Al Capwn Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 So one recent evening, I was talking with the Mrs. and showing furniture designs and discussing what styles/elements she liked. First, I showed her some Shaker furniture, and she decidedly hated that. She wasn't a fan of the "spindly" leg look. Fair enough, so I move on to Mission-style furniture. Nope, not a fan of the slats. Arts and Crafts was slightly better, but she was still mixed on some of the elements. So naturally, this led to Greene & Greene, which I figured would be a big no as well. Once she saw some of @darrellpeart Greene & Greene inspired designs, she was sold. Of course she would like G&G... Now I know @gee-dub has a most excellent G&G inspired piece, and I am far from being able to construct that, but I wanted to ask what practical resources are available to successfully implement some G&G elements? My main aspirations/goals would eventually be to create something akin to Mr. Peart's Aurora side table with the curved (cloud lift, I think it is called?) faceframe and drawer - in fact, I think there is a Popular Woodworking article on that piece specifically. Anyway, for those who have done up some G&G styled pieces, any practical advice to offer? Anything especially challenging or easier-than-it-looks? Just want to know how deep the water is before I end up diving in at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 Bob Lang's book is excellent. Shop Drawings for Greene and Greene Furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gee-dub Posted May 10, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 Practice some template routing. My life improved when I got a top/bottom bearing bit so that I could template route curves and cloud-lifts without routing uphill. A template routing jig will help you out as well. You can do the square holes without investing in specialized punches. I used $10 apiece TaiChi mortising chisels fro quite awhile. Extra care on layout will save problems later. A double roundover solves the same uphill problem for profiles. In his first book, Darrel Peart has a trick jig for Blacker House leg treatments. A lot of folks think G&G all looks the same. For me there is a wide variety of design elements and styles despite the very limited original period of design and building. Determination in working through the more tedious details is the real challenge of the style for me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 30 minutes ago, Al Capwn said: So one recent evening, I was talking with the Mrs. and showing furniture designs and discussing what styles/elements she liked. First, I showed her some Shaker furniture, and she decidedly hated that. She wasn't a fan of the "spindly" leg look. Fair enough, so I move on to Mission-style furniture. Nope, not a fan of the slats. Arts and Crafts was slightly better, but she was still mixed on some of the elements. So naturally, this led to Greene & Greene, which I figured would be a big no as well. Once she saw some of @darrellpeart Greene & Greene inspired designs, she was sold. Of course she would like G&G... Now I know @gee-dub has a most excellent G&G inspired piece, and I am far from being able to construct that, but I wanted to ask what practical resources are available to successfully implement some G&G elements? My main aspirations/goals would eventually be to create something akin to Mr. Peart's Aurora side table with the curved (cloud lift, I think it is called?) faceframe and drawer - in fact, I think there is a Popular Woodworking article on that piece specifically. Anyway, for those who have done up some G&G styled pieces, any practical advice to offer? Anything especially challenging or easier-than-it-looks? Just want to know how deep the water is before I end up diving in at some point. Ken Cooper is presently working on the Aurora table as I type this, pm him, I'm sure he can assist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 Marc has done a couple G&G pieces in the Guild...Adirondack chair and the blanket chest at least...there may be another but I can't remember. He demos a number of G&G techniques if you're a better visual learner like me. Finger joints, plugs, cloudlifts, leg indent detail...can't remember him doing breadboard splines but there are other resources available to learn that. Not much in G&G is that technically challenging (unless we wanna talk Blacker chair or similar higher-level pieces), but some details are definitely tedious and time-consuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted May 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 9 minutes ago, RichardA said: Ken Cooper is presently working on the Aurora table as I type this, pm him, I'm sure he can assist. Perfect, I pinged him. He's only a Texas-sized stone's throw away from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted May 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 9 minutes ago, Eric. said: ...He demos a number of G&G techniques if you're a better visual learner like me... Yep, I learn %1000 better from video than words and pictures alone. The blanket chest looks the most appealing, and from the cursory research, it looks like the cloudclift rail/drawer details are done via templates and a pattern bit. I know that William Ng was supposed to have a G&G Coffee table video out, but it doesn't look like it has been released yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 1 minute ago, Al Capwn said: Yep, I learn %1000 better from video than words and pictures alone. The blanket chest looks the most appealing, and from the cursory research, it looks like the cloudclift rail/drawer details are done via templates and a pattern bit. I know that William Ng was supposed to have a G&G Coffee table video out, but it doesn't look like it has been released yet? Nope. Still waiting. This is what he says about it... "We have gotten numerous emails and comments regarding when we will be releasing our first class. It has taken longer than expected since we want to release nothing but the best. But rest assured they are being worked on." He needs to harry up, I'm anxious to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted May 11, 2017 Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 Darrell Pearts book on G&G details is very useful. I keep it on my IPad so it's handy and searchable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capwn Posted May 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 @gee-dub - You magnificent madman, thank you for the picture dump and info, that helps a lot. Is there a secret for determining the curves/profile on this: 20 hours ago, gee-dub said: I am a simple man at times, I am guessing that you determined the degree of the primary curve, used your bow-string-thang-a-mah-jig to trace that, measured down and traced that same arc to establish the width. For the "secondary" lift, did the same process with a different degree arc, and then sketched the offset? If the answer is "buy Darrell's book, he explains it best" I can also totally respect that too. Totally see where the pattern jigs come into play, both for consistency and precision. I'll make sure to make some of those when I feel I am ready to tackle this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted May 11, 2017 Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 I determined the end points and then faired the curve between them. Bow/string thingy highly recommended 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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