I first saw a chevalet in Sorrento, Italy about ten or eleven years ago. I was very impressed with the machine and the work being done by the master marqueteurs there but never dreamed that I would ever find myself building one. Well, retirement has it's ways of taking you places you never thought you'd be going. After a working lifetime of more or less "creative woodworking" who knew I'd be this interested in persuing it in retirement? Fast forward to a couple of years ago when I became interested in inlays and marquetry. First I built a few pieces of furniture exploring the use of router bushing inlay sets for something more akin to marquetry.
When I realized the limitations of that method I moved on to double bevel marquetry with a scroll saw.
Then I happened once again upon the idea of the chevalet and wondered if it might enable me to attain the fine cuts that seemed to be evading me on the scroll saw. After looking at the few photos and one short video that I was able to find on the internet and reading the few snippets I found here and there I decided to go for it. How hard could it be?
There is a lot of mystique about old tools like this and it is very easy to think of them as diabolically clever creations that you should not attempt without some sort of plans or specialized training. The fact is that it is a jig that keeps a reciprocating blade in a single plane. It may have taken a great mind to conceive of the wheel, but once it was invented any fool could build one. So I decided to be the fool.
The chevalet can be broken down into two basic and completely separate devices. The first is a heavy, rigid wooden structure that the operator sits on and that supports the working parts of the saw. The second is the moving parts of the saw itself. The dimensions of the first part are more about the worker than the work. I chose to make mine as adjustable as possible to be sure it would fit my body size. Since this was a shot in the dark I chose to go on the cheap and use recycled wood from an old beam that I had lying around.
Here are some photos of the frame structure. This is the tenoned vertical post.
This is the main base piece where your toes go.
This is a dry fit of the basic frame elements.
And this one shows the arm's first fitting.
Between the operator and the saw is a clamp mechanism to hold the veneer packet while it is cut. It is foot operated and again is not very dimension critical.
The frame part is rounded out by the arm and carriage base (my terms, I don't know the real names) that support the working parts of the saw.
The big frame parts are about 3 1/2" x 4 1/2" and most parts are dimensioned more to suit your size than anything else. You can see that I left lots of room to raise and lower the arm and filled the space with graduated shims and two very shallow wedges to allow adjustment of as little as 1/8" up or down. Also the design allows for the arm to be shortened or lengthened to accommodate saw frames up to 30" deep.
Next time I'll get into the trickier second part which is of course the moving saw mechanism.
Thanks for looking in.
Ask all the questions you like, I'm retired.
Paul
The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.
oh man i should stop looking now. this is what happened when i started looking at people turning things on a lathe. now hundreds of dollars later im hooked on that. where might this lead ? 😁
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
oh man i should stop looking now. this is what happened when i started looking at people turning things on a lathe. now hundreds of dollars later im hooked on that. where might this lead ? 😁
About twelve years ago I asked myself that. This is where it leads. If you can live with that.. 😁
The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.
So I have questions, Paul. But I don’t have the space until I get a number of other projects out of the way, which will allow me to clean up the shop a bit.
That said, was a scroll saw a useful step along the way, or should I just figure I need to build an addition on the shop so I have room for a chevy and an assembly bench and… ?
Also, are you still teaching, or is that a thing of the past, what with Covid and all?
So I have questions, Paul. But I don’t have the space until I get a number of other projects out of the way, which will allow me to clean up the shop a bit.
That said, was a scroll saw a useful step along the way, or should I just figure I need to build an addition on the shop so I have room for a chevy and an assembly bench and… ?
Also, are you still teaching, or is that a thing of the past, what with Covid and all?
- Ask all the questions you like. PM me if you like. - To approach the success you can achieve (IMHO) with a scrollsaw you need a really good scrollsaw. For me it would have taken a long time on the scrollsaw to get as good as I was on the chevalet right off the bat. It is an amazing tool. - Yes, I’m still teaching but for several reasons it’s all online now. It works better for me and way better for the students.
The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.
Been trying to figure what I want to learn next. But I think I need to finish some (already in progress) projects before I bite off a new hobby. So I’ll keep watching and ask questions as I think of them.
