Hanging Arena Sculpture

I began working with a local artist out of Greenpoint.  Her current body of work focuses on rings and circular forms.  This wall mounted piece is made up of 4 different veneered plys.  The final vision for the piece is still in the air but I’m glad to have helped bring someone else’s vision to life.

 

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Open up the hatches

After using a CNC router bit in a trim router and setting a nice, crisp 1/16″ heavy door gap, it was time to cut the hatches out completely for the custom radiator covers.  It was a chance to use a brand new tool though I had used a version of it previously while building boats in Annapolis.  It is the Porter-Cable version of the FEIN multi tool.  It’s really amazing and so versatile, I don’t know how people get along without when doing on site installations.  Its small enough to get into very tight spaces and sports a plethora of blade attachments to accomplish any task.  Anyway, hatches are out, some clean up left, edge banding and routing the louvres next.

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Little Name Design Lunchbox Prototype

I was approached by a designer from New Jersey to help her create new versions of these foldable wooden children’s lunch boxes.  Her site is little name design.  The original lunch boxes were sourced over seas.  Now she is looking to have them produced here in the States with a new look.  I have done three new prototypes, exploring new hardware on each.  She will be displaying these this coming weekend at the Playtime New York Expo along with other products.

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Rocker Full Chair Shaping

The rocking chair is in the home stretch here in this gallery.  Having all parts assembled and generally shaped with the band saw, it was time to get into the heavy shaping.  Through out the shaping process I have been utilizing three types of shaping tools: angle grinder, spoke shaves and rasps.  This is the point where the rocker really becomes my own and am very excited to get this project finished.

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The Furniture Project – Boston, MA

The Furniture Project is a unique group of furniture makers that are in their third year of putting on a juried show during the New England Home Show at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA.  This years creative category was Chest on Stand and I was entered into the show because of  my walnut chest on stand piece.  I was also able to show the sideboard and my upholstered chair.  Among the notable makers there, Tom MacDonald of Rough Cut on PBS was there and offering his advice and critiques to all the exhibitors.  It was a tremendous experience meeting contemporaries; seeing what they were making and designing.  There were many notable makers there, such as Phil Lowe and Glen Gaurino.

There were two exciting moments during the weekend.  The best being the sale of the upholstered chair.  It was my first sale in a gallery setting and it was invigorating to know someone appreciated my design and craftsmanship to want to own an original piece of mine.  The other news was the chest on stand winning the People’s Choice Award for the weekend.  These two events have opened up some old design ideas and I am very excited for the BRKLYN Designs show in May.  I hope to have one or two new pieces made exploring new designs and iterations of these pieces.

There was a professional photographer there and once the pictures become available, I will post a link.  Enjoy what I have below and thanks for the support.

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Magnetic Bat Box

Metal worker, James Devlin, asked me to create a better display box for the bat skeleton he had.  The original display was MDF backer with a walnut veneer and clear plastics case.  I removed that clear plastic and created a solid walnut box around the bat mount.  I added clear acrylic as the glass.  One side of the box was to be left removable to allow access to the bat.  Using 4 earth magnets, the challenge was easily solved.  Those little magnets have an incredibly powerful fit.  The application of magnets is something I am going to start exploring and using more of in future builds.

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Master Bedroom Radiator Cover

This gallery covers the build of a 17′ long radiator cover for a master bedroom in a Brooklyn apartment.  The client’s kitchen has oak veneered doors and they wanted to carry that into the rest of the furniture.  The cover will be made and delivered in three pieces and assembled on site.  In order to have access to the radiators in case of major service, they will be screwed together from the inside.  There are also five hatches across the top, three of which will be storage access.  More photos to follow as the build progresses.

 

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New Portfolio Addition

Thanks to the talented Fiorenzo Borghi for shooting this piece for me at 3rd Ward’s photo studios.  This chair, titled “Raise”, is a progression of the original Cherry chair.  The chair is an investigation into incorporating the shaping of hard lines to accentuate the flowing lines of the rails and stretchers.  The original chair relies on upholstery and padding for the seat and back while “Raise” uses a traditional hand carved seat and back to make a more harmonious piece.  It has a permanent gallery on the Portfolio page.

RaiseChair

 

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No Back Pains

As the previous rocker update post mentioned, the way the head rest and back spindles meet your spine is crucial to the comfort of the chair.  Engineering the proper ergonomic shape for a chair is one of the most challenging aspects of the build.  In this case, Maloof has already figured out this particular shape and angle making this process slightly easier.  The rest of the comfort factor now relies on the shaping of the spindles shown below.

 

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