Wood 'n' Soul

Over the weekend, I got a new commission from a truly wonderful couple! A bedroom set starting with a really elegant, Arts and Crafts dresser! A really good sized one as the concept sketches show. I designed the set to go into their Craftsman house and feel right at home with their other Crafsman/Arts and Crafts pieces.

Below are the concept drawings for the project.






I heard from her today and the straight legs are in!

I think we are going to look seriously at Madrone and Walnut - all California wood for a couple of native Californians!

More as this project moves forward! We have a good bit of design work to finish and some other projects we need to finish for some other really nice people, so I think we’ll start actually building in late summer or early fall.

I finished this chair a couple of days ago. Here is a photo of the finished piece. Now I have to rebuild another one of the set and refinish the other chairs and table - in a hurry! I think I mentioned before I have this mental image of these nice folks and their kids standing around holding their plates while eating dinner... gotta hurry!



I think we’ll get the other chairs and table this weekend. Then its off to the races!

I cut out a trial leg for the Grandillo [if I can find enough] bed. It has a really nice line to it. I’ll have some pix of it and the footer leg, which I am now making, after they come back to me.

I have some more finish samples to do, then actually build the tables; a mantel and built-in cabinets; and some drawings for a large hutch for one of the wineries. Lots to do and I like it that way.

Here are some pix of a chair I’m rebuilding. I love building and fixing chairs. It is all art and engineering combined to make the perfect place to sit.

This is a dinning room chair - I’ll soon be working on it’s three siblings and the matching table. Once I start it will have to be a fast track project because the nice people who belong to the set will have no place to eat.

The shaving horse is a wonderful tool. Invented around the 17th century, it really hasn’t been improved on much at all since then. The bicycle inner tube around the stay is a bit on the modern side... The horse has a v-notch at the back and clamps to hold almost any shape for cutting or drilling or shaping. Every time I use it I marvel at its elegant simplicity and efficiency. There is no better tool for making chairs.



I was cutting notches for the pegs in the top of the legs.



This image shows all of the leg parts turned [legs, rungs and stretchers], but not yet sized.


This is the chair with its legs - not cut to length or runged.


I plan to have this one ready for finishing on Monday or Tuesday.

Still working on paint samples---sigh...

Have a great weekend - We’re all going to the Russian River Rodeo - Yeehhaaaa!