Just a few years in the past, I accomplished a mechanical puzzle desk impressed by the 18th-century furnishings of David and Abraham Roentgen, whose work was famend for its ornate marquetry and hidden mechanical options.
The Roentgen Puzzle Desk took me a complete of 12 months to construct, unfold out over three years, and it at the moment waits in a climate-controlled storage unit till my shopper’s new house is able to obtain it. Like lots of my clients, he’s an avid puzzle collector.
This piece represents a milestone for me. Like the entire items I’ve remodeled the previous decade or so, it has all kinds of puzzles constructed into its construction, which should be solved in a selected order to unlock a last prize hidden inside. Some clues and puzzles are hidden in plain sight; others are hid beneath layers of detailing.
For my part, this desk pushes the intricacy and creativeness of puzzle furnishings to a stage not seen earlier than—an accomplishment that I hope will dwell on after I’m gone, because the Roentgens’ work has. The piece will seemingly take my shopper 4 to 6 months to unravel.
A few of the mechanical puzzles require outdoors investigation to determine, together with analysis into star charts and using an astrolabe. As you may think, I can’t share all of my tips, and I would like to cover the options for just a few present items. However this text and the video hyperlinks provides you with loads of examples.
My days as a furnishings maker
My dad and mom had a well-used workshop for making and repairing issues, and the picture of working together with your fingers and with the ability to construct issues stayed with me into maturity. When it got here time to choose a serious in school, I made a decision to review mechanical engineering.
My engineering diploma landed me a job doing product-design work, which concerned loads of 3D modeling. That have helps tremendously with my present work, which is simply too advanced and layered for 2D drawings.
Whereas working as a product designer, I started making furnishings for individuals in no matter area I had out there, whether or not that was
a storage or the lounge of my house. Quickly, I had extra furnishings work than I might match into my nights and weekends, and I used to be compelled to decide. I made the transition to full-time furnishings making in 2000, with about 10% cabinetry work combined in.
I used to be particularly drawn to veneering, instructing myself at first after which taking marquetry courses from Patrick Edwards and Paul Schürch. Veneering and marquetry allowed me to embellish my furnishings with intricate geometric patterns and floral shows, issues that not many others had been doing on the time. Trying again, I understand that I’ve at all times been drawn to fussy, sophisticated work. One thing about it holds my consideration.
My expertise with veneering additionally ended up being important for my puzzle-furniture profession. One in all my important challenges today is humidity and wooden motion, which may make a fancy mechanism work in the future after which fail the subsequent. In comparison with strong wooden, veneered components and panels are very dimensionally steady, which is essential for the advanced mechanics and tight gaps in my puzzle items.
| From Effective Woodworking #322
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