Yesterday, I had the opportunity and honor of demonstrating the chevalet and traditional french marquetry for the Chesapeake chapter of SAPFM (Society of American Period Furniture Makers, sapfm.org). This is a group of people very interested in period furniture, and they are all open, helpful, and eager to learn more.
The meeting started out with a bit of brief requisite business, then I was up to do my song and dance. In a little over an hour, I demonstrated the chevalet, cutting marquetry using tarsia a incastro (or Boulle technique, stack cutting, cutting in superimposition, all the same thing), the french assembly board, and putting together the marquetry. The crowd had some really great questions and was very attentive. While I was talking, I think only 2 or 3 people fell asleep out of over 30...not a bad percentage! The whole thing was video taped and mic'd. Hopefully, 6 years of having kids has trained my mouth to stay PG rated.
I am glad that I was able to spread a little knowledge of the chevalet and traditional marquetry techniques. Maybe someone will be inspired to go to San Diego, learn from Patrick Edwards, then come back and spread the knowledge a little more.
We also heard from Brian Landis, who demonstrated how he inlays shell into curved surfaces. Apparently, shell has virtually no flexibility, so you can't wrap it around a curved leg, for example. Brian's approach was to route a cavity so he could lay the shell straight into the cavity, but leave the shell proud. Then he would come back and make it flush with the surrounding wood.
After a bit of show and tell and lunch, Freddy Roman (periodcraftsmen.com) spoke for about 3 hours. Freddy touched on a bit of everything, including hide glue, laying out Louis cubes, toothing planes, laying up solid lumber for marquetry/veneer panels, and finishing. It was fantastic, and I hope I can learn more from Freddy some day.
Thanks go out to Mark Maleski (chapter SAPFM president) for inviting me to present. It was a wonderful experience, and I look forward to sharing with others again in the future.
