Am working on a table to support an electric kiln. As usual, what
started out to be a 2x4 quick and dirty has evolved into what is
becoming a semi delicate, one shelf, tapered legs, shaped table - with
loose tenon joinery.
That’s one of the advantages/disadvantages of using traditional joinery
- you can put together what you’ve got, as you go, look at it in full
size and see possibilities for what to do next. In this case it was
“blending” parts together using an oscillating spindle sander, spoke
shave, micro-plane “files” and sand paper, with a bunch of elbow grease
thrown in.

Along the way I became more and more aware of how edge treatments and
“set backs” change the look of a piece and the importance of shadows, or
not, as design elements.

The Arts & Crafts style uses hard edges where parts come together and
often “step backs”, with a noticable shadow lines, to accentuate the
intersection of parts - almost always at harsh right angles. To my eye,
this approach is very PROvocative - “Look - THIS is what I want you to
notice! See these vertical and horizontal straight lines? See these
perfectly square corners? There’s NOTHING here to distract you from
what I want you to see, the impression I wanted this piece to make.
There’s nothing ambiguous here, no ‘How the hell did he/she do that?’ -
it’s all right there.” A very “western” approach to design - big, solid,
bold, masculine - very little left to the viewers imagination.

The other edge treatment extreme is the Louie the XIVth, extremely
decorative, covered in gold leaf, style - which gives me a headache.
It’s so full of details and froo-froo that my eye keeps jumping all over
hell as it finds yet another distraction amongst all the other
distractions. The forest for the trees thing. The wood itself isn’t
even visible, buried beneath the carvings and the plaster and the gold
leaf. Gilding the Lily. More is better. But there is such a thing as
too much.

Somewhere betwixt and between (that’s redundant right?) is a nuanced
place, where all the parts flow together, where each detail is there to
enhance the flow of the piece, to gently lead the viewer from the whole
to the subtle details, without anything screaming LOOK AT ME! A subtle
shadow draws the eye, curved surfaces blend parts together, a tapering
of the legs gives the illusion of the piece being taller than it really
is. Ambiguity isn’t always a bad thing ,for it can leave room for
imagination, the mind’s eye filling in what, in fact, isn’t there -
Evocative rahter tha PROvocative. Rounding edges can literally blur the
line where two planes intersect and draw the eye around the “corner”,
without the STOP Sign of a harsh straight edge.

And that brings it back to edge treatments - Edges, Lines and
Illusions. Do your consciously chose step backs to create an
intentional shadow line in the design? Do you use a chamfered edge of a
particular width for a particullar set of parts? Are stopped chamfers
design elements of some of your stuff? Why use a rounded over edge
rather than just a slightly sanded or planed eased edge? Do you prefer
sharp well defined lines where things
meet or more ambiguous, subtle, soft rounded transitions from plane to
plane?

Just wondering.

charlie b

BTW - if you want to see another of my quick and dirty projects that got
away - and how it happened
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...ilnTable1.html

Nice cogetations.

I use all of the above in sets to create various feels for each design.
I've historicially tended toward the stark look of the Ar ts and
Crafts/Mission/Prarie school. I have also dabbled in some of the more
prismatic Shaker styles.

On hard lined pieces, I hand brek the edges with a soft (Felt) sanding
block and very fine paper (to allow me to control the amount of break).
I prefer this to a roundover bit because of the more natural astethic
(sp?).

When I do chamfers, I often use a block plane, again, to introduce the
minute variability to add a more natural feel to the edge.

Regadring lines and setbacks, I typically fall to the classics of
design with beaded bottom edges of aprons and golden triangle of
incremented\re-used values like 3/4"top, 1 1/4" setback, 1 3/4" leg, 2
1/4" apron (ie 3/4" + 1/2" + 1/2", etc.) See this month FWW for a
treatise on table design with great explainations.

Thanks for asking. Nice stuff to consider.

(Also, I have an idea for a stopped chamfer with a lambs tounge ending
for a leg edge on a piece I am working on right now.)

BW

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 12:17:12 -0700, charlie b wrote:

Am working on a table to support an electric kiln. As usual, what
started out to be a 2x4 quick and dirty has evolved into what is
becoming a semi delicate, one shelf, tapered legs, shaped table - with
loose tenon joinery.
That’s one of the advantages/disadvantages of using traditional joinery
- you can put together what you’ve got, as you go, look at it in full
size and see possibilities for what to do next. In this case it was
“blending” parts together using an oscillating spindle sander, spoke
shave, micro-plane “files” and sand paper, with a bunch of elbow grease
thrown in.

Along the way I became more and more aware of how edge treatments and
“set backs” change the look of a piece and the importance of shadows, or
not, as design elements.

The Arts & Crafts style uses hard edges where parts come together and
often “step backs”, with a noticable shadow lines, to accentuate the
intersection of parts - almost always at harsh right angles. To my eye,
this approach is very PROvocative - “Look - THIS is what I want you to
notice! See these vertical and horizontal straight lines? See these
perfectly square corners? There’s NOTHING here to distract you from
what I want you to see, the impression I wanted this piece to make.
There’s nothing ambiguous here, no ‘How the hell did he/she do that?’ -
it’s all right there.” A very “western” approach to design - big, solid,
bold, masculine - very little left to the viewers imagination.

The other edge treatment extreme is the Louie the XIVth, extremely
decorative, covered in gold leaf, style - which gives me a headache.
It’s so full of details and froo-froo that my eye keeps jumping all over
hell as it finds yet another distraction amongst all the other
distractions. The forest for the trees thing. The wood itself isn’t
even visible, buried beneath the carvings and the plaster and the gold
leaf. Gilding the Lily. More is better. But there is such a thing as
too much.

Somewhere betwixt and between (that’s redundant right?) is a nuanced
place, where all the parts flow together, where each detail is there to
enhance the flow of the piece, to gently lead the viewer from the whole
to the subtle details, without anything screaming LOOK AT ME! A subtle
shadow draws the eye, curved surfaces blend parts together, a tapering
of the legs gives the illusion of the piece being taller than it really
is. Ambiguity isn’t always a bad thing ,for it can leave room for
imagination, the mind’s eye filling in what, in fact, isn’t there -
Evocative rahter tha PROvocative. Rounding edges can literally blur the
line where two planes intersect and draw the eye around the “corner”,
without the STOP Sign of a harsh straight edge.

And that brings it back to edge treatments - Edges, Lines and
Illusions. Do your consciously chose step backs to create an
intentional shadow line in the design? Do you use a chamfered edge of a
particular width for a particullar set of parts? Are stopped chamfers
design elements of some of your stuff? Why use a rounded over edge
rather than just a slightly sanded or planed eased edge? Do you prefer
sharp well defined lines where things
meet or more ambiguous, subtle, soft rounded transitions from plane to
plane?

Just wondering.

charlie b

BTW - if you want to see another of my quick and dirty projects that got
away - and how it happened
http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/...ilnTable1.html

Your post got me to thinking what I've used in the past.
I took a look around my home office (I've built all the
furniture) and it seems I favor rounded edges and shaker
styling including setbacks. I've always leaned towards
shaker simple designs, eased edges or round overs.
Overall my designs are pretty boring, but I like them.

DGA