Final job at Don Bosco
Before the school closes for summer vacation, I helped my teacher to build this large glassed cabinet. I cut the wood, dimensioned it, cut the tenons and mortises, shaped the arch with a router, and dry-assembled. My teacher did the spindle moulder job and final gluing.
3 days ago | | Comment
Antique Furniture Restoration
The final parts of the school consisted of training with professional woodworkers.
I chose to spend a month with Christian Aussel, a friendly antique restorer from Antibes who taught me the basics of grafting missing pieces, waxing and French Polish (“vernis au tampon”).
This strange-looking table with a veneered walnut top and solid walnut legs needed a new top, and several grafts on the pedestal. I took care of the grafts, while Christian did the top.
3 days ago | | Comment
School's over!
That’s it – We have completed our term at Don Bosco. The final week was hectic, since we had to make this table from scratch in just 6 days. This will be one of our grades (along with technical drawing and study of furniture styles, and the feedback from our industry trainings)
I find the style (or rather lack of it!) awful. It is in solid ash, except the top and bottom boards, which are in veneered MDF. The top veneer has a square pattern that does not show in the picture. It opens on 2 hinges and contains a drawer with dovetails. The feet are bandsawed in a lyra shape (that’s the worst part in my view). Remember we did not choose the subject!
This week I started the first of my 2 one-month trainings in a real-life workshop. A friendly cabinet maker in my home town agreed to take me as an apprentice. There is certainly a change of pace compared to the school: I made 10 drawers the first day (starting from rough oak, I planed the boards, dimensioned them, cut dovetails with a special -purpose machine). The next day I glued them and fixed the screws.
More on this later.
101 days ago | | Comment [1]