Saturday, 28 March 2020

One stool, two stools. Three is a bench?

Hello my dear friends.

Stools and benches were and are common items of furniture. From the simple wooden constructions in a humble abode to elaborate carved and decorated pieces in a palace. When chairs were still a luxury, stools and benches were here, there and everywhere.


Naturally a house like Huis ter Swinnendael will have several of them. Today I want to show a few that I made for the servants quarters. Simple and sturdy structures made of 4 mm thick beach paint stirrers. First I made a few templates out of cardboard. This should help to make good matching pairs. I made my first template for the leather coverings of the stretcher chairs and it is rapidly becoming a favorite method for serial work.

the sketch and the template
I sanded the stirrers down so that the lettering and staining of previous jobs is hardly visible. I cut the stirrers in pieces of the apropriate length with my new mini-sawtable. A very generous gift from my partner. And it works better than me trying to saw by hand!

My newest toy. :-)
Then I put the cut out templates on top and traced the outlines on the wood. Next step was cutting them out with a fretsaw and glueing the pieces together. This is always easier said than done. Contrary to the chairs I do not aim to make sets of matching stools.  Therefore I made one set of two similar stools and a different one. All of them are (loosely) based on original (miniature) examples that can still be found today. I will make a few more, including three legged examples and a few luxurious ones for in the state rooms upstairs. But that's for another post. I gave both types a different height to the legs and a different length to the seat. I hope it will add more realism to them. After all, there were no standardised measurements for furniture in those days. 

first the set of two...
The set of stools and the single stool will have legs that go straight down from the seat. After filing both ends of the legs It was time to stick it all together.

Then the single one.
In the 16th and 17th century furniture was generally unpainted in the Netherlands. Painted furniture really got into vogue in the 18th century. These stools will all be painted in the end because the original lettering is still visible through the stain. They are only visible on the inside pieces so with an appropriate colour the lettering will disappear from sight once painted. But since I have not yet decided on a final colour scheme for the kitchens I have only stained them for now.  

And the result. sturdy and functional.
Because these stools are not items of luxury but are used daily, there is quite some wear and tear on them.So after the the first coat of woodstain I used several files and a knife to mark the stool, trying to avoid regularity. And lastly I added the finer wear and tear  through sanding with some sandpaper and steelwool. And there we have it. Three well worn stools.

That's it for now.  I hope you have enjoyed reading this post. And till next post.

Huibrecht

16 comments:

  1. Buen trabajo!!!Me encanta tu juguete.

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    1. Gracias Isabel, también amo el juguete nuevo.

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  2. Genial , me parecen unas piezas muy bien estudiadas, lo del desgaste fantástico.Buen domingo

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    1. Gracias Rosa-Maria, hago todo lo posible para que mis miniaturas se vean realistas.

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  3. Mooie bankjes/krukken, Huibrecht, ze zien er authentiek uit! En al goed "geleefd", dat vind ik er ook altijd bij horen, vooral bij zulke 'oudjes' ;).
    Wat een pracht cadeau van jouw partner: een zaagmachine, daar zul je heel veel plezier van hebben! Eigenlijk onmisbaar in onze hobby.
    Blijf gezond en zorg goed voor jezelf!
    Groetjes, Ilona

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    1. Dank je wel, Ilona. Mijn huis moet ook geen museum worden met alleen maar siervoorwerpen. Het fatsoenlijk verweren kost trouwens nog aardig wat moeite. :-)
      Zorg ook goed voor jouzelf, blijf gezond.

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  4. What wonderful stools and such interesting shapes! You are very good with that fret saw!
    Hope you are staying safe and well and that you are finding lots of new time and inspiration for minis!

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    1. Thank you Jodi. I used to be terrible with a fretsaw. But now, after some tips I begin to understand how to use them to my advantage. Still a lot to learn though!
      Despite working from home I have less time for mini's than I hoped. But more than I used to have :-)
      You stay safe too.

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  5. I think it was incredibly Clever to wear deliberate indentations into the seats of these utilitarian stools, however I hope that it doesn't mean that the servants are sitting down on the job and neglecting their duties? ;D

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    1. What! Idle servants! They should be flogged!.... Oh wait, wrong text, different story. :-)
      I believe the servants will work according to their consciences. By the way. Chairs were not uncommon in kitchen. Espescially when cooking on the open fire of the hearth. Like baking waffels and pancakes. Because every thing happened close to grond level they often sat on low stools or chairs. It would kill your back if you had to stand bend over half the day. It is depicted on several 17th century paintings with kitchen scènes. So yeah, they may sit as long as they do their work. ;-)

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  6. Dank je wel Linda, de machine is inderdaad heel handig. Ik ben er heel blij mee. Wij zijn gelukkig gezond en wel. Ik wens jou en jouw naasten alle gezondheid toe!

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  7. I'm still giggling about Elizabeth's comment... and I agree with you... let the servants sit down as long as they're doing their duty. Baking waffels and pancakes sounds like a good thing to do in a kitchen. Speaking of waffels and pancakes - maybe this would be a good way to thank your partner for this very thoughtful gift. ;O)

    Your stools and benches turned out awesome, a great thing that you made variations. It adds a lot to the realism that you made them worn and torn. And making a template is a good thing, it will be helpful if you'll find out that you're servants need more to do their work.

    Greetings
    Birgit

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  8. Hello Birgit, Yes I agree with you. And as it happens i baked pancakes last sunday on his request. So all is well now. :-)

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  9. Kijk, dat zijn de betere cadeaus ;-) Je bankjes zijn erg goed gelukt! Misschien is het alleen voor de foto, maar ik vind het wel een beetje eng hoe je de plankjes afkort op je zaagmachientje. Dit kan terugslag geven en daar kan je je enorm mee verwonden (ja, zelf bij zulke kleine stukjes hout). Zorg altijd voor een degelijke ondersteuning onder je latje tegen de geleiderail. Ik ben bezig met een tutorial voor de tafelzaagjes, maar dat duurt nog wel even hoor!
    Ondanks bovenstaande, veel plezier met je nieuwe aanwinst! Ik verwacht nog veel moois te zien hier.

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    1. Geleiderail heet zaagaanslag geloof ik...Vaak ken ik de Nederlandse termen niet eens...

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    2. Hoi Josje, jazeker ik was en ben heel verguld met dit cadeau. Je opmerking over gebruik en veiligheid is heel terecht op basis van de foto. Maar wees gerust ik had er voor de foto alleen een plankje op gelegd. Bij het zagen gebruik ik inderdaad de zaagaanslag en een duwhoutje. Een ongeluk zit in een klein hoekje.

      Bij de panelen voor het kabinetje van Belle Zonneschut is dit zaagtafeltje ook enorm van pas gekomen!

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