Goddard Newport Tea Table

B

briyon

Well-known member
I just completed Allan Breed's class "Carving in the Newport Style".  A great class and highly recommended to anyone interested in Newport carving or just carving in general.  One of the biggest reasons I took the class was so that I could get the know-how to carve the Newport style ball and claw feet and knee carvings.  I know that there are at least a couple of people on this site that have built this table and I was wondering if anyone can offer their techniques for carving the top.  In particular hogging out the excess material from the top.  I am fairly confident I can handle the molding carving I am just looking for the best way to get rid of the excess material.  My first thought is to use a router to get as close to the molding outline of the molding as possible and then carve to the line to complete the junction of the table top and the bottom round over of the molding.  The only way I can think of doing this is free-hand with the router because of the ogee shape of the top.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian

 
Brian,
maybe this article could help you. It is a George Slack´s article about how to make a high tea.
http://www.woodcraftmagazine.com/articles/article.aspx?id=43

Saludos cordiales.
Alfredo
 
Brian,
My approach to this was to make two paterns of the shape of the top from 1/4 inch plywood, one for the inside and the second for the outside.  Then I used a router with a template guide to follow the pattern.  The pattern for the inside was cut out of a piece of plywood the same dimension as the rectangular table top blank and could therefore be accurately positioned and clamped or screwed down to the top in the areas that would become waste when you cut out the outer shape.  The pattern was like an empty picture frame, so you could not over-run the pattern into your molding and you could leave this in place as you hog out the interior of the table top.  This worked well to roughout the shape and reduced the effort in carving to the final molding line.  In retrospect, using a router and pattern to cut out the outer shape may not be the best approach.  It generates a lot of dust and a band saw is probably more efficient for this task.  I like the idea of using a pattern because you can tweek the shape before you start cutting wood and the finished result is a clean, crisp line.

Chris Hazard
Member 413
 
I would comment that it is the slight irregularities that come witth hand carving the interior outline that make the piece interesting and "hand-made". I prefer making a pattern, tracing the pattern on the top and using the router free-hand to come close to the pattern and then carving to the edge.

Howard Steier
 
Brian, I roughed mine out using a 3/4" straight bit which works much better than a smaller 1/2" straight bit. I hand routed to the line and then hand carved the ogee with ample irregularity as Howard recommends. One or more of the originals has a fillet but not all of them do. It seems like a good idea to use a pattern like Chris suggests if you're making the fillet style but thats your call!

I've also free-routed out the center on another table and the bit grabbed the grain and cut into the ogee. At that point, I really wished that I had made a template. That table has a seriously "ample irregularity" but I blame it on the apprentice.

After routing, pare to the line, carve the ogee, scrape and hit it with glass paper. I think Jay Gaynor said they recently found glass paper was advertised for use in 1777 so its not inappropriate timewise. Routers were also used back then except they were cordless. So go for it.

I'm sure the class with Al was great. Lets see some results when you're done.
John 
 
I am at the point where I am about ready to cut the veneers for the legs.  I was told that you can use double sided tape to hold the curved cutouts from the apron to a piece of wood in order to cut the veneers on a bandsaw.  I have also seen this technique used on the Ron Patton CD of pictures.  My question is what type of double sided tape should I use.  I have been doing some searching on the internet and have found a lot of "very strong" turners tape.  I am afraid that I won't be able to remove the veneers if the tack is too strong.  Does anyone have suggestions on this technique as well as a source for the double sided tape?

Thanks,

Brian
 
Brian,

I could have some of my facts wrong but as I recall, the Ron Patton material - at least some of it - was compiled by a Forum member JDavis.  The photos on the Ron Patton CD of the Newport Tea Table were actually some photos of JDavis' tea table in progress.  These same photos at one time were posted on the old Forum. If you look at the archive section of the Forum, and look up "Goddard Furniture at Auction" you will get a sense of the thread and JDavis' involvement.  I am not entirely sure who JDavis is but rather suspect that JDavis is SAPFM member John Davis from Manassas, VA as he is acquainted with Tom Saulnier who draws plans for Al Breed and who is or was a firefighter in Northern VA. I could be wrong about the latter point but I am pretty sure that I have most of the facts straight.

JDavis was at one time more active on the Forum. Maybe someone will see this post and have him contact you or post to the Forum some more information about his two sided tape method.

Kent Ryan
 
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