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Post by keff on Mar 7, 2024 23:04:08 GMT
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Post by Zi on Mar 8, 2024 9:54:03 GMT
This is so beautiful and you are extremely clever! I love the design - it's one of those classic, timeless pieces. I really admire anyone who can work in wood.
I so wish I could have done some carpentry. Just books ends would have done! Before the chemo stuff I made a bird nesting box and my husband showed me how to put the entrance hole in - I was over the moon with it! It was the ugliest thing you can ever imagine. But the chemo left me a bit clumsy because of residual neuropathy and I wouldn't trust me with a chisel... I'm safe with sandpaper so all I do is sand things and 'finish' them...
Thank you for sharing! It's nice to see what other people do! It kind of rounds them out. If you know what I mean.
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Post by keff on Mar 8, 2024 17:40:48 GMT
Thanks Zi. I will add some more photos in the near future.
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Post by keff on Mar 13, 2024 9:21:36 GMT
The side table in the hall needed a chair pictured in the link below. (The hall was dark this morning as very cloudy outside and the camera flash came on.) The chair is made of sapele which comes from a FSC source in Africa. It is known as Poor Man's mahogany and so matches very well with the mahogany table. docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQ5lAhKufPmuDu7FEa2o6OKFGP-n7hH-zPr3dGbVe7JocqR60U1nt4T4yw3sAPuw-XSQAAGSpSmmX15/pubPS Chairs are difficult ensure they are comfortable to sit in/on. The design of this one is very similiar to the congregation chairs in Ripon Cathedral in particular the rake of the back. The rear legs which are made from a single piece of timber (for strength) took a great deal of effort to get the angle correct using hand tools.
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Post by Zi on Mar 13, 2024 9:50:52 GMT
I like the design of that and the upholstery goes really well with the lines of the chair. I wouldn't know from the photo that there were two different woods there - they really do match well. It's a very attractive combination - as I said before that kind of style is timeless.
I didn't say before, but I really like the contrasting colour on the handles. It works very well that.
And you are extremely talented! I'm seriously impressed!
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Post by keff on Mar 13, 2024 10:32:12 GMT
Thanks for the kind words Zi. My interest came from woodworking lessons at school and I took "O" level woodwork. The last piece of furniture in our hall has its origin in those 'O' level years. More of this with the next photograph.
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Post by Zi on Mar 13, 2024 10:54:57 GMT
That looks like it's a bit further on than 'O' level though!!! I think it's a wonderful skill to have.
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Post by keff on Mar 13, 2024 14:40:11 GMT
docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTnDYY8A4PO60ezu--Y7Wd0HlUEVEbG-MoWHvmdX30R1Pw3FDii3h058c4OTwzkaj90Scd-ce0AVzxq/pubThis is my third photograph of handmade furniture in our hall and it is also made of sapele. Actually it was the first of the three pieces standing in the hall and has quite a history! It was designed as a sewing cabinet for my mother, the drawer is large enough to accommodate Sylko wooden bobbins of thread and the chest attached to the stand for other sewing equipment/patterns/materials. It was started a long time ago during my 'O' level years but I wasn't able to finish it at school before starting 'A' levels. It came home just as the lower table section without the front drawer and any top whatsoever. I made the drawer at my parents house and just placed a flat piece of veneered board on the top so it became a little telephone table. It spent the next forty years in my parents' house but eventually came to me again in about 2008. Ten or maybe eleven years ago I decided it needed finishing properly so I searched for places I could buy sapele to construct the upper chest and found a supplier in Penrith. When I told the timber merchant why I wanted the timber he refused to despatch it by courier, said I had to chose it myself and so we had a trip north on the M6. It surprised me that all his stock was rough cut and it was impossible to see the grain or cracks in the wood which then started to appear as I planed away the rough sawn surface. I had to repair all the cracks by tearing the wood apart, glueing and then tight clamping. The "technical" name for this type of chest is "cut lid chest or cut lid box". All four sides, the top and the bottom are glued together to form an orthorhombic six sided shape and then a saw is taken to form a lid by cutting horizontally through the sides. In this chest I have used exposed dovetail joints. When I had finally completed the chest and brought it inside to show other half almost half a century after it was conceived I suffered some quite strong emotions. The sapele used to make the drawer front was obtained by my dad on an occassion when he was passing a timber yard. It polished a lighter colour than the rest of the cabinet but I decided that I liked the contrast. Also the knobs are made of teak, darker in colour, again for contrast. The design was influenced by my woodwork teacher.
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Post by Zi on Mar 13, 2024 15:25:01 GMT
It really does have quite a story attached to it. It's lovely! And I'm not surprised that finishing it caused strong emotions - it's been there for a long time - it's really a part of your life!
What was it like cutting the box to make the lid? I can imagine that might be quite a moment!
Does the OH use it as a sewing box?
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Post by keff on Mar 13, 2024 15:41:42 GMT
What was it like cutting the box to make the lid? Scary! I have a lovely panel saw which I bought as a teenager. It had never been sharpened but I bought a saw sharpening file and sharpened it myself before I started. Holding the chest steady whilst trying to saw a straight line was difficult. It was certainly too big to go in a vice. Once the top is cut off the sawn edges are planed removing as little timber as possible. It is not used as a sewing cabinet, we have a whole room for that. The drawer contains various documents such as photographs, reports and speech day programmes from school and a couple of precious letters. The chest contains manuals and disks from the various computers we have owned.
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Post by Zi on Mar 13, 2024 15:46:56 GMT
I can imagine 'scary' and the relief once you've done it! It's a lovely piece and the story that goes with it is delightful. I'm seriously impressed!
I like also how you're using it. It has been so much a part of your life that it needs to do something 'life-y' if you know what I mean!
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