'Making Ornamental Bandings' with Steve Latta
I've always wondered why Federal Furniture is not as big a deal as Queen
Anne or Chippendale work in the woodworking world. In the antiques
world, Federal pieces are not the top money-grabbers at auction. That
could be an indication of why selections from this period are
overlooked, but from a woodworkers' perspective, Federal furniture
should be near the top when choosing a piece to reproduce.
Furniture
from the Federal period has straight lines akin to Shaker – a style with which many woodworkers begin as they enter the craft. Additionally,
Federal pieces are not necessarily stained or dyed, so finishing steps
are easier to complete (wood choice is especially important, though).
Yes, more curvaceous furniture designs from the Queen Anne and
Chippendale periods are sure to catch ones eye, but to me, Federal
furniture, with all the patera, stringing and banding in place, trumps
curvaceous – hands down. And what could be better than using small scraps
from your bin, along with detail-oriented work, to make brilliant inlay
and banding to add to your projects as "eye candy."
Lie-Nielsen Toolworks has just released a new DVD, "Making Ornamental Bandings" with Steve Latta.
Latta knows his stuff (check out some of his work). This
is his third Lie-Nielsen DVD focused on Federal inlay design and
techniques. In this DVD, materials are discussed as are the tools used
to create banding and the glues used to pull it all together. A number
of specific-use jigs are demonstrated, and so many different banding
designs are shown that you'll wonder where to begin.
Latta, an
associate professor at Thaddeus Stevens College, moves
through the topics with ease, and his knowledge and perspective on
bandings is outstanding. What I find most appealing about this DVD (and Latta's earlier DVDs) is his blue-collar attitude toward woodworking. You do
not need any special tools to make banding. In fact, throughout the
entire DVD, a utility knife, straightedge, hand saw and a table saw are
all he uses. At the table saw, Latta uses a blade that is less
expensive to purchase than your everyday blades, and with this blade, you get more rips
per glued-up packet. Also, all the jigs used are shop-made
from MDF (finally a place to use this stuff other than under laminate).
And what he does with ordinary packing tape is phenomenal – forget glue
issues.
During the DVD, Latta demonstrates (using over-sized
pieces for clarity) basic banding; some banding variations that pump up the
design; what you can do with two-core or three-core packets; and how angled cuts produce different looks. Then he follows up the
demonstration by showing actual banding he's made and used throughout the
years.
If you've entertained the idea of making banding – you
would be surprised by how different shop-made pieces look from
mass-produced work – this DVD is a must. Even if you're not planning to make your own banding, this is a DVD that I would recommend. Latta's
setup for repetitive cuts at the table saw is the best I've seen since
I've been involved with woodworking – it's safe and you can produce
accurate cuts in no time.
—Glen D. Huey
Other places to learn about inlay are:
- Watch a free video of Rob Millard installing
curved inlay
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey
Tuesday, June 01, 2010 1:47:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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