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Welcome to the second of Alf Murtell's tutorials. This
tutorial covers the subjects of Basket weave and trellis work. These are very
intriguing marquetry arrangements that can be used to make beautifully
attractive decoration for applying to boxes and cabinets etc. So now, lets let
Alf show us how it's done: |
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"Basket Weave & Trellis Work"
a tutorial
presented by Alf Murtell. |
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Firstly, we will
take a look at Basket Weave, this is actually quite simple to do once you
know the techniques. It may look intricate and terribly delicate, but when
you become familiar with the methods we use for doing basket weave you will
be decorating boxes and things with total confidence. Now, the first thing
to check is that you have all the bits and pieces you'll need for doing
basket weave to hand, so lets check our list:
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Requirements:
·
Cutting
board with a lip along one edge
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2 x blocks
of wood 1½” x ¾” x ¼” (metric 38 x 19 x 6 mm)
·
Masking
tape or veneer tape
·
Stringer
1/16” (metric 1. 5 mm)
·
Sand for
sand scorching
·
Sycamore
veneer |
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What we do now is cut out
our sycamore blanks ready for sand scorching along their sides to provide
the contoured effect we require for the basket weave effect. This we do by
cutting strips about 4 inches in length (101 mm) by 3/4" wide (19 mm) - you
set the width by using the wood blocks as Alf shows you in this photo below
on the right >> you will want to
cut about four or five pieces which you then sand scorch along their "long
sides" to give you the contoured effect. You will now need some stringers
for placing between your sand scorched pieces as in "Example 1" (stringers
by the way are very thin strips of veneer, usually a sixteenth or an eighth
or a quarter of an inch in width, that's about 1.6 or 3. 2 or 6. 3 mm) and
then you glue and tape them in position as you see in this example. The
arrangement is: one strip then one stringer, then strip, stringer, strip,
etc. |
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The next step is to cut
thin strips 1/4" (6 mm) wide from the assembly you've now got as shown
in Example 1 above. As you will be cutting across the grain, take care
with your cutting and make sure that you lubricate your cutting blade by
dipping the tip of the blade in some wax so that it cuts easily without
"pulling" or catching on the grain and breaking the veneer instead of
cleanly cutting it. |
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You will now have a collection of thin strips similar to
those shown in "Example 2". Your next step is to arrange them by moving
every second strip one half of a single vertical section to the left so that
you end up with an arrangement as you will see in "Example 3" on the right
>> then glue and tape them into position. |
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You have now
completed your Basket Weave veneer pattern ready for decorating your desired
item, I hope you are pleased with the effect.
Now that you have learnt how to
do Basket Weave, Alf will move on to the subject of Trellis work. To access
that tutorial click the following link button:
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