Looking for custom egg-and-dart trim for mantel

[Classical Trim Lover]

Hello!

I would dearly love to find someone within an hour or so of Cary to carve about 10 feet of egg-and-dart for our dining room mantel. The two "legs" would be 40" to the corner from the base and the horizontal piece would be 44" long to the corners, with an acanthus leaf at the two corners where the pieces meet. My husband can put them together on the mantel. While he knows his way around a saw, he has never carved anything.

Thank you for helping us achieve the historic Charleston look we are aiming for!

Details are in the attached file.

Thanks so much,
Alicia

 

[creasman]

It will also help to know the width of the moulding as well as the type of wood you want to use. The picture looks like cherry, but I assume that is just an example. Nice project.

 

[Hmerkle]

Alicia,
Also curious what your timing and target price for this work is.
For a good carver to do this it will likely not be cheap and I will also guess at this time of year people who will take on a commission are "Grinding it out" for the holidays...

 

[Classical Trim Lover]

Good questions!

As for wood, it will be painted so whatever wood the carver thinks would give a great result, works. Our trim and the rest of the mantel will be poplar, but I have no idea if poplar is a great wood for carving. I just read this morning that poplar was used in Drayton Hall, so it can't be too bad a choice.

The egg-and-dart would be 1" tall (relief or projection) by 1 3/8" wide. The nice picture of egg-and-dart in my document (from Brent Hull) shows a backband and piece that the egg-and-dart sits on, but we will be adding those.

As for timing, it's taken me so long to get to this point (each day just disappears on me?!) that I think I just need to "dig deep" and understand it won't be done when I'd like (maybe December 10th ish). At least it can be the last piece added, and that may just have to be good enough. Hey, if we paint the mantel, I can't put anything on it for Christmas. If it's still raw wood, I could still decorate it, at least.

And price? I don't know. I guess I was hoping a talented hobbyist would want a little extra Christmas money and take on the project, but I know time is dwindling. I have a couple offers from Ukrainian Etsy carvers for $275-$300, but the language barrier and long shipping (would get it more like December 18th if I ordered super soon) scares me. And how cool would it be to have it done by a North Carolinian as it would have been done 240 years ago?! I would pay a little more for someone local, but I can't afford much more. No idea if this amount is insultingly cheap, though

 

[Woodmolds]

While not a North Carolina woodcarver, close South Carolina.
This is who I would contact for first quality work and I'm sure fair pricing.

Mary May - Traditional Woodcarver

Mary May - Traditional Woodcarver. 3,450 likes · 29 talking about this. I love to teach woodcarving! Sign up for my monthly newsletter at eepurl.com/1brDz

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[Mike Davis]

While not a North Carolina woodcarver, close South Carolina.
This is who I would contact for first quality work and I'm sure fair pricing.

Mary May - Traditional Woodcarver

Mary May - Traditional Woodcarver. 3,450 likes · 29 talking about this. I love to teach woodcarving! Sign up for my monthly newsletter at eepurl.com/1brDz

www.facebook.com

Mary May is the best. And be sure to tell her you heard about her from here.

 

[creasman]

Mary May even has a step-by-step guide if you were so inclined to give this a try for yourself. See carving egg and dart molding.

 

[Hmerkle]

Thank you for the clarification Alicia,
As Tony, Jim and Mike have mentioned - Mary May would be a GREAT place to start. I am guessing her commissioned work is farther out than December but you would get a realistic date from an expert and her costing (I would guess it would be at least double what you are thinking $600 + remember, you are not simply asking for a egg and dart molding, you are asking for that with Acanthus leaves on a miter that will fit together. So in essence three discrete carvings.

For your sake - I hope I am wrong and she or someone else can help you.
I would LOVE to do it, but it would take me MUCH longer to do and I for this repetitive work, I would probably be in the $700+ range. BTW $700 may see like a lot of money for this job, but I would estimate it at 12 hours of work so only around $60 per hour...

 

[Classical Trim Lover]

Thank you for the clarification Alicia,
As Tony, Jim and Mike have mentioned - Mary May would be a GREAT place to start. I am guessing her commissioned work is farther out than December but you would get a realistic date from an expert and her costing (I would guess it would be at least double what you are thinking $600 + remember, you are not simply asking for a egg and dart molding, you are asking for that with Acanthus leaves on a miter that will fit together. So in essence three discrete carvings.

For your sake - I hope I am wrong and she or someone else can help you.
I would LOVE to do it, but it would take me MUCH longer to do and I for this repetitive work, I would probably be in the $700+ range. BTW $700 may see like a lot of money for this job, but I would estimate it at 12 hours of work so only around $60 per hour...

Thank you for the insight. Yes, Mary May sounds perfect. Thanks to everyone who suggested her! She is even in Charleston and has carved for historic Charleston homes! I forgot if I mentioned it earlier, but we have a Charleston-style home in Cary. I make every design decision based on pretending it was built in Charleston in 1780 by a professional level (doctor, lawyer, successful merchant, but not the Governor or something) family and asking myself what they would do.

And I can totally understand a price of $700, especially when materials, knowledge, skill, and time are considered. I think this is just one of things where I hope it's less, and I just have to readjust my thinking and pay more to have it done beautifully and correctly.

I just came from two frame stores, however, and wow.....I don't know if I can adjust my thinking THAT much?! Yeesh.

 

[PhilErup]

I'm not in your area, but I can share some tips. You might want to check out local woodworking clubs or artisans who offer carving services. Also, YouTube tutorials can be a great resource for beginners. Your husband can definitely learn the basics there. Good luck with achieving that Charleston look for your dining room mantel!