Christmas Gift For My Grandfather - Tooling

**artificer** · 13th December 10, 12:13 PM

Hi All,

I just finished the antiquing on a small gift I made for my grandfather.

Earlier this year he decided to move to an assisted living apartment, as his health has been deteriorating. One of the items in his house that I'd always loved was this:

Nobody in the family knew anything about it, but it had hung on my Great Grandfather's lake cabin wall since anyone could remember.

As he was downsizing, my Grandfather asked the family if anyone wanted furniture/stuff from the house, and the shield was one of my only requests.

Over the summer I spent some time looking at it, and for more info about it. My great grandfather's last name (father's mother's father) is a rare one. Neither his name nor this blazon appear in the Armories General, but a derivative name IS listed, along with a VERY similar blazon.

Exploring further I found that, hidden under the varnish on the back of the piece was my Great Grandfather's name along with "Fecit" and a date in the very early 1930's. Fecit is an artists term (latin) and means "made by my hand".

My Grandfather is a big fan of family genealogy, and so I thought I'd re-create the piece, along with a coat of arms which belongs to a branch of the family and IS in the A/G.

The first, a recrafting of my Great Grandfather's work:

And the second, based on an old drawing in some family records and directly traceable:

Please excuse the curling of the pieces, they will be fixed to board and framed in walnut (a nod to the original carved pc). I have a little more to do to even out the colour, and then when everything is dried a light wax.

I had originally though about dyeing things to match the various colours of the blazons, but gave up the idea as overly complex and muddy.

As always commentary and helpful critique is welcome.
I'll try to get a shot of it finished and framed if I have time before I give it to my Grandfather.

**A Hay** · 13th December 10, 12:21 PM

Both works are outstanding craftsmanship!

I'm sure they will be treasured.

May I ask how large are the pieces?

Tom

**Kiltboy** · 13th December 10, 12:22 PM

Great work. I'm sure he will appreciate a reminder of his family and his house. Terrific idea.

**MacBean** · 13th December 10, 12:32 PM

His and yours are lovely. What are yours made of and how did you make them?

**artificer** · 13th December 10, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by A_Hay!

Both works are outstanding craftsmanship!

I'm sure they will be treasured.

May I ask how large are the pieces?

Tom

Thanks Tom,
they're pictured nearly at life size. The panels are 7.5"H x 7"W

Originally Posted by MacBean

His and yours are lovely. What are yours made of and how did you make them?

They're tooled leather.

**Nighthawk** · 13th December 10, 01:10 PM

I love your dying job! A good buffing and that should be all the evening out of the colors that you need! What kind of dye/highlighter combination did you use? I recently became aware of the existence of the EcoFlo all in one dyes and have been playing with the dark brown and acorn for a few days with some similar and (might I add) very nice results.

Oh, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has trouble making perfect curves... Trying to get arcs exact is a skill that escapes me! I'm never satisfied with "nearly perfect..." Overall, those are spectacular! The tooling job is fantastic. The background texture especially!

**budd4766** · 13th December 10, 02:12 PM

Very nice...

**BoldHighlander** · 13th December 10, 02:40 PM

Very cool Scott!
I hope you'll post a picture of them once they are framed.

**artificer** · 14th December 10, 06:47 AM

Originally Posted by Nighthawk

I love your dying job! A good buffing and that should be all the evening out of the colors that you need! What kind of dye/highlighter combination did you use? ...

Oh, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has trouble making perfect curves... Trying to get arcs exact is a skill that escapes me! I'm never satisfied with "nearly perfect..." Overall, those are spectacular! The tooling job is fantastic. The background texture especially!

The dye I used was Eco-Flo "Hi-Lite Colour Stain", one of the all-in-one gel type dyes. After buffing out a bit more I basically got it where I wanted it.

Re: the "perfect arc", I assume you're talking about the upper piece's lower left corner. There is a bit of irregularity there caused by an errant strike (which I then had to correct) but it's not as noticeable in person, the curling of the piece really compresses the line and magnifies the "oops"

The primary texture on the background is provided by the E Series tools from Tandy E294-00, I believe.

Originally Posted by budd4766

Very nice...

Thanks, BTW I am on L/W, but just don't post there too often.

Originally Posted by BoldHighlander

Very cool Scott!
I hope you'll post a picture of them once they are framed.

I'm going to try! I may be a bit pressed for time, as I really don't like to work in the garage wood shop when it's below 10*F like it is now. Numb fingers + power tools = accidents!