Pictures of pictures....

[Dave Fifield]

With a deferential nod to the picture police (Tyler et al), here's some of my latest work. I thought I'd show it off here as well, to give it a wider audience. Click on the pictures to see the high res versions:

http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/FunInTheSurf_s.jpg "Fun In The Surf" (11" x 13")
(http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/FunInTheSurf.jpg)


http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/SandyBay_s.jpg "Sandy Bay" (11.75" x 13.75")
(http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/SandyBay.jpg)


http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/SawdustShopSign_s.jpg "The Sawdust Shop" (15" x 19.75")
(http://www.daveswoodenwonders.com/SawdustShopSign.jpg)

Cheers,
Dave F.

[Larry Cooke]

Dave I like those! They are really cool. Now the $1.00 question, from plans? If so, where please. A little more detail would be nice, I'm guessing you scrolled them? Or am I wrong about what I think I see there?

See, I'm blind in one eye and rarely look out the other... :)

Thanks!

Larry

[Dave Fifield]

Hi Larry, no, they are not scroll sawn, although they could be if you wanted to do it that way. They are marquetry veneer pictures - the wood is only about 1/32" thick, glued onto 1/2" finish ply. The picture of the girl surfer was cut using the "double bevel" method with a jeweler's fret saw blade (6/0) on a tilted table and the others were done using a laser engraver in vector cutting mode.

The first two pictures are originals, drawn by me. The Sawdust Shop one is the logo of one of my local woodworking emporiums which I'm going to give to them as a "thank you" for letting our marquetry group use their facilities every month.

I draw using a graphics tablet (Wacom Intuitos 2) on my PC, into Corel Draw X3. It takes quite a long time to get a drawing done right. Once I have a vector drawing done, I then have to gather the appropriate vectors into single objects for cutting. Note that one line usually borders two pieces that need cutting, so you have to do quite a bit of "break apart", "combine" and "close gap" work to get all the pieces defined.

Cutting the pieces using the laser is quite easy, and quick and accurate compared to the traditional double bevel cutting method with a fret saw. I use a technique where I cut the piece to be inserted a couple of thousandths of an inch larger all round so that it fits perfectly into the hole cut out for it (the laser "kerf" is about 3 mil). The art is in picking the right veneer/orientation of the grain. I also do some some hot-sand shading to get a 3D effect sometimes.

Bit long-winded, sorry....maybe this will help get more people interested in the sport of marquetry?!

Dave F.

[Corey Hallagan]

Nice work! Those are just sharp as all get out!!

Corey

[Per Swenson]

That Sir, is some darn impressive work.

P.

[Larry Cooke]

Bit long-winded, sorry....maybe this will help get more people interested in the sport of marquetry?Dave,

Not long winded at all. This sounds like it could be a very fun way to get into woodworking on a slightly different scale. Right now, I'm at my limits just learning some of the overall basics I've forgotten over the years.

Again, very impressive work. I may be getting with you at a later date to try my hand at this, though it probably won't be with a laser.

Thanks again Dave,

Larry

[Vaughn McMillan]

Wow Dave, I missed these in the weekend flurry. Excellent work on all counts.

- Vaughn

[Deirdre Saoirse Moen]

I keep meaning to make it to that marquetry group, btw, being in the area. I'm not sure I'm patient enough for it, but you did beautiful work!