Endeavour

In response to Messina. I had my tables in the museum inches form the original.
A wonderful day I’ll never forget. Not the first time I’ve been that close to the original either.
The cutting on the museum’s Louis XIV table is extremely well done, and very fine. Of course my tables are better cut. Modern metallurgy and finer tools etc. assisted in that. I never set out to produce forgeries. I simply set out to create beautifully made artwork.

Handmade blades are created from coils of watch or clock spring. They are filed on the sides to reduce the saw kerf for fine work, the backs can also be rounded. The complexity of the design determines finished blade thickness. The finest handmade blades were 0.012”, about 0.004” less than your #5 blade... close enough. The blades I used are Hurkules, 5/0, or 0.009” (0.23mm), about half the size of your #5 (according to my micrometer). I also used other blade sizes here and there.

As for the marquetry donkey... you are correct. However, I know that most marquetry graduates of Ecole Boulle use this tool. I’d drive a horse and buggy to town, rather than ride a donkey.

French polish is the most beautiful finish I know, and it will keep my tables quite safe from environmental changes. French polish is what’s on the piece in the museum, and the finish on my tables was applied by a graduate of Ecole Boulle.

Thank you for your enquires and kind words. Glad you wrote. Look me up and drop me a line, I’d like to see some of your work and get to know you.

-Aaron

Thank you for all the wonderful accolades and admiration! After reading the third blog I thought I was going into the Hudson faster than Capt. Sully. But I was wrong! Wonderful to see so many in possession of good old common sense.

In some ways, I built these tables for similar reasons Ford built the GT40. I wanted to push the envelope and pass out a slice or two of humble pie. There are a lot of very very talented craftsmen showing up in the pages of Fine Woodworking, so one needs an edge to stand out I feel.

As craftsmen, I believe we all need to go beyond the pale (at least once) to illustrate our abilities to potential clients, etc. I’m very happy my work here is an inspiring lesson to so many.
Hats off to Mr. Pirnik and Mr. Scholfield for assembling an awesome presentation. In closing, I'd like to say it is very refreshing and reassuring to see so many people with their head on straight.

As for my next project... Arts & Crafts library table, I can put my beer on that.
See: www.aaronradelow.com