Saturday, October 9, 2010

Are we there yet?

It seems that work on my latest pieces has come to a screeching halt...and I mean a teeth rattling, spine jerking, rib cracking kind of halt. It's for the best though as it means we finally able to locate a home, process the purchase of said home and commence the movement of our lives that have been in a holding patter for the past few years into that home. The tough part is now getting all of the little onesy projects completed around the house so that I can spend some time in the garage aka shop getting it up and running again. So please sit tight, we should be back on the air in no time at all...or so I hope.
Replacing Emoji...

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Curvey Lurvey

I've had an idea in my head for a number of years that was inspired by the furniture and buildings of my youth. I have great memories of the Western furniture and designs of the lodges from West Yellowstone through Jackson Hole. The figures left under the bark as insects chewed away the wood were always fascinating to me.

Fast forward a number of years to a "New Yankee Workshop" where Norm builds a cowboy side board in the Molesworth style and the memories of my youth came flooding back. Summers spent sitting in chairs and rockers at the Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone with my grandparents as I munched away on mint chocolate chip ice cream cones and traced the insect trails on the furniture with my finger.

After seeing that episode I knew I had to incorporate some Molesworth into some of my pieces. Thomas Molesworth was a Western designer who lived in and was inspired by the Wild West in the early to mid 1900's. His designs reflect those of the local Native American tribes as well as the natural features of wood and insects. He was also inspired by the arts and crafts movement that was going on at the time and incorporated his flare for the West with the simplicity and clean lines of the Arts and Crafts movement. He often used bold colors and materials to add focal points and add life to a piece.

So with that in mind I've added a new series of boxes to my collection. Our Molesworth inspired boxes will use darker woods with rich texture and grain structures that will be at home in the summer cabin or to add a touch of Western flair to any modern home.

Here's a peek at the first go round. It's a his and hers set with matching tops. Hers is quartersawn Bubinga and his is figured Rosewood. They've received the initial coats of finish and will be buttoned up shortly,so stay tuned.


And a close up of the quintessential Molesworth design feature.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

State Of The Union

It's a sad day locally for me. Southern Utah has been primarily over looked as being hugely impacted by the credit crunch and housing bubble burst. For a number of years St. George has been ranked in the top 5 places to retire in the US and as a result the housing market was booming. Then the credit cards came due and the contractors went out of business and with them several of the cabinet shops with them. Our local supply shop was holding on and doing the best it could to weather the storm, but I've just learned that it too has fallen victim to the economy. It's a loss to the area that is going to be tough to fill as they were the nearest woodworking supply store in a 200 mile radius.

What does this mean for me? Well, simply it means I'm back to mail order or mass purchases when I travel to Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. It also means those last minute changes or short sights in planning will make or break projects.

It's a shame that another small, indipendant store has fallen victim of the economy.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Houston, we have a problem!

I know this post has been too long in the making. The last time I posted up I was finishing up the final touches on my Kane Tsugi bow front table. Well that has been finished and...well, it's been refinished again.

Unfortunately after it made its debut as an outstanding Christmas gift for my client, it seems I fell victim to the enemy of every wood worker...material movement. When working over the details I really wanted to produce the top as a solid top out of two or three wide pieces. I was concerned about solidly enclosing the top into the frame that is built when using the kane tsugi but thought I had planned through it enough that any movement would be minimal. Unfortunately I still fell victim to mother natures whim.

 But before we get to the injuries lets take a look at the finished product. It definitely turned out better than my expectations and was well worth the effort at cold pressing the drawer fronts. The book matching of the drawer fronts also added a spectacular touch.

I had debated long and hard about splitting the top drawer into two, but I think it gave the piece a bit of life. The drawers also presented a bit of a challenge in cutting the compound half blind dove tails. Cutting through the Wenge banding was fairly nerve racking as it proved to be extremely fragile and extremely tempermental requiring a very sharp set of chisels and taking very light cuts. Not having cut dove tails in a  number of years it was refreshing to get back at it and interestingly very relaxing.



Cutting through and half blind tails in the Hard Maple was a good test of skill. It allowed for a very true and even cut, but was not forgiving at all. In the end it was definitely worth the effort as the contrast between the buttery maple against the chocolates of the Wenge are absolutely stunning.


The small banding around the legs also added some character and helped the piece feel lighter. As I had mentioned earlier, I was not so happily reminded that although the piece is no longer growing and producing leaves, it is absolutely still very much a living thing.


I thought I had given the top plenty of room to expand and contract with the seasons, but as they say...the best laid plans...The expansion was not too devastating and in all honesty the client was more than willing to allow it to swell in the winter and close up in the summer, I however was not. So back to the shop it came and a new top was produced. This go around I used 1 wide piece which I then sliced into a book matched 3/16" veneer that I attached to a piece of Baltic Birch ply. After it was all said and done the veneer finished down to an approximate thickness of 1/8" which should keep things nice and stable.

So with that all said and done we're off to the next project.