House number carving.

[FrederickH]

Our daughter and son-in-law have just purchased their first house in Springs, NY, south of Montauk. Their street address starts with just the #5 and then the street name. I thought that I could give them a house warming present, with a carving of just the #5, and it will be painted/gilded. Here's the start of the rough carving/layout for this project. The number carving is in basswood and the second disk of wood is pine, and the use of it will be apparent later on. Again, this is just a rough carving...... finishing will take place later.

 

 

 

[Gene Howe]

Very nice work. As per usual, your carving is exquisite.

[FrederickH]

House number, part 2....... the lathe work. In the first photo, I'm sizing the top blank to the bottom one. I will then use wood glue, on the 3/4" outside ring, to attach the molding blank. Everything is fitted to a 6" face plate and sized. I then mark a 7/8" ring for the molding on the plaque. You can see in the 4th photo how the "extra" inner disk is removed, leaving the edge band of wood to be turned to an ogee profile. The last photo shows the plaque completed... now for the finishing/gilding.

[Gene Howe]

Beautiful!

[Gunny]

[FlGatorwood]

That is some really fine work there.  First class craftsmanship.  

[FrederickH]

Background painting is completed and the "gesso" is applied to the areas to be gilded. Gilding will be next. I didn't realize how difficult the painting/gilding has/would been because of all of the straight lines involved.

[FrederickH]

Project is finished except for a little cleanup around the rim/number. The first photo shows the edge molding gilded and the second shows the completed project.

[Gene Howe]

Outstanding!

[Gunny]

[Artie]

Beautiful!

[Danl]

Looks great!  How will it be mounted?

Danl

[FrederickH]

30 minutes ago, Danl said:

Looks great!  How will it be mounted?

Danl

I've got a picture frame hanger that I'll install on the back of it.

[lew]

Don't know how I missed this one. Beautiful work, Rick!

[FrederickH]

16 hours ago, Danl said:

Looks great!  How will it be mounted?

Danl

Here's a photo of the back of the #5 plaque. I've got a picture hanger screwed to the back and this allows for adjustment for leveling of the frame. Just loosen the screw and rotate the hanger in correct direction. I've got this system in place for all of my plaque carvings. Hope this helps

[FlGatorwood]

Really neat idea and beautiful work.  

[Cal]

That is super Frederick!

[KevTN]

Great job

[Woodman]

Beautiful effort! Thanks for the journey! Will they hang it on an enclosed / covered porch or inside?

 

Some beginner questions:

 

Is this mounted to the bench? For rotating your work?

 

Are multiple squares to have different adjustments / settings?

 

Is this lathe (?) variable speed? What is the RPM while using that squaring scraper?

 

Thanks!

 

      

[FrederickH]

Jim, thank you for the compliment. I'll try to answer your questions.... the house number was made for my daughter/son-in-law's house in Springs NY and was meant to be placed inside. If this was to be an outside plaque, I would have used an oil-based paint instead of latex. The first photo shows my Wilton Power Arm Jr. used with the carving. I mount the plaque to a sacrificial board with glue/paper, then screw everything to the arm. This is then clamped(via the wooden block/base) in my front/tail vise and the Power Arm can rotate in any direction. Once the carving is done, I split off the plaque and proceed with finishing. I'm not sure of what you mean about the multiple squares?? Yes, the lathe is a variable-speed Delta HD lathe and I'm guessing that the turning speed is around 600-700 rpm. If you have time, go back through my postings about the number plaque and that should fill in any other questions.

Edited February 23, 2022 by FrederickH