Thursday, December 31, 2009

Let's Embark...

365 days. Its been full. Full of ups, downs, completions, beginnings.
I finished a project decades in the making, watched my best friend marry his dream girl,
suffered through some tough heartbreaks with Elise, watched my boy grow even more
sweeter, cuter, smarter, beautiful every day, Finally got the good news we had been waiting for (baby girl in the womb), saw my bike shop go away, watched my friends form an even tighter group, started this blog.

So... 2010 holds some promise, excitement, and a little sadness. Gonna miss some friends who are moving on, but I am glad its to bigger better things. Can't wait for my baby girl. Look forward to growing closer to Milo and Elise. Spending time with family and friends. Whatever I did to be surrounded by such good people... It was probably not warranted. I am lucky.

I hope all of you have a 2010 filled with happiness and love. Damn that's sappy... but sooo true.
Best wishes.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Warmest Place on Earth.

A Christmas Miracle!
Happy Holidays Folks.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Starting.

Beginnings fascinate me. How it started. How you started. Your progress. Your evolution... Yes yours. Doesn't matter if you are a woodworker, artist, musician, banker, teacher. I am interested. Its interesting. Post it in the comments if you feel like it. That being said, my story isn't that interesting.

I am largely self taught (fairly evident if you have read any other posts or seen any pictures on this blog.) And... I learn everyday in the shop... mainly from my mistakes. I have been building what some might call furniture for nearly 10 years now with stints as a bicycle shop owner, student, and a historic preservation carpenter along the way. I still have the first piece I built tucked away in the attic. My wife won't let me throw it away. If I ever get brave/drunk enough... I may post it one day. Its pretty bad. I'll say this... lots of screws, lots of wood filler, and lots of little pastel ceramic tiles.

But...
No matter how ugly that block of wood is,,,, it got me started... well... it was my start.
What got me started was a combination of childhood/ job/ a table. Spending most of my childhood in the woods building things, growing up with uncles that built everything.... everything. Then I started work at SECCA, the contemporary art gallery here in W-S. It was soooooo badass. Such a great place. It was family. And they had a woodshop... But that wasn't all. Much of the furniture was made by artist, craftsman Bob Kopf, the Director Vicki Kopf's (VK) husband. My table included. It was walnut. It got me thinking. I began to build things in the shop. I began to read. Then I asked VK if I could get Bob's advice. He was the first to tell me where to buy lumber, what I needed to start, how to glue to boards together.

Now full circle. Ten years later. Last Saturday VK and Bob were having people up to their place to tour Bob's shop. I was flattered that they remembered me. It was a half hour trip in the cold rain, but Milo and I made it. The shop was everything you want it to be. Down a dirt road in the country, nestled in a sort of artists' community with potters and such surrounding, warm wood stove, essential machinery, stacks and stacks beautifully restored planes and hand tools, simplicity at the finest level. Bob was nice enough to spend time answering all my questions, showing me some of his methods, and occupying Milo with a wooden train set. I was amazed by the hand tools. The volume and their condition. Lots of vintage Bedrock tuned perfectly. You feel humbled talking to someone who is a master at what he does. I left feeling like I had a very long way to go. But I was excited about it and more ready to get rocking. Thanks to Bob and VK again.

OK. Hope everyone who reads this is doing well and taking care and having a nice holiday.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Warming Up.

Thanksgiving 2009: The Rundown.
Robbery, Cops, Turkey, Football, Head Injury, Concussion, Table, Turkey, Vicodin.
But otherwise... not much happened.

So there have been some bumps over the last two weeks,,,, but things are back on track. Over Thanksgiving, my brother in-law asked me to help build a table base to support a desk top for his daughter/ my niece. I was excited for the chance to A: Hang out with Brian in the shop B: Escape the madness of crazy children running, shouting, stabbing (my own included). This was quick. When I say quick, I mean from rough lumber to finish ready in 4 hours. Brian got to mill all the lumber, make all the cuts, and glue it all up himself. Most of which he had never done,,, and I'd say he did quite well.

Fun time B.

Next post: I was lucky enough to take a trip to master craftsman, furniture maker, artist Bob Kopf's studio. Bob is literally the reason I became curious about building furniture. I sat a walnut desk of his every day at SECCA and from there,,, was inspired. Gonna talk about that humbling experience next time.

Close to a finish ready Stanley Table. Below are some shots of the gluing process for the legs. I built some clamping jigs from 3/4" plywood in order to prevent slipping and also keep it all square. The joinery is mortise and tenon. Good stuff.

Clamping jig

CLAMP IT!!!

Taping joints = less work

Clean.

My bird.

Happy Holidays.