts in 3737 days
#5 posted 12-30-2014 10:48 AM
It looks like its all coming together just fine….Outstanding..
RogerBean
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1605 posts in 4007 days
#6 posted 12-30-2014 10:49 AM
Looks marvelous. Many hours well spent.
Roger
-- "Everybody makes mistakes. A craftsman always fixes them." (Monty Kennedy, "The Checkering and Carving of Gunstocks", 1952)
rustynails
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951 posts in 3582 days
#7 posted 12-30-2014 11:09 AM
Paul looking good …
mafe
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13083 posts in 4143 days
#8 posted 12-30-2014 11:40 AM
I would so much love to look over your shoulder for a day or two as you work.
Happy new year,
Mads
-- MAD F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect.
Schwieb
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1916 posts in 4515 days
#9 posted 12-30-2014 11:44 AM
Incredible Paul, just outstanding. No surprise coming from you.
-- Dr. Ken, Florida - Durch harte arbeit werden Träume wahr.
Sodabowski
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2399 posts in 3886 days
#10 posted 12-30-2014 12:10 PM
Do you ever feel at a loss for proper words? Well I do right now.
-- Thomas - there are no problems, there are only solutions.
tyvekboy
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2110 posts in 4067 days
#11 posted 12-30-2014 01:21 PM
Simply amazing. Beautiful work. Donʻt think I would attempt it.
-- Tyvekboy -- Marietta, GA ………….. one can never be too organized
Jim Sellers
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515 posts in 3388 days
#12 posted 12-30-2014 01:26 PM
Very informative and interesting Paul. I learn something with every new blog entry you post. This is developing into a spectacular work of art.
-- J.C.Sellers, Norcross, Ga. Just cut it right the first time. The best carpenters make the fewest chips.
SPalm
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5338 posts in 4935 days
#13 posted 12-30-2014 01:29 PM
Wow.
Absolutely incredible.
I just love to watch this come together.
Steve
-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon
grizzman
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7836 posts in 4357 days
#14 posted 12-30-2014 02:23 PM
fantastic paul, its coming along after many hours of hard work, thumbs up on this…:)
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
Julian
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1632 posts in 3744 days
#15 posted 12-30-2014 02:44 PM
Incredible & stunning.
-- Julian
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