Acanthus Cabinet Carvings.

[Mark Yundt]

These inserts are for two cabinet doors. It's a very traditional style that lends a nice touch to a glass door. I did these in Basswood as these doors are getting painted with an antique glaze as the finish. The mullion strips gave me approx. 1/2" from the surface of the glass to the face of the door. Not much to carve into but they worked out OK. The thinnest area is just about 1/4 " and the thickest is 5/8".
The trickiest part was getting the 8 points of contact carved to fit perfectly to the mullion strips and curves around the arch. Once that was done the rest was a piece of cake.

The photos show the initial bandsawed piece, roughing out phase, fitting the contact points and the finished carving in the last two photos. A bit of sanding here and there and I'll call it done.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Mark, simply amazing.

[Mark Yundt]

Thank you very much! I carved the second one yesterday and I'll have it finished up today.

[Mel Fulks]

That's an especially nice design. I hope it won't be soup cans peeking through that good work!

[David Weaver]

I agree with Mel, the design is really pleasing. The execution is great, too, but the design really is top notch and very satisfying to look at.

[Mark Yundt]

Thanks again guys.
I got the second one done and I'm now carving the two pieces for the mantle. Just have to love Acanthus leaves and what you can do with them. Terrific way to fill a space.

[Jim Underwood]

These are really beautiful Mark. Always a pleasure to see your work.

[Mark Yundt]

Thanks Jim, I appreciate it.
Here is the pair completed. I guess if you've seen one , you've seen the other!

I have nearly completed one of the carvings for the over mantle which I'll post soon. I'm quite happy with how this carving is coming out.

[Jim Underwood]

When I was digitally modeling similar doors from a poor photograph it began to occur to me that this could be a traditional design. I'm slow but eventually I catch on. However I couldn't find any better images with a Google search. Can you give me any more information on the history of this design?

[Mark Yundt]

I can't comment on the history of the design but you are correct in it being very traditional. I was given a photo as well to lead me in the direction of what the client wanted. I had to modify it since the area I had to work in wasn't as tall as the door in the photo. I just had to capture the essence of the piece.
Roger has also done similar doors which he had posted. It was ironic as within the same week he got his I got two requests ( not the same clients ) for these doors.
They are popular!
The only thing I can do digitally is take a photo. Other than that it's a clean sheet of paper and a pencil for me. I'm too old school but can knock them out in no time once you have a feel for the designs.

[Roger Strautman]

I can't comment on the history of the design but you are correct in it being very traditional. I was given a photo as well to lead me in the direction of what the client wanted. I had to modify it since the area I had to work in wasn't as tall as the door in the photo. I just had to capture the essence of the piece.
Roger has also done similar doors which he had posted. It was ironic as within the same week he got his I got two requests ( not the same clients ) for these doors.
They are popular!
The only thing I can do digitally is take a photo. Other than that it's a clean sheet of paper and a pencil for me. I'm too old school but can knock them out in no time once you have a feel for the designs.
The big difference between your client and mine was I had to follow the picture to a tee and had to use MDF for the wood.

[Jim Underwood]

I think it's interesting that all of us got a request for this design about the same time... It's really a lovely carving. I'm still wondering what you all charged for the doors though.

[Mark Yundt]

Ah ha! you got one too? Cool. It is a popular design. Something you just can't pick up at a big box store.