I’ve been inspired by Chuck’s(stevent) recent threads and decided to post some photos of some curved pediments I’ve been making.
All of these pediments go over arched windows I installed or made on a project in McLean, Virginia. They are being finished with amber shellac to seal the clear pine, a sprayed on aniline dye stain, sand and seal and a lacquer topcoat.
The first photos is of a straight pediment, all of the pieces on this one were self returned including the 1″ x 10″ backband, some of the carvings were done on site with a Compucarve machine. The second photo is of a piece of the edgebanding I was using, it was ripped on the table saw and applied with tape and Elmer’s yellow glue. You’ll notice the yet to be sanded, glued up to section of the pediment in the edgebanding photo.
Edited 11/19/2009 7:09 pm ET by DCCarpenter <!– DCCARPENTER –>
Edited 11/19/2009 7:09 pm ET by DCCarpenter
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The next photos show what the edge looks like with end grain showing and one with it banded. I tried embedding in the last post but seem to be having problems.
Lastly here are some photos of the finished product. All the curved top and bottom trim pieces are strip laminated 1/8" rips. I did most of the ripping on another carpenter's DeWalt 745 table saw, it is a nice saw and definitely a better user than my Craftsman portable but not as nice as my radial arm saw with a bigger table.In some of the photos you can see large blanks of pine glued up in the background. I took clear 1" x 12" pine and biscuit jointed it and clamped it up to make large blocks in order to cut the arches out, I couldn't get the arch out of a single 1" x 12". I used solid wood instead of sheet goods as the lead time on the ply was too long. Also the finishing process was so complex with the two step stain and the all the sealer coats it was easier to blend things by using all solid.
Edited 11/19/2009 7:27 pm ET by DCCarpenter
DC,Excellent work.
Site built trim adds an extra challenge.I programmed and ran a point to point CNC for a while when I closed my shop. I am now back to routers and trammels. I wish I still had my Williams and Hussey moulder I donated it to a vocational school.Please fill out your profile or at least add a first name to your posts. We are a friendly bunch.I grew up in Bethesda and met my wife when she had recently moved from Georgetown Pike in McLean.Thanks for posting. Most BT'ers would not have a clue. Not even a clue as to how to lay it out.Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
I've worked at a shop with a CNC and it was definitely a great tool, I never learned to run it but I was the beneficiary of its output many times. I laid out all the windows and all the trim for this job on the subfloor using a 20 foot piece of azek as my trammel arm, I screwed through the plate of my Porter Cable Speedmatic 7518 3hp with a Whiteside 1/2" straight bit with a 1/2" shank. I was able to cut the pine in one pass with no problems. For the ellipse I dadoed out a t-shape in a piece of plywood and using 2 plastic door rollers made an ellipse drawing jig. I then used the same piece of Azek with the Speedmatic to rout out the elliptical shape.I wish I could made a traditional crown/cove molding instead of flat stock for all the add-on pieces of trim but I was not the designer nor architect.-Ray
Great work! I wish I had a customer who needed some. That's the kind of work that makes me want to go to work in the morning. Thanks for posting.
DEC ,
Thanks for showing us this great work .
Hopefully Chuck and you will inspire even more folks to post work in progress pics .
Thanks again , Walter
DC
Thanks for the pics and the tutorial
Many of us would love to have clients that are willing to pay for that kind of work.
Maybe then we would even learn how to do it. :) :)
Seriously thesee kinds of threads are what makes BT special.
To embed pics ( on my computer)
Write your post and attach your pics.
Then go to preview, open your picture, right click and you will see a menu, click on copy ( or you can skip the right click and do Control C), then click on the back arrow on the top left hand corner, to to revise. Select where you want the pic and then do control V. Presto
Rich
Ray,
Nice thread and job.
I did some sitebuilt millwork back in 1986 in Lewes Deleware. The home is pre revolution and is 2 doors from one of the homes of a Delaware signer, George Read.
We trimmed all of the doors and windows with an offset head. The back band was simple. 3/4 X 1-1/4 with a 5/16 cove. 3/8" bead as a stop. All paint grade NE pine.
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The dining room is on the right. The family/great room is on the left.
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The House. I am certain the original home did not have a covered front entry, the left and rear additions. Think P St on the Gtown side of the bridge or Old Town in Alexandria.
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The raised panels in the 11' ceiling great room.
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The library.
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The stairs
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All rooms that were not doored were arched.
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Sorry for the poor pics. Scanned 30some year old photos.
I pass the torch
Chuck S
The end of the world as we know it for my BT. What a long strange trip it's been. I am old and in the way. I shall become a fat man in the bathtub with the blues.
live, work, build, ...better with wood
Chuck,I always enjoy seeing that Chinese balustrade.Two questions for you about the arched openings.First photo, there's a canted piece in the upper right of the arch.Last photo you've got a spot in the same area on both sides of the arch. Did they get some extra decorative mouldings in those spots?Thanks,
Steve'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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Steve,I did post those stairs before in Small Addition. The arches went into square openings. Those areas were mudded in later. The first photo shows a partial arch. This home was owned by a Dr and his partner. They also owned the brick vic across from Dumbarton Oaks. Don and Carl brought me to the beach to trim this house they gutted to the studs and added on to. The trim was to be Colonial, then Dr. Mitchell showed up one day with a book on Jeffersonian details. Carl was furious. Quite a hissy fit ensued. Out came the square jamb and the arches were made on site. Quite a challenge being away from the shop in Rockville. I brought an old 10" Crafstman TS, a 8" joiner, a 10" miter box I still use and a bunch of routers and handtools. The job was T&M and I got to stay in one of their beach homes with Carl, in Rehobeth, from May through September with a few weekends back in Bethesda or meeting SGB on Kent Island. A very nice summer indeed.Chuck SThe end of the world as we know it for my BT. What a long strange trip it's been. I am old and in the way. I shall become a fat man in the bathtub with the blues.live, work, build, ...better with wood
Thanks Chuck,Makes sense now hearing that story. I got a good chuckle trying to imagine that hissy fit in action.New tools and a summer at the beach? Not a bad job, I'd say.Best,
Steve'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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Steve,
What new tools?
The hissy fit lasted all weekend. I heard expletives that would that would make a wh*re in a church blush, including "that trip to Rio" for Carnival. Carl maintained that a pre-revolution home would not have arched openings. I silently agreed, but more work for me and Dr Mitchell was signing the checks. Carl got the rear steps he wanted me to build from his bedroom to the kitchen. There was never a dull moment and those moments always resulted in more work for me. What started as an 8 week job turned into 19.
Here is the gate at the head of the stairs. Mahogony rails and pine with a secret gate latch. The steps were very steep with a 9 tread winder. I cut the steps in after their U&O.
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Chuck SThe end of the world as we know it for my BT. What a long strange trip it's been. I am old and in the way. I shall become a fat man in the bathtub with the blues.live, work, build, ...better with wood
Chuck,Sorry, I read that as you had to get some portable tools to head out to DE.That all brings to mind some design conversations with my neighbors in Dupont. To be sure, we had the most nicely appointed garden and sculpture for blocks, but ho boy some of the dramatic episodes that went along with those ideas.Nice looking gate there.Best,
Steve'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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Ray,
Sorry 'bout the side track with Steve. My Barge Board thread last month turned into a guitar discussion. That's BT.
I also site built a butlers pantry for the Lewes house that was a result of another fit. The marble tops came from a guy that salvaged them from the Cape Henlopen Hotel. Their former life was toilet partitions. I sized and installed the tops and splash The left side of the pantry was a wet bar.
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The doors and drawers are inset. All painted c&btr pine. The right side.
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The radius trim on this palladian window at the main stair landing was also site built. Segmented 1x5 and laminated back band similar to the way you showed.
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I pass the torch
Chuck SThe end of the world as we know it for my BT. What a long strange trip it's been. I am old and in the way. I shall become a fat man in the bathtub with the blues.live, work, build, ...better with wood
Very nice work Chuck, to be a carpenter in a seaside town would be great. In the one arched doorway is that a dentil mold I see on top of the arch or is that just a shadow? I did curved dentil molding once by merely cutting myself a bucket of the blocks and pinning them on individually to a solid backer, it ended up being faster than all the crazy methods I had for swinging the thing around on the radial arm saw with a dado head in it.I'm currently lamenting the absence of a mortise machine in my shop as I'm procrastinating on making 4 cabinet doors that need a mortise and tenon joint. While I'd normally not be averse to doing it with hand tools I don't have a properly thick mortise chisel. I'm tempted to try one of those chisel bits to be used on the drill press, any experience with them?
Ray,
I spent that one summer in Lewes/Rehobeth. I could not make/save money if I lived there. Too many distractions, mainly on the beaches and in the clubs. My living expenses were taken care of other than gas and entertainment. Working 10-12 hour days to keep up with the work, I really enjoyed my weekends.
As far as the morticing bit in a drill press, I have done that. The set up was long and I ended up building an auxilliary fence. If they are not through tenons I would consider dowells. For just 4 doors, hand morticing may go quiker than you think with sharp tools. Tenons on the ts or bs. Mortices with a forestner and a Mayhew chisel.
That is not a dentil mold or shadow. After ripping out the 90' jambs I gave the owners the option of a laminated back band or saw kerfed. They chose the kerfs because it was paint grade. Another bad scanned photo.
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Chuck S
The end of the world as we know it for my BT. What a long strange trip it's been. I am old and in the way. I shall become a fat man in the bathtub with the blues.live, work, build, ...better with wood
For just a few mortises, how about one of these? You can use there loose tenon material or hack out the ridges with a chisel for a regular tenon.http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18092&filter=beadlock&cookietest=1
BD,Thanks for the link, I've wanted a Beadlock for quite awhile I just hadn't pulled the trigger, maybe it's time. I just found out I may have 2 custom entry doors to make as well so it would have more than one use.
Chuck,I get caught up in distractions just living in the city so I know what you mean about the problems of living at the beach in the summer. I'm thinking of just doing them by hand as you said, faster, easier, and quieter most likely. I looked at the Mayhew website, it seems the chisels are mostly advertised cold chisels. Which ones do you use for woodworking? Do you have to regrind a new bevel angle or is the one they provide usually good? How are they at holding an edge versus regular bench chisels? As a sidenote I usually handsaw my tenons...I find by the time I setup to do so on the tablesaw I'm done via the handsaw, a bit of rasp work and they are ready to go. When I am building large entry doors it's far easier then swinging the 9 foot piece of mahogany around through the tablesaw.When I'm doing fixed interior transoms/sidelights/windows with an arch I often kerf the top piece of the jamb, if I carefully kerf to within 1/4" of an inch, fill with Elmer's wood putty, then apply the casing with a 3/16" reveal no one ever sees the kerf and if the jamb has too be 8" wide or the like it eliminates the need for a tough resawing job.
Ray,Mayhew does not make their classic chisels anymore. Here is a link to Small Addition and a couple of pics. You have to scroll down a couple of posts.http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=79773.451#a451Chuck SI pass the torch to you Ray.Old and in the way.live, work, build, ...better with wood
Edited 12/7/2009 7:10 pm ET by stevent1