Ian Laval
Classic hand-made furniture
Vancouver Island British Columbia Canada

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Work in progress on a walnut long-case clock.



Trunk door-panel with carving by Salish First Nations carver Simon Louie.



Mock-up of eventual brass face fitted in the hood.



Brass face with cycle of life etched from a drawing by Simon Louie.



Stacks of sawn veneers.



A matched pair of Garry oak crotch veneers selected for a display cabinet



The veneers are first steam-ironed to flatten them.



A flattened veneer leaf





String inlay sawn on the bandsaw



Inlay mitre being cut



Dressing a 90 degree end on the lathe



Inlay mitres cut and ready to glue in place



Glueing the inlay in place



Clamping veneer squares in a drawer-front



Dressing veneer and inlay with a Norris plane



The dressed veneer and inlay



Fitting the stretcher centre-piece



Scoring a drawer-front before laying veneer




The drawer-front ready to take veneer



Clamping veneers on the drawer-front



Dressing drawer-front veneers



The finished drawer



Upper cabinet dry-assembled



Clamping veneers and inlay on the top-rail



Dressing cabinet veneers



Handled scraper.....



........and flat scraper



Sawing 5/16" oak on the bandsaw to make cabinet back panels



Panels glued up



Upper section tenons cut



Upper section finally assembled



Chamfering edges of the display cabinet's lower section



Dressing chamfers with the plane



Marking out drawer dovetails





Final adjustments to upper section



The finished display cabinet

 

 

This series of images illustrates some of the process involved in building a traditional piece of furniture.

Ian Laval makes extensive use of sawn veneers, cut from the same local trees growing within reach of his workshop.

These veneers are sawn -- generally one-eighth of an inch thick -- from fresh, green timber. They are found in crotches, burrs and a variety of interesting places in the tree revealed in processing. They are then generally laid in book-matched pairs or quarters to embellish the furniture.