Replies

1. 
   RalphBarker | Jan 28, 2011 07:44pm | #1

   fan table

   With a fan blade?

   Sorry, Joe, I couldn't resist. I would assume he cut them with carver's gouges, starting narrow for th efull length, then widening with a larger gouge.

2. 
   acornw | Jan 30, 2011 12:22pm | #2

   Photos

   I have seen photos of Peters using gouges to make these flutes. I assume the ridges are all the same height, but the valleys deepen as they increase in width. 

   Handwork through long term practise and training. There is no substitute.Never have seen one up close, but I'll bet there are subtle variations that belie them maker's hand. 

   Dave S

3. 
   SgianDubh | Jan 30, 2011 01:56pm | #3

   I met Alan Peters for the first time in the mid 80s at an exhibition he was involved with in Edinburgh. One of his fan carved table tops was in the show and we briefly discussed its execution. As I recall it, he described marking out the required pattern on the wood surface, getting at it with gouges, mallets and rasps, and finishing off with various grades of abrasive paper prior to putting on a wood finish of some sort. Slainte. 

1. 
   Joe Sullivan | Jan 30, 2011 07:53pm | #4

   That's why he was so well respected

   Peters' work at its best is simply remarkable -- as in the fan carved tables in which a superior design met exceptional skill of hand.

   Must say, though that some of his work fell victim to an unfortunate era in design.  That '60s stuff in general tehds to be clunky and to be very dated.  Some of Peters'  stuff followed the trend.  He had to ake a living.  But it was uncomonly well executed.

   Thanks for the insight.  No point in me thinking about doing that.

   J

1. 
   RalphBarker | Feb 02, 2011 10:11am | #5

   "No point in me thinking about doing that."

   Sure there is. It would simply take time. For example, one could start with a jig for a router similar to one used for cutting dados with a guide bushing. Put a registration pin at one end, so it can be swung radially across the surface, to rout a series of round-bottomed grooves. Mark the outside edge of the wedge-shaped grooves desired. Then, simply widen the grooves carefully with carving gouges of increasing width as you move toward the outside of the arc. Certainly, it involves a fair amount of careful hand work, but it's not that complicated.