A unique style of Ball and Claw feet for a chair. PIX

[John Fry]

Well I haven’t posted anything in a while and I’m still not ready to post my latest project. It is a heavily carved wing back chair for a very petite lady. It will be another upholstered piece so even after I get it ebonized and gilded, it will need to go to the upholsterer.

So for fun, I though I would post one of the carving elements because this was almost a “project” of its own.

This chair has ball and claw feet on the front legs, and the clients liked the undercut talons that John Townsend and John Goddard made famous. But for a chair, I didn’t like the undercutting they would sometimes do at the top of the ball. I felt it removed too much wood for the forces that chair legs must endure. The clients allowed me to use my input and go with a webbed upper ball and I wanted to do the tapered ball, rather than the stubby round balls.

Here is what I came up with.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc.jpg

I started by milling the cabriole leg blanks from 12/4 black walnut, and finished them to 2-3/4” square. The pattern was made out of 1/4 “ ply and was drawn on two faces of the rift sawn blank.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc1.jpg

The mortises were cut on the FMT, then both faces were cut on the band saw. I made one extra leg just in case I messed up and needed a “do-over”.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc2.jpg

The “cabriole” shape of the leg was sculpted and the block for the ball and claw remains. Note that there is extra “meat” on the knee for the upper leg, relief carvings later.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc3.jpg

The first step is to lay out the guide lines on the base of the foot. These will be used at each step of the carving. I shaved off about 3/32” from each side of the block to make the ball and claw a little more petite.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc4.jpg

I start by carving the front two faces and using the outer circle as a guide to form a cylinder. This outer circle is the widest circumference of the ball. By leaving the corners, you can see the claws start to form.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc5.jpg

The leg on the right shows the front two faces, and the one on the left shows the back two faces which are done a little bit differently. I can’t carve a vertical cylinder because the location of the “ankle” forces the creation of the top of the ball and the back webs.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc6.jpg

Now I return to the front of the ball and start to shape the cylinder into the desired shape of ball. This design is a “tapered” ball, so the apex is set high and the top is rounded in to form the front webs and the bottom is more of a straight taper down the smaller circle on the bottom layout lines.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc7.jpg

After the balls are shaped, the claws are rounded to match the shape of the ball. I used a compass to mark the height and location of the knuckles.

[John Fry]

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc8.jpg

After a lot more work, the knuckles are sculpted, the cuticles are cut, the talons are carved down, and the tendons and webs are refined at the top of the ball.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc9.jpg

Undercutting the talons…….. Now this is where things get scary! I made a popsicle stick template to draw the cut zone on both sides of each talon. Using a 3/8”, #4 gouge and a ¼” bench chisel, I carefully carved a way the wood under each talon.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc10.jpg

After some riffler filing and some sanding, I sprayed some mineral spirits on the foot and this is what it looks like.

http://www.chiselandbit.com/cgi-script/CSUpload//upload/Wing_Back_Chair%252edb/bc11.jpg

And yes! I did carve two of them.

I have carved ball and claw feet before, but never any this intricate.

I refer to them as;

Townsend/Fry – Newport/Acton Style :D

As always your comments AND critiques are welcome.

Thanks for looking,

[Charles Wilson]

One word - BEAUTIFUL!

Chuck

[Jim Becker]

Umm...are they alive??? :eek: Wow! Nice work!

[Jack Ganssle]

Stunning. You bring art to life.

Jack

[Joe Chritz]

BAH! Artists.

I can draw a stickman, usually.

Very nice indeed, I am impressed. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Joe

[Leo Pashea]

Very nice, and detailed work John. I am afraid what you are accomplishing is a quickly dying art in this country. It is good to see you are keeping the artistic and highly skilled aspect of custom woodworking alive and well. Simply beautiful work. Your customer is a lucky lady!

[Bill Huber]

That is really beautiful and very different then I have seen before and I like the design.

[Phil Clark]

Fantastic - love the pierced talon! Cabriole legs are on my mind today cause I just bought my shinto rasp for embarking on my first set of cabrioles.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John............Pure artistry! Stunning work! I can't wait to see the final project!

[Ed Nelson978]

I always appreciate seeing your projects! Thanks for providing the details. Your detailed processes have provided me with a lot of inspiration!

[Bert Johansen]

Thanks for sharing this astonishing work! And the step-by-step photos are a rare glimpse into the intricacies of doing a detailed carving like this. Yes, your client is lucky, indeed. Keep the photos coming!

[Bill Eshelman]

Man...

Please post pictures of this when it's finished.

This is very inspiring.

Thanks for posting this.

Totally Awesome.

[John Schreiber]

You are going above and beyond the state of the art. It's exciting to watch.

[Tim Malyszko]

Very nice and life-like. You won't find anything that nice that is sold to the mass market in the furniture stores. Seeing this type of work makes one really appreciate hand crafted furniture.

[Richard Wolf]

Great work.

Richard

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I like that a lot. Claw feet has been a thing I have wanted to try for a long while.
That however is the first time I saw under cut claws.

Way cool ~!!

[Per Swenson]

Beautiful, only because they haven't coined the appropriate

adjective yet.

Per

[Carl Eyman]

Inspiring! You make me want to try undercutting.

[Mark Singer]

Great work! You are doing some really great work John!

[Doug Shepard]

What blows me away is that you've got the courage and skill to do the claw end last. I'm sure if I even attempted something as great I would have tossed 7 or 8 botched legs and wasted a lot of time on the rest of the leg as well. I'm sure my keepers wouldn't look that nice either. Outstanding work.

[lou sansone]

nice example of b/c feet. thanks for the photos. why did you choose the tapered ball ( new York "square ball" per Israel Sack )l rather than the round ball ? BTW, I do not like the squashed ball either, but IMHO the round ball looks best. Just the same, the masters did have a number of versions of these balls, and I was just wondering why attracted you to them
Lou

[John Fry]

nice example of b/c feet. thanks for the photos. why did you choose the tapered ball ( new York "square ball" per Israel Sack )l rather than the round ball ? BTW, I do not like the squashed ball either, but IMHO the round ball looks best. Just the same, the masters did have a number of versions of these balls, and I was just wondering why attracted you to them
Lou

Thanks for the kind words everybody.

Lou,

I drew up several renditions, and the clients showed me several photos and drawings of their own. I went with the tapered ball in an effort to achieve a sense of femininity, which is not an easy task with something as aggressive as a ball and claw foot. A chair leg is short to begin with and by trying to make the ball "smaller" and more petite, the whole foot gets shorter if the ball is round. I wanted the length of talon for the undercutting, and after looking at all of our drawings, I decided I liked the tapered ball the most. by raising the apex, and tapering the ball, it allowed me reduce the diameter of the ball without making it shorter and stubbier (what I was trying to avoid), and maintain the slender, but still long claws. I felt I was still able to convey the look of the tension and the grip, but keep a touch of femininity.

I also was NOT out to try and reproduce some individual "Master's" work, which can often be a road to disaster, but maybe, just maybe, by using various different elements, I could inject a touch of individuality.

I have had a few other comments, (which I do appreciate) about the tapered ball, so I guess, like everything else, we all have different tastes and you can't please everybody.

I really do like them, and the clients love them, so I think I've done my job.:D

Thanks for your input Lou.

[Jerry Olexa]

Outstanding work as well as lots of PATIENCE!! Very nice...

[Ron Brese]

I like the idea that you took a classic form and elaborated it with your own ideas in order to make it appropriate for your client. People that do such a thing are called artist.

Ron Brese

[Alan Greene]

John, Absolutely wonderful work. I really liked the overall effect you achieved. Please do post pictures of the completed project. How long did it take to finish the carvings?:)

[Jason Tuinstra]

Wow, that is some great detail work! They look very much alive.