A small table from scrap pieces

I had intended to post part II of the Three Rivers series before posting about anything else, but it has been some time since I’ve posted about furniture and I’ve just finished this new piece so I thought I’d sneak this post in now.

We needed a table of just the right height to hold a fan in our bedroom window at home.  Although I am in the midst of a pretty big project just now I thought I’d check out a few of my scrap piles to see if there was anything there to inspire me.

And, while I was at it, maybe I’d check out the paint locker and see what was lurking in there.

Here’s what caught my eye:

A couple of pieces of MDF, some interesting walnut cut-offs and a nice green latex paint.

I glued up the MDF pieces into a block 1-1/2″ thick-

Cut the walnut cut-offs to a uniform length-

Then drew a pleasing curve to shape the legs.

I cut out the first leg, used it as a pattern to trace out the other two, cut them on the bandsaw and sanded the curved cut.

Next I created a guide for my router to cut out the mortises into the top that would hold the legs.

The legs were rounded over on the router table on the long straight face.

I used a variety of implements to draw out a pattern for the top, created a template for 1/2 of the top, transferred that shape onto the top, flipping over the template to get the other half so that the curves would be symmetrical and shaped the top.

I wanted to create an interesting joint detail where the legs met the top. I did some sketching and decided that the top should have its bottom edge rounded. This was done on the big shaper, a finger chewing machine if there ever was one.

I managed to get the top rounded with out loosing any fingers and proceeded to cut the mortises on the under side of the top using the jig I had created earlier.

I adjusted the fit of the legs into the mortises by carefully sanding down their final thickness.

You can start to see what this table will look like at this stage. I still need to square off the round corners left by the router bit in the mortises. I did this by hand using a sharp chisel.

Now I was able to see if the joint detail came out like I had hoped.

OK, this was what I wanted. A look as if the legs were cradling the top. This is reminiscent to me of the original tripod that held a bowl or tray from eons ago.

And here’s the table before finishing:

I painted the top, glued in the legs, rubbed on some of my special oil/ varnish mix and the table was complete.

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The next table. part 4

The delivery date nears and I still want to apply a few more coats of finish so it looks like, once again, I won’t be able to take the time to properly photograph a piece before it leaves the shop.

I have been building up the polyurethane finish to a point which I can then sand it flat.

At this point the table is ready for the final coats.

Although these shots don’t really show it there is a subtle wood grain showing through.

Here’s the table with two more coats to go.

Part 3 is here.

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The next table. part 3

With the veneers glued on I do some final trimming of the top.

I use sharp chisels with masking tape applied the areas that will ride along the face adjacent to the veneer being trimmed so that I only cut what needs to be trimmed. A sharp knife and guide board also comes in handy.

I then use a card scraper to flatten the veneers.

Once everything is as flat as possible without scraping through the veneer to the paper backing beneath I apply a black dye and start building up the layers of polyurethane finish.

This process will take some time and will require a few adjustments as it progresses. I’ve started with gloss polyurethane varnish to build up the base coats but will finish with a semi-gloss finish. It is important to keep the shop, or at least this area of it, as dust free as possible while the varnish dries.

Part 4 is here. Part 2 is here.

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Oh what a long time it’s been…

…since I’ve last posted.

I have been working on such a number of interesting projects. There’s one, really interesting one that has been mostly in the planning stages.  I’ll have to wait just a little longer before I can post about it. But, I’ve been busy in shop as well.

I’ve been working on a couple of tables for a long time client. Both of these are headed for my client’s Florida home. The first one is a very large coffee table. It measures 88″ by 55″. But the wild thing about it is that it is not flat. The top is wavy.

Todd cutting the table to size.

Here I am cutting of the end of the glued up butternut planks. The table was too big to run through my table saw and a sharp handsaw works just as well.

The planks had a natural curve to them so during glue up I took as much advantage of this as possible.

Carving the surface with disc grinder.

Here you can see some of the waviness. The table was so large and heavy that I had to plan my work to minimize how often I turned the piece over. I carved out the bottom face first then flipped it using a block and tackle.

I used a number of tools to shape the top.  Here are a few, ready at hand.

The final sanding was very tedious, but since this table was to be varnished with a gloss spar varnish it was very important. I spent a lot of time carefully sanding the top.

Careful sanding was a must.

The table is wrapped in blankets now and I haven’t taken any pictures of the final finish. I’ll try and get to that before the trucking company shows up.

Update: I found s few more images.

One of the base units being fit to the table top.

This and the next picture is of the table upside down as the two boxes that act as the base for the table are being fit to the wavy underside of the table top.

The 2 base boxes being fit.

The next project was another table with curves, for the same clients. That’ll be in the next post.

Update 2: I pulled back the blankets and took a picture of the finished table top.

Biedermeier

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been commissioned to design and make a number of furniture pieces in the Biedermeier style. This is somewhat unusual in that my studio is located in the Midwest (of the North American continent). The one style that has been consistently popular in this region has been Arts & Crafts. It’s always pleasant to explore styles of other periods and regions.

The Biedermeier style evolved from the economic and political changes that swept Europe in the first half of the 19th century. Often thought of as a response to the French Empire style it has been characterized as resulting from the growth of the bourgeoisie in German speaking regions of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. As with many efforts to shake off the old and make a change some of the furniture that emerged from this era was awkward and clunky.

As a designer and craftsperson I sought to avoid the poorly proportioned and unbalanced look and try and discover elements of the Biedermeier style that were graceful. One of the first that struck me when studying Biedermeier furniture was the use of veneers in a way that tied a piece, particularly cabinetry, together into a unified whole. It is sometimes called a waterfall affect in which the grain is matched through all elements of a face and around onto the top. A detail from a piece I created can show this march of the grain.

I added red arrows to help illustrate this affect. You may be able to see it as well in this full image of the piece.

Even though the various parts and sections of the casework were not all aligned onto the same frontal plane, as if projected onto a flat screen, the use of the veneer grain contributed to what I see as a very modern look. It has a look as if the parts were punched out of one sheet of material and then folded around to create a three dimensional case. I also sometimes see it as if pigment was poured over the piece and allowed to drip down the front. Because it is the natural grain it is very naturalistic and at the same time very graphic. Perhaps this is why I often think of the Biedermeier style as a transitional style. It is by no means at a dead end. It is pointing to modernism.

By the way, it is not altogther clear where the term Biedermeier comes from. Joseph Aronson in his “Encylopedia of Furniture” from Crown Publishers 1965 says “[t]he name derives from a comic-paper character, Papa Biedermeier, symbol of homely substantial comfort and well-being –Gemutlichkeit.” And Hakan Groth says, “The term ‘Biedermeier’ is often wrongly assumed to be the name of a cabinetmaker or designer of the period. During the late 1840s in Austria and Germany, the preceding era (1815-1847) was subject to a barrage of satire, which finally led to the very furniture being mocked.” I have also seen reference to a fictional, comic poet named Biedermeier. It is clear however that this style did veer into regions that were easily mocked. Without jumping into an extended discussion about absolute values of design I will say that I wanted to work with the elements of Biedermeier style that could be brought together with a sense of proportion, balance and grace.

At the time I was exploring Biedermeier design I was doing almost all of my design work on paper in pencil and sometimes watercolor and colored pencil. Here is drawing of a chair I designed followed by a picture of the final piece.

In as much as the Biedermeier style was a reaction to the much more, perhaps, pompous Empire style it used a very similar vocabulary. It was far from revolutionary. It sought to adjust and perhaps contain some of the excesses the emerging bourgeoisie felt were beyond the pale. Among some of the elements that were retained and sometimes re-interpreted was the use of black to contrast with the grain of the fruit woods commonly used. Gone were the gold and the gilt however, except perhaps as discreet functional accents such as pulls. Another element retained was the column, that reference to Roman dominance and power. The Roman column was also and quite likely even more a symbol of stability. And it was in the use of the column that I was able to start to work out the proportions that I would use. For the columns used in western European design derive from the classical orders of Greek and Roman architecture.

There is a great reference book that I use quite a lot, “Cabinet Making and Millwork, Tools Materials Layout Construction” by Alf Dahl (who at the time was Head of the Building Trades Department of the Los Angeles Trade-Technical Junior College) and J. Douglas Wilson (who at one time was the curriculum supervisor for Trades and Industries at the Los Angeles City Schools), originally published in 1953 by the American Technical Society. In just over 300 pages this classic comprehensively covers and amazing amount of material. I may do a post just about this one book one day. For now I want to introduce two illustrations found in the book that show the classical orders and how proportions for various elements are derived from the diameter (D in the figures) of the column.

There are many ways to approach proportion and balance in design. Using the classical orders seemed appropriate historically when designing Biedermeier style furniture although it wasn’t always practical. All of this work was custom design work and as such I had to take into account the view of two clients in this case, the interior designer I was working with and the end user client. Sometimes I had to adjust proportions to meet the functional needs of my clients. I always try to do this adjustment within some coherent framework. In some cases I work with the proportions ascribed by the Golden Mean and have found that much of the architecture derived from the classical orders also relates to the proportions derived from the Golden Mean. Much has been written about the Golden Mean. All I will do here is draw your attention to a very interesting book on the subject by Gyorgy Doczi, “The Power of Limits, Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art & Architecture” published in 1981 by Shambala press.

Here is a study I did for a proposed design for the desk pictured above.

The proposed column design is drawn horizontally across the top, many of the other proportions were derived from this element.

Another piece from this series was this large armoire, the base is shown at the top of this post.

The bedroom set was completed by two night stands and a bed.

This is a detail of the column base for the bed.

Another project that was related to the Biedermeier style of furniture I was fortunate to work on was a dining table I designed and made to go with a set of antique Biedermeier chairs a client had purchased. The interior designer I worked with on this project and the client had seen a table that they wanted to go with the chairs. The table had a solid top and they were looking for a glass top so they approached me. They gave me a small clipping of a small section of the carved legs that they particularly liked of the original table. I was able to create a table that was carved on both sides of the rails so that when one viewed the rails and legs through the glass top the whole piece looked finished. The table was then finished by Catherine Lottes using stains, glazes and gold leaf. Below are some images of the carved table base before and after the finish was applied.

The challenges I’ve found when working in a wide variety of styles are part of the reason I love this work so much. You may have noticed that the style of work I’ve shown in his post is not very close to a lot of my other work. Nevertheless I find it fascinating that in being a craftsperson and working in other styles in which you have to actually create a real object or set of objects in the real world you have an opportunity to unwrap layers of history and thought. You are uncovering the same practical and aesthetic problems others, sometimes long ago, have worked on. Through your hands you can touch the ideas of others.

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A Rocking Chair

A friend of mine and his wife are having a baby! They asked if I had a rocking chair design. I hadn’t, but it was something I had been thinking of and working on, off and on, for a long time. I decided to finally complete a design with the hope that my friend would like it and want the chair. Above is a rendering I’ve just completed of my design. Below I’ll write a little about the process of designing the chair.

I knew that one of the biggest hurdles facing me in this project was Sam Maloof. Sam created the definitive craftsman designed and made rocker many years ago. Many, many woodworkers have copied, emulated and been inspired by the Maloof chair and it’s no wonder. Not only is the Maloof chair in many ways beautiful he also published how he made the chair along with drawings with dimensions. The earliest article I’ve found is his “How I Make a Rocker” in the September/October 1983 issue of Fine Woodworking magazine.

Actually I told my friend about the Maloof rocker and he indicated that he had seen versions of it already but he wanted me to re-interpret that rocker in my own way. There were elements of that rocker that didn’t really look right to my eye, that I thought may have been concessions to practicality, to designing a chair that could be sold at a given price point perhaps. This is part and parcel of the design process and I cannot criticize this aspect of the process at all. It is necessary if the design will ever be built. But this did give me an entry point to the design.

I was surprised though that with so many others making versions of this chair no one else had addressed the issues that I saw. So, I decided to use the Maloof chair as my starting point and try and work out those elements that just didn’t sit right with me. In doing that I hoped that I would come up with a design distinctive enough that I could put my name on it.

Kem Weber designed a chair he called the Airline Chair. My sketchbooks have many drawings of variations of this chair and in going back through them to review my past attempts at this summit I decided to pull some of this work out and stare at it for a good long time. You can see an example of Weber’s chair here. And here is one of my sketches that shows the influence of that chair:

After quite a bit of sketching with pencil on paper I moved to my CAD program, Rhinocerous and started “sketching” on the computer. I developed a profile that I found interesting.

The circle and arrow were part of my study of the center of gravity for a person on the rocker.

I also used my “ergo man” to study the profile.

I would return to my ergo man throughout the process to check dimensions and the location of the arms and back spindles. I continued to refine the profile.

I then used the profile drawings to guide me as I built the design up into 3 dimensions. I also used the Flamingo rendering program to apply wood grain and texture to the design. Here is an early rendering I created to see if I was headed in the right direction.

It became apparent to me that I was getting close but still had a lot of work to do. It was right around here that I realized that I did not like the crest rail, that rail at the top that the spindles ended into. It was not only derivative of the Maloof design but it was too heavy for my eye.

Once I changed that rail I was free to change the profile of the back legs as they rose up to meet the crest rail. I was able to then add a curve in a different plane, to bow them slightly. This was getting exciting now.

Here’s an image showing the bow I am talking about.

The above image also shows the changes I made in the front legs. I added material to them and shaped them to reflect the bow of the back legs in the same plane. With the curve of the crest rail I was expressing a cradling of the sitter. I emphasized this cradling by adding curved brackets at the joint of the back legs and the crest rail, up at the top.

I resolved a couple of other issues, particularly the joint of the back legs to the arcs that curve under and support the seat and really felt as if this chair was becoming complete. Here’s another view of the finished design.

Since my friend and I are both surfers, as is my friend’s wife for that matter and their new baby will likely surf as well I did a rendering of the chair in maple with walnut stringers in the seat. A reference to surfboard stringers.

I list the chair on my website here although this is the only place I show the surfer version (so far).

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Mirror frame completed

The mirror frame was finished in an ebonized finish and is ready for my clients to inspect.

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It is too bad that I don’t have the mirror that will go into the frame.

The frame was designed by Deep River Partners for a client of theirs.

Now I have to finish cleaning my shop and get ready for the next commission.

…and winter winters on

This is four days after the last storm I posted about. This is what’s in front of our house. We’ve had several inches since then with more expected today.

Meanwhile I’m completing the the art nouveau style mirror frame. The last ribbon of wood, fret as I call it, is just about finished.

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This is how it lies into the back of the mirror frame.

Two other frets, completed and ready to be glued in with the fret patterns.

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As I was milling the tenons on my router set up as an end mill, for some reason the site of this graceful arc of wood clamped to this machine inspired me to take out my camera and shoot today’s shop series.

The tenons, or end tabs, are initially milled by this end mill.

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I have to finish the joint by hand though. This is because the face being trimmed will have to mate against the inside curved surface of the mirror frame.

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After I have the joints completed I shape the cross section into a gentle, flowing curve. I start by carving bevels that are eventually refined into the final curved section.

This flowing bevel or chamfer reminds me of the path a down hill skier might take or even a surfer flowing across the face of a wave. It’s been a very long time since I did any down hill skiing and from the looks of the snow and ice it will be a while before I do any surfing. Winter!

Surf Board Table III-ix

The table has been delivered! Here are a few more shots I took before making the delivery. If you’re interested, check out my portfolio.

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Surf Board Table III-viii

The table is finished and I am in the process of shooting photos of it before I deliver it. Here’s a nice detail of the edge.

Surf Board Table III -vii

I tried to get an image that shows how the black dye along with my oil finish brings out the grain in the ash wood used to make the base of the surfboard table. One of the reasons that I dye the wood is to accentuate the grain to create a fluid-like pattern under the top.

Surf Board Table III -vi

I mix a custom blend for my wipe on, oil finish. After the oil mix is applied I allow it to soak into the wood then wipe it dry. I’ll apply at least three coats, buffing with very fine steel wool in between coats. Each coat takes a day to dry.

After the second coat of dye dries on the base I’ll apply the oil mix over the dye.

Surf Board Table III -v

I’ve attached the cross pieces onto the base structure and after a little final sanding it is ready to be dyed black.

I use a water based aniline dye. It will take two applications with some light sanding in between to give a nice even color. The water based dye will not fade when exposed to uv light as will alcohol based dye. Water based dye does raise the grain a little, hence the extra sanding step.

While the base dries I work on sanding the edges of the top.

It’s important to not overlook any detail at this stage. Soon I’ll be applying the finish and any touch-ups or adjustments will be very hard to do after that.

The edges are staring to look nice and wood grain is starting to show it’s beauty. The top needs a final sanding and I will be ready to apply the finish.

As I work through ever finer grades of sandpaper, to bring out the true beauty of the wood, various small scratches begin to appear. They were always there, but were so fine that they weren’t visible until the wood around them is sanded with a very fine grit. The scraper takes very fine shavings off these areas, which will then be further sanded so that the top has a uniform, very fine, surface.

Surf Board Table III -iv

The table base is glued up. While the glue sets I’ll start sanding the boards I’ve glued up for the top. First I set up some cross pieces on a work bench.

By using shims I can get the three cross pieces aligned in a single plane. This helps as I need to now sand the top as flat as I can. Having the work piece rest on a flat plane helps a lot. And now I begin sanding the top. Table tops take a lot of sanding.

I start with a belt sander.

To make sure that I am sanding the work piece flat I check it often with a pair of winding sticks.

And then I go back to sanding. Eventually I get one face flat, then I turn it over and work on the other face. After an hour or so of using the belt sander I turn to a jig I developed some years ago to further flatten the work and to take out the machine marks left by the power belt sander.

It’s good exercise!

When the top is flat and smoothed I lay the pattern back on it, trace the outline one more time and then cut it out with a jig saw.

Sorry about the dust on the camera lens. Things are pretty dusty at this point.

The sawn edge is smoothed by using a sharp block plane.

The edge is then rounded over with a router.

And the top is starting to look like a surfboard.

Surf Board Table III -iii

The legs are cut to fit up against the center arc at a 30 degree angle and mortises or slots are cut on that beveled face to receive the tenons that fit through the arc. I use the arc pattern to locate the slots in the arc.

After cutting those I do the final shaping on the arc. The convex curve is shaped on the belt sander table.

And the concave curve is shaped by hand using a spoke shave.

A test assembly of two of the legs to the arc reveals an interesting form.

I often take a little time to consider the forms created by accident when assembling furniture elements. To some degree there is not that much “accident” involved as I intentionally created the parts with the goal of creating an interesting or compelling shape.

I use to whip out an old Polaroid camera and take a few shots. Then I’d pin them to my office wall. I still study them for ideas.

Now I use one of digital cameras and my hard drive has become the studio wall. I actually like the studio wall better.

Adding the second set of legs makes it easier to see how this could turn into a coffee table.

Next I’ll shape the top, add some cross pieces and I can glue up the base.

Surf Board Table III -ii

Part 2 in the making of the surf board coffee table.

One more check of the pattern with the boards test clamped then I trace the pattern onto the boards to help me align them during glue up.

I gather up my supplies- wood glue, shop made applicator, extra clamps, wax paper and a rag -and bring them to the glue up frame area of the shop. You can see the boards set on the glue up frame in preparation of a test clamp. Once you start spreading the glue you have to work fast to get the boards set up on the frame, aligned and clamped so it pays to have everything you may need at hand.

Here’s the glue up frame with the work pieces all clamped in the test clamp. This is the time to decide if you need more clamps, cross palls or other supplies.

The cross palls are, in this case 2 x 4s, clamped across the direction of the glue joints to hold the boards in alignment and in a single plane. They also keep the whole glue-up assembly from popping off the frame when I crank down on the bar clamps.

Now I take everything down and spread the wood glue on the edges to be glued.

Did I mention that you have to work fast to do this?

While the top is in the clamps as the glue sets I work on cutting out the legs.

Once the legs are cut out on the band saw they go to the drum sander to sand out the saw blade marks and get the legs to their final shape.

to be continued….

Surf Board Table III

Hmm, maybe it should be “surfboard table” instead of “surf board table”. I better check it out.

I got another order for one and have taken a few shots of the some of the steps in making one. This is a very general description of the process and is not intended as instructional.

The first step was to check my lumber supply to see if I had some nice pieces on hand that would work for this table. I generally make these out of maple and ash, with a nice strip of walnut as the stringer, the center strip of wood on the top. I didn’t have enough maple and needed a little more ash so I drove down to my favorite lumber yard last Friday and sorted through their stacks. I found some nice maple and just enough ash.

I like to let the wood sit in my shop for a few days before I start working with it, especially in the winter when the heat is on and my shop may be warmer and drier than the lumber yard. Wood is a fickle material and to work it you need to understand and respect it. Moisture moves in and out of wood through hollow cells that are arrayed in unique ways for each piece of wood. As the moisture enters the wood the cell expands, as it leaves the cell shrinks. When you get thousands of these cells expanding and contracting the piece of wood changes shape. My job is to work with the wood to shape it into the shapes that I want. Sometimes that means just letting the piece sit for awhile and acclimate to a new environment.

I planed flat and glued up the ash for the long arc under the top and laid a pattern for the arc over the wood, traced the outline and cut it out on the band saw.

I then selected the wood for the top. I start by eyeing the boards to check for warp and twist and carefully noting the grain pattern. I use the half pattern for the top to determine the best way to cut the boards to length.

Here is the half pattern on the boards that I’ve cut to roughly the length I need.

A half pattern is a great way to make sure that a shape is symmetrical. You just trace the shape out on one side and flip the pattern over, line it up and trace the other side.

The next step is to flatten the boards to eliminate as much twist and cupping as you can before glue up. The narrower pieces can be run over a jointer, face down. This tool has cutters on a drum that rotate so that the top edge of the cutters is exactly even with the outfeed table. Several passes and you have a flat face, for now.

The wider pieces have to be run through my planer with a carriage. A planer has the cutters above the board and will trace the same twist and warp that a board already has as the board passes through it. By shimming the work piece so that it doesn’t rock, onto a flat carriage that can then pass through the planer you can cut off the high points and after many passes arrive at a relatively flat board.

Eventually I can get the boards relatively flat at least on one face.

I then pass each of these boards through the planer again, but with out the carriage. I place the flat face down and the planer will trace this flat surface onto the opposite face, hopefully ending with a very flat board.

I qualify the above because I also have to take into account the way a piece of wood reacts when you remove part of it. Some of those cells that take on and give off moisture were held in tension by others. By removing some of the cells the others can relax into a different shape. As this happens I try different strategies while running the boards through the planer to compensate. I may flip and reverse a board, I may press on it as it comes out, it is surprising how physical an activity this really is.

After the boards are flat on their faces I lay them out again as they will be glued up and lay the pattern on them once more. I now determine how wide each board has to be to be able to create the pattern of grain movement and color that I want for the table top. This also allows me to see which edges I need to straighten by running the edge over the jointer.

After I get one of the edges straight and square with the two faces I then saw the board to its final width by passing it through the table saw.

This process of truing the edges is time consuming as it is critical to getting good glue joints.

I recheck with the pattern to make sure the pieces are lining up with true edges the way I want and I’m ready to glue the pieces together into one large blank ready to be cut out, sanded and finished.

I’ll blog more on this process soon.