a coffee table, but not really a table just for coffee.

This table is not new. I completed it over a year ago. I was just scrolling through some older posts and realized that I had neglected to post it. This table has an interesting story. One day in the school shop, I found some cherry scraps (the word "scrap" might be the most used word on this blog). I had never worked with it before, so I just started making drawer fronts with it and some poplar (cherry smells really good when you cut it). Then I realized I wanted to tackled round corners using an approach I had seen reserved only for pedestal table columns. Then I made some panels, and knew that I wanted cone shaped legs and cherry inlays.

This was the table that hooked me. A good friend of mine gave me the book "The Alchemist" about a year ago as well. I like parts of it, and I don't like other parts of it. In the book, the author talks about the first time an individual encounters his or her calling, and makes something that feels perfect to them. From then on, they try to recapture that feeling, often without any luck. The pieces I have built since this table have been in pursuit of that feeling. I gave this table to my Granny because she has selflessly opened door after door for me.

new projects with old materials, and the birds that like 'em

As mentioned in an earlier post (although blogs don't work chronologically, so you're seeing the newest posts first, so I can't really say previously, or maybe I could), I was given some pieces and parts of furniture from antique dealer in downtown Enterprise that sustained smoke damage from a nearby fire. The headboard bench and the drawer table are the first few pieces to be created from that lot. The bench features a finished (and slightly damaged) headboard, some reworked stair treads, some salvaged oak posts, and some salvaged pine from an old barn. When I walked into the barn to take these photographs, a small wren was sitting on it- no lie.

The table utilizes some random wood slabs that were ripped (cut lengthwise on the table saw) and then glued into new panels. The drawer serves multiple purposes, functioning as storage and as the apron (stabilizing) device. No, the drawer doesn't slide forwards and backwards.

The next piece underwent a reincarnation of sorts as well. This once "Staff Women" door was reformatted into a hefty yet comfortable bench. I really like to sit on it. Perhaps that wren would as well, only there is no wren access into the dairy barn. One rip of twelve inches was made, and all that material serves as the legs. A second rip of 1" was made to remove the side of the door with the latch. A dado trench was made and then the skinny rip was inlaid into the top of the bench. Earlier plans included a door latch push button ejector seat device, but we all decided a wren wouldn't need such a thing as that.

touchin' base

Its been pretty busy lately, and there has been a some neglect on this end as far as cyber posting responsibilities. So here are a few recent thought projections to serve as an appetizer for some quickly-to-be-posted-in-the-near-future-work.

In order of appearance: State Trooper chicken, Early Bird catches the coffee, Laughing Crow, Bird dialing a telephone.

blockhead dining table

"Charlie Brown, you're such a blockhead!" That is one of my favorite lines from the Charlie Brown Halloween special. The Great Pumpkin didn't show up when everyone thought it should have. For some reason, the Brazilian cherry square inlays in this table said the word blockhead. But not in a derogatory way, just in a blockhead kinda way.

This dining/breakfast table is 34" wide, 31 1/2" tall, and 5' long. The top features poplar with reused poplar (green stripe) from old posts, as well as reused oak posts for legs, which are lengthened with poplar.

scarecrow's flip flops

One afternoon last fall, I suddenly had an urge to pursue octogons. I remember listening to the Fleet Foxes song "Drops in the River" as I was standing at the miter saw working out the configuration. Then I started noticing the nice pattern that was occurring- the length of the short dimension on any member of the octogon is equal to the long dimension of the previous member. A few people in the shop were snickering and didn't think it would work..but it did.

This sideboard, or buffet as some may call it, is 38"tall, 60"long, and 20"deep. It is constructed of birch, Pennsylvania cherry, pine, poplar, and oak. The doors are louvered and feature textured glass. My good friend Jeremy Hester (Hester Stained Glass Studio) helped me with the glass work for the doors. The back of the piece is constructed entirely of scraps from the throw away bin.

This piece was a pleasure to make and was a learning process from start to finish.

Paintings on metal

Bottom__ "Hufflegrumpf" enamel and latex on steel. 10 wide by 30" tall. This character just looks like the word hufflegrumpf. This painting was done entirely with a random orbit palm sander except for the red circles.

Middle__ "Sawdust" this is a portrait I did of my cat, Sawdust. It is part of a series of drawings done on rusted tin panels. Sawdust has since run away. I think he is on the beach in Florida somewhere. 20" by 20"

Top__ "Bird in a hat" Enamel, latex, and pastel on steel. 8" wide by 14" tall

Blind Am, orbital sanders, fractions, and a play on words

Top__ this piece is titled "Blind Am and his washtub." Long ago, there was a blind, mentally handicapped black man named Am who lived on County Road 719. His house is still there, but he isn't. Am had very few skills given his physical and mental conditions, but he was quite mobile and industrious. He would drag around an old washtub with him and ask neighbors if they needed any clothes washing done. When he got tired, he would flip his washtub upside down and sit on it- wherever that may be that he felt like sitting.

2nd__ this piece has always eluded a title, and I have no idea why. I painted this piece entirely with a DeWalt random orbit sander.

3rd__ After getting heavy into furniture construction, I found myself always thinking in fractions due to the fact that I was reading a tape measure so much. I suppose I was reading more numerical fractions than words at that point.

4th__ "Power Plant." A picture of a plant with a green lightnin' bolt through it.