Marquetry Course with Paul Schurch

[Mike Henderson]

This week, I'm in Santa Barbara taking a five day course in marquetry with Paul Schurch. I thought I'd share the course with you by posting some information and pictures each day. Today was the first day and there were six students.

The class started about 9am and the first day was the usual introduction to the subject - but we soon moved into doing actual marquetry work. Three of us brought designs we wanted to do and three were somewhat less experienced and did not have specific designs they wanted to do. Paul is a very high energy guy and moved the class along very quickly. He made some suggestions about my design and I spent most of the morning re-drawing parts of it.

We went to lunch together at a Mexican restaurant in the area and had some time to socialize. After lunch it was back to the designs and preparing the veneer for the packets. I got as far as starting to put my packet together but at least one student was already starting to cut out his design. Class ended for the day about 5. For me, the afternoon went quickly and 5 o'clock came before I realized it.

Here's Paul's shop. He shares it with another woodworker. He mostly uses the right side (facing the shop), while the other woodworker uses the other side.
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Here's a close view of Paul's space, set up for the class.
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This picture is of a few people in the class, with Paul in the center. The other picture is of Paul assisting a student in making a packet of veneer for a marquetry panel.
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And here we have a shot of the students working at the benches, and one cutting out some veneer on a scroll saw.
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Finally, here's a monster heated press used for pressing veneer/marquetry panels.
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Tomorrow we'll continue working on the packets, assembling them and cutting the parts on a scroll saw. Tomorrow evening is pizza night where friends, relatives and members of the community are invited to share pizza and see some of the Paul's work, and the student's work. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes (if it doesn't run too late).

Mike

[Shawn Pixley]

I'm jealous. Have fun at the class.

[James Baker SD]

Paul was the speaker at the annual 2.5 day seminar at San Diego Fine Woodworkers this year. He was a great speaker and demonstrated the techniques on stage. Amazing skills he has.

As an aside, maybe he can help you with the manual on the Hawk scroll saw as he had one at the seminar.

James

[Richard Wolf]

Wow, looks like a great class. It is fun to take classes, learn techniques and very motivating. Keep the pictures coming, I'm jealous also.

[Jeff Monson]

Mike that looks like a great experience. I'd really like to see some photo's of your work.

[Mike Henderson]

In preparation for Paul's class, I did one panel based on his DVD, then another of my own design. In class, I'm doing an 8 sided panel (to become a tray) with a circular design. I'll try to take a picture of the drawing and the steps to completion over the next few days. Here's a couple of pictures of the panels I've already done. Remember that they're just student panels (I made them into trays so they would have a use). The second, third and fourth pictures are closeups of the flowers in the first panel. I should have done a bit more sand shading on them to make the petals stand out more. This first panel is pretty easy to do. Anyone with a scroll saw and Paul's DVD could do it. The flower in the second panel is a bit more difficult.

Regarding the Hawk manual, I was able to get a copy from two different sources so if anyone needs a copy, let me know.

Mike

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[James Baker SD]

Hi Mike:

That work looks like you've been doing this for years. Really nice.

James

[Mike Henderson]

Here's the update on the second day. I'll use my project to describe the activities. I completed my drawing, called a cartoon, and pasted it down on a piece of cardboard. Another piece of cardboard is hinged to the first to make a "clamshell".

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This drawing is of two intertwined vines with flowers and leaves attached around the circle. Each individual element is numbered sequentially. There's about 145 individual elements in this design, and some of them are pretty small. This is a bit more complex than the usual beginner project.

Next, veneer is placed between the two pieces of cardboard under the elements. For example, holly is placed under the flowers and green dyed veneer is placed under the leaves. Multiple pieces are often needed to make sure the grain direction is correct for the elements. So at least two pieces of holly are placed under each flower so that each petal will have grain running lengthwise of the petal.

Same with leaves, since there may be multiple leaves in an area, and they may go in different directions.

When everything is placed, the packet is taped up and pins are used to hold the veneer in place. Then on to the scroll saw to cut the elements out.

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Here I am using a Dewalt 788 scroll saw. I'll comment that the Dewalt is a good scroll saw, easy to set up and adjust, and low in vibration. Each of those little elements are cut out and put in a tray with a numbered grid in the bottom. Since I had so many individual pieces, I had three trays of pieces. It took me all afternoon to cut out all the pieces.

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I learned something already: Don't overdraw. All those little design elements have to be cut out, organized, sand shaded and then fit back into the design. I need to learn how to represent design elements, such as a flower, with less small pieces.

Tomorrow, I'd do the sand shading and, hopefully, start assembling the pieces into the background.

Mike

[Richard Wolf]

Great update Mike, keep us posted. It looks like a very complex design, I like your confidence level.

[Todd Bin]

Thanks for posting Mike. I am anxiously awaiting your next post and can't wait to see the final pictures of the project completed. Also, please explain what you learn about not overdrawing.

~Todd

[Mike Henderson]

What I mean about not overdrawing is not to put small detail in the marquetry - or at least not more than's really needed. For example, let's say you're drawing a flower. You can try to capture every small detail of that flower, or you can do only enough to show the major aspects of the flower. What I learned it that you don't have to show all the fine detail. As long as you capture the important aspects of the flower the viewer's mind will fill in the detail. The human mind is a very good pattern matching machine. A good artist can use a few strokes to capture the important aspects of some design element and you'll recognize what it is.

In marquetry, that's very important because every small element has to be sawn, tracked, sand shaded and then fit into the final design. If you can express your design in less pieces you'll have less work to do, less chance of errors and the job will go faster.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

One more comment. Last night we had pizza and Paul did a slide slow of some of his work. He's done some very interesting and creative work. Unfortunately, I can't really convey in words what some of his work is like. But afterwards I was thinking of the difference between Paul and someone like Sam Maloof. Fairly early in Sam's career he settled on a set of furniture and a general design. Over the years, he refined his design but he stayed with the same set of furniture (at least for commercial work). When you think of Sam's work, you immediately think of his rocking chair.

Paul's work is all over the place and he seems to be constantly searching for new avenues for his creativity. For example, he's now working on designing women's clothes incorporating veneer. He showed on piece at a couple of woodworking shows, and showed one to us last night.

He commented that he gets bored doing the same thing over and over, and I certainly believe him.

If you ever get a chance to see his portfolio, either in a presentation he makes, or someplace else, maybe a web gallery, take a look. His body of work is pretty impressive.

Mike

[Sean Hughto]

So I can't tell, is this double bevel? Are you willing to share details like:

- what blades are you using?
- what thickness veneer
- what kind of cardboard - like white poster board?
- if double bevel, what angle?
- what sort of glue will you be using?
- what substrate, and does Paul think it necessary to simultaneously veneer the back side of the panel?
- How does the method you are doing with this whole packet approach compare to the additive approach used by Silas Kopf?

Thanks for anything you can tell me. The past week or so, I've been getting to know my new excalibur and dope out making some simple double bevel stuff. I've been encouraged by the results.

[Mike Henderson]

Let me answer in your post, below. [Added note: A lot of your questions are covered in Paul's DVD on marquetry. If you can check out a copy from the library it'll answer a lot of questions. Or you can purchase a copy from his web site.]

So I can't tell, is this double bevel? Are you willing to share details like:

- what blades are you using?
#2/0 standard blades. No special tooth profile.

- what thickness veneer
1/42"

- what kind of cardboard - like white poster board?
We're using gray cardboard, maybe the thickness of two or three pieces of veneer. I don't think this is very critical. You just want something to hold the packet together but not so thick that it's hard to saw.

- if double bevel, what angle?
No bevel - just straight cutting with the scroll saw. Paul says that the veneer expands slightly when it absorbs water during glueup and the dark glue blends in with the sand shading, in any case. I've looked closely at his work and I don't see gaps.

- what sort of glue will you be using?
Urea Formaldehyde. I'll give you more info when we get to that part of the class.

- what substrate, and does Paul think it necessary to simultaneously veneer the back side of the panel?
We're using MDF, but Paul has worked on a variety of substrates for different purposes. Yes, he veneers both sides.

- How does the method you are doing with this whole packet approach compare to the additive approach used by Silas Kopf?
Sorry, I can't answer this because I'm not familiar with the approach Silas uses.

Thanks for anything you can tell me. The past week or so, I've been getting to know my new excalibur and dope out making some simple double bevel stuff. I've been encouraged by the results.

[Sean Hughto]

Thanks, Mike. I look forward to future reports and seeing the result of your efforts!