Replies

1. 
   troys | Jan 28, 2009 01:11am | #1

   Thanks for the post I have a few pieces of Buffard banding that I bought from Lee Valley a long time ago, it is great stuff.

   Take care

2. 
   cwalvoord | Jan 28, 2009 10:45pm | #2

   Joe,
   I have made a few basic decorative bandings, one shown in the attached picture frame, and would love to see detailed pics from the catalog. I am currently working on copying one of the Buffard Freres patterns shown on the Lee Valley poster, a copy of which hangs on my shop door. Their work was beautiful and inspiring. It is too bad that they are no longer in business.

   Thanks for posting.
   Chris

   
1. 
   maple | Jan 29, 2009 01:07am | #3

   cwalvoord
   I think your inlay looks Great! If you send me a sketch of the one you are making I will look through the catalogue and send you some accurate images if I find it. I was thinking of having a contest to see who can come up with the proper face cuts and construction sequence for the more complicated band patterns. Some are not so obvious to me!
   Cheers
   Joe

1. 
   cwalvoord | Jan 29, 2009 08:29pm | #4

   Joe,
   I too have thought a lot about how these bandings could be made and it is often not obvious to me. For some I am sure they would be impossible to duplicate without specialized machinery. The two simple ones I have tackled thus far are shown in the attached picture titled banding blanks. The next one I am working on is the skinny one in the center of the poster in the attached pic and my drawings are in the third attachment (a bit hard to see - poor quality pictures, sorry.)If you have better pictures of some similar bandings I would love to see them. If there are any insights on their construction in the material you have that would be helpful too. There are a couple of articles here on FWW that have given me a good start. If you want I could send you a few strips of the ones I have made (or make) in exchange for the pics and I am certainly glad to share the process if there is interest.
   Chris

   
1. 
   maple | Jan 29, 2009 10:10pm | #5

   Chris
   You are ambitious tackling a curved banding! As it happens the one you are working on is in the catalogue. As far as I can tell they just had numbers in the commercial market. The attached image should give you a much better idea of proportions. Looking at the band I think the main repeating unit is divided at the top of the main points(see second image. The small included squares on point were probably ebony and perhaps pewter? There are interesting variants on the same page but they will have to wait for my post of that page. I would just appreciate a comment on the blog when you have the time.
   Cheers
   Joe

   
1. 
   cwalvoord | Jan 29, 2009 10:34pm | #6

   Will do and thanks for the pics. I look forward to seeing the variants.
   Chris

3. 
   WillGeorge | Jan 30, 2009 05:58pm | #7

   And how is it all made from face wood!?

    

1. 
   maple | Jan 30, 2009 07:43pm | #8

   Hi,
   Sorry for not being so precise in my description. From what I know from actually looking at original BF bands, from reading and talking to other furniture makers is that BF went to extraordinary lengths to insure that the final sawing (not slicing)of the bands exposed only face grain and not end grain. As you know this would have a remarkable difference in the finished product generating maximum colour and reflectivity differences among the different components of the band. A lot of bands made today have exposed end grain. Accomplishing this would require a lot more work and forethought as you generally would not have available long stock of exotic woods cut radially from a tree. A lot of smaller pieces had to go into the construction.
   n'est-ce pas?Joe

1. 
   endgrainguy | Jan 31, 2009 07:37am | #9

   I've been fascinated with inlay banding for many years, and have made production runs of several styles, some reproductions of those  by Buffard, others my own design. See my work at http://www.alladd.com. Here's a link to a brief tutorial from Wood magazine about my banding  from  a few years back: http://www.alladd.com/wood_magazine_article_on_jewelry_boxes_joinery_and_technique.htm  I also do full blocks from multiple components, finally sliced into full face veneers for boxes. See for example http://www.alladd.com/hawaiin_bouquet.htm. I initially did end grain compositions, which work if not too large, and not used as a veneer, but rather as a panel. One can mix end grain components into bandings if those components are small enough, and sometimes  this works well, as some end grains are interesting and contrast greatly with face grains.

   I have many unrealized plans for more bandings. A few years ago I bought an old Rockwell overarm router that allows one router suspended from an arm, usable as a pin router, and another mounted below, standard router table style. As the overarm head can be precisely adjusted, I plan to use both heads together to "extrude" shapes like ovals, which are otherwise very hard to index after cutting one surface. In the meantime, I"ve built a CNC machine, which threatens to derail my banding fascination, as it allows a much more direct path to some interesting inlays. To produce many feet of banding though the solid resawn approach is faster. But as the market for high end production work deteriorates , I"m not sure I can sell all the work that can be made from even a modest sized batch of high end inlay banding.

1. 
   maple | Jan 31, 2009 08:16am | #10

   Hi Al,
   Great post and links to some additional information. It is unfortunate that there seems little time to absolutely "perfect" objects and still be able to market them. I do believe that one needs to promote the intrinsic value of things and not focus on the cost. A little bit harder to do at the moment it seems. I see you are in Maine, I am originally from New Brunswick across the border. Sounds like fun with the CNC. I was just out at a demo of a 5-axis CNC router at the Forest Products Lab at UBC. It was amazing what it could do!
   Cheers
   Joe

2. 
   mapleman | Feb 02, 2009 07:16am | #12

   But as the market for high end production work deteriorates , I"m not sure I can sell all the work that can be made from even a modest sized batch of high end inlay banding.

   Hi Al,

   I've seen your site - your work is incredible. Have you given any thought to producing your inlays and making them available to other woodworkers to supplement your income? Just a thought.

   Lee

    

1. 
   maple | Feb 09, 2009 10:03pm | #13

   Hi All,I have added a new post on this thread with more detailed images of the first three pages of banding. The link is below, I would like to know if you feel the download time of the page images is too long. It is a bit of a compromise between download problems and resolution. I will perhaps break up the pages in quarters when the bands are more detailed to maintain higher resolution.http://phidesign.ca/recent-posts/ Cheers
   Joe

2. 
   endgrainguy | Feb 10, 2009 04:30pm | #14

   Thanks for posting these Joe. They took about 10 seconds each at my bottom of the barrel DSL, which only recently became available to me here in rural western Masachussets. But I"d have happily waited the three or five  minutes a page my dial-up would have taken for them. I'm eagerly anticipating the fancier stuff!

3. 
   cwalvoord | Mar 09, 2009 10:43pm | #15

   Joe,
   I have not gotten to the banding with the curve in it yet but I did try out a few of the ideas that have been rolling around in my head. Pics attached. I hope to get a web page or blog page up soon where I can post some more detail on how they were made.
   Chris

   
2. 
   WillGeorge | Jan 31, 2009 09:07pm | #11

    exposed only face grain.. That makes all the difference.

   I thought I had a picture of some I made but I cannot find it.

   I laminated some very thin (1/16" ?) strips of each wood used in the project I was making at the time. I think it was Jatoba, Lacewood and Purpleheart. All strips cut on my tablesaw with a brand new Freud LM74M.. Kerf is a bit wide but what a lovely 'blade'. I only use it for 'special' stuff...

   Anyway, I cut the woods up so I could laminate them together with the least amount of end grain showing for the pattern (when finally sliced). I would estimate 50/50 on face and end grain. The 'along the length' patterns were easy but I found it very hard to come up with ideas on how to do anything that was not a pattern as in a ribbon form. It took alot of time but cutting/hand fitting small pieces that would fit for my final 'slice' that showed only face grain worked but it took more time to make one six foot strip than to do the whole project!

   I made another in the same pattern but I used tinted Epoxy for the 'strange' parts that seemed impossible to do from this old mans small brain thinking's..

   It was fun making it but such a challenge! I am glad you posted this question...

   When Spring comes I may try some for my two canopy beds 'in progress'. SO cold here this year not much time in the shop this winter.. DAMN!

   As to coloring the Epoxy, I 'think' I used colored chalk (the cheap stuff.. Some quality chalks can get REALLY expensive).

   I think my real problem making the strips was not planning what I needed to do before I started doing it. That is me to a 'T'....

   I forgot about how much fun it was trying to make it. Frustrating and a joy at the same time!

   I now have a 'Spring' Project! after the beds are finished....

   Thanks for posting your question!