Ted

Liesls' Dad, Ted Carlson, has graciously donated his space for us to use. Here he is turning a bowl on his new Robust lathe.

Liesls Studio

We finally got Liesls studio space set up. As you can see she has great natural light coming into the space. The wood stove will keep the area cozy in the winter. Liesl is featured in Lark books " 30 minute earrings" due out this June.

From Mobile to Studio

Liesl , Quinn and I have finally settled in in Massachusetts. We have moved to Whitinsville, Mass and have studios in Mendon , Mass, only a ten minute drive away from the house. Whitinsville is around 25 miles from Providence, RI.

Liesls' dad owns an old Mobile gas station that rests on 17 acres of wooded land full of maple trees that he taps for syrup.

We have moved our studios into the space. It is a large three bay garage with an office, two bathrooms and a front space that is now Liesls' jewelry studio. We are very excited to be in this space, it is in a large traffic area that should be good for business. It feels good to be back making full time.

Hunterdon Art Museum

On Sunday Liesl, Quinn and I went to the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ for the opening reception of an exhibition titled " Uplifting Sound: Interactive Sculpture " by artist Gary DiBenedetto. Gary is a friend of mine and was an artist - in- residence at Peters Valley Craft Center.

I enjoyed working next to Gary in the wood studio for a couple of months, it was inspiring and motivating.

Garys' sculptures are awesome, they fit very well within the walls and space of the museum. Gary uses everyday objects, such as an old woodworking bench and vise and utilizes their moving parts to generate sound. Garys pieces are truley interactive, you have to turn the wheel in order to hear the sound generated through the headphones.

The exhibition runs through to May 12. I highly suggest seeing the exhibition, it is very inspiring.

To learn more about Gary and to view more of his work visit his web site at http://www.garydibenedetto.com./

Our friend Andy Dalpe, who lives nearby, met us at the gallery. Andy, with his late partner Wally Barnette, owned and operated " Gallery 31" in Glen Gardner, NJ. Wally believed enough in me to give me the opportunity to currate an exhibition on studio furniture. That is how the exhibition " Not Your Father's Furniture " was born

Tired

I have been invited to participate in an exhibition to be held at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, MA durring their 2010 Art Allstate event. The piece I am submitting for inclusion in the exhibition is a collaborative piece between myself, furniture makers Jo Stone and Lynn Szymanski. The piece is titled " Tired" A chair you sit on to take off your boots after a long, hard days work out in the fields.

Tables Delivered

Last Sunday I delivered the two side tables to Fiona. She loved them, they worked very well in her space. It is always a great pleasure when you become a member of some on'es family. That's how I feel when I do comissioned work, I become a member of the family, part of their history. It's awesome. Thanks Fiona.

The road to the wood shop

Last Saturday I drove up to the Peters Valley Wood Studio to assemble Fionas tables and to get them ready for delivery. The area had just had a dusting of snow. I don't agree with the politics that is Peters Valley but for the last three and a half years this has been my commute to work'
Not a bad drive to work at all.

I've enjoyed my time here immensly and have made a lot of good friends, who I know will be my friends through life. I have had the pleasure of working next to such notable makers such as Jere Osgood. Stephen Proctor, Peter Galbert and Chris Beecksvoort, just to name a few. I will miss the commute to work.

Fionas' Tables

Fionas tables turned out well. The contrast between the walnut and the curly maple looks terrific. The brass drawer pulls add to the warm hue of the wood and the finish. These are an example of the type of tables we will be making in my " Table manners" workshop I'll be teaching this summer at Peters Valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ and at Arrowmont School of Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN.

Finishing the tops

A product I use frequently is an oil based finishing product manufactured by Sterling, a min-wax commercial product. The product is

used for finishing hardwood floors. It is much like a Watco product and comes in various tints.

I use the Neutral tint based product. It is very easy to use, two coats is sufficient. You simply wipe it on, wait 10 minutes and then wipe off the excess. This is what I used on Fionas tables. I used two coats of Duraseal and then a coat of wax.

Fitting drawers

Today I went to the the studio and started fitting the drawers and making the runners. I cut dados into the drawer sides and made hardwood runners to fit the dados. I use double sided tape to temporarily hold the runners in place while I test fit the drawers. Once I have the drawers where I want them I drill pilot holes, remove the runners and then screw them permantely in place. I then cut and fit the false fronts. Once the front is installed I trim the back of the drawer bottom to act as the drawer stop.

All that is left to do is to final sand, cut and trim the tops and oil and wax the tables.

Drawers

Today I only had an hour to work in the shop but I spent the time fitting the drawers in the tables. The drawers will be side mounted. They will have a cleat attached that will ride on a cleat attached to the inside of the aprons.

The curly maple false fronts will be attached and will be inset to the face of the drawer fronts.

I extend the drawer bottoms past the back of the drawer itself. This hits the back of the table and acts as my drawer stop.

Table Joinery

Today I was only able to get into the shop for an hour but it was enough time to finish sanding and glueing up the tables. The legs are joined to the rails and stretchers with a mortise and tenon for the side rails and with a through dovetail into the leg and a dovetail into the top of the leg for the front drawer rails.

The tables are finally glued up. Now all that is left is to add the drawer guides and the tops, then oil and wax the tables.

More sanding

Yesterday was a great day to fire up the old wood stove, put on some music and sand and glue up table parts. An hour here and there can really make a difference'

We are in the middle of packing up the house and studio so there isn't a lot of time to spend on the tables. Now that most of the sanding is out of the way the rest should go quickly.

Process

Today we had some freezing rain in our area so I wasn't able to get to the wood studio and work on the tables. I stayed at home and worked on some ideas I had for other projects.

All of us have our own design process. I start by sketching thumbnail sketches in my sketch book. These are doodles, ideas, notes to jog my memory. These sketches are like writing yourself a reminder note to pick up milk on the way home. Once I have an idea I like I start to refine it more and more. I then make larger working drawings of the object and then when they are solidified I'll make a maquet/model of the piece.

Bowls and Tops

A few weeks back I went over to my friend Harvey Fein's house on Culver Lake for a lesson in woodturning. Even though I founded the Watergap Woodturners I don't turn much.

Harvey has a lot of patience and together we turned a few tops and a bowl.

This post is for the benefit of the Watergap Woodturners, too show them that I have actually touched a lathe.

Sanding, Sanding, Sanding

Sanding is the last thing I want to do on a beautiful 50 degree January day but it is a necessary evil. I normally cut up sandpaper into quarters, put on some good jazz music and get down to business. Today I was sanding drawer and table parts as well as finishing some cutting boards. I make the cutting boards out of the off cuts from other projects. You have to have smaller, cheaper wares to sell. Sometimes the smaller items are the ones that get you through the lean times. I make two sizes of cutting boards. A 20 inch and 14 inch size.

Thickness sanding

Today Quinn and I went to visit my friend Steve Wenzel at his shop. Steve is a furniture maker near Sparta, New Jersey. Steve's specializes in period furniture, particularly in Windsor chairs.

Steve Has a great shop and garciously let me run some table tops through his thickness sander.

Steve makes a lot of large tables so purchasing a thickness sander made sense. This particular machine cost close to $10,000. What took us 10 minutes to do with the sander probably would have taken an hour or more by hand.

Glue up and drawers

Yesterday I milled stock for the two table tops. I used three boards of walnut too get the amount I needed. I was amazed at the difference in density between the boards. I also milled and cut to size stock for the two mahogany drawers. Tomorrow I will take the glued tops to a friends shop and run them through his thickness planer. This helps speed up the sanding process for me greatly. We'll sand the baords to 150 grit with the sander and then to 220 grit by hand.

I'll then sand the inside of the drawer parts and glue them together and attach the curly maple fronts.

Tables Continued

Today I was in the studio working on cutting the through dovetail in the front rail into the leg and chopping the dovetail into the top of the leg for the top rail. I then worked out the boards for the top.

I cut the through dovetail using the router and I cut the top dovetail with a straight bit and the router and then used a chisel to finish the dovetail by hand.

Last Call

The Watergap Woodturners met as usual on the first Wednesday of the month at the wood studio at Peters Valley. This months meeting was my last meeting as President of the chapter. I have stepped down and will be moving on. The group gave me an incredible, generous send off. I thank each member very much. The meeting started with a brief talk about the future of the chapter and a unofficial election of officers. We then shared in cutting the cake and a show and tell. Thank you again to all of the members who have supported me in my endeavors over the last year and a half. I am very gratefull for your dedication and comittment in keeping the group alive and prosperous.

Thank you'

Walnut Tables

I made the legs for these tables. I cut the mortises and now I have to cut the tenons. I cut tenons using stack dado blades on the table saw. I prefer this method because I only have one adjustment too make, which iliminates room for error. I set my blade height. I then set my fence.The distance from the outside blade to the fence equals the length of my tenon. I make a test cut and then proceed to cut all of my tenons. If the tenon is centered on your apron you need only to flip the aprons over and repeat the same process. If the tenon is off set then you need only to raise the blade the apropriate height and then repeat the process.

I then flip the aprons onto their side, adjust blade height and cut the ears.