Neander Chippendale Lowboy Build – Part 4 carved apron finished. Start on legs

[Mike Allen1010]

This is part four of a mostly neander Chippendale lowboy build from Franklin Gottschall’s book “MasterpieceFurniture”. The previous post have similar titles and you should be able find them here in the cave.

Finally finished the carving for the bottom apron. Of the three major carved elements in thispiece, this is the largest, but probably the simplest. It probably took me three full, fairly tedious days.
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Sawing out the final profile. This is a good job for a panel saw, somewhere between a full-size saw and a backsaw.
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I used a Gramercy bow saw for some of the larger/straighter sections and coping saw for the tighter curves. Here’s the final sawn out profile:
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Final outlining of the relief elements and cleanup of the background with the #2 sweep gouge. This is one of the carving tools I use most frequently. The Boss thinks I should sand the background smooth. I kind of like leaving the gouge marks on the background that surround the relief elements. What do you guys think?
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[Mike Allen1010]

I don’t normally use a strop with bench chisels/plane blades, but do use them with the carving tools. One is covered with leather, soft side up, the others are just MDF and dowels with green abrasive. I can’t really tell which works best. From what I’ve read here in the Creek, I think I should try a strop with the smooth side of the leather up – David W. you think a good idea?
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The final carving done with the bottom profiles smooth/contoured.
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I too lazy to make a proper template so I tried to lay out the curves for the cabriole leg with the stencil and carbon paper. This failed miserably. This is my classic screw-up; trying to take the easy way which fails and then have to go back and do it the “rightway”. I hear the voice my Dad saying “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right the first time”.
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[Mike Allen1010]

This shows the difference between the stencil and the template – I was pretty far off.

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Ripping the top of the legs to correct dimensions. If I had more confidence/experience with my super cheesy, Taiwanese bandsaw it would’ve been easier to use that, but I’m more comfortable with the handsaw. I start the cuts with a backsaw, pretty fat of the layout line, because I’ll finish up with a full-size rip saw which will have a wider kerf.
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I like to rip narrow pieces like this vertically in the vice, versus the saw bench. Again the panel saw comes in handy for finishing the cut without over cutting the shoulder.

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[Mike Allen1010]

Smoothing out the sawn surfaces. The last couple inches would be a good spot for a chisel plane, which I don’t have, so I finish up the part I can’t reach with a plane with a paring chisel.
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Rounding the top edge of the knee by paring cross grain:
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Shaping the legs with spoke shave and rasp. This is my first set of these and expectations are low. Three-dimensional forms are hard for me – I have a tough time visualizing what they’re supposed to look like, so took a lot of time in comparing back and forth with the template. I started with the two back legs so hopefully any learning curve screw ups are less visible.
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Here are some pictures of the two shaped legs with two more still to go.

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[Mike Allen1010]

Here are some pictures of the two shaped legs with two more still to go.

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I’m looking forward to doing the M&T joints so I can dry fit the carcass together beforeI tackle carving the ball and claw feet. I really have zero idea how I’m going to do that. I have a couple articles by my inability to envision the three-dimensional objects will make this a challenge.

Thanks for looking, all the best, Mike

[Malcolm Schweizer]

This is a wonderful build. The carvings are amazing and I am enjoying every bit of this. You are making me ache to build a large project. I have a lot in the lineup at the moment, but I have a breakfront chest that I would love to one day build.

[Christopher Charles]

Looking good Mike. I've found that with the wee teeny bit of carving i've done, watching videos has been invaluable; much more useful than books for getting the 3-D feel. Thanks for posting and looking forward to your progress as you claw along...

C

[Mike Allen1010]

So should I sand/smooth the background behind the carving on the bottom apron to remove the gouge marks or just leave them?

I need the power of the collective input from my fellow neanders to make a decision and potentially advocate for my preference with the boss.

Many thanks, Mike

[george wilson]

Mike, since you have asked for input, if I may make a suggestion after being in an 18th. C. setting since 1970,much of the time connected to the Anthony Hay Cabinet Shop,and the rest next door to the Furniture Conservation Shop,where 18th. C. furniture was always in the shop. You should not leave flat top surfaces on your scroll work. They need to be fully rounded all over their surfaces. Remaining gouge cuts are permissible,but ONLY if they are expertly done.

I have an excellent book about Grinling Gibbons,which is well illustrated. You would do well to get that book. He was one of the very greatest English carvers. Perhaps you could Google Grinling Gibbons images,his carving images,etc..

The background surface must not be seen to dip down to accommodate the depth of the carvings. I am not sure from the pictures if you have done that or not. The gouge marks should be so smoothly done,and with such a flat gouge(like a #1 sweep),they are hardly perceptible. You need to lower the entire back ground all over the piece. If you do not,when the piece is finished,the dipped surface will show up very badly. You should have used a router before beginning the carving,to lower the background everywhere. This can be done with a hand router,of course. I preferred to use a miniature hand router when lowering the background on the lion's head violin neck which is posted in the FAQ section at the top of this forum.

You might leave an unsanded surface on the back ground,but you need to establish a rhythm of shallow gouge cuts all over the surfaces: In other words,the cuts need to be the same size. No fuzz at all. The same applies to hollow ware in silver. The planishing marks need to be the same size. That was considered a mark of great skill on the part of the silversmith. They only polished silver enough to get "the dirt off" centuries ago. Today,sometimes less than skillful smiths buff the piece to death. I have seen a lot of that.

P.S.: The Grinling Gibbons book is Grinling Gibbons and the Art of English Woodcarving. If you Google "Grinling Gibbons carvings images",you will see some good examples of his carving,and a reference to that book. The cravat he carved was intended to be a joke that someone wore to a party instead of a real Dutch lace one. It is a masterpiece in its own right. I met a Dutch lace maker once,who had done a butterfly smaller than a 50 cent piece. It took her 2 weeks to make that butterfly. The illustrations of hanging drapes with fruit,scrolls,etc. are what you need to study,though.

On your start on the legs: I don't know if you are finished sculpting the first leg or not. There is a flat area on the legs,just where the upper part of the contour quits. That flat area needs further shaping,so that a continuous,smooth "S" curve flows down the legs. It is tantamount to leaving flat spots on the uppermost areas of your carved scroll work. Take care of this basic shaping before you start carving on the legs. Then,it will have become more difficult to remove the flat areas.

My sculpture teacher,William P. Reimann,is one of the foremost sculptors in the World. He ended up as head of the Art Dept. at Harvard. He taught me that you should make things either completely round,or completely square. Do not mess around with in between shapes. You might want to Google him. I much preferred the type of work he was doing back in the early 60's to the stone work he is doing now. Some of his other works and drawings can be seen,though. I Googled him,and was pleasantly surprised to see a link to a website I am featured on,along with links to some other artists he knows.

Click on his "contact site/blog" to see some work,and his list of artists. Also,click on "plexiglass/steel" to see the beautiful work he was doing when I was with him. Keep in mind that some of his pieces,like the high chair and the rhinoceros,were made to have a somewhat crude appearance,rather than being slick. He was making the high chair when I was in his classroom in 1963. He was working on the rhino for his child when he visited me in Williamsburg in the 70's or 80's(I can't recall the date.)

[David Weaver]

From what I’ve read here in the Creek, I think I should try a strop with the smooth side of the leather up – David W. you think a good idea?

I think whatever you prefer is good, I'd get a little bit of light oil to disperse the green stuff, though. I never liked to use those wax sticks on a dry surface. A drop of oil and they really have much nicer action.

I don't do much carving, but I've gone from using a power leather wheel to just using oilstones (bench stones, and a piece of jasper), slips and a strop. If I did a volume of it, I might reconsider.

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks George, as always I really appreciate your advice.

I did use a hand router to lower the background behind the carving uniformly on the lower apron. However, as I refined the raised carved elements I did slightly lower the background directly adjacent to them. I will go back and check to see if I need to do any further smoothing work (either with gouges, router or maybe Scrapers to make the background uniformly flat.

Regarding the upper curve on the legs where the curve of the knee meets the straight portion, I appreciate you calling this to my attention as it's something I didn't really notice. That's one of the problems of carvings from the – having never done these kind of legs before, I don't know what the "trouble spots" are. I did work on these this weekend to try and get a continuous curve until it meets the straight part. Although I started with chisels paring cross grain to create this curve, I ended up using a half round file to be able to work the last 1/16" of the curve right up against the straight part. Better now, but still not perfect. I'll post some pictures of the latest version once I make more progress.

I also appreciate your reference to Grinling Gibbons - that guy's work is simply amazing!

David, I also appreciate your suggestion about adding some oil to the green rouge on the surface of strops. I noticed that the green abrasive wasn't uniformly distributed in terms of thickness across the stroping surface and I'm looking forward to trying out the suggestion. Would you also recommend this idea for wooden MDF, Dowell strops with no leather attached?

I currently use 1.0 and 0.5 micron abrasive paper on Lexan disks that sit on top of the Waterstone on my Makita horizontal motorized sharpener. With the water constantly dripping on the rotating surface I have been able to get a great bevel edge on most of my carving tools and just remove the burr on the inside of the bevel with the strop. This works surprisingly well for me.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice!

Regards, Mike