"Woodworm chillout" - Work-in-progress - an experiment in intarsia

[jim_mex]

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FOR NEW & PREVIOUS VISITORS TO THIS POST- The finished results of this post can be seen in a new thread along with a slideshow explaining how this project developed at this link

http://www.scrollsawer.com/forum/int...htm#post142788


"Woodworm chillout" - Work-in-progress - an experiment in intarsia

My first delve into intarsia with a whimsical theme to help disguise mistakes made along the way...

Sketch starting point



main character assembly




Inspiration for this project came from a recent trip to the local children's library where I found a marvelous illustration of a bookworm sick in his bed. A bit of imagination from there led to this little grubby idea...

Starting this project I found myself struggling to decide whether the pieces should be cut as 2 dimension objects with some rounding over - sorta like a jigsaw puzzle - or whether I should try for a more 3 dimensional look through the use of bigger height differences and pronounced perspective and shaping of the pieces.

I opted for the later approach and gave myself unimaginable headaches not only in drawing up the design but also in trying to work out how to cut with 3D in mind.

Taking Alan's (greatdane2) useful recent tip of starting at the highest point and working down, the book was the first piece I cut at 3/4" height and I then cut and shaped everything to that, tapering down to the chair front right piece at 1/4" thickness

Having now got as far as assembling the main piece of the project I'm hopeful things will get easier from now on.

The good news is my cutting is improving and although the assembly seems to have biggish gaps between the pieces, they're actually not so big, since the piece is pretty small.

In hindsight this project is a bit too fiddly and demands too much grey matter activity for a first intarsia attempt and I would have been wiser to go for a simpler 2D approach - but then I guess being wise isn't one of my strong points! Anyhow, I aim to get this one finished in the next couple of days and I'm hopeful it will turn out good enough to warrant updating the thread - LOL!

Wish me luck!!

[greatdane2]

Looks good to me, its a cute pattern. The only thing I would do is add some lines with a wood burner to the top of the book to imitate pages. If you do not have a burner you could heat a sharp edge knife on the kitchen stove. Just make sure you use a crappy knife or get up in the middle of the night and do it, or you might find the other half has a new use for that knife.
If you make another one you might want to change the foot rest. looking at the side of the chair where it touches the floor, that angle should be the same as the same side lower piece on the foot stool. it would change the perspective quite a bit.

Alan.

[jim_mex]

More great tips Alan, thanks - and since you mentioned wood 'burner' I've got a surprise in store which is critical to the project. Stay tuned!

As to the recliner footrest - yep, that's one part that was addling my brain - I was trying to make it look as if it was higher than the floor and came a bit unstuck. I'll definitely give that another look next time around.

To let you into a secret I was trying to find a free 3D model of a armchair recliner on the web to spin around in my CAD program but struck unlucky. Next time I'm going to draw one up myself and look at it from different viewpoints to check out the perspective.

Its strange that with the computer I can design things pretty well in 3D but when left to my own devices in the real world I seem to have a distorted point of view - in more ways than one!

have a good day!

[greatdane2]

I quite often lay thin stips of wood over a project to get the angles right. It can be hard to see if I have it right on the pattern but the longer sticks help.

Alan.

[KathyRo]

Hi Jim, good for you trying intarsia something I would like to try also. Fun idea and nice concept and looks good to my newbie eye. It will be great to follow along and learn with you on your thread. Keep us posted!
KathyRo

[Jim McDonald]

Jim--
He is a cute little fella and one you should be proud of. Alan's suggestion of a little more detail is very good as is the suggestion to NOT use a good knife!

You stated in an earlier post you have only been doing this for a short time, and I cannot believe the talent you have shown in the few weeks you have been hanging around here.

Keep cutting and showing us how it's done. Maybe you will be the one to explain something that will get through my rock hard head.

[jim_mex]

Ok - guys and gals - this bit was a little easier going .- maybe cos I've put down parquet flooring before. Oh, and I'm going to cover the bad glue line between the floor and the right hand wall with a strip of coving - something I've also done in real life - LOL!

Room - walls of pine, floor of mahogany and banak - no expense spared when you're working at this scale!



model inset into room 1/8"



I think its now time for a beer and a ponder on what tomorrow will bring...

Cheers and thanks for the kind comments

[greatdane2]

That sure changes things, looks like you are having to much fun. That deseves a scotch not beer.

Alan.

[jim_mex]

And the last WIP for today and this is to resolve the suggestion of 'wood burner' from Alan.

When I first saw this term a few days back I thought of wood stoves etc: - only later did I realize it referred to pyrography! Pretty stupid of me eh.....

Maybe cos I'm a ceramist, burners to me tend to be whopping great gas fire things that spout out flames a couple of meters long. As it happens, this notion leads me to the next stage of my project.

Frame



Frame - low viewpoint


Note - the frame is square but looks a bit barreled due to getting up close with my camera

Using a very small atmospheric kiln burner rummaged from my shed, and a really grotty piece of 1" thick resiny veined pine boarding that was left over from some concrete shuttering work around the house, I came up with the idea of a woodworm at home in his hole.

The pìne board was given given a raggedy hole treatment with my saw table set around 15 degrees followed by a quick but intense fire treatment with the burner. It was then subjected to an abrasive wire wheel on my drill press to remove the softer well charred pine, leaving the harder resiny veins in relief. This is a rather neat trick I first saw at a craft fairs years back which got placed into temp storage in the right hand part of my brain for future use.

The heat treatment bowed the board a bit so I had to surface smooth it on the backside with a router and what you see is the end result

Anyway - this one's for Alan - and just to poke a bit of fun mate - woodworms live in wood! - hehehe!

But, actually Alan I contemplated using the original bookworm idea and cutting a stack of very thin and raggedy edged plywood sheets to simulate pages, but I really did think that was too much for me to tackle at the moment!

Ok - shops shut for today - there a chill in the air and i need another beer

Cheers!

Update -

That deseves a scotch not beer.

Maybe a drop of 15 year malt from the back of the closet wouldn't go amiss!
And yep Alan - I'm having fun!

[Bruce]

Cute little guy Jim, well done