“Roses”, Finished Federal Hall Table

As promised here are some photos of my recently finished hall table. When I posted inlaying the bellflowers, I had planned to take ongoing photos of the progress and write several blog articles along the way, but my time has been so consumed with the making of this piece, that I haven’t been able to take the time to write about!

Well here are a few pictures. All the studio photos were shot by Ben Owen. If you get a chance check out his website, he is a wonderful photographer.

You can tell from the pictures why I entitled it “Roses.” The primary wood for the table is mahogany and Asian satinwood.

The serpentine sides are overlaid with oval satinwood insets then crossbanded with mahogany and laced with holly stringing. All the stringing is holly with ebony and holly banding.

The small roses were done using the piece-by-piece method and the Chevalet.

I did the top rose bouquet entirely with a handheld fret saw, using the bevel method. I used multiple woods for the inlay including holly, maple, box elder, Asian satinwood, pink ivory, Indian rosewood, ebony, poplar, lignum vitae and cherry.  There was no dye, stain, or paint used on any of the inlaid roses, although I used an ancient technique of shading using hot sand to “burn” the wood. All the veneer was shop-sawn and finished to 1/16″ thickness.

 

The drawers are joined with handcut half blind houndstooth dovetails, whew, what a mouthful, and challenging too! The drawer sides are curly maple.

The drawers are crossbanded in mahogany with double holly stringing and satinwood insets. The knob profile mimics the top edge profile, complete with a bentwood holly inset, about 1/32″ in thickness.

The Finish is Danish oil with a hand rubbed French polish.

Frank Strazza

15 Responses to “Roses”, Finished Federal Hall Table

  1. Dohnn Wood November 12, 2012 at 7:39 PM #

    Frank, Wow, what a beautiful piece of art. You should be very proud. Dohnn

  2. Freddy Roman November 12, 2012 at 9:26 PM #

    This is an amazing piece. Great Job. Amazing. I love it.

    Fred

  3. Carl November 12, 2012 at 11:48 PM #

    Congratulations Frank, on an extraordinarily beautiful and detailed piece! You’ve really taken full benefit of the chevalet and the artistry is fabulous. Thanks for putting up the photos.

  4. joe Maday November 13, 2012 at 12:05 AM #

    Beautiful work! The rose inlays are excelent, somthing for the rest of us to strive for. I do like the concave edge treatment of the top. again…Well done!

  5. Jameel Abraham November 13, 2012 at 7:42 AM #

    Gorgeous work, Frank. Stunning.

  6. Michael Rogen November 13, 2012 at 3:16 PM #

    I’m speechless Frank! Amazing work!

  7. Frank Strazza November 13, 2012 at 3:45 PM #

    Thank you all for the kind comments. The table was a lot of work and challenging too! I look forward to doing more with the marquetry. I think the possibilities are endless. One of my inspirations has been Silas Kopf, if you get a chance check out his work, it’s amazing.

  8. Ron Brese November 13, 2012 at 4:15 PM #

    This is amazing work from a talented artisan,

    Ron Brese

  9. Roger Ellison November 14, 2012 at 10:04 PM #

    Excellence – typical of your work, Frank.

  10. Karry Matson November 14, 2012 at 10:14 PM #

    This is so pretty; you did a great job!

  11. Michael Haynes November 15, 2012 at 9:01 AM #

    Frank, when will you be teaching a Federal Style inlay class?

  12. Marshall Snodgrass November 15, 2012 at 1:25 PM #

    Frank,
    The table is beautiful example of art, craft and skill. Congratulations on this piece of work. You are not only gifted as an artist, but are also a gifted teacher.

    Thanks

  13. Cory Waldrop November 15, 2012 at 3:37 PM #

    Frank,

    Glad to see that you finished “Roses”. She is absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed your demonstration of marquetry in our Foundational II course earlier this year. One day I will attempt something like this and I hope it turns out anywhere near as nice as this. Looking forward to seeing what you complete next.

    P.S. some big names commenting here with some very nice words… well deserved Frank.

  14. Frank Strazza November 16, 2012 at 6:20 PM #

    Michael, we have two inlay classes scheduled for 2013. These are just one day classes that teach basic stringing as well as some geometric shapes (we actually do a star).
    I hope to do an advanced inlay class as well; I will keep you posted on the details.

  15. Aunt Karen December 5, 2012 at 5:53 PM #

    Frank your table is so beautiful. Your work is fabulous. It deserved best of show. Congratulations!