Adventures In Woodworking

It looks like I am closing in on 6 months in Hawaii . I can't believe it ! So much has happened in such a short time . Looking at my previous post I am pleased to see that my trepidations were unfounded . I joined Martin & Macarthur in June as a furniture maker . 6 weeks and a couple projects later I was shifted to the the position of Shop Lead . My areas of oversight and administration include facility , production , staff , and supply . Oh yeah , I also make furniture . My Coarsegold shop was 300 sq. ft. Gallery S in Oakhurst was 484 sq. ft. My Kahai St. shop in Honolulu is 27,000 sq. ft. Running such a sizable shop is a huge task , and not a little intimidating , but ultimately a woodshop is a woodshop . It's just a different scale and more moving parts .

Experiences and Accomplishments

• Promoted to Shop Lead
• Reorganized shop and began reorganizing warehouse
• Constructed fixtures for M & M retail stores at Ala Moana , Shereton Waikiki , and King's @ Kona
• Responsible for delivery and installation of fixtures for Ala Moana and Shereton stores
• Operate and monitor lumber drying kiln
• Attended Waikiki OSHA seminar and implemented OSHA compliant shop safety documentation and training procedures
• Updating shop tooling , technique , and supplies
• Work trip to Kona (Big Island) store
• Shop production scheduling of high-volume gift item pieces
• Produced several pieces of Koa furniture
• Communicate with and supply third-party vendors (Koa watches from Canada , Koa IPhone cases from Austria , etc.)

Woodworking In Exile/Hawaii

I just wanted to notify those of you that occasionally check-in on me and my latest work that I am now making furniture in Honolulu Hawaii . I'm on sort of on a work adventure . I am taking a break from my little woodworking business in Coarsegold to explore a position with Martin & MacArthur Furniture Makers in Honolulu . Presently , my plan is to take some time to learn from and work with one of the worlds most highly regarded fine furniture companies , and then return to my own shop sometime soon . I guess it's sort of a working vacation . I'll probably be back in business on the main land in a few weeks or months , or however long it takes me to fully evaluate the real potential of this amazing opportunity . As always , please feel free to stay in touch with new projects and ideas .

Bed Frame

I made this bed frame a couple of years ago , but a few questions about my unusual joinery has prompted me to post it . In setting out to design a bed frame I decided that I wanted to make a piece that assembled and knocked-down without the usual nuts and bolts or metal brackets . Metal really has no place in fine woodworking . I believe a good woodworker should be able to fulfill a furniture function through design , material selection , and joinery , and not take the shortcut to modern factory hardware . The tension joint I applied to this piece is a modified small-scale version of a joint more commonly used in timberframe home construction . I originally designed this piece to be made with Douglas Fir (another tie-in to post & beam construction) but the vertical-grain stock I wanted was a bit too pricey for an experimental design . Now that the piece is made and is a proven performer , I look forward to building the next piece in something better than common Red Oak .

Trestle-style Table

34''W 72'' L 30'' H

Superior Red Alder top and Sugar Maple base

H. Behlen Co. Tung oil/varnish finish

I made this piece a couple of years ago ( you can see that the pic was taken in my gallery ) but it recently caught the eye of a potential client , so I thought I would post it . The base is assembled with wedge joints , and the top attaches to the base with an all-wood wedge and clip joint that I created . After making this piece I made a bed frame (posted above) that utilizes another of my knockdown wedge joints . If I were to remake this table I think I would adapt the rail-to-post joinery I developed for the bed frame to this table design . The bed joinery , as you will notice , doesn't project from the post , which when applied to the table would alleviate the potential problem of the head chair knocking knees on the tenon . As always , go to my photostream for more pics .

Almost Finished

I'm still applying the finish , but I took this preview pic for my client , so I thought I would post it . The design (with my own variations) is based on a sculpture stand by Rick Gorman (as seen in a FW contemporary design issue) . The frame combines Red Alder and Black Walnut and the frame panel top is Redwood and Elm -all of which are California natives . The California Elm came from a plank I bought several years ago while on a wood-finding trip .

Another Veneered Tabletop

Yet another veneer project . 28'' in diameter . Black Cherry string inlay and edgebanding , Eucalyptus burl , fiddleback Black Walnut , and California Laurel . I applied a common satin oil-based polyurethane finish for a matte effect , which I think helps the top blend nicely with the rough-buffed iron base that the top is mated to . Apologies for the photograph . To begin with I am the worst photographer , but I also had to quickly shoot it on a white backdrop in front of a bright french door at my client's house .

small stuff

Fixed a knife handle for an old client . Not a big deal but I think I did a pretty good job , so I took a pic . I used Ipe (tropical hardwood) for the handle and secured it with knife maker's brass rivets . I also made a custom scabbard for it just because I can . Oil and wax finish . Note : I fixed this knife (which apparently has some sentimental value for the client ) a couple years ago . The old walnut handle is also pictured .

Round Taper-Leg Table

24" H 15 3/4" W

reclaimed Redwood top with figured Cherry base

linseed oil blended beeswax and carnauba wax

This is the 2011 edition of my simple taper-leg table . This circular version of my Shaker Tables features curved aprons and a gentle yet springy curved flare at the foot . The piece features an old growth redwood top (likely Giant Sequoia sequoiadendron giganteum as opposed to "common" Coast Redwood) which I surgically extracted from a large wooden sculpture that my client owned . The finish is my new recipe which incorporates carnauba wax with my standard formula linseed oil /beeswax finish . The carnauba wax builds to a higher sheen , which enlivens the subtle fiddleback figure in the Cherry .

Revised Display Case on Chest

50"W 81"H 18"D

Central Sierra Sugar Pine with Sugar Maple

Pure Tried & True linseed oil warmed and blended with beeswax

Last year I was commissioned to make a couple commercial-grade gallery display cases . They turned out fine and they were a proving ground for my unique all wood sliding door design , but I have been looking forward to applying my innovations to a no-holds-barred fine case piece . In making this piece for a private collector I decided to seize the opportunity and go all in . The case is fashioned in premium local Sugar Pine (the entire piece features exactly two knots , and for the sake of breaking the monotony of perfect wood I had to make a special effort to place those knots where they could be seen !) and the friction components for the sliding doors are made of long-wearing Sugar Maple . The overall austerity of this design is , as with all my designs , enlivened with honest yet eye-catching joinery . The top case is joined with diagonally wedged mortise and tenons and of course the drawers are joined with hand-cut through and half-blind dovetails . The interior of the case is lit with no-heat , spectrum-corrected LED light fixtures and the exterior top of the case conceals halogen spotlights that light artwork on the wall above the case . The adjustable glass shelves are fitted in wood frames which form a lip that prevents very expensive and very breakable items from rolling off the shelves .