I had a little time today to play in the shop, and I finished the parts for the sconce body. I ended up cutting two of the piercings with my fret saw, and I borrowed a scroll saw from a buddy to do the other two. It was faster, with less cleanup, using the scroll saw. But if I could saw accurately with the hand held fret saw I don’t think it would have been much faster really. Most of the work was clean up with a tiny chisel and my little home made sanding sticks. WIth the scroll saw there was a lot less clean up.
Anyway, I expect a scroll saw is something I might want to add in the future. I want to do some Greene & Greene style inlay, and I’ll need it for that. In any case, I’m starting to glue up the parts for this sconce. I still need to make the top and the hanger brackets for the leather straps. And the Ebony inlay bits. And the stained glass. Plenty left to keep me busy.
I think tomorrow I’ll be able to add the ebony plugs and inlay bars, and glue up the rest of the body. WIth a little luck I’ll bet the rood shaped, although I’m still scratching my head on how to shape that.
Parts for the Sconce Body
Front and Back Glued (complete with camera distortion)
Scroll saw .. I always wondered how you’d make those. Do you have any idea how they did G&G by hand or is it a style that’s only done with power tools?
I haven’t seen any good information on how the original pieces were made. My guess is that the piercings in G&G work were just done with a hand held fret saw.
Frankly I’ve always been afraid of powered scroll saws. Not for any rational safety reason, but more because of the association with “scroll art”. Scroll-sawn cats, dogs and unicorns scare me. Scroll sawn wall hangings with quant sayings leave me terrified and trembling.