Ball and claw foot

Carving a Ball and Claw for a Tea Table

September 8, 2012 MaryMay Ball and claw foot

Yesterday, John Weigel, of Greensboro, NC came to spend the day with me to learn how to carve a ball and claw for his 3-legged tea table. John spent time at MESDA (Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts) in Winston-Salem, NC to study a stunning period piece that he wanted to reproduce. They have a fabulous [...]

Ball and Claw Video

August 29, 2012 MaryMay Ball and claw foot

Whew! Got another video edited and up on the woodcarving school site – the fabulous and oh-so-popular ball and claw foot. This has been broken down into 5 different chapters and it goes for over 1-1/2 hours. It is almost in real time, so some of it can seem a little repetitive. The DVD is the same [...]

Ball and Claw Class at The Woodrights School

May 20, 2012 MaryMay Ball and claw foot

Roy and Christopher relaxing with a beverage on Roy's back patio

I spent the day today teaching how to carve the ball and claw foot at Roy Underhill’s school – The Woodright School (www.thewoodrightschool.com). This is the first day of a 2 day class. Roy has the PBS show “The Woodright’s Shop” that is now in its 32nd year. His shows mainly focus on the traditional [...]

How to Carve a Ball and Claw Foot

November 9, 2011 MaryMay Ball and claw foot

For anyone who is interest in building period furniture (anywhere from 1740s to 1840s) learning to carve the ball and claw foot almost seems to be a “right of passage” in the carving world. I put together these written instructions for a traditional Philadelphia style ball and claw foot. These instructions go with my instructional DVD, and I also provide these [...]