Bench Done/ Cabinet Started

So the finish is all on the bench now. it is baby smooth and beautiful cherry. I used through dovetails to join the main carcass together. The stretcher is done with through wedged tenons. All very strong joints that are also very decorative. This was a great project to get some skills back , learn other new skills, and to learn their method of start to finish design and build.

Heidi came and visited and we hiked up a mountain which made this Florida boy who is used to very flat hikes totally worn out. That being said, the view form up top was amazing. I highly recommend this hike.

The week started with drawings and sketches. Every time we had what we wanted, the instructors sent us back to draw draw draw even more. it was a great exercise in working out the design and concept of a piece. I know, you say furniture has no concept other than to be sat in. You are wrong. After I had the type of piece I wanted to build, I made a full size maquette out of cardboard to work out proportions. i did research on the style of cabinet I wanted to build and made it. When I showed it to my instructors, David told me to flip it and look at the proportions that way just as a playful exercise. What a difference. it made the cabinet seem lighter and more refined.

Next i made a small wooden maquette to 1/5 size to think about joinery, looks, and true proportions. After toying with it a few ways to think about what i was seeing, i went to a technical drawing and cutlist. i drew out the whole cabinet and worked out all o fthe different styles of joinery that i was going to use in this piece. Basically, there is roughly 40 hours just in the design of this piece (there could easily be more, but time restraints take hold at some point. Think about that when buying custom furniture people, and then pay us lots of money, lol.

One of the features that i want to use in the build of my piece are my drawings and carving. I am going to be decorating the interior of my piece with them in either a storyboard style or refined pattern. Not sure how yet, until i build and see the interior. One of my instructors, Brian recommended looking at an artist named Jenna Goldberg because she decorates, draws, and screenprints all over her pieces. So amazing. Love her work. It goes well with the parquetry style that Brian teaches. These are going to be 2 very good influences on me in thinking about pattern, design, and decoration of a piece.

Finally, I had to present my piece to the class and work out any issues that I may have overlooked in the build. What a great exercise this is. David, my teacher, caught a design flaw that i may not have noticed until i was almost done with the cabinet.

Week One or holy crap am i ever gonna get any sleep

So, time for the weekly post a few days late. My internet went out on Sunday when i was planning to post. Thats life in Maine. Its still beautiful weather up here. The locals are complaining about it being warm. Mid-70s is warm to them. I have worked everyday since last Monday when i got here.

Met my class on Monday. Should be a good summer as everyone seems to be very positive type people. My two teachers are Brian Reid and David Upton Brown. They are amazing woodworkers. I hit the jackpot in terms of teachers. Great furniture builders and very good teachers. Both seem to be extremely knowledgable and very attentive to the students. The school is amazing. We are in a separate building with 3 rooms. a benchroom where we each get our own bench and cabinet, the machine room, and the drawing room.

Last week started with hand tool working. Lots and lots of sharpening and maintenance of tools. We then started work on hand cutting joints. Lots of practice joints and ways to work. Fun stuff, but time consuming. i feel like im learning woodworking all over again, with a stronger emphasis on hand tools and less on machines. its a great meditative way to work for sure.

The first week ended with drawing up our plans for a bench ( a very simple project using all hand cut joints as a skill building project). I kept it simple since we only had a week to build it in and there were going to be plenty of lectures during the week taking up work time.



This week started out with a bang. Finish milling up the lumber we rough milled on the weekend, and start building our benches.

The Trip

the tenth anniversary trip en route to Maine is now officially over. Class starts tomorrow and i gotta say i am very ready for it to begin. I want to start building building building.

Our trip started in D.C. after a very long drive. We went out for our anniversary dinner at a restaurant called Citronelle. Holy crap was it amazingly good. It easily goes down as one of the best meals of my life. 10 courses. wine pairings. split pea soup with lump crab cake. soft shell crab. top 5 meal ever for sure.



The next day was basically tourist hell. we tooled all around D.C., seeing everything we could in a one day trip. it was a little bit of an ass kicker, but worth it. great art and historical sights everywhere. We went to the Renwick gallery for their fine art crafts. its amazing the talent that exists in this world.

Monuments, reflection ponds, white house, capital building, congressional library, and supreme court were next with the Hirschorn Gallery and Smithsonian National Art Gallery thrown in the mix.

great dinner with our friend Chris that night, and an early drive over to Baltimore the next morning to see the aquarium and eat crabcakes.

From Baltimore, we drove to Philly immediately hitting Old Town. We did the Philly museum to give out a little Rocky love, followed by the Rodin museum.

Then off to Boston, where i had the best lobster roll ever at Neptune's. I also had the worst meal of my life. Erbaluce was an absolutely terrible restaurant. Just plain bad. don't go. ever.