The wood pile

This may not be furniture but should be someday. This is about 1100 board feet of walnut, maple and cherry.








The wood is from the farm I grew up on in Michigan. There still one truck load left there that I'll get in December. Most of the wood is walnut. The logs on top of the stack are chestnut from a tree here in Winston Salem. As you can see below some of the walnut is 16.5" wide by 10' to 12' long.





Almost all this is cut at 8/4 thickness, so it will probably take about 2 years to dry. Most of it is also clear of any defects and has some pretty spectacular grain. Currently I'm a little over 800 board feet of walnut, and 200 of maple and 150 of cherry. Still more to come.



With all this lumber to store I went ahead and added storage space to the back side of the shop






The total size is 10' wide by 18' long. As you can see its built into the hill so I ended up doing a alot of digging there for awhile. So far its been very handy for storage, and my roofing job seems to be keeping it pretty dry.

Oak and Walnut Chairs

Here are two chairs made from Oak and Walnut. These chairs are a hybrid from chairs produced by George Nakashima and Sam Maloof. George Nakashima (and family) are famous for his two legged cantilevered chair, and the leg joinery and seat construction is based on Sam Maloof 's process. These chairs are great for a carpeted room since the feet act like ski's so the chair can slide up to the table very easily. Also since there are no front legs there very easy to get in and out of in a crowded space. I made a prototype of this style late last year so these are #2 & 3. These were completed in September.

Lacewood Rocking Chair

Another project I need to update, is the Lacewood rocker shown above. I had forgotten how dense lacewood can be, it machines and works alot like oak but this batch seemed much heavier and denser than I remembered.





The seat is made from 5 pieces cut at opposing angles and glued up. Prior to glueing the leg joinery is cut, and the seat profile is cut on the bandsaw. The seat is glued up using dowels for additional strength. The profile of the seat is completed using an angle grinder.





The legs for the chair are joined using a modified hip joint. These joints can be easily produced using a router. The back legs are at 3 degrees, while the front legs are perpendicular . The legs are rough cut on the bandsaw then finished using a template and a router.





The rockers and back slats are produced using bent lamination. I rip the stock to a thickness of 3/16" then using a male/female press I glue and clamp the pieces. After the glue has cured I shape the pieces using an angle grinder and hand rasps. Then its on to final assembly and sanding. Alot of sanding, then a hand rubbed oil and wax finish.

Kitchen Islands

These are several Kitchen Islands that I made for a clients new house. The Islands mimic the post and beam structure of the house. The Islands are 3' wide by 6" long with a 2" solid hard maple top and cherry and maple bottom. All three Islands are on 3" caster so that they can be moved to different spots in the house.

The top was edge glued using biscuits then cut to length and width. Using a plunge router with a 3/4" planer bit, and the jig in the picture I was able to "dish" the top out leaving a 1" rim a 1/4" high all around the top. The bottom frame was constructed of 8/4 cherry using mortice and tenon joinery.







The following picture shows the clamping and glueing of the base for the Islands.

To keep the base rigid the corner braces are morticed into the frame. All mortice and tenon joints are glued and pegged as well. The last part of the Island is a shelf on the bottom I made from maple and laid out in a grid work using half - lap joinery.

The top was finished using a "salad bowl" finish so its safe for food contact, and the base of the unit was finished using oil/varnish mixture and then an oil/wax mixture.