Making a Shaker Candle Sconce for Class

[D.McDonnel "Mac"]

Well I've signed up to teach some more classes for my friends at American Sycamore (Cloverdale IN) this year. I don't have a lot of time to take off from the paying job so I am working on small projects that can be grouped together and done during weekend classes. One of my absolute favorite Shaker pieces is this candle sconce. It is made so a candle and it's holder could be hung on their famous peg racks so as to help illuminate the whole room. It isn't a real difficult piece but the way they sculpted the edges gives it a sculpted look.

I got started by making templates since I can use them to mark out multiples of the pieces needed to build several at a time. First I had to transfer the layout from the drawings in the book to life size. It was presented in 1/4 inch squares in the book and needed to be drawn on 1 inch squares. The first thumb is the drawn out side being used to mark out the masonite I use for templates. The second Thumb shows the completed templates needed: back, side and bottom.

57417 57418 57420 57421 57419

I resawed and planed my cherry stock down to 3/8" for the lumber needeed for the back and bottoms while the lumber for the sides and front piece (no template) was taken down to a strong 3/16". To expedite the shaping of multiple side pieces I stacked 4 sides together using double stick tape. I was then free to shape 4 at once using the joiniter, chopsaw, disk and spindle sander. Of course I followed up with a little hand work remove the machine marks and to fair that curve just right (shown in the 4th thumb). The last thumb shows the completed pieces with their templates.

More on the next post.

[Jerry Ingraham]

Hey Mac,

Years ago, I built many sets of those along with a 3 foot shaker peg board to hang them from. Made great Christmas presents. I painted all of mine so I made them from poplar. Fun, quick project which always brings a smile!

Jerry

[D.McDonnel "Mac"]

One of the things I really liked about this sconce was the way the edges were shaped, not just rounded but shaped so that one part flowed nicely into the other. The sides are not rounded at their tops where they meet the back but left flat on the inside with all the rounding done extra wide on the outside top. As you can see in the first thumbnail pic the sculpting starts wide at the top edge and then narrows as it comes around the corner, eventually rolling around to the front edge of the side in a traditional roundover about halfway down. It's an elegant little detail that I think absolutely makes the piece. The second pic shows the before and after at the tops of the two sides and how I just roughly markout the area to be worked.

57552 57548 57549 57550 57551

The edges of the back must be beveled to match the 10 degree angle of the base piece so the sides can sit flush to both the bottom and back. Likewise the sides are similarly beveled so they can be installed flush to the back of the back. This I did on the jointer as shown in thumbs 3 and 4. Finally I cut a blank for the lower front piece out of some of the offcuts of the thin side materiel. Now all the pieves are ready for a final dry fitting prior to the glue-up. I just did that today and haven't edited the pictures yet so that will be in the next post. I must say this doccumentation for the class notes is sure slowing me down but it's really makes the class notes nice.

[D.McDonnel "Mac"]

After sculpting and beveling the sides all that's left is the assembly and final sanding. As you see (pic 1) I am using a pin nailer and glue to assemble the sconce. The back and the bottom are first followed by the two sides. I flused up the front and then began fitting the front piece. I rounded over the top of the frontpiece (pic 2) with a sanding block before installation. I once again used that 10 degree bevel carefully fitting the front flush to the sides. I glue the frontpiece on (pic 3) since I can easily clamp it unlike the sides and it avoids even the little pin holes on a very visible front surface. Finally the edges of the back above the sides are carefully rounded over using a sanding block. After all that there is a last shot of the sconce prior to finishing (pic 4).

57704 57705 57706 57707

Well now all I have to do is make the hanging mirror and peg rack, doccument them and get the syllabus ready for class the first weekend of next month.