Master Furniture craftsman - Drool over these pics

[rox]

I so much enjoy it when people post pictures that I though I would take the time to share a few photographs I took over Christmas at my sister and brother in laws house, in France.

My brother in law (Italian) is from a small village outside Florence. He did his apprentice in carpentry and when you go to his village you can sit on the park benches that are still perfect, which he built probably 35 years ago.

You will see by the pictures that he is really a master craftsman in furniture building. He easily found employment in France building out commercial buildings, primarily stores and storefronts. The owner of a furniture store admired his work and got to know him. He offered Frank a deal. He would pay for the wood for 2 bedroom sets, Frank would build 2, one he could keep for himself and the other one the store owner would sell in his furniture store. So in the evenings he built his bedroom sets.

Frank showed me his books that he used to hand carve all the carvings in the furniture. he jsut followed the design in the book. in toher words he taught himself the carving aspect by reading about it. Frank does not own a lot of expensive power tools either. I saw a table saw and I would guess he has a router, but nothing bigger than his table saw.

After he built the bedroom sets he went on to build an entertainment center which also matches his dining room set. You should see his cocktail table, which I did not get a picture of, it must have been put away to make room for the seating for dinner. the wood is all inlaid, and the legs curve out and are hand carved and end like the legs of the armoir and entertainment center. I will get a pic and post it next time we visit and i have my cameera.

i posted the pics on my gallery

which you can see here, double click the pics to make them bigger-
http://www.tractorbynet.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/14454

I have a small file sized pic, and I never tried to insert one in a post before so I don't know if this will work or not.

it is a pic of the leg/foot of his furniture

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Thanks for posting those. That is some stunning furniture, graceful and nicely appointed with carvings.

I also noted for the first time the photos of the Borie. That is a very cool structure.

Cliff

 

[rox]

Cliff,

Thanks for the kind words. The furniture store owner is no dummy though. He sold that bedroom set for $5,000 35 years ago Wonder what that would be worth nowdays. And all the furniture store guy had into the deal was the lumber. Frank is amazing, whatever he does it comes out perfect. He didn't have any patterns, tracing a pattern on the board type of thing. he saw it in the books and he built it. the entertainment center has a real nice bar on the right. it has a fake hing I think. it doesn't swing out the dor pulls down and makes a bar. It is all outfitted perfectly.

To bad he suffered a back injury and had to quit his prfessin. he spent the last 15 years perhaps 20 as a night watchman for the yard that keeps all the trucks and dozers and stuff for the parks department. he got the city job because of his disability. he still is able to do some physical work at times. Not like before his injury ,but if he is feeling okay he will build things for the family. he built our kitchen cupboards for our condo in Cannes. This Christmas his arm was in a sling his back went out on him and he fell down and dislocateed his shoulder. his life would have been entirely different if he would not have had that injury, what a waste of talent...

 

[Ken_CT]

Rox,
All I can say is...Wow! What a craftsman.

 

[Bird]

And what does it take to do that kind of work? A god given talent? Lots of patience? Lots of practice? Whatever it is, I never had it.

 

[Egon]

He would be considered an artisan in my books. I am always in awe of people with such talent.

 

[rox]

He would be considered an artisan in my books. I am always in awe of people with such talent.

I have to agree with all your comments which is whay I was so proud to post pics of his work. He showed me his carving tools and they are very simple. Several tools, very precise in the type of carving that it does, but really not all that many of them. Perhaps 6 or 8 different tools. I figue he must have practiced a lot, each pattern on scrap wood, before starting on his furniture.

I honestly don't knwo what makes people be able to do this type of work. he never knew his father he died when he was 1 years old and was an only child, so he didn't have any adult male influence on is life growing up. It msut have been that carpentry apprenticship he did that gave him a basis on which to grow. The one thing is he hates to finsih anything as far as painting and staining. he will build it but he doesn't like the painting etc.

the whole family is very lucky to have frank in the family. my father in law died when he was only 59 and left young children. Frank is really the father figure to the whole family. When my father in law died, frank built the casket. On a side note, ond of the family cousins was in construction and they dug the hole for the grave. My father in law was "laid out" on his bed, no funeral home.

I do feel blessed to have married into such a wonderful family. if any of us need anything we go to Frank, he tells us what to buy, or builds it for us. Anything frank builds is plumb. When he visited us in our new hme in USA he inspected the whole house and only found one thing wrong, one closet door wasn't plumb. he is very big on Plumb.

Two things really stand out for me, the feet on his furniture and also the carvings on the foot board of the bed. if you look real close at that picture, hte foot board of the bed, it really shows his artistry. After his back injury I tried to get him interested to make quality miniatue furniture for doll houses and collections but he wasn't interested. too bad I bet i coud have provided him a nice business, I wouldn't have taken any kind of a cut, i would have jsut helped him, as he helped everyone in the family. he jsut wasn't interested.

 

[GaryM]

Beautiful work that's for sure. He can certainly be proud of it.

 

[jinman]

After his back injury I tried to get him interested to make quality miniatue furniture for doll houses and collections but he wasn't interested. too bad I bet i coud have provided him a nice business, I wouldn't have taken any kind of a cut, i would have jsut helped him, as he helped everyone in the family. he jsut wasn't interested.

Rox, is your BIL interested in teaching? It seems that would be a valualble use of his talent. I look at those pieces and wonder if the carving was done before assembly or afterwards? Can you imagine how it would be to try and not mess up a piece of furniture after it was assembled? My nerves couldn't take it.

That is very fine furniture, indeed. Your BIL has rare talent.

 

[Steve_Miller]

And what does it take to do that kind of work? A god given talent? Lots of patience? Lots of practice? Whatever it is, I never had it.

Rox,
That's beautiful, the furniture and the Borie, thanks for the pictures. Forgive my ignorance, but what is a Borie?

Bird,
I met a guy at a local woodworking show this years and he was a carver, I made the comment that you must have a lot of patience to be able to do that and he jumped all over me and said that he was the most impatient man he knew. I apologized to him and he went on to tell me that it's something he just enjoys doing. He said some nights he would look up at the clock and it would be 7:00pm, he would look up what he thought was a little bit later and it would be 1:00am in the morning. He was carving an eagle at the show and he said it would probably take him two to three months to finish it. Detail down to the individual feather ruffles. I'm in the same boat as you, "Whatever it is, I never had it"

Steve