1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:02,400 (cheery music) 2 00:00:05,300 --> 00:00:07,333 - Welcome to the "Volunteer Woodworker." 3 00:00:07,333 --> 00:00:09,366 I'm your host Charles Brock. 4 00:00:09,366 --> 00:00:12,166 Come with me as we drive the back roads 5 00:00:12,166 --> 00:00:16,533 bringing you the story of America's finest woodworkers. 6 00:00:16,533 --> 00:00:19,166 (cheery music) 7 00:00:35,066 --> 00:00:39,133 We're going to Woodbury, Tennessee to meet Alf Sharp. 8 00:00:39,133 --> 00:00:44,066 Alf left law school and got involved in many things period, 9 00:00:45,566 --> 00:00:48,533 especially period furniture at a level very few reach. 10 00:00:48,533 --> 00:00:53,133 His furniture can be found in fine homes and collections 11 00:00:53,133 --> 00:00:54,933 like the Hermitage. 12 00:00:54,933 --> 00:00:59,833 He will share his story and a new project with us today. 13 00:00:59,833 --> 00:01:02,266 (cheery music) 14 00:01:02,266 --> 00:01:05,700 - [Announcer] Volunteer Woodworker is funded in part by 15 00:01:05,700 --> 00:01:08,266 since 1970, Whiteside Machine Company 16 00:01:08,266 --> 00:01:10,766 has been producing industrial grade router bits 17 00:01:10,766 --> 00:01:12,466 in Claremont, North Carolina. 18 00:01:12,466 --> 00:01:15,800 Whiteside makes carbide bits for edge forming, grooving 19 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:17,700 and CNC application. 20 00:01:17,700 --> 00:01:20,466 Learn more at whitesiderouterbits.com. 21 00:01:22,033 --> 00:01:25,700 Real Milk Paint Company makes VOC free non-toxic milk paint 22 00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:27,966 available in 56 colors. 23 00:01:27,966 --> 00:01:30,233 Milk paint creates a matte wood finish 24 00:01:30,233 --> 00:01:32,500 that can be distressed for an antique look. 25 00:01:35,500 --> 00:01:37,766 Good Wood Nashville designs custom furniture 26 00:01:37,766 --> 00:01:40,366 and is a supplier of vintage hardwoods. 27 00:01:41,533 --> 00:01:43,700 Keri Price with Keller Williams Realty 28 00:01:43,700 --> 00:01:46,833 has been assisting middle Tennessee home buyers and sellers 29 00:01:46,833 --> 00:01:48,766 since 2013. 30 00:01:48,766 --> 00:01:50,333 Mayfield Hardwood Lumber, 31 00:01:51,766 --> 00:01:54,500 supplying Appalachian hardwoods worldwide. 32 00:01:56,833 --> 00:01:58,633 Anna's Creative Lens. 33 00:01:58,633 --> 00:02:01,100 (cheery music) 34 00:02:02,233 --> 00:02:03,566 - Alf. 35 00:02:03,566 --> 00:02:05,066 - Hi Chuck. 36 00:02:05,066 --> 00:02:06,533 Welcome. 37 00:02:06,533 --> 00:02:08,100 - Well thank you. 38 00:02:08,100 --> 00:02:13,066 There's nothing so comforting as this porch 39 00:02:14,333 --> 00:02:17,433 with all of the wildlife out here, the birds, 40 00:02:17,433 --> 00:02:21,500 the chimes, which we'll probably hear soon. 41 00:02:21,500 --> 00:02:24,233 This is the setting for the artist. 42 00:02:24,233 --> 00:02:26,166 I think that's important. 43 00:02:26,166 --> 00:02:28,133 - Well, I do too, I do too. 44 00:02:29,433 --> 00:02:31,400 It was my dream from the very start 45 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,600 to have my shop at home, 46 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,766 and it took me about a decade to get that, 47 00:02:36,766 --> 00:02:38,633 to accomplish that. 48 00:02:38,633 --> 00:02:42,300 - Well, it certainly is a restful place, 49 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:46,033 a place to put together your thoughts and your visions 50 00:02:46,033 --> 00:02:49,466 and then take 'em to that shop, which we'll see later. 51 00:02:50,666 --> 00:02:54,100 Besides this inspiring setting here, 52 00:02:54,100 --> 00:02:58,800 who were some of the people that inspired you early on? 53 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,633 What inspired you to be Alf Sharp, woodworker? 54 00:03:01,633 --> 00:03:04,533 - Well, I didn't even really start 55 00:03:04,533 --> 00:03:07,533 to think about woodworking until my early twenties. 56 00:03:07,533 --> 00:03:11,800 I was in law school for a short time. 57 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,433 I quickly realized that was the last thing in the world 58 00:03:14,433 --> 00:03:15,366 I wanted to do. 59 00:03:16,633 --> 00:03:18,066 So I dropped out of law school 60 00:03:18,066 --> 00:03:21,500 and just sort of bummed around for a couple of years, 61 00:03:22,533 --> 00:03:25,300 picking up jobs here and there, 62 00:03:25,300 --> 00:03:27,866 and I ended up on a carpentry crew 63 00:03:27,866 --> 00:03:30,633 and everything just clicked. 64 00:03:30,633 --> 00:03:33,400 I just understood what I was doing right away. 65 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,133 I got it. 66 00:03:35,133 --> 00:03:37,900 Before long, I was doing the interior trim 67 00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:41,533 and the built-in cabinet work. 68 00:03:41,533 --> 00:03:44,633 And at that point, 69 00:03:44,633 --> 00:03:47,300 I started looking at furniture differently. 70 00:03:47,300 --> 00:03:48,966 Well, that's made out of wood too. 71 00:03:51,066 --> 00:03:52,600 How'd they do that? 72 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:53,400 - Yes. 73 00:03:55,166 --> 00:03:58,500 - And so I do remember, 74 00:03:58,500 --> 00:04:03,366 I do remember one book that was in my parents' library 75 00:04:04,533 --> 00:04:07,700 that fascinated me from an early age. 76 00:04:07,700 --> 00:04:09,833 I don't know when I started looking at this book, 77 00:04:09,833 --> 00:04:12,866 but it was a book about English furniture 78 00:04:12,866 --> 00:04:17,833 and in it, it had a two page spread of this secretary, 79 00:04:19,300 --> 00:04:23,300 this desk and bookcase as they were called back then, 80 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:25,533 we call 'em secretaries now, 81 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,333 this unbelievable tour de force. 82 00:04:31,333 --> 00:04:34,133 I don't even know why it fascinated me so much 83 00:04:34,133 --> 00:04:35,900 before I got interested in furniture, 84 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:38,400 but it did, it was just so beautiful, 85 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,266 such a beautiful thing. 86 00:04:40,266 --> 00:04:43,266 And there was this two page spread in the book 87 00:04:43,266 --> 00:04:47,566 of the interior of this secretary 88 00:04:47,566 --> 00:04:50,800 done in an architectural 18th century style. 89 00:04:52,500 --> 00:04:56,933 And I looked at that time and time again. 90 00:04:56,933 --> 00:04:59,466 And then of course when I got interested in furniture, 91 00:04:59,466 --> 00:05:03,000 I looked back at it again and said, oh my goodness, 92 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:04,833 how in the world did they do that? 93 00:05:06,033 --> 00:05:08,233 So those were early influences. 94 00:05:08,233 --> 00:05:13,200 I remember going to a crafts fair here in Nashville early on 95 00:05:14,466 --> 00:05:17,133 and seeing a contemporary piece 96 00:05:17,133 --> 00:05:18,766 by a woodworker from Memphis, 97 00:05:18,766 --> 00:05:20,566 I forget his name, I'm sorry, 98 00:05:20,566 --> 00:05:25,533 but it was a great piece of furniture, 99 00:05:26,333 --> 00:05:27,300 it was a coffee table. 100 00:05:28,666 --> 00:05:32,933 The top would had a long spear shape 101 00:05:32,933 --> 00:05:35,133 or leaf shape to it 102 00:05:35,133 --> 00:05:37,866 and then the pedestal came out of one end of the leaf 103 00:05:37,866 --> 00:05:41,766 and went down and terminated underneath the table 104 00:05:41,766 --> 00:05:44,333 in such a way as to balance the whole table 105 00:05:44,333 --> 00:05:46,800 in a big frog's foot. 106 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:48,400 - Wow. 107 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,633 - And the whole table was made out of zebra wood. 108 00:05:51,633 --> 00:05:55,233 It was a beautiful wood that I'd never seen before 109 00:05:55,233 --> 00:05:56,833 and I was struck by that. 110 00:05:56,833 --> 00:06:00,700 And so here I was, I was interested in both contemporary 111 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:02,233 and traditional furniture 112 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:06,033 and remained interested 113 00:06:06,033 --> 00:06:09,100 in both contemporary and traditional furniture 114 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,166 all these years later. 115 00:06:13,166 --> 00:06:16,100 - Alf, your involvement in period furniture 116 00:06:16,100 --> 00:06:19,266 has been huge over the years. 117 00:06:19,266 --> 00:06:23,366 The American Society of Period Furniture Makers, 118 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:28,466 you're one of the winners of their Cartouche Awards. 119 00:06:28,466 --> 00:06:29,733 - That's right. 120 00:06:29,733 --> 00:06:30,633 That was a great honor. 121 00:06:30,633 --> 00:06:32,133 That was a great honor. 122 00:06:32,133 --> 00:06:34,766 Well, it involves teaching 123 00:06:34,766 --> 00:06:39,733 and being able to advance period furniture making. 124 00:06:40,233 --> 00:06:41,366 - Yeah. 125 00:06:41,366 --> 00:06:43,800 - And yes, that is a great honor. 126 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:47,733 - You've also been involved with period furniture 127 00:06:47,733 --> 00:06:50,966 at Andrew Jackson's home, the Hermitage. 128 00:06:50,966 --> 00:06:52,333 Tell us about that. 129 00:06:52,333 --> 00:06:55,000 - I've done a lot of things for the Hermitage. 130 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,266 Over the past 30 or more years, 131 00:06:58,266 --> 00:07:01,466 I've done quite a bit of work for the Hermitage. 132 00:07:01,466 --> 00:07:04,833 I've done both furniture inside the house 133 00:07:04,833 --> 00:07:09,800 and architectural work such as all the exterior doors, 134 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:18,433 the capitals on the columns on the front of the house. 135 00:07:18,433 --> 00:07:23,400 I did the Venetian blinds that are in the house. 136 00:07:24,733 --> 00:07:27,166 This was one of the first houses in the south 137 00:07:27,166 --> 00:07:29,433 to have original Venetian blinds. 138 00:07:29,433 --> 00:07:31,600 Of course, the originals were gone, 139 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,100 but they knew that the house had Venetian blinds. 140 00:07:34,100 --> 00:07:37,933 So I made a bunch of old fashioned Venetian blinds 141 00:07:37,933 --> 00:07:41,833 with the little pulleys made out of bone. 142 00:07:41,833 --> 00:07:43,000 - [Chuck] Wow. 143 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:44,633 - To be authentic. 144 00:07:46,033 --> 00:07:48,300 - George Washington's chair. 145 00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:49,766 - Yes. 146 00:07:49,766 --> 00:07:54,333 There was a chair that George Washington owned first 147 00:07:54,333 --> 00:07:58,933 that Jackson bought from Washington's estate 148 00:07:58,933 --> 00:08:02,000 and brought to the Hermitage with him. 149 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,000 So the same chair had been both in Mount Vernon, 150 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,033 Washington's place, and in the Hermitage. 151 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,933 Early on, the Jackson family sold the chair 152 00:08:13,933 --> 00:08:18,600 back to Mount Vernon where it exists now, 153 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,400 but there needed to be one in the Hermitage 154 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,766 to replicate the circumstances 155 00:08:26,766 --> 00:08:30,000 of when Jackson lived there after the presidency. 156 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,833 And so I went up to Mount Vernon, 157 00:08:31,833 --> 00:08:35,200 measured, took a survey of a, 158 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:36,533 a complete survey of the chair 159 00:08:36,533 --> 00:08:41,033 and reproduced one for the Hermitage as well. 160 00:08:41,966 --> 00:08:43,300 - That is an awesome project, 161 00:08:43,300 --> 00:08:47,833 and one that I've just enjoyed seeing 162 00:08:47,833 --> 00:08:51,000 and enjoyed hearing about. 163 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:52,833 - It's an early swiveling chair. 164 00:08:52,833 --> 00:08:54,000 - Yes. 165 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:55,366 - It's an office chair that swivels. 166 00:08:55,366 --> 00:08:57,000 - Yeah, yeah. 167 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,366 Well what a great project. 168 00:08:59,366 --> 00:09:01,466 You've been involved in so many. 169 00:09:01,466 --> 00:09:06,366 You're both a wood carver, sculptor, 170 00:09:06,366 --> 00:09:09,966 and you do some contemporary work too. 171 00:09:09,966 --> 00:09:10,800 - I do. 172 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:11,700 I do. 173 00:09:11,700 --> 00:09:12,666 I enjoy contemporary work. 174 00:09:12,666 --> 00:09:15,500 In fact, when I first started, 175 00:09:15,500 --> 00:09:19,033 I imagined that I would be a contemporary furniture maker. 176 00:09:21,666 --> 00:09:24,633 I thought I would do that first but it became apparent, 177 00:09:24,633 --> 00:09:27,633 I had a family and so I had to actually make a living at it. 178 00:09:28,533 --> 00:09:30,033 It became quickly apparent 179 00:09:30,033 --> 00:09:33,166 to me in the mid south in the '70's, 180 00:09:33,166 --> 00:09:35,933 that if you wanted to make a living at woodworking, 181 00:09:35,933 --> 00:09:37,766 you made period furniture. 182 00:09:39,133 --> 00:09:43,966 And so I learned all I could about period furniture. 183 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,633 I had three or four really good mentors 184 00:09:48,633 --> 00:09:51,666 who were not really cabinet makers, 185 00:09:51,666 --> 00:09:56,633 they were antiques dealers and collectors 186 00:09:58,766 --> 00:10:00,000 who knew the styles, 187 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,366 who knew what was good in the period 188 00:10:03,366 --> 00:10:05,333 and what was not so good, 189 00:10:05,333 --> 00:10:10,300 and they showed me what to strive for 190 00:10:11,833 --> 00:10:16,400 as far as proportion and line and quality of workmanship. 191 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:18,900 And then I just, by trial and error, 192 00:10:18,900 --> 00:10:22,133 I learned the techniques necessary to make the furniture. 193 00:10:22,133 --> 00:10:23,933 - It's just doing the work. 194 00:10:23,933 --> 00:10:24,766 - Yeah. 195 00:10:24,766 --> 00:10:26,000 - You do the work 196 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,566 and then have some benchmark to strive for. 197 00:10:31,833 --> 00:10:34,600 And if you stay after it, if you're diligent- 198 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:35,966 - Yeah. 199 00:10:35,966 --> 00:10:37,700 - You have a chance to be maybe an Alf Sharp. 200 00:10:37,700 --> 00:10:41,566 - Well it did, I'm very blessed, 201 00:10:41,566 --> 00:10:44,133 it came pretty naturally to me. 202 00:10:46,266 --> 00:10:47,966 I didn't have to struggle. 203 00:10:47,966 --> 00:10:52,033 I mean I made mistakes and mistakes are very instructional, 204 00:10:52,033 --> 00:10:56,966 but I was able to pick up the techniques 205 00:10:58,733 --> 00:11:03,600 and the sense of style and proportion pretty quickly. 206 00:11:04,900 --> 00:11:07,666 - You know, I see that as being in alignment 207 00:11:07,666 --> 00:11:09,033 with who you're supposed to be. 208 00:11:09,033 --> 00:11:10,333 - Yeah, I do too. 209 00:11:10,333 --> 00:11:13,400 I'm very blessed to have been able to do that. 210 00:11:14,566 --> 00:11:16,766 I can't bear the thought 211 00:11:16,766 --> 00:11:18,866 of what my life would've been like 212 00:11:18,866 --> 00:11:22,166 had I gone on and finished law school and become a lawyer. 213 00:11:22,166 --> 00:11:24,833 It shudders, makes me shudder. 214 00:11:24,833 --> 00:11:29,000 - Alf, is there something about your career that was, 215 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:30,366 you felt was the hardest? 216 00:11:30,366 --> 00:11:32,766 What was the biggest problem? 217 00:11:32,766 --> 00:11:35,866 - You know, Chuck, there were techniques 218 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:38,800 that were hard to learn, 219 00:11:39,866 --> 00:11:42,200 that took a lot of trial and error, 220 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,066 but the hardest thing that I had to learn 221 00:11:45,066 --> 00:11:48,200 and that I don't feel like I ever mastered 222 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:49,900 was the marketing part. 223 00:11:52,133 --> 00:11:54,966 It didn't come naturally to me. 224 00:11:56,233 --> 00:11:59,166 Whenever I was not working at the bench, 225 00:11:59,166 --> 00:12:01,200 I felt like I was not productive. 226 00:12:02,100 --> 00:12:04,066 And so all the time spent 227 00:12:04,066 --> 00:12:08,300 trying to generate customers and generate business 228 00:12:08,300 --> 00:12:12,566 and generate interest in my business was, 229 00:12:12,566 --> 00:12:16,266 it was not natural to me and it was not comfortable for me 230 00:12:16,266 --> 00:12:19,866 and I struggled with that my whole career. 231 00:12:19,866 --> 00:12:21,133 - Yeah. 232 00:12:21,133 --> 00:12:23,133 Was it easier for people to come to you 233 00:12:23,133 --> 00:12:24,766 than for you to go to them? 234 00:12:24,766 --> 00:12:25,966 - Yeah. 235 00:12:25,966 --> 00:12:27,700 Well, fortunately after a few years, 236 00:12:27,700 --> 00:12:30,433 I started to develop enough word of mouth 237 00:12:31,633 --> 00:12:33,633 that I was able to keep a waiting list 238 00:12:33,633 --> 00:12:37,100 of a year or two of projects 239 00:12:37,100 --> 00:12:40,366 without having to do a whole lot of marketing. 240 00:12:40,366 --> 00:12:43,366 I still had to periodically visit designers 241 00:12:43,366 --> 00:12:48,366 and collectors and dealers and museums 242 00:12:48,366 --> 00:12:51,900 and just remind them that I was theirs, 243 00:12:51,900 --> 00:12:53,833 that I was doing the work. 244 00:12:53,833 --> 00:12:56,700 But no, fortunately, 245 00:12:56,700 --> 00:13:01,566 I didn't have to pursue marketing on a daily basis. 246 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:08,966 - Now you're working on a really great project 247 00:13:10,133 --> 00:13:11,200 and you've got it out in your shop. 248 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:12,300 Are you gonna show us? 249 00:13:12,300 --> 00:13:13,566 - It is. 250 00:13:13,566 --> 00:13:17,266 It's a fascinating end of career project. 251 00:13:18,500 --> 00:13:22,566 It's one of the most involved I've ever done, 252 00:13:22,566 --> 00:13:25,833 especially as far as carving is concerned. 253 00:13:27,433 --> 00:13:31,766 It's a massive billiard table 254 00:13:31,766 --> 00:13:33,600 for the Belmont Mansion in Nashville. 255 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:34,900 - I can't wait to see it. 256 00:13:34,900 --> 00:13:35,766 Let's go. 257 00:13:35,766 --> 00:13:37,000 - All right. 258 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,566 (cheery music) 259 00:13:51,300 --> 00:13:56,200 - Well Alf, these gigantic legs, 260 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:59,133 I guess are part of the billiard 261 00:13:59,133 --> 00:14:02,000 or pool table from the Belmont Mansion. 262 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,200 - That's right, that's right. 263 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,933 The original billiard table had eight legs. 264 00:14:07,933 --> 00:14:10,400 And when they broke it down and made a desk out of it, 265 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:14,700 they just discarded four of the original eight legs. 266 00:14:14,700 --> 00:14:18,900 So I have four original legs to use as examples 267 00:14:20,500 --> 00:14:22,466 and I'm carving four more legs 268 00:14:22,466 --> 00:14:25,566 to look as much like the originals as I can. 269 00:14:26,866 --> 00:14:28,900 - And this is an original here? 270 00:14:28,900 --> 00:14:30,433 - This is an original here 271 00:14:30,433 --> 00:14:33,433 and these are three of the ones that I've already carved. 272 00:14:34,966 --> 00:14:36,966 - So you're working on a fourth one, 273 00:14:36,966 --> 00:14:40,600 which is over on your bench and this we'll get to later. 274 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,033 - We'll do a little work on it, yeah. 275 00:14:42,033 --> 00:14:43,033 - Yeah. 276 00:14:43,033 --> 00:14:47,166 But so there are eight legs 277 00:14:47,166 --> 00:14:49,600 and what tied them together? 278 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:54,400 - Well, there were very fancy skirts or aprons 279 00:14:55,700 --> 00:14:58,133 that linked all the eight legs together. 280 00:14:59,333 --> 00:15:02,633 They had crotch cherry veneer on them 281 00:15:02,633 --> 00:15:04,533 and then carving on top of that 282 00:15:05,900 --> 00:15:09,500 and they all linked together with knockdown hardware 283 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,300 because this table would've been impossible to transport 284 00:15:15,300 --> 00:15:19,833 or to move into any building assembled. 285 00:15:19,833 --> 00:15:21,633 - Sure, yeah. 286 00:15:21,633 --> 00:15:23,200 - So it all mocks down 287 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:28,500 and the aprons link the legs together 288 00:15:28,500 --> 00:15:30,466 and then there's an internal structure 289 00:15:30,466 --> 00:15:31,900 that holds up the slate. 290 00:15:32,966 --> 00:15:35,600 I'll not do the slate or the felt. 291 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:37,800 We'll have a pool company, 292 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:42,633 a company that specializes in making pool tables 293 00:15:42,633 --> 00:15:44,166 do that part of the work. 294 00:15:45,366 --> 00:15:49,566 - Well, this is just an awesome project 295 00:15:49,566 --> 00:15:53,600 and the Belmont Mansion that it came out of, 296 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:55,866 a little bit of the history there? 297 00:15:55,866 --> 00:16:00,200 - This table was in the mansion in 1850. 298 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:01,566 And at the time, 299 00:16:01,566 --> 00:16:03,500 this was one of the finest houses in America. 300 00:16:03,500 --> 00:16:04,600 - In Nashville, Tennessee? 301 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:06,700 - In Nashville, Tennessee, 302 00:16:06,700 --> 00:16:10,366 by far, one of the finest houses in America. 303 00:16:10,366 --> 00:16:13,400 And this table was an example 304 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:17,300 of the extent to which they went 305 00:16:17,300 --> 00:16:19,333 to build it and decorate it. 306 00:16:20,766 --> 00:16:24,166 It's in the Rococo revival style, 307 00:16:24,166 --> 00:16:25,866 which means that it's, 308 00:16:27,133 --> 00:16:29,600 the Rococo style took place 309 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,333 in the middle of the 18th century. 310 00:16:33,233 --> 00:16:35,766 This house and these pieces 311 00:16:35,766 --> 00:16:39,400 were built in the middle of the 19th century. 312 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,000 So they took the original Rococo style 313 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,466 in the middle of the 18th century and blew it up 314 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,066 so that you've got all of this, 315 00:16:48,066 --> 00:16:50,700 all of this carving is very high relief. 316 00:16:52,233 --> 00:16:55,366 The original Rococo style, the carving was very low relief, 317 00:16:55,366 --> 00:16:58,300 very close to the surface, highly detailed, 318 00:16:58,300 --> 00:17:01,200 but very tight to the surface of the furniture. 319 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:02,666 - This is deep. 320 00:17:02,666 --> 00:17:05,766 - This is just all off the surface of the furniture. 321 00:17:05,766 --> 00:17:07,600 It's a completely different kind of carving. 322 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,266 It's been very challenging for me 323 00:17:10,266 --> 00:17:15,266 to make the shift to this Rococo revival style. 324 00:17:17,133 --> 00:17:18,633 - And what are some of the elements 325 00:17:18,633 --> 00:17:20,666 that are carved into these legs? 326 00:17:20,666 --> 00:17:25,100 - Well, this is a cartouche, that's an 18th century, 327 00:17:25,100 --> 00:17:27,666 I mean, that's a throwback to the 18th century. 328 00:17:28,533 --> 00:17:30,733 These are canthus leaves, 329 00:17:30,733 --> 00:17:34,200 that's a throwback to the 18th century. 330 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,033 These rose petals, I guess they're roses, 331 00:17:37,033 --> 00:17:39,633 that's more of a 19th century element. 332 00:17:39,633 --> 00:17:41,966 You didn't see too many flowers 333 00:17:41,966 --> 00:17:45,033 in 18th century Rococo carving. 334 00:17:45,033 --> 00:17:48,633 The sea scrolls, the foot scrolls 335 00:17:48,633 --> 00:17:53,600 and the sea scrolls here on the edges of the piece, 336 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,800 those are all original Rococo elements 337 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:00,600 blown up, like I said. 338 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,633 - So is there a picture of the billiard table 339 00:18:04,633 --> 00:18:05,833 that you're working from? 340 00:18:05,833 --> 00:18:07,600 - No, there's not that I know of. 341 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:10,200 I think they would've shown me if they had one. 342 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,433 I have a picture of the desk, 343 00:18:14,433 --> 00:18:17,433 the end of the desk before I disassembled it 344 00:18:17,433 --> 00:18:19,700 to bring it here to start working on it 345 00:18:21,266 --> 00:18:24,600 but I've seen no picture of the original billiard table. 346 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:29,566 I think they have a drawing of a generic sort of an example 347 00:18:31,533 --> 00:18:34,200 that they showed me once 348 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,833 but nothing specific to this table. 349 00:18:37,833 --> 00:18:41,600 - So the Belmont Mansion is now part of Belmont University? 350 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:42,566 - That's right. 351 00:18:42,566 --> 00:18:43,700 - Yes. 352 00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:47,900 And so they wanted to reconstruct 353 00:18:49,100 --> 00:18:51,933 the interiors of the mansion. 354 00:18:51,933 --> 00:18:53,900 - Exterior and the interior. 355 00:18:53,900 --> 00:18:58,900 Yeah, they're doing a really top notch restoration 356 00:19:00,166 --> 00:19:02,333 of the entire house, all the original surfaces. 357 00:19:02,333 --> 00:19:04,933 There are lots of grain painting in the house, 358 00:19:04,933 --> 00:19:09,900 lots of faux marbling on the baseboards and the floors. 359 00:19:11,300 --> 00:19:13,333 Some of the floors are painted in checkerboard patterns 360 00:19:13,333 --> 00:19:18,300 and other parts of the floors are covered in painted canvas, 361 00:19:19,533 --> 00:19:22,333 which was a popular kind of a rug back then. 362 00:19:25,033 --> 00:19:28,233 They've filled the house with a lot of the, 363 00:19:28,233 --> 00:19:33,200 if not the actual original Belter furniture, 364 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,033 they've got a lot of Belter furniture. 365 00:19:36,033 --> 00:19:40,833 Henry Belter was the foremost furniture maker 366 00:19:40,833 --> 00:19:44,200 of the mid 19th century in New York. 367 00:19:45,433 --> 00:19:48,000 The original house had hundreds of pieces 368 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,033 of Henry Belter furniture in it. 369 00:19:51,033 --> 00:19:56,000 - So this is quite a big part of that restoration, 370 00:19:56,900 --> 00:19:59,833 especially a billiard table. 371 00:19:59,833 --> 00:20:02,433 Alf, you're working on the fourth leg, 372 00:20:02,433 --> 00:20:04,000 it's on your bench 373 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,633 and you're gonna show us a little bit about how you do it. 374 00:20:07,633 --> 00:20:08,800 - I'm gonna try. 375 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,233 - All right, let's go see. 376 00:20:11,366 --> 00:20:14,800 Alf, this is a massive piece of cherry. 377 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:16,266 It's not easy to carve. 378 00:20:16,266 --> 00:20:18,266 - No, cherry is not easy to carve. 379 00:20:18,266 --> 00:20:20,833 I wish they had used mahogany instead. 380 00:20:20,833 --> 00:20:25,133 They could have achieved the same color with mahogany, 381 00:20:25,133 --> 00:20:28,566 but they chose cherry and so this has got to be cherry 382 00:20:28,566 --> 00:20:30,866 and cherry is a difficult wood to carve. 383 00:20:30,866 --> 00:20:32,466 - And these are deep, deep carvings. 384 00:20:32,466 --> 00:20:35,000 - Yeah, big, heavy, deep carvings. 385 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,766 - Let's see how it works. 386 00:20:36,766 --> 00:20:38,033 - Okay. 387 00:20:38,033 --> 00:20:41,133 So we're gonna carve this element here, 388 00:20:41,133 --> 00:20:43,366 we're gonna do some work on it 389 00:20:43,366 --> 00:20:47,800 and we're gonna start by creating this spine 390 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,500 that goes up the middle of the leaf. 391 00:20:49,500 --> 00:20:50,366 - Okay. 392 00:20:50,366 --> 00:20:52,133 - So we take a V tool. 393 00:21:07,100 --> 00:21:09,100 - And so relief carving 394 00:21:09,100 --> 00:21:12,966 is you're actually relieving the area- 395 00:21:12,966 --> 00:21:13,800 - Yes. 396 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:15,100 - Around the element? 397 00:21:15,100 --> 00:21:17,933 - That's right, it's a subtractive process. 398 00:21:20,066 --> 00:21:22,800 Most woodworking is a subtractive process, 399 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,300 not an additive process. 400 00:21:25,300 --> 00:21:27,833 That's about where the grain changes direction, 401 00:21:27,833 --> 00:21:29,333 where I started going. 402 00:21:29,333 --> 00:21:33,100 Now I've got to turn around and go this way. 403 00:21:36,433 --> 00:21:40,066 - And if you don't, it'll rip out the grain and- 404 00:21:40,066 --> 00:21:40,933 - Right. 405 00:21:40,933 --> 00:21:41,733 - You don't want that. 406 00:21:51,566 --> 00:21:52,400 - All right. 407 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:54,333 So that's that vein? 408 00:21:54,333 --> 00:21:57,300 - That's the spine in the middle of the leaf. 409 00:21:57,300 --> 00:21:58,133 - [Chuck] Oh, wow. 410 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,133 - Now we'll take a tool that I've got over here, 411 00:22:05,133 --> 00:22:07,733 this is called a back bent spoon, 412 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:13,633 and we'll round over that spine. 413 00:22:30,133 --> 00:22:35,100 - [Chuck] And here again, you've got to work with the grain. 414 00:22:35,866 --> 00:22:36,766 - [Alf] With the grain. 415 00:22:43,733 --> 00:22:46,933 - And I imagine your tools are well honed- 416 00:22:46,933 --> 00:22:48,300 - Oh, they have to be. - And sharp? 417 00:22:48,300 --> 00:22:49,766 - They have to be sharp. 418 00:22:49,766 --> 00:22:51,500 - [Chuck] It's just polished. 419 00:22:51,500 --> 00:22:56,433 - Yeah, yeah, they, I polish the edges. 420 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:04,466 - [Chuck] So I see that you're always connected to the piece 421 00:23:05,833 --> 00:23:09,766 and it looks like your hands have specific jobs. 422 00:23:09,766 --> 00:23:10,733 - [Alf] That's right. 423 00:23:10,733 --> 00:23:12,933 It's a two-handed job mostly. 424 00:23:12,933 --> 00:23:15,033 One hand is doing the pushing 425 00:23:15,033 --> 00:23:18,266 and one hand is holding the tool back from going too far. 426 00:23:19,533 --> 00:23:23,166 So one hand is acting kind of as a break. 427 00:23:23,166 --> 00:23:26,433 Sometimes it's just acting as a brace, 428 00:23:26,433 --> 00:23:28,666 but often it's acting as a break 429 00:23:28,666 --> 00:23:33,600 to keep the tool from jumping way ahead. 430 00:23:34,966 --> 00:23:39,466 - Nice finished cuts, the surfaces are so good. 431 00:23:39,466 --> 00:23:41,366 You don't want to have to sand this whole thing. 432 00:23:41,366 --> 00:23:42,166 - No. 433 00:23:43,366 --> 00:23:44,700 This piece gets some sanding 434 00:23:44,700 --> 00:23:47,766 but the ideal in carving like this 435 00:23:47,766 --> 00:23:49,533 is not to have to sand anything, 436 00:23:49,533 --> 00:23:53,133 to have everything be a tooled surface, 437 00:23:53,133 --> 00:23:56,733 but the surfaces on these originals are so smooth 438 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,066 that I know that they did some sanding on them. 439 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:06,100 There you go. 440 00:24:06,100 --> 00:24:09,600 Be careful not to catch the point there of the chisel 441 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:11,233 too much in the wood. 442 00:24:11,233 --> 00:24:12,700 - Okay. 443 00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:14,866 - Try to keep the point of the chisel out of the wood 444 00:24:14,866 --> 00:24:18,066 so that you're just working in the middle two thirds of the, 445 00:24:18,066 --> 00:24:19,533 there you go. - Like that. 446 00:24:19,533 --> 00:24:20,500 - Beautiful. 447 00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:22,466 - Oh man, that was a great tip 448 00:24:22,466 --> 00:24:24,666 because otherwise it'll just catch and dig in. 449 00:24:24,666 --> 00:24:27,000 - Uh huh, right, right. 450 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:28,933 - It even feels good. 451 00:24:28,933 --> 00:24:31,800 Let me see if I can clean that just a bit here. 452 00:24:39,366 --> 00:24:43,500 Nice tools and they cut so well, 453 00:24:43,500 --> 00:24:45,766 but they work better in your hands. 454 00:24:45,766 --> 00:24:46,600 (Alf chuckles) 455 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:47,433 Thank you, Alf. 456 00:24:47,433 --> 00:24:48,900 - Sure, Chuck. 457 00:24:48,900 --> 00:24:50,700 - This is a great project. 458 00:24:50,700 --> 00:24:52,000 Can't wait to see it finished. 459 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:52,833 - 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