jaxenro

Time to true up the ends and sand both to a consistent length here I am using my handy dandy tool from MicroMark. Sand, turn, sand, turn, sand turn, etc. By keeping it square to the tool and constantly turning it sands the ends at a 90 degree angle all around Both main blocks are done and covered tomorrow I will start the appliques

One done one to do they go quick I started this morning. One of the good things about small size is you can use expensive materials and they aren't that costly. A piece of burl walnut full size would be prohibitively expensive but I spent about $20 on seven sheets of 4" x 6" so enough burl to do this is only $3 or less. This allows us to use richer materials in ways that would never work on full size pieces without breaking the bank

A little trimming and sanding to get the long sides flush and I flip it and do the opposite side. Then the other two sides, I just overlap the veneer at the corners it is thin enough it isn't obnoxious. So two pedestals I do eight sides one at a time. I cut the core slightly oversize when I get all four sides done I will sand the ends square and even them up for length. Not difficult just a little tedious

Started on another pair of pedestals so I thought I would show the steps I go through This will be a rather simple pair in two tone wood. The core is a 5/8" poplar square dowel overlayed with burl wanlut veneer the appliqued details will be madrone burl veneer. The first picture is a rough sketch of what I am working towards although my designs tend to evolve as I build them, the second shows my "high tech" veneer press, basically two C clamps and a scrap piece of wood clamped to a table. I just use aleene's wood glue nothing fancy as the veneer pieces are fairly small

A couple by Canova the smaller Paris and Helen are about 3/4" desk size and the Venus Italica about 2"

in action

Been workig on some neo classical pedestals in veneer and trim these are soaking in their first coat of linseed oil madrone burl over a poplar core

It is a gentle way to “age” silver without harsh chemicals

I might try the hard boiled egg trick to give it some patina antique it a bit

really hard to photo as the phone camera doesn't focus on the bust correctly but this is one of the new ones I am working on lost wax cast in sterling silver Marc Antony 1.5" overall height shown on the pedestal I am making for them I have some others in the pipeline including desk (0.75" or scale 9") size

veneer - it even looks fragile in the pic sort of what i am making casting these two in sterling silver to inset into the wood - Adult or Autumn by Thorvaldsen - one a series of the four seasons if I like it will do another pair with all four seasons one per side

So I am making a matched pair of neoclassical pedestals using some really nice burl walnut I picked up but it is really brittle stuff. Even using a new blade it is almost impossible to keep it from chipping out as I cut it. One trick I used in the past was to glue the veneer on and then flood it with linseed oil to soften it and then trim it to shape but in this case I am layering the veneer so I can't use the oil until all the glueing is done as it will repel the glue Each pedestal consists of 18 separate pieces of venner so there is a lot of cutting. On some of the smaller trim pieces I have found tht soaking in water softens it enough that I can cut to slightly oversize without chipping then let it dry and glue. The water softens the veneer for cutting but doesn't interfere with gluing

Thanks it’s a little too skinny but shorter and fatter with a base it would be perfect for a round pedestal table

I wanted to try veneering an inward curving post where all 4 sides curve in from a wider base towards the top just a test

Yes those veneer banding strips come in all sorts of patterns and work well as accents

A little madrone burl, some veneer trim strips, a few hours work and we turn this into this

just a teaser but this isn't the real thing

Makes that little table pop doesn’t it not bad for an old HoM kit

I also updated this old House of Miniatures Candlestand Kit with a little burl top as well The fun thing is what I have coming to display but that needs a couple weeks

Made this little pedestal to display something special I have coming soon madrone burl about 2 1/2" tall

Bone, horn, or antler depending on what they had on hand that was big enough I told them either was ok the detail in the carving is amazing

I also collect miniature knives these are some Indo-Persian style handles I have had hand carved in Indonesia and having blades made for them each is about 1 1/2" long or 1/3 scale

Getting there I have a dozen framed looks like I will need another dozen. I Will decide on the final layout when I have them all framed but mostly the larger ones at the top so they can be seen from the floor better

Just seal it. Gesso is something I used to use it to prime metal wargame figures just glob it on and go to bed when you wake up in the morning it had dried tight as a drum and all the little details popped back out i remember seeing a time lapse video of it drying on a small figure it was amazing to see it shrink tight

Am busy making frames and still treating the Leighton's I am sure the layout will change when i get them all done.