This table’s takin’ ages. Life gets in the way of woodwork. However, the diamonds are now carved on the legs (style 1) and table top edges (style 2).
Both diamond types are first laid out with a mitre square and a pencil. The width of the leg-edge or tabletop-edge defines the size of the diamonds.
A Zona saw is used to define the leg diamonds, which are of a single depth of around 1mm. The saw has a straight piece of wood stuck to it to limit its depth of cut.
A very sharp chisel is used to make initial steep cuts up to the sawn lines. Making a steep cut avoids the chisel slipping over the sawline and chomping on the diamond itself.
This leaves a sort of pyramid of waste which can then be easily pared away.
Once the diamonds are so-defined, a quick rub over with a soft sanding sponge rounds the point slightly and removes the odd spelk or other detritus. The oil finsh, when it’s applied following a good de-dusting, will bring out the chiselled look however.
The tabletop diamond are of a slighty different shape, as they sort of sit down in a shallow V within the edge, which is delineated by small chamfers. Here is the finished look:
The edges are chamfered with a spokeshave. I removed the handles so they wouldn’t foul the bench top.
The diamonds are initially outlined with chops from a chisel of appropriate width. The chops are made at a slight angle from the vertical to leave a triangle of waste to be pared out. The chop is deepest at the central point fading to nothing against the chamfer.
The waste is pared away carefully, 3 to 4 passes as taking it in one go requires more chisel pressure, which risks chopping off the diamond as well as the waste. It’s also necessary to find and go with the grain, to avoid a rough surface or micro-breakouts.
Once I got into a rythm, the chopping and the paring became routine. I definitely got better at leaving a clean finish straight off. To begin with I was leaving feathers of wood and rough inside corners, which I then had to tidy up with fiddlephartin’. After a dozen waste triangles were done I learnt to keep the chisel edge against the diamond walls and at a constant angle, leaving a crisp indented “tooth”.
The chisel got stropped back to razor-sharp about every dozen diamonds – 5 seconds on the honing pasted leather. Using a Marples chisel with a large, flat aris actually helps with these diamonds. A very thin aris like that on the Blue Spruce sometimes cut into the wall of the diamond, so I stopped using the Sprucer.
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Next stage, after a bit of oiling of finished parts, will be making of the frame & panel aprons and their fitting into the leg-hayrake assembly. Final stage (other than finishing) will be the making and fitting of two drawers.
Lataxe
Replies
Geat lesson, David. Thank you so much for sharing all that, including the pics!
And, of course, nicely done!
Nice work. Interesting that you can get such a good result with a bench chisel. The traditional tool is a #1 carving chisel, which I've only tried in lime without a mallet. I guess if you're pounding at oak it makes sense to use a Marples. Live and learn.
Cheers, Jim
Very nice work! I'm glad You said you wanted a rustic look...it doesn't look too rustic to me.
A nice touch using a chisel the size of the diamond,too.Safer,I could imagine.
Great shots, thanks.
Robin
David
You have Mucho Patience my friend. In the fifth frame down the diamonds have a slight bevel on them, I must give that a go.
On another note your photography is as you say wunerful, I can see molecules.
I have been following this thread and anticipate a very nice table , looking forward to the photos.
Tom.
I did think of using a #1 carving chisel but those I have don't have a flat back - both sides have a slightly bellied bevel, 20 degrees on one side and 10 degrees on the other; or thereabouts. These diamonds are more like chip-carved, which a normal bench chisel seems to suit best because it can be jigged with it's flat back to leave clean, flat surfaces where the chips are taken out.
The original Cotswold hayrake table from which I'm copying these motifs seems also to be chip-carved and is usually described as such in the literature. There was no attempt to round or dome the diamonds, for example. Given the rutic design motifs (the hayrake stretcher, for example, is derived from the wooden rake of that name but also from wagon architecture) I think this "crude" carving style was intended.
Oak is not exactly a carver's dreamwood as it has girt great open pores, splintery bits and (especially with English oak) cats paw and other pin knots. I suppose a more well-behaved oak might allow finer carvings than these in my hayrake table but I'b be inclined to choose a different, closer-grained timber if refinement was wanted.
It is possible to imagine a much refined version of this table - one made with standard "fine" cabinet-making traditions and tool techniques, rather than with a drawknife and simple chisel cuts. I believe there is a Peter Waals version that is more refined, with the hayrake chamfers consisting of identical scoop cuts and the edges chamfered to contain finely carved little scrolls here and there.
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The pictures are mostly taken with a small Sony T20 digital camera. This is not too hot at things like landscapes (too much noise from the small sensor) but has a fabulous supermacro facility, which allows one to focus with stuff almost touching the lens. It also has a well-squelched flash that works with it's normal macro-mode, not to mention an effective anti-shake mechanism.
This T20 is very quick and convenient to use in the shed whilst working on some piece of timber, especially compared to a girt great (and expensive) DSLR with an even more expensive macro lens clagged on it. It's also less likely to get dust-infested in the sensor region, unlike a DSLR - cost $N + (2 x $N) over it's lifetime to get the sensor cleaned every time a lens is changed; excuse my cynicism concerning the DSLR moneypit. :-)
This wee camera normally lives in the ladywife's walking rucksack as she uses it to take startling close-ups of many lichens, mosses and other strange micro-growths found in the English countryside. Small worlds all of their own.
Lataxe
Cool beans.
Reminds me of the time I tried to gadroon a table top. I am essentially an obsessive guy who doesn't mind absurd amounts of work to do cool stuff. I just couldn't do it.
Frank
VERY nice work, Lataxe. I can't wait to see the finished product. And the photos are great too! You might have to set up shop and hang a shingle out. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Tom,
"You might have to set up shop and hang a shingle out".
Ah ha! No chance of that as I wouldn't be able to get along with the customers, who would have to lay down their dosh then bugger off until I decide what to make for them (eventually; maybe).
No, I will remain a playboy of the Galgate shed, wherein I do what I like all day. This suits my entirely self-centred nature, which I learnt from the cat. :-)
Lataxe, a rank amateur.
You go, Old Man!
Sean,
You and I have talked about "design" and high quality workmanship. I found the following website. THis guy is really good, IMHO. He is a boatbuilder. Boats are all rounded. Look at his furniture. All rounded. Nice lines. Nice joinery. Overall beautiful pieces.Wondered your reaction. http://www.nwdesigns.co.nz/index.phpMelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Shoot, what's not to like?! I'm trying to think up a game table right now, so I may steal some aspects from that wonderful "go-table". Thanks for the link.
Sean,
Glad to be of service. I dont know why, but when I saw that website, I thought you might like it. I get the feeling the guy is an excellent woodworker, not just very good.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Lataxe,
I am stealing your technique and making some diamonds of my own. Please don't take legal action on me, as I have no way to pay, nor a good enough boat to get me across the pond to pay in servitude.
Those diamonds look nice!
Bob, notorious international diamond thief who lives in Tupper Lake, NY
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