Galoots

I recently watched a few old Woodwright Shop episodes, and the
ones that relate closely to this are the Venerable Bead and the
Enfield Cupboard.  Roy discusses beads in both of these episodes,
and offers a lot of good info on how to make beads and why they
are used.

On our recent trip to Denmark, I took one particular picture of a
panel with a beaded edge.  The cabinet pictured appears to
have a scratch bead applied around the edge of the panel.
But the maker ran his beads around the panel so that they
crossed at the corners.  This is unusual, not the generally
accepted way to do this type of work.

http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10074/IMG-201505
13-00329.jpg">http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10074/IMG-2
0150513-00329.jpg

I looked at a lot of old work on our trip, in churches, castles,
palaces and museums.  This was the only crossed bead I saw.
There were several stopped beads that could have been
crossed, but the makers always took care not to do that.

I am guessing that this is one of those country carpenters
who was doing his best to emulate the high style of the times
but didn't know how it was done.

-- 
Darrell LaRue
Oakville ON
Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and Occasional Tool User

I'm not sure what is meant by "crossed" at the corner, and can't
quite make out the detail in the photo.  Does it mean that the corner
detail has made a little square "bead" at the corners?  If so, it
seems to me that the country carpenter was trying to outdo his
city cousins.

Mike in Sacto

Darrell wrote: "... I took one particular picture of a
panel with a beaded edge.  The cabinet pictured appears to
have a scratch bead applied around the edge of the panel.
But the maker ran his beads around the panel so that they
crossed at the corners...
"I am guessing that this is one of those country carpenters
who was doing his best to emulate the high style of the times
but didn't know how it was done."


I don't know beads, but from checkering and from binding tooling: if the maker
ran over just a bit on one corner, the best way of removing the mistake would be
to run over deliberately on all corners. Make a fuck-up a feature.

If you made your beads with a plane, not a scratch stock, they would cross at
the corners unless you did the corner with a scratch stock sized to the plane.
You get similar options when running double and decorative lines around the
edges of a book cover, either cross or miter, and the mitering methods include
having separate little tools to do just the corners. But on this cabinet, I
don't see that a beading plane would have been viable (no edge to run it
against, it seems to me).
Tom Conroy

> I don't see that a beading plane would have been viable (no edge to
run it against, it seems to me).

Actually, I have a beading scratch stock that would do the job.  It was
made by an excellent Viet-Namese cabinet maker.  Think of a small, 
narrow
molding plane, except that the scratch blade is set into the stock at
90 degrees.  In use, another board is clamped to the piece to be worked
and used as a fence for the tool.  This fellow made the stock for a 
short
run when he had to duplicate an existing detail.

Otherwise, I see no advantage over a beading plane in producing the 
bead.

> I don't know beads, but from checkering and from binding tooling: if
> the maker ran over just a bit on one corner, the best way of removing
> the mistake would be to run over deliberately on all corners. Make a
> fuck-up a feature.

I don't think this was to cover a mistake, though.  I think it was a
deliberate detail (and not a bad idea).  If, in panel and frame work,
you run the bead on the stock before making the frame, you have the
problem of dealing with the joint where the rail meets the stile.
Nowadays, most of us, I think, would miter the bead, maybe try to
cope the joint. But I've seen English 16th panel and frame construction
that uses a simple butt joint.  The problem of where the beads meet
was rectified by careful chisel work to extend one of the beads.  This
was done in a room that was completely panelled, walls and ceiling.

My take on the piece in question is that the cabinet maker took a little
extra time in dealing with such a butt joint, and finished the corners
with that little detail.

Mike in Sacto