Declan Harding, Marquetry Hall Stand (Student Awards 2017)

My Marquetry Hall Stand involves a main table and a top cabinet. The main table includes: • Four legs have been turned with a subtle difference as the front two are turned from 60 x 60 mm African mahogany and the back two from 70 x 70mm. All have ebony feet, as well as a segmented bead consisting of 48 pieces of African mahogany, each cut at 7.5 degrees and laminated. • Three main drawers have all been fitted with cupboard locks, the middle drawer is 80mm wider than the outer drawers. All three drawers have been constructed from African mahogany and have a Cascadian walnut black burl veneer laminated to their front. All three drawers have identical poplar burls laminated to 4mm ply, as well, a turned river redgum handle. The front lapped dovetail joints of these drawers have been cut by hand. A flat piece of Macassar ebony boarders both the top and bottom of all three drawers. These pieces protrude and are beaded to give an appearance of depth to the drawer fronts as well as creating the illusion of there is an ebony boarder around the drawers as the drawer dividers have an ebony trimming. • The sides of the main table carcase have been moulded with 3mm plywood, with a madrona burl veneer laminated on them. The back of the table carcase also has madrona burl veneer laminated to it. • The table top incorporates eight sheets of vavona burl veneer carefully book matched. Twelve sheets of Australian walnut burl veneers have been bookmatched and from this an oval has been hand cut and fitted into the vavona burl. This has then been laminated to a solid top consisting of MDF and an African mahogany 120mm border. • The ends of the tabletop are curved to match the curved sides of the carcase below it and the edge has been routed with a Roman ogee edge treatment highlighting the African mahogany grain. • The main table included a variety of joints including mortise and tenon, domino, dovetail, lapped dovetail, widening and dowel joints The top cabinet includes: • A series of hand-cut marquetry features incorporating up to six varieties of veneer. These marquetry designs include a man riding a long board and a girl standing on a rock holding a surfboard. Both have been hand cut and are a mirror imagine of each other. The veneers have been carefully selected to capture a realistic picture. • A seahorse veneered marquetry design has been cut using an industrial grade laser. • The top cabinet carcase is made from African mahogany and Australian rosewood with each carcase member having an ebony trimming at the front. • The drawers of the top cabinet have all been constructed from African mahogany, with machine cut dovetails. Each drawer has a false front with various veneers laminated and a beading attached to give them depth. • The carcase sides have been moulded to resemble a wave ridden by the surfer. Special attention has been given to the veneer selection of the water to depict realism. The centre section incorporating the seahorse is also curved to complementing the curved nature of the main table. • The top lid has been attached to the cabinet using brass butt Hinges. This lid is solid African mahogany with identical book matched madrona burl veneers to give the appearance that the top is solid. • The inner lids are also identical to the top to give a mirror image. • The centre inner lid of the cabinet can only be opened using of a magnet and a key as it is locked using four metal pins (self-invented lock). The magnet is found at the back of the middle drawer where it is attached by a magnet that has been inlaid from the back. • The two outer inner lids are locked using of box locks, and can only be opened once the centre lid has been removed. • Once opened, these two lids reveal another lock mechanism which requires the opener to pull a piece of timber. This allows a locking mechanism to release and the front false front to open to reveal a hidden drawer. • All drawers in the top cabinet have turned handles - three made from Macassar ebony, six made from river redgum. • This cabinet incorporated a variety of construction joints including, dowel, mortise and tenon, rebate, mitre, stopped housing and dovetail joints. Declan Harding, Year 12, Mackillop College. Teacher: Daniel O'Dell

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