Federal table question

[Eric Hartunian]

Hey guys,
I've been working on this table, and have a couple questions. Look at the pic of the top, and you can see a chip in the center of the veneer, and also around the edge. These are both going to be covered with more veneer: a paterea in the middle, and a banding around the edge. This is built generally following Rob Millard's plans, and he uses a plunge router to relieve the space for the banding and the inlay. My question, is how would this be done back in the day using handtools? I have a router, but hate using it. It is loud, and one false move and all my work is ruined.
Any thoughts?

The top is made of pine substrate (I cut strips, and oriented them so that the panel is essentially quarter sawn). The panel was then crossbanded with veneer, and then sawn into an ellipse. Then I laid out the ray pattern and used hide glue and a veneer hammer to lay in each piece. I included a pic of the not finished column for your enjoyment. The legs are held in place with a sliding dt, and the top will pivot on the block at the top of the mahogony pedestal.
Thanks for looking.

[John Keeton]

Eric, can't offer any help on the handtools, but I am liking the look of the table! Nice job. It will be great to see the finished pics.

[Shawn Buonarosa]

I think most likely it would of been done with a scratch stock of some sort.
You can whip up your own out of a couple scraps of wood and an old card scraper in no time.

[Mike Henderson]

Dewey can probably give you a better answer, but here's my guess. Note that they used hide glue for veneer back then.

I would position the paterea inlay exactly where I wanted it to go and glue it down on top of the veneer with a small amount of hide glue. Mark the inlay position on the veneer, that is, put a line that goes from the inlay to the veneer so you can reposition it the same way.

Then take a knife and trace the border of the inlay, cutting completely through the veneer in the base. This will take several cuts.

Then use heat to remove the inlay (to soften the hide glue). Then use heat to remove the veneer inside your cut. Use more hide glue and glue the inlay into the hole you just created. Use a veneer hammer to get it good and flat. Take the veneer tape off the paterea. Then use a scraper to get it all to the same level - the inlay may be thicker than the veneer.

Today, I'd use tape to hold the inlay in place and mark the location with a knife in the exact same way (remove tape where you're making your cut and put it back after you pass that point). The hard thing is to remove the base veneer and get a flat bottom and not do it too deep. I use a trim router and a straight bit (flat bottom) and cut away the veneer. You have to think about your cuts because the router always has to be supported at the level of the original veneer. This means you wind up with lines of veneer that you can't remove with the router. I then remove those (carefully) with a chisel. I also cut to the line with a chisel and carving tools - I don't like to bring the router too close to the line because I'll go too far.

The other way is to inset the paterea inlay into the veneer before you lay the veneer. You do the same technique as described for the hide glue (using tape, of course). Put the inlay into the veneer and use veneer tape to hold it in place. The lay the whole thing at one time.

The banding I'd do after I laid the sunburst because it's easier and I'd use a router for that. For small banding a Dremel and a home made circle jig works well.

Mike

[How to pivot a circle jig and not mark up the veneer? I glue a thin piece of wood in the center - use lines across that piece of wood so you can center it - with cardboard between the wood and the table top. Just a little glue. Then put your pivot point in that piece of wood. When finished, stick a chisel into the joint and remove the wood. Gently remove the cardboard. If you use old white glue you can use water to soften it and wash it and the cardboard off. You could also use hide glue or double stick tape.

Another way is to make a template, get it centered on the sunburst, and guide your router against it.]

[David Keller NC]

Eric - A slightly different method than Mike suggests with hand-tools. If you carefully examine antiques where paterae is inst in solid wood, you find the distinctive marks of carving gouges. What one does is to set the design down onto the wood, trace it with either a marking knife or a very sharp pencil, and use carving gouges of various sweeps to outline the form. The interior is then leveled using a router plane.

One other observation of antiques that have these designs is that there is usually a very thin gap around the paterae design that's filled with a black substance. From what I understand from period furniture scholars, this is typically found to be a beeswax/soot mixture.

[Frank Drew]

As for cutting a recess in a field, router planes, with an L-shaped cutter, were designed for this kind of application; they came in small and large, and one of the nicknames for one of them was "old woman's tooth".

[Bill White]

For edge banding:
I have a purfling cutter. Used to set inlay around the edges of stringed inst(s). Has two adjustable blades. Google it.
Bill

[Eric Hartunian]

Thanks for the replies. I like the idea of a purfling cutter.