Greene and Greene detailing

[ian maybury]

Wondering if anybody can describe or recommend a source of information on the finishing techniques used in Greene and Greene style furniture designs. http://www.furnituremaker.com/ I'm especially thinking of the projecting splines, finger joints and tenons and the like - how the end grain end faces of these are shaped, sanded, polished and finished. The recent discussion on flap wheels etc for finishing 3D shapes with a lot of detail like carvings comes to mind, but this may be barking up the wrong tree.

Some get these details so beautifully finished that you want to touch them - that lovely burnished look that's half way between a sheen caused by handling of the natural wood, and a hint of a conventional gloss finish.

There seem to be some nice colouring techniques like ebonising and possibly fuming involved too.

The plan isn't necessarily to build G&G stuff, but features like these look like a great way to add some character...

Thanks

ian

[Dave Cav]

Have you emailed Darrell Peart and asked him how he finishes his pieces? I haven't met him (yet) but he lives in the Seattle area, as do I, and he seems pretty approachable from what I have been able to gather on the web. I plan to drop by his shop one of these days.

The place to go for the best information on G&G would be the Greene & Greene Style Furniture group on Yahoo. I am a member, and there are a number of well known furniture makers and authors as well as regular folks who participate on a regular basis. I don't think I'm supposed to post a direct link to another forum, but if you go to Yahoo Groups and do a search on Greene & Greene you'll find it.

Last year when I was in Pasadena I took two tours of the Gamble House. The first tour was the standard hour long tour through the house, listening to a very well delivered presentation by one of the docents. Although they were generally knowledgable about the house and furniture, they didn't know a lot about the details. A few days later I took the Details & Joinery tour led by Jim Ipekjian.
http://www.gamblehouse.org/tours/details-and-joinery.html
Jim is a VERY accomplished craftsman, and has repaired and reproduced a number of pieces seen in the Gamble and other G&G houses. It's about a two hour tour, only given several times a year, and participants are allowed "inside the velvet ropes", and Jim opens up the furniture, removes drawers, and discusses the details of it's construction. The focus of the tour is the furniture more than the house itself. As I recall from the tour when the question came up, the Greene brother's standard specified finish for the furniture was boiled linseed oil.

[glenn bradley]

Darrell's book (http://furnituremaker.com/purchase.htm) is what got me started in actually building in the G&G style instead of just wanting to. Good discussions and tutorials plus plans for jigs and such. The hand shaping of the curves and details really makes me feel connected to the piece.

[Chris Mahmood]

Peart's book has a chapter on finishing and mentions that many of the contracts have detailed specifications. I don't have it handy but I recall that the Thorson house finish involved a few dyes, white lead, and some sort of potash treatment before an oil coat. Anyway, his book is an interesting read and has a lot practical tips for actually making the details.

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Sorry, bit off topic . . . but . . . nice bookcase Glenn!:)

[glenn bradley]

Sorry, bit off topic . . . but . . . nice bookcase Glenn!:)

Threadjack! First warning :D:D:D. Build shown here. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?148377-G-amp-G-Inspired-Bookcase&highlight=)

[Ken Masco]

I have attended Darrell Peart's Greene and Greene details class in Port Townsend. It was well worth it. His book is worth getting as well. There is also a chapter on finishing Greene and Greene furniture in "Shop Drawings for Greene & Greene Furniture" by Robert Lang that I highly recommend.

[Don Jarvie]

Tommy Mac makes a G&G dresser and mirror in the 1st episode of RC for the new season. Its not a full size one but the basics are there.

Don

[Casey Carr]

I'm actually reading Darrell Peart's book right now. As far as polishing goes, he's using Gabon Ebony as opposed to Macasar and he'll sand to 400 grit, then polish with synthetic 000 or 0000 steel wool. He does give a finish schedule, but I'm not there yet. If you want, I can look it up for you.

[ian maybury]

Thank you very much guys, and thank you for the offer Casey. The G&G look obviously entails some specific techniques. I should perhaps say that it was coincidental that I put up the link to Darrell Peart's site - it was what came up when I Googled G&G. I'd no idea either that he'd be so willing to share information.

:) I'm in Ireland, so visiting the house or taking a course is unlikely to be an option barring my winning the lottery.

If it's convenient it'd be interesting to hear what he says Casey, but I'm going to buy the book anyway so don't go to a lot of trouble.

ian

[Gary Curtis]

Greene & Greene designed houses are on display for tours in the city of Pasadena, California. I've taken tours of two, the famous (and publicly owned) Gambel House, and also the private Blacker House. If you look at the website for the Pasadena City Chamber of Commerce, they have a list of elaborate books on G&G design. They are the repository for many of the architectural plans for G&G houses in that city. There are numerous books on both houses. Brad Pitt, the actor, is a fan of G&G and a professional still photographer. He photographed an elegant book on the Blacker House. The book shows elegant design details.

After all, Pasadena was home to the Greene & Greene firm, so the city would have approved plans and have copies. The Chamber of Commerce has an extensive bookstore and outreach program for students and architects.