This is the third video in the series; fourth if you count the intro to the drawings. I have several more to go, some of which have already been shot and just need editing. The floral panel I plan on shooting in the next week or so. Then it’s on to finishing the next set of drawings. I post all of the videos here on the blog as well as on youtube.
This one I shot the steps and discussed them as I went along, then carved the whole pattern a second time with little commentary, trying to just carve it in “real” time. (I hate that expression). So the back 12 minutes or so is a bit redundant. You’re warned, repetition is the mother of retention.
I’ll keep an eye on things and will try to respond to any problems. Thanks for your patience. If only it were wooden, I could fix it easier…
I’ve got the first set of the carving patterns available finally. I think I’ve ironed out the international shipping wrinkles, but bear with me. I don’t have great faith in my setup. But the US option is working, I tested it with some guinea pigs.
A youtube video showing just what’s in this set – (if you watch the whole thing, keep an eye peeled for the hummingbirds)
If it looks familiar, that might mean you’ve seen Curtis Buchanan’s videos – I picked his brain a lot over the past couple of months getting this together. He’s the inspiration for the whole project…
This set of patterns is part of my interpretation of carvings found on furniture from Devon, England and Ipswich, Massachusetts in the 17th century. This body of work is quite varied, and contains designs that can be used in many combinations. This particular group of furniture is quite large, with many surviving works. The furniture I study and make mainly uses frame-and-panel construction, and the designs reflect this format. The drawings include patterns for framing parts, from 2” high rails to 5” wide vertical muntins. In addition there are three designs for wider vertical panels, as well as horizontal box fronts.
I’ve drawn most of them “full scale”, I chose typical sizes for the patterns, based on some chests and boxes I’ve measured over the years. I worked the same way I carve them, using some basic geometry for the layout, and tracing the carving gouges to establish some of the curves. Many shapes are drawn freehand; these represent V-tool outlines.
This style of carving is readily adaptable. These are not templates, nor are they to be slavishly copied when you’re carving. Treat them as a pattern, something to base work on, but make adjustments as required. You might have slightly different carving gouges, or stock narrower or wider than what I have drawn. That just gives you a chance to change things around a bit. As you study these patterns, you’ll see common themes in them. The intention is that some of these will recur and be expanded on in future sets of related works.
If you’ve seen other drawings & plans drawn by Jeff Lefkowitz for Curtis Buchanan, Dawson Moore, Tim Manney, Pete Galbert and others, these are different. I’ve drawn the images, Jeff did the layout and planning. These pencil drawings reproduce differently than the line drawings noted – and the curves and shapes are not perfect, nor are they supposed to be. As I said, I drew them just like I carve them. It’s just that carving is quicker!
There’s step-by-step sequences for several of the patterns; a couple of designs include alternate sections, some are layout sequences.
(the international shipping is the part I’m the least confident about. Advance apologies for any mixup, I’ll do what I can to make it work.)
As for instruction in the actual carving, there’s lots of options. The free one is/will be a series of videos on my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/MrFollansbee
PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES 