Thoughts on Mortality

We lost two friends this week. Both were elderly and lived long and happy lives, but still, it gives one pause .... The first, Peggy, was the mother of friends we have known since the early 70s, (both of them, the friends and the mom), and the second, a client for both Kit and I and a woman totally involved in our local community who we encountered, going about town, many days a week. Both will be missed. I was asked by Peggys family to make the box for her ashes, an act I consider a high honor. I have made a few funerary items as I believe they are properly called, and each has been a thought provoking and meditative process, a time to reflect on who that person was, how they affected ours lives if I knew them well, and how I might live my life to reflect the values and knowledge gained from knowing them ... Just after I put the final coat of finish on Peggys box, I looked out and saw a mink in the pond with a chipmunk in its mouth and reflected on the natural course of life ... Were here, we live and make an impact on others we come in contact with, were gone, leaving behind little traces of ourselves with whoever we meet ...
Peggys box ... simple and elegant, just like her ....
On our choice to the service .... It was a beautiful day ...
Below are some other boxes I have made for friends and family members over the last couple of years. We seem to be getting to that age ....
This was my first casket, for my father, in 2006. I was sort of carried achoice by the thought of it and maybe went a bit overboard on the details ... Fortunately, I had a lot of help on this project ...Click the pictures to enlarge them ...
I was a bit more subdued when we all made my mothers casket last summer ...
This box was for Kits mothers ashes ...
Painted pine and a fir top
Above, for another friends mother ...
Writing this post made me think of a photo I took a few years back of some advice on how to live your life. Its from 1692 and it about sums things up for me. I took the photo at a clients house, shortly before his wife died, and I think of it often ... Worth a read .... click it
The closings great ... Be careful,Strive to be happy ...
I have written something about designing and making the dovetailed box above in the post below this one ...

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Church cabinets The final piece

Ive finished the top for the cabinets below the window and cut it to fit. It was tight, so I had to buff it out after the installation...

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Dollhouse for Peaches Day 4 5

I thought I would throw in a few pics of the top of the dollhouse. Since the glue has set, Ive given all edges on all sides a 1/2" roundover radius. This will take achoice the sharp edges not meant for kids! Ive also spent alot of time sanding to 60 grit, then down to a 220 grit - smooth! The two dark marks you see on the top are part of the maple where it was joined at the factory. I tried to work around it but couldnt. Its ok though, since Peaches and her daughter will be spending a ton of time coloring this piece!Before I can put the top on, I have to make and fit the rails and styles. This is going to be done off site, in my Maumee shop. Ill be installing them on my next work day - photos to come!

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Cleaning Smoke Damaged Furniture

My man Jim, my jack of all trades assistant, has just received his honorary doctorate from the Dorset Custom Furniture School of Restoration for his recent work in mitigating smoke damage to a large and diverse group of objects, from elephant spears to light fixtures to 18th century painted blanket chests. I met with the clients last Friday and we reviewed the work he had done on their stuff in July and August. They will not be back in their home, which was damaged in a linseed oil fire, until the spring but they are thrilled with the progress he is making. We still have quite a few items left to restore, but Friday he rewired and fitted the paper replacement parts and new bulbs to some of their beautiful Danish chandeliers that they had actually considered, for a moment, to be a total loss. Anychoice, the rewiring presented me with a great image as I was leaving for the day. Click the pictures to enlarge them ...
Looking through the finish room door with the chandeliers temporarily plugged in and hung from the ceiling ...
Before
After
Chairs before and after .. we will have to renew the French polish as there is no choice we know of to clean the smoke from shellac without also removing the shellac ... Anybody out there know??? We have two fourposter shellaced beds to clean ....
Jim is also now working on other desmoking jobs like this fireplace surround in the house restoration project were working on ...
After some thought, I have decided not to post our cleaning methods here as, while they work for us, and after some considerable trial and error, Jim knows the right approach and the appropriate precautions for each type of object, Im not sure we should just stick them up here and laet you have at it. If you would like to contact us regarding what we have learned for your own use, leave a comment below, or email or call me through my website and I would be happy to share what we have learned along with our many precautions and disclaimers ...

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New Mahogany Table

We started a new table this week. Its a custom version of the one above (shown on my website here) that we first made in 2004 for a client in New Jersey. The one were working on this week is slightly larger ( 50 x 72 closed) and will be all mahogany, without the black paint, curly maple apron or edge inlay ... We had a great piece of mahogany on hand, 23" wide by 157" long and we were just able to get the whole top out of that one board. It took a little planning, but because it is all one board the glue joints are virtually invisible ... Click the photos to enlarge them ..
The Cad drawing, adpted from another version from 2005. I think, in total, this is the sixth edition of this table, each one being slightly different ... Its a great design because the pedestal is heavy enough to support the open table and leaves leaves without the pedestal splitting or the use of drop down legs. With the central pedestal, the chairs can be placed anywhere too ...
You can see in this photo how we split the first cut (so it matches as halves when the table is closed), and cut the two 2" arcs we needed to make the additional width before we cut the remainder of the board in half ... pretty clever thinking by the boys in the shop ...
Glued up halves with the arcs added
Trevor, handscraping the individual halves before drilling for the alignment pins ...
The extension runners are installed and the aprons are glued up on the table, but slightly askew from their final locations ...
In this photo,, Will has turned the flying saucer feet, has stacked the ply parts of the base, and is adding the edge veneers .. We dont use solid wood on this part as it has to support a lot of weight and the short grain of the curves at the ends of the propellers might be apt to fail over time ... When its done, it will look like solid wood ... The hollow central column parts are cut and ready to glue up tomorrow .. All for now ...

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Back to Lathe De volta ao Torno

Para fazer uma pausa num projecto grande que tenho em marcha fiz esta caneta, modelo Wall Street II, em madeira de Azinho. Há já algum tempo que não trabalhava com o torno de madeira, uma ferramenta formidável que tenho pena de não ter mais tempo para usar... Outras prioridades...
Taking a break from the "big" project Im currently working on I made this pen, Wall Street II model, in Holm-oak wood. Its been a while since I did some wood turning in my lathe, which is a great tool that I regret not having more time to use... Other priorities.... 

My first acrylic Pen - A minha primeira Caneta em acrilico

Ontem fiz uma caneta em madeira de azinho, essa caneta serviu de empurrão para realizar uma caneta em acrílico pela primeira vez. Tinha lido sobre a técnica e resolvi tentar!
Podem ver o resultado nas fotos. Para uma primeira caneta em acrílico, penso que correu muito bem!
Fire & Ice
Modelo - JR Gentlemans, caneta de aparo
Yesterday I made a pen of Holm-oak, this pen pushed me to make an acrylic pen for the first time. I had read about this technique and decided to give it a try!
You can see the end result in the pictures. For a first try, I think it is pretty awesome!
Fire & Ice
Model - JR Gentlemans, Fountain pen

The arched top door Minster Oh The exterior layers

With the core of the door complete, its time to make and apply the exterior layers of the unit. Ive selected some wide white oak, which will give the door a more bold pattern. I am taking my normal route of cutting to general length, planing down, and straightening the edges.
However, I want to go one more step with this. Id like the edges that will be together to be nice and snug. So, here is a choice to scribe long boards together. My method is to lay two boards side by side, clamp down a straight edge, and run my circular saw between the edges. This will effectively scribe one board to the other, and give me nice tight joints!
In the last picture, I have glued all boards and clamped everything in place. You cant see it, but the core is underneath the clamped layer of oak. I started with the center board and worked my choice to the outsides. I made sure to apply a full spread of Titebond III waterproof glue, on the surface that is in contact with the core and also the edges (I use a 3" wide foam brush to spread the glue - works great - then just throw it achoice).
After this has dried, I will rough trim the edges close to the core, and then do final shaping with the router and a flush trim bit.

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