Something Fishy

[marcus]

I've been working on this on and off for a year. It's a writing bureau in oak and sycamore with elm and boxwood marquetry. It's in an antique style, which is unusual for me. I fancied doing something different. Everything is done the old way apart from the initial timber prep. All veneer was sawn at 2mm thick, and glued with hot hide glue in the press. There's more fish swimming round the desktop as a border, but I haven't managed to get a decent picture of that yet. I'm pleased with the overall design, rather irritated with some silly mistakes and imperfections which have crept in, but I guess that's normal (it is for me anyway!). I will probably fix them at some point (it's a showpiece, not for a client), but have had enough of it for now.

 

[Grahamshed]

Thats gorgeous Marcus.

 

[Drudgeon]

What a beautiful piece of work.

 

[riclepp]

very nice indded, love the fish theme in the doors.

 

[Baldhead]

That's something to be very proud of, especially the barley twist legs.

Baldhead

 

[Woodmonkey]

Beautiful, would've liked to see a WIP...

 

[John15]

That's a beautiful piece of furniture Marcus.

John

 

[AndyT]

That really looks the business!

I hope you have signed and dated it... if not, that is really going to be confusing for any future owner who will be convinced that it's at least a hundred years older!

 

[ColeyS1]

I like that alot ! Looks really good

Coley

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[Paul Chapman]

That looks beautifully made, Marcus.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[caroleb]

=D>
Amazing.
=D>

Caz

 

[Tierney]

Awesome. Despite the traditional style, it is not overbearing, and has an almost contemporary simplicity to it - particularly when the doors are open.

DT

 

[Farmer Giles]

Very very nice 8)

 

[marcus]

Thanks chaps, can't deny I'm quite chuffed with this one. It's funny though, but whenever I finish a piece, no matter whether it has turned out well or badly, I always go through a phase of disillusionment, thinking that it's an awful lot of work and stress to produce what is, at the end of the day, just a piece of furniture. I think we can get so invested in what we're making, and it can take up so much of our head space, that it can be a bit of a let down when we finish to realise that it's just a table or whatever. Or maybe that's just me....

 

[hanser]

Marcus - Well done. Excellent piece.

 

[SteveF]

that is very impressive work

one day i hope to get to that quality

Steve

 

[cerdeira]

Excellent. There are so many details we can't see from the pictures.
I suppose you haven't used modern fittings like drawer runners for the desktop. Could you give more details?
Also would you unveil how you have done the barley twists? Have you used a router lathe?
(I suppose CNC is out of the question as far as traditional methods go)

 

[marcus]

Hi cerdeira, the desk top is hinged and just folds down, simple but effective. The barley twists were cut by hand — you turn a cylinder on the lathe, then cut a spiral line with a hand saw about 1cm deep. After that you can remove the rough waste with a chisel (making sure to always work with the grain), then it's refining the profile with rasps, then finally a LOT of sanding. I used micro-plane rasps as they are very quick and leave less waste to clear up. There are demos of the process on YouTube, it's easier to do than it looks from the finished product — but takes a lot of patience!