Last Supper

[Pictures in wood]

awesome craftsmanship! can't wait to see your 3rd piece!

 

[ben2008]

There are not enough descriptive adjectives to do this justice.

I'll just say fantastic.

[Rockytime]

Leaves me scratching my head wondering what to say. It's beyond excellent.

[Dave Monk]

43 minutes ago, Rockytime said:

Leaves me scratching my head wondering what to say. It's beyond excellent.

Thanks for the kind words Les. Finished my second one about three weeks ago. I will never do another one. Way too much time for one project.

[Fedido]

That is utterly amazing Dave. Just when I think I have scrolling down, one of you guys pulls out a project like this and leaves me wondering if I could ever do something this amazing. Well done does not even begin to express how impressed I am. 

[Dave Monk]

6 hours ago, Fedido said:

That is utterly amazing Dave. Just when I think I have scrolling down, one of you guys pulls out a project like this and leaves me wondering if I could ever do something this amazing. Well done does not even begin to express how impressed I am. 

I didn't think I could do it but I jumped in and tackled it. There are several guys on here that could do a better job than I did but I was pleased and that is all that matters.

[jvbscroller]

Fantastic.  You are an expert. 

[Dave Monk]

On 7/23/2020 at 4:17 PM, jvbscroller said:

Fantastic.  You are an expert. 

You are kind but I am far from it.

[Ron Johnson]

That’s an awesome piece of art Dave. Gotta be hard to part with.  

[Dave Monk]

On 7/29/2020 at 3:10 PM, Ron Johnson said:

That’s an awesome piece of art Dave. Gotta be hard to part with.  

Not really Ron. I made two.

[don watson]

Awesome piece executed beautifully.

Don W

[Gonzo]

Two questions for you and those who do intarsia

1) Do or did you start in the middle and work your way out.

2) Do you make quite a few copies of your master pattern and then cut them up and glue/paste the individual pieces of onto the wood? Or do you use tracing paper?  

Ok that was 3 questions.  The reason I ask is I'm about to undertake a beginner intarsia piece that has 37 or so pieces.

[JimErn]

7 hours ago, Gonzo said:

Two questions for you and those who do intarsia

1) Do or did you start in the middle and work your way out.

2) Do you make quite a few copies of your master pattern and then cut them up and glue/paste the individual pieces of onto the wood? Or do you use tracing paper?  

Ok that was 3 questions.  The reason I ask is I'm about to undertake a beginner intarsia piece that has 37 or so pieces.

I start at the largest contiguous area that will be the same wood, and work out

Yes I print out several copies of the pattern.  Prior to doing that I add numbers to the pattern for all the segments so that prints out too.

[meflick]

On 8/21/2020 at 10:43 PM, Gonzo said:

Two questions for you and those who do intarsia

1) Do or did you start in the middle and work your way out.

2) Do you make quite a few copies of your master pattern and then cut them up and glue/paste the individual pieces of onto the wood? Or do you use tracing paper?  

Ok that was 3 questions.  The reason I ask is I'm about to undertake a beginner intarsia piece that has 37 or so pieces.

I am assuming with the first question, you are asking where to start once everything is cut out and you are starting to sand to shape it? If so, what I learned from Judy Gale Roberts classes was to start with the piece the farthest away from you (dimensionally) and work your way forward. This gives you good control in helping to build the depth and dimension needed to make the piece appear to be more realistic. You may also want to use raising shims and sanding shims to help with creating the depth and dimension. See info. Below.

While I have seen where some people use Tracing  paper to copy pattern  pieces to the wood I think most have moved away from that method now that it is so easy to make copies. Like Jim, I also leaned to number the pieces of the pattern on a master copy (if not already numbered - if already numbered, verify all pieces are numbered and no duplicates. I have had some where small pieces were missed in numbering or a number was inadvertently duplicated. It happens. Double check yours.) then make duplicate copies to have enough to cut up the parts and pieces to place on woods needed. Retain one master copy to use for dry fitting. Cut out all the parts And layout on the master copy. When pieces are cut, use pencil to write number of piece on back of piece so when the paper is removed for sanding, you can still identify  the piece by number As you work. 

Judy has some great info, on her website regarding doing Intarsia.

here two article on sanding Shims https://intarsia.com/blogs/news/using-sanding-shims and this newest and more in-depth one here (ITt also talks about Using raising shims): https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1395/0011/files/Sanding_Tips_Using_shims_2.pdf?663
 

The difference in a sanding shim and a raising shim is that sanding shims are temporary pieces used to tape multiples pieces together to aid in their shaping or contouring at the same time. They are used and then removed in order to then shape the separate pieces a little more after doing the bulk of the work on the pieces that have some consistent “flow” to them. Raising shims however, are permanent pieces that are put below a part or piece to give added depth to the piece Like under a dog’s nose for example. Since they stay, you only use them generally on interior pieces as they won’t be seen that way. If you used them on exterior or side pieces, you could see them so it’s best not to use there. I have seen some people do so on a rare occasion and when they did, they used the exact same wood they used for the piece to begin with. Often raising shims are not made out of the more expensive wood being used but from luan or ply or something inexpensive.

And some more info

https://intarsia.com/blogs/news/scroll-sawing-tips as well as her FAQ section on her site.

You will notice she has some lines marked with a yellow highlighter. She does this to easily show what are “outside” lines or lines that do not abut other lines of other pieces. As such. They are not as critical to be cut as exact or as precisely as those eggs join other pieces and so you know you  can relax a little there.

Hopefully some good info. there to help get you started.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by meflick
Typos but probably missed some

[Dave Monk]

9 hours ago, Gonzo said:

Two questions for you and those who do intarsia

1) Do or did you start in the middle and work your way out.

2) Do you make quite a few copies of your master pattern and then cut them up and glue/paste the individual pieces of onto the wood? Or do you use tracing paper?  

Ok that was 3 questions.  The reason I ask is I'm about to undertake a beginner intarsia piece that has 37 or so pieces.

I have only done a half a dozen intarsia projects so I am far from and expert. On this project I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I had it in my head before I got started how I wanted to get my heights.  The experts teach that you should cut all your pieces before you start final fitting and shaping. I did not do that with this. There were 640 pieces and some were so tiny I couldn't hardly hold them.  I started with the floor, cut all the pieces,  shape them , and edge glued them and went up from there.   Just remember that everyone has their way of doing things and you will work out what is best for you.  Main thing is is to jump in and get started.

[Gonzo]

Thank you all for the help. I did make 4 or 5 copies of the pattern and I have the pieces numbered and cut out from the pattern. I'll be heading out to the shop shortly and start making sawdust. 

[meflick]

On 8/22/2020 at 4:11 PM, Gonzo said:

Thank you all for the help. I did make 4 or 5 copies of the pattern and I have the pieces numbered and cut out from the pattern. I'll be heading out to the shop shortly and start making sawdust. 

Look forward to seeing your work.

[heppnerguy]

On 3/25/2020 at 1:08 PM, Dave Monk said:

Finished up today to be given to a family member for their 50th wedding anniversary. I am more than pleased with the outcome considering it is only the second intarsia project I have done. Woods include Bubinga, Nogal, Ribbon Stripe Sapele, , Bolivian Rosewood, Walnut, Maple, Cherry, Ash, White Oak, Red Oak,  Poplar, Alder, Beach, Purple Heart and Yellow Heart.

Special thanks to @Denny Knappen at http://artcraftersdayton.com/Pegas_Monthly_Specials.html for guidance and hardware for hanging a picture that is so heavy.

 

Leave it to the infamous David Monk to tackle this piece and ACE it. Wonderfully done. You never stop amazing me.

Dick

heppnerguy

[Fish]

That is incredible! beautiful work