Clydesdales and Cart

[Claymore]

Hi,
Every year I try and do at least one gert big Intarsia and this year is not only big but technically challenging to an halfwit like myself :lol:
As you can see from the photos its two Clydesdales pulling a cart and driver and the finished size will be 40" x 28" x 2" and I have been working on it for around 8wks and finally at the stage where I can cut wood....careful planning should make the actual build easier (fingers crossed)
The wood will be mainly Oak and Beech (all the red on the cart will be dyed Beech) plus Iroko/Walnut and sycamore maybe even a bit of Corian.
As you may guess this will be a long project but I have around 2 months to finish it and I will be working on it alongside the usual wildlife projects so don't hold your breath, what i usually find is you seem to spend ages on one section and then all of a sudden the project starts to take shape.
If your interested I will keep posting updated photos as it progresses , I think it will as difficult as the motorcycles I make due to the many tiny parts which will all need shaping (every black line on my pattern is a cut line)
Anyway for an idea of the project here's a couple of photos, ignore the thickness of the cut parts placed on the pattern as they will be having multiple spacers on the back to give a full 3d picture)
Cheers
Brian

[Shufflex]

I seen this post on the UKworkshop web site and think you have a massive task ahead of you,

Please keep posting updates on both sites and the very best of luck to you.

I wouldn't have a clue where to even start such a project 

Gary

[jimp11]

   Yup going to be busy.

[Claymore]

Your right and it doesn't help when ya spend 3 days cutting what should be 1" Oak and then finding out its not Oak  BUT striped stuff like Zebra's that only shows when you see the end grain and try rounding the shapes..........what a mess so I have now started again using some "real" Oak lol  oh well its all practice 8-)

Cheers
Brian

[Claymore]

Hi,
I have finally made a little progress on this project and one of the important stages is done (the lettering)
One my pattern there are 2 boards on the cart both with lettering, thanks to the help of some guys on here I managed to find a font that suited the project and although not identical the customers likes it and they are always right?  :roll: .
My first attempt at the logo was terrible mainly down to my shaky hands so the computer needed to be used to draw a more accurate logo....once the lettering was approved all i needed to do was transfer it onto my wooden plaques (one is 8" and the other is 4") I printed the reversed outlined text on my laser printer and attempted to transfer it but after trying all the techniques on Youtube using Acetone etc none worked, I didn't have any Mod Podge but i did have some Polyvine Acrylic varnish and did this.
1: Painted wooden plaque with red acrylic paint... 2 coats and then gave it 2 coats of Polyvine and left to dry overnight.
2: Painted a coat of Polyvine onto the red painted plaque and placed a reverse print of the text face down in the varnish and gave it a good rubbing with a roller to get any air bubbles out, then left it to dry overnight.
3: using plain water and a sponge i wet the attached printed paper and slowly rubbed it away until there was no sign of the paper but the text was nice and clear.
4: Paint inside of the text with metallic gold acrylic paint using very fine brush before using some blue acrylic paint to add the drop shadows and finally gave it a couple more coats of Polyvine to seal it in.
I know it seems like a slow process but i think it was worth putting in the effort to get it right so i can move onto the real Intarsia stuff. The Polyvine should work for other projects and is available in the UK (print and paint your own clock faces? hmmmm that's another project )
As far as the Intarsia I have cut a few pieces of the Clydesdales and the driver and hopefully it will start taking shape soon. As usual I am juggling projects and this week its a couple of 6" but plenty of detail birds a Male Bullfinch and a Goldfinch.....plus a couple of Pheasants phew  but its better than having nothing to do  so have to keep plodding away on them.
Hopefully the attached photos will explain the above technique.
Cheers
Brian

[wdmstr100]

WOW! That is going to be a great piece to hang on the wall! Can't wait to see the finished work. I have been doing intarsia for few years now mainly doing wild life for our family room, Have around 30 pieces so far. Picture shows one wall of room. May I ask where you get patterns like the Clydesdales? Thinking I would like to try something like that this winter.

[Claymore]

You have some lovely work there!  wish i could keep all of mine but we ran out of wall space , the Clydesdales is one of my patterns from a photo the customer gave me.
I am looking forward to getting it finished one day  but still loads to do.
Cheers
Brian