I recently completed a very sentimental project for a client. These four, small companion boxes will act as urns. They are made from an old piece of black cherry I have had in my possession for nearly 5 years. They measure 6″ x 4″ x 3″ and are dovetailed together. The tops have been laser etched off site with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album cover art work and the name and dates of the deceased. They are finished with a natural danish oil, inside and out.
This closet project was brought to me by a client who already had plans drawn. It was a welcome change of pace to work off existing drawings by a great architectural firm. The client also happend to be a family friend and its nice to see people enjoy your work on a daily basis. I also did all the finish for this project utilizing the amazing spray facilities at 3rd Ward. Finished pictures here on the portfolio page.
This client had the plaque built for a friend who was running for local government. He supplied the carved eagle. I designed the plaque itself, built and finished it. He then added the bronze plate based on my template.
This piece was commissioned by a client who was tearing down some trees in her yard. As she watched the tree come down and be cut she noticed interesting images in the rings. She gave me the seat portion and I made legs for it out of similar reclaimed lumber. The joints are a simple halflap with a large shoulder on the underside of the seat. The height is low because, as a new grandmother, she has many little ones who may need to sit in time out.
I met this client at 3rd Ward while teaching him in their Carcass Joinery class. He wanted to install professional letter boards at his bar on Spring Street. The larger one needed to have a glass door, lock and easy to use door stop. The bar is great and I suggest you check it out. Mother’s Ruin 18 Spring st, NY, NY.
These are pictures towards the end of the build process for my chest on stand piece. It was inspired by traditional high boy/armoire pieces. The sketching process started with a significantly bigger piece with doors and a lower drawer. This was one of the more interesting and fun builds I’ve done. It contains a multitude of unique iterations of traditional mortise and tenon joinery. Working out the drawers functionality was a great puzzle to solve and added nice detail to the piece. The oil finish really sets off the rich color of the walnut. The finished piece can be seen on the portfolio page.
The client was moving and needed this table resized to fit the new apartment. It was originally built by a friend of the client. The main goal was to cut down the width which was a simple table saw technique. Cutting down the length was a bit trickier because of the box joints. I cut down the actual top on both ends evenly and then scribed the box joints from the legs back on and recut them to fit. This also required the metal under structure to be cut and re-welded. The two bench seats also had to be resized, requiring new half lap joints to be cut. I then also added new metal brackets to the leg joints to ensure their strength. I used plugs to cover the bolts that were in the top and reset all the metal trim to be flush to the wood surfaces.
I in no way take credit for the design but can always build a similar table to spec.
This album contains pictures of the build of the 100 frames for PopChartLab.com. When doing production work, planning and having a written manual of the build process is very important. I like to write out and “build” the piece on paper before even touching wood. I had the opportunity to do a prototype of these frames allowing me to write the manual for the build accurately and be able to work around any problem techniques or cuts. I can also exam process and choose a faster technique for a certain cut to save more time.
Over the course of 3 months, meeting once or twice a week for 2 hours, I guided a couple through the design, build and finish process to create their own coffee table. This was done through private lessons where techniques were demonstrated and then the client made the cuts themselves. By the end of the build, the clients were able to use wood working vocabulary as well as set up machinery and make cuts on their own. They couldn’t believe that they had made this object themselves and were very excited to have achieved their goal. Below are the pictures of the build process. Head to the Portfolio page for the finished images.
