When I last posted in this blog, I had almost finished the chevys and was feeling about ready for the classes to begin. Well ……. that may have been a little premature. It seems that teaching a marquetry course requires a little more hardware than just some pretty chevalets.

First I’ll update the construction part. All that really remained to do on the actual machines was to make the blade clamps (using my table saw for steel), the knobs for the saw frames, and of course, the logos.

I was unable to find any 3/8" insert nuts so I epoxied nuts (union nuts cut in half) into some blocks and used the thread as an anchor to turn the knobs.

The logos were easy and allowed me to play with my new scraper plane.

So now I’m done, right? ….. not so much. In addition to the basic chevalet I added to each one an awl, a tee handled allen wrench, a tube for spare blades, a working tray, and a “chevalight”. Of course each working tray had to have tape, a pair of tweezers, a probe, and a razor blade.

The “chevalight”

Then there was the need for four more stools and four working stations with cutting surfaces and “clean” trays.

I finally think that I have the “hardware” assembled and now can start working on looking for suitable motifs for teaching the techniques. These are some I’m looking at. I don’t want to copy Patrick’s étude motifs but need to offer sufficient challenge and learning points in the ones I do choose. As well I want to offer a choice of difficulty at least in the final piece that each student finishes in the class. These are some I am considering.

I’m leaning toward the lighthouse (thanks to Paul, tinnman65 for that idea) as the introductory motif as it has local interest. It is Fisgard Light in Esquimalt Harbour near Victoria and is one of the oldest on the west coast of North America. The “final” may be as complex as the art nouveau piece or as easy as some coasters with the student’s initial or initials. The one part that I will shamelessly copy from ASFM will be the self portrait because I like the way it allows the school to keep a record of its students.

BTW…… still two places available for Sept 21-25. …… :-)

Now I think I’m ready and with a few weeks before the course begins, I just might go sailing for a week or so.

Thanks for looking in.

Paul