by Robert E rickson
Methods for shaping saddled chair seats, like those of Windsor chairs and old trac
tors, interest me. The traditional Windsor method, with adze, scorp, travisher and handplanes, seems satisfying but slow and not well suited to the small production shop. Jeremy Singley's kerf-bent method ( FWW #50, pp. 30-36) is effective and novel but not, I suspect, much quicker.
Sam Maloof's method of bandsawing nar
row boards roughly to shape, then gluing them up as a seat blank seems better suit
ed to the small production shop. Where possible, however, I like to use one or two wide planks for the seat; ripping them first would disturb the grain continuity. I 've developed a method of shaping a tractor
style seat with a chainsaw and a body grinder that solves this problem and takes only about an hour per seat.
First, I bandsaw the blank to shape, then pencil-on the outline of the saddling on the top surface and the contour on the front edge. This contour curves down each side of the center arris to a maximum depth of
Ys
in., then gently up to meet the hard line of the arris defined by the outline on top. Next, I kerf the waste wood in the saddled area with the chainsaw. I 've found I can control the saw better if I hold my el
bow against my side. I work to within about Ys in. of the finished depth at this pOint.
To remove the waste and begin shap
ing, I work with the nose of the chainsaw at right angles to the saw kerfs, the bar at an acute angle to the surface, angled to
ward the seat center, as shown at right.
Start at the seat back, about
'Y.
in. from the pencil line, and slowly sweep the saw back and forth. After removing the waste, fi ne-tune the shape , working carefully back toward the outline and in to the center arris, letting the radius of the bar's nose define the curve of the saddle up to the hard lines of the arrises. The depth of cut is shallow, so there shouldn't be
kick-With a chain saw and body grinder, Erickson can sculpt the tractor-seat saddle Of his chairs in about an hour. After penciling the saddle outline on the top surface and the contour on the front edge, kerf the seat with a series of chainsaw cuts to approximate depth (left) . Shape the seat by sweeping the nose of the chainsaw slowly from the arrises into the depressions_ A body grinder refines the saddling and cleans up the chainsaw marks (right). The chair shown at top is made of California madrone.
back problems. As with any chainsaw op
eration, however, be very careful.
To complete the shaping and clean up the chainsaw marks, I use a Bosch Model 0601 body grinder and 50-grit sandpaper mounted on a 4-in.-diameter flexible back
ing pad. My backing pad is a Rockwell
#55746, and its X-in.-thick rubber is fairly stiff. I 've tried grinding with a 6-in. disc and found it more difficult to control.
Sweep the grinder from the arrises into the seat's depressions. For better control, I choke up on the grinder's grip and press an elbow against my body while grinding.
I finish-sand with a Makita pad sander with a 6-in.-diameter circular base, work
ing from 60 grit up to 400 grit. 0
Bob Erickson makes chairs and furniture in Nevada City, Calif.
May/june 1986
65
in an unintended direction, it was not an artistic hardship to in
corporate an extra leaf vein into the design.
One day, while flipping through a book about engraving pre
cious metals, I discovered that both the model of graver and the handgrip that I was by now quite accustomed to were almost completely wrong! Immediately, I rushed out and purchased the prescribed diamond-shaped graver, ground and shaped its edges as instructed, then gave it a test cut. I checked my grip, the angle of approach and my sharpening, and, in every instance, the new graver cut poorly and was harder to control than the old.
I concluded that for engraving mother-of-pearl and the like, I simply could not follow the same rules that apply to metal. I went back to my # 1 knife graver and my own handgrip, and have not changed since. Even when I occasionally engrave precious metals, my graver technique, and a decade's practice at it, is enough to confidently guide even an inappropriate graver through metal.
Until this point, I'd been sketching inlay design ideas from any source immediately at hand: wine bottle labels, books on historic ornament, antique banjos, bird field guides, whatever. But now I made a conscious effort to be a little more adventurous. So, when a customer requested an old clipper ship to be inlaid on the peghead, instead of searching for a simplified motif, I want
ed it to be as realistic as possible. I chose a ship in an old paint
ing and, with a pantograph, enlarged it to sit neatly between the machine-head washers. Since the real ship's hull and mast were wooden, I decided to make mine from maple and mahogany, with mother-of-pearl sails and abalone flags. When it came to the myriad of hanging ropes, I cut in every line, rope, and rope lad
der I could find space for. When I was done, my "clipper"
looked more like a sail ship than any inlay of one I ' d seen.
This, and similar inlays, signaled a shift in my approach to the whole process. Design ideas that I would earlier have rejected as impossible now appeared feasible . In a short time I began to enjoy creating small "scenes" on the peghead: Such things as a duck, wings extended, about to land in a marsh of reeds and bullrushes, or an 1 8th-century woman, shown from the shoul
ders up and surrounded by a garland of flowers. I engraved the woman's hair with a multi-line graver, which cuts a series of fine, closely spaced parallel l ines in one pass.
About a year later, my design perspective altered once again. I was given free reign on a guitar peghead, and a side view drawing of a baker in traditional costume took my fancy. Unfortunately, if I reduced him to fit within the peghead's borders, his face would become too small to clearly engrave all the appealing details of his expression. After a few hours of agonizing, I decided to leave him the maximum size but have him appearing out of only one side of the peghead. I'd tell the customer that the baker was walk
ing Onto the peghead. The moment this rationalization occurred to me, a light snapped on in my head: "Of course ! He really is walking onto the peghead. The movement is obvious and clearly suggested by his being only two-thirds in view. The inlay is more entertaining this way, as your mind imagines what it doesn't see."
I was very excited and pleased with myself just then . It didn't seem
to
matter that the baker's body overlapped three of the tuning machines and their washers, a hitherto taboo occurrence. I made certain that the baker's most important attributes-his face, hands and feet-were well clear of the machine heads and then simply located his torso where it seemed to sit best. The customer loved it, other instrument makers thought it was a great design and I was never more creatively satisfied by one of my inlays.
This was the beginning of my conception of the instrument's
Photos: Brian Pickell
peghead as "my little canvas" where I try to capture a live mo
ment or convey movement by how much or how l ittle of a scene, person, or object I choose to bring into view. There was now absolutely no subject I couldn't or wouldn't attempt. I never re
peat a design, so I 've had some wonderful challenges-various kinds of ships sailing onto the peghead, mermaids diving out of foamy seas, folk dancers in full ethnic costume, and so on.
I generally design an inlay from a composIte of photographs and drawings. Life sketches, whether of my own body or someone else's, are a great help when trying to illustrate what an arm does when it's shifted like so, or what happens to a profile when the head faces more to the left. As my inlay approach has evolved, I lean more in the direction of early book illustration and draWing styles. For example, I now very consciously delineate all the parts of a design after it has been inlaid, engraving them to deepen their outlines, giving each an even, defined border. I find that this enhances the bold style and the size of design that I favor.
Though my inlay work is done primarily on commissioned in
strument orders, I have had numerous requests to inlay such things as tabletops, lids of boxes, and even the body of an elec
tric guitar, and the following techniques will work equally well for this type of work. My wife, Judith, however, is still waiting for a larger work of inlay to be an objet d'art for our living room.
When I do get around to such a project, I ' l l no doubt enjoy the freedom of a work surface devoid of tuning machines.
The completed sketch on tracing paper is shown below. Omit
ting the dancer's left leg from view gives a sense of her motion.
While draWing, I made constant reference to an outline of the peghead, with machine head locations, also done on tracing paper.
Placing the outline over or under the drawing easily confirmed that the various parts of the design fell where they should.
The notes on the drawing list the material for each part. I prefer mother-of-pearl for uncovered body parts, and for the dancer's typically non-glossy tights, I chose ivory. A subdued piece of pinkish-white abalone became her dance shoe and a white Euro
pean curly maple represents her beige crinoline. For the remain
ing parts of the dress, and for her hair, I chose busy burled ve
neers, including ash and walnut, that complemented the adjacent materials. Lastly, a small amount of silver, green abalone, and bird's-eye maple formed the belt and blouse.
After tracing and photocopying the outlines of the various parts, I glue each outline to its material to serve as a cutting guide-any
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Laskin first works out each, peghead figure completely on paper, including inlay materials, which are a.lso listed here.
May/june 1986
67
68
Fine Woodworking. . ' (i
'"
Glue the patterns to the inlay materials and cut them carefully with a fret saw
(IJ.
Assemble the inlay with cyanoacrylic glue and scribe its position onto the peghead (2), Rout the recess for the background veneer with a small router (3), Cutting just a hair outside the scribe lines prevents fractured inlay later.Glue the inlay in place (4).
Plexiglas protects the inlay ma terials; s m all wooden spacers distribute pressure.
Photo 5 shows Laskin 's grip o n t h e graver; p h o to 6 shows the tool in use. The thumb of the left hand acts as both support and pivot.
Work carefully, don't rush, and make sure the graver is always sharp.
Engravers ' wax gives the engraved lines definition. Rub it over the entire inlay, then immediately rub it off with a rag. Scuff sanding with 240,grit paper prepares the peghead for finish.
wood glue will do. Trace accurately because the outlines must eventually all fit together. Make several photocopies as insurance against mistakes or breakage. I try to keep all of the materials as thick as, or thicker than, the thinnest one I am using, most often a shell or metal. They'll be sanded flush after they're glued in place.
Mother-of-pearl and abalone shell are normally obtained as
"flats" of random size with a thickness of .05 in. or .06 in. To enable any of the dozen or so different burled veneers I use to be as·workable as the stiffer materials, I glue up a double thick
ness. I buy precious metals in small, l mm-thick sheets.
I cut the pieces by hand with a fret saw, size
"0"
blades, and a simple bird's-mouth fixture-a piece of Masonite with a notch cut in it ( 1 , facing page ) . On tight turns, or just from heating up, the small, brittle blades sometimes snap. A couple of hints: Always keep the saw vertical and in motion, especially on tight curves.Hold the work with your hand, not a clamp; a clamp is too tight and has no give should the blade catch. File with wood or metal files of suitable shapes to smooth out any inaccuracies; shells, ivory and metals file almost as easily as wood. Attach the separate pieces
to
each other, one at a time, with a fast-acting cyanoacrylate adhesive. Once assembled, the single solid unit will be easily workable.
Glue the assembled inlay temporarily (with only a couple of drops) or clamp it in position to scribe its outline into the ebony veneer on the peghead. I scribe with a small awl-like tool with a fine point (2) . I have three reasons for almost always inlaying into black East Indian or Gaboon ebony. One, its natural density allows the small cutting bits of the Dremel router to leave a cleaner edge. Two, its dark color provides a more attractive back
ground for the inlaid materials. Three, it has minimal visible grain, so the edge of filler around the inlay almost disappears.
To excavate for the inlay, I follow the scribed outline freehand with my Dremel mini-router (3) . Use straight fluted cutters-a small size
to
cut the outline, then a larger size to clear the waste.Rout just a hair outside the scribe lines-too tight a fit can result·
in fractured inlay materials, either at assembly or when the ebony shrinks in dry conditions. The depth of cut should leave the thin
nest piece of the inlay slightly proud of the surface.
With the inlay fitted, I secure it in place with epoxy that I 've dyed black. Epoxies are readily tinted with standard, finely pow
dered dyes (available from art supply stores) that slow the curing time. A piece of Plexiglas protects the inlay from the clamps and distributes pressure evenly (4) . Small wooden pieces of various thicknesses placed beneath the Plexiglas make up for the differ
ing thicknesses of the materials. Clamp qUickly to avoid warping.
Once the epoxy has cured, sand the inlay up to l 80-grit paper to flush the surfaces and remove all major scratches before en
graving. Drill through the machine head holes now with a spur
tip bit, boring from both sides to avoid chipping the inlay.
I hold the graver as shown in photo 5. My pinky and ring finger are both pushing the ball handle into my palm. With part of your hand pushing against the movement of your arm during a cut, you 'll have a large amount of control. Before making any cut with the graver, draw the line in pencil. On the more criti
cal areas, such as facial features, I often draw the part two or three times before I feel it's accurate enough. Notice in photo 6 that the thumb of the left hand acts as a support and/or pivot-a hand position that feels quite comfortable.
When sharpening the graver, work on its cutting edge (the small, shiny, triangular area in photo 6 ) . Sharpening the graver's sides alters its cutting effectiveness. Don't rush when engraving.
I spent more than three hours on this particular inlay, the largest chunk of time on the face.
The completed dancer enlivens the peghead of one Of Laskin 's steel-string gUitars, one of some two dozen guitar and mando
lin-jamily instruments he makes each year.
Some tips for engraVing: First, the graver must always be very sharp or your chances of losing control during a cut increase rap
idly. Second, a strong, bold line, especially one with smooth, clean edges, is a confident line. (The exceptions, of course, are when a fine line or tapering line is an integral part of the de
sign.) Third, with materials such as shell or ivory, you must be
gin with a relatively shallow cut, then deepen and/or widen it with succeeding passes. Attempting to make one deep pass and be done will leave the edges of the cut chattered and chipped.
Fourth, the way to accent a line (have it evolve from thin to thick where desired) is simply to lean into the edge of the cut as you deepen it. If your aim is realism, accenting lines is a must.
I cut lines in the various woods with a knife, rather than the graver, which tears the wood. The knife's tip isn't pointed, there
by allowing a thicker part of the blade to pierce the surface when used with normal pressure. As with the graver, make a series of shallow cuts rather than a single, deep one; to widen a line, lean into one side of the cut on a succeeding pass.
After all the lines are cut, an engraver's wax, Monofil (available from jewelers' supply houses) , is pushed into them to give them definition (7) . Monofil can be obtained in numerous colors, but I find that black most often provides the best definition.
I rub the wax over the entire inlay, then immediately rub it off with a rag. A light scuff sanding with 240-grit paper (zinc-stearate lubricated paper clogs least) removes the l 80-grit scratches and the darkened surface of the woods. The inlay is now ready to fin
ish. Before lacquering, I put down a few coats of sanding sealer, primarily to ensure good adhesion to the shell pieces.
0
Grit Laskin makes classical and steel-string guitars, and mando
lin-Jamily instruments in Toronto, Canada.
May IJune 1986