House Sign

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Yxoc
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House Sign

Mon May 02, 2016 7:52 am

Hello Folks,
I haven't been very active in woodworking the last couple of months. Work and children's after school activities seeming to take priority. Nevertheless I have managed to steal a few moments in the shed here and there. One little project I have been wanting to do for some time is a house sign. My intention was to create something in the spirit of a Hengaku, some examples of which are shown in Chris' carpentry texts:
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Google images will show you a great variety of examples.

I wasn't going for anything nearly so ornate, just the sloped hopper as a border to the centre board, with maybe a curve or two - still undecided. An ancillary goal here is to refresh some of the basic carpentry concepts, and to execute a much cleaner hopper than my first attempt some time ago.

Here is the sign itself with the street name and number carved in two different fonts:
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Unfortunately I didn't have enough of the one wood species to do the whole border so the sides will be the same as the centre panel and the top and bottom will be a something different. Didn't think to take many photos of the progress but here is the cut out mostly done for two corners:
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Yxoc
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Re: House Sign

Mon May 02, 2016 8:55 am

I am much happier about the quality of my joinery this time. This is primarily due to the use of carefully measured and cut paring blocks. A trial fit of the first corner shows the mortice and tenons going together quite neatly without any tuning required. The species of the casuarina used for the morticed pieces is a bit crumbly:
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The inside view looks Ok:
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And the view from the top shows the mitre angle is good, with a little fat left to clean off before it will close up tight:
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When I look at the side however, there does appear to be one problem:
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That gap is not a form of artistic expression unfortunately. I've transcribed a line off the wrong reference point somewhere.
Looks like I will get still more joinery practice on this particular piece.
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Jon B
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Re: House Sign

Mon May 02, 2016 7:56 pm

Nice work Derek,
I made a mortised and tenoned hopper once and it is indeed a tricky task. Yours looks nice and clean, even if you did have a mixup with some of the layout. More practice is always good :)
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Chris Hall
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Re: House Sign

Mon May 02, 2016 8:37 pm

Good to see you back Derek.

I chuckle to see the last picture, having had similar things happen to me at different times. Somehow, it hurts more when the cut out is superb but the lines not in the right place. Almost better to mess up both somehow, huh? :)
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Yxoc
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Re: House Sign

Tue May 03, 2016 7:55 am

Jon - Many thanks.

Chris, you're right, the frustration level is pretty high when you've taken so much care to try and get it neat. I find one of the great difficulties with non-orthogonal joinery is that it is simply not obvious when the marking or cutout is wrong. The finished shapes often make no sense, from a conventional perspective, as individual pieces, it's only when the joint comes together as a whole that the logic of it is revealed. For this reason I really have to concentrate and check that I've followed the process correctly - even then some still slip through the cracks.
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Chris Hall
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Re: House Sign

Tue May 03, 2016 8:20 am

Yep,

compound joinery is not for the faint of heart, and really pushes one towards accurate work. You're doing a great job!
Rob
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Re: House Sign

Wed May 04, 2016 3:56 pm

Nice work on the letter cutting, last week I attended at lecture at the Art Workers Guild in London presented by Brother Richard Kindersley: Letter Cutting - Fin de Siècle
"Looking through the lens of lettering and calligraphy, the natural phenomenon of the movement from simplicity to complexity, which can be traced through the work of artists and crafts people culminating in a number of universal resettings, returning to first principles and utility such as the Renaissance and Bauhaus. Richard will use Eric Gill and Edward Johnson, who reset their respective crafts by demonstrating the power of simplicity, to contemplate what this might mean for the future."
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Yxoc
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Re: House Sign

Mon May 09, 2016 9:24 am

Thanks Chris - don't get me wrong, I enjoy the challenge, just making the observation that there is no obvious idiot check, that things are lining up the right way so careful checking is paramount.

Rob, Thanks for your comment. That lecture sounds like exactly the sort of thing I like to geek out at. I do find the evolution of lettering and the different styles since Roman times an enjoyable subject. Not that I have put any serious academic study into it, just picked up the odd book here and there and some web surfing. Chris Pye has some great material available (books and videos) on letter carving if that sort of thing take your fancy.

Regards

Derek
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Paul Atzenweiler
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Re: House Sign

Wed May 11, 2016 10:26 pm

I really like seeing the progress. Very crisp and tight joinery.
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Yxoc
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Re: House Sign

Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:48 am

Hey Folks, a quick update...

Drawings were analysed, statements were taken and suspects questioned until the perpetrator of the crime was identified. Once the guilty received appropriate convictions and punishments, a new set of tenoned corners were cut. I stepped off the distance required for the opposing corners and all four joints were completed. Parts:
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Without adjusting any of the cutout, I gave it a test assembly:
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I have placed the sign in place to get a feel for the proportions. Thankfully it looks like I haven't made any gross blunders in layout or cutout and the parts are lining up as they should be:
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The joints will need slight adjustment as they are a bit tight, but as it was late and dark when I finished, I'll leave that for another day. At this stage I'm leaning towards leave the sides 'straight' without any decorative pattern cut into the outer edge but still not totally sure.

Derek

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