WHY BUY CUSTOM MADE?

We understand you are unique.  So why should you have the same furniture as your friends and neighbors?  You want your home to be a reflection of who you are.  Your typical furniture store carries what they think the Average person wants.  Let your furniture say so much more than “I’m Average”.  

As we mostly build custom work, there is no mass manufacturing.  When you call to discuss the design of the furniture you've always wanted, you are talking directly to the skilled artisan who will build it.  Your personal sense of style goes into making a piece you will value for years.  We build with the future in mind.  We want you to be able to hand down this unique piece to future generations.   

Earth Day: Being Green

Being Green shouldn't just be for 1 day of the year.  Yes, it's Earth Day, but let's talk about some sound practices that can make a difference all year long.

In the spirit of that I'm recycling a previous post about how we are "Green" at our shop:

Most shops buy cups to mix stain in….I save my soda cans, cut off the bottom and have a cup.  After I’m done using it, I send it to the recycling plant.  

Most shops buy bottles to properly store stains after mixing them.

 Did you know that soda bottles (the plastic ones) are resistant to acetone, lacquer, thinner and basically every other chemical used in the common wood shop?   I've known this for years and use them all to store these items.  This saves money for the shop and reuses (recycles) these ‘throw away’ products giving them a second life before I send them to the recycling plant.  I pay for them once and use them twice.

Lumber.  I have a ‘firewood pile’ in the shop.  It’s all the scraps from projects worked on.  I even draw from it all the time in the shop if I need a small piece for a moulding , test piece, peg or dowel etc, etc. Then, as a last use, when the pile gets too big I take it out camping with me and…firewood it is (cherry makes some fine tasting marshmallows btw).  I’m currently using the sawdust in the shop to store my olive tree slabs to dry them for my Master’s Project.  Said and done right now only about 3% of all lumber coming into the shop ends up in a landfill.   Judging from the 17 other woodshops outside my door, other shops seem to average about 10-15%.

Rags come from friends, neighbors and old work clothes.  I haven’t bought a rag in the entire history of my shop.

Glass/aluminum are used whenever and wherever I can.  10yrs ago I bought aluminum bottles for my water out camping (the kind you can see in every environmentally friendly hand today)….all my friends said I was crazy and bought lexan bottles.  Mine are all still in use and all of theirs are now in landfills.

GLASS! The miracle product!  It needs no recycling! Hey people…it’s a ROCK it started a ROCK and it’s still a ROCK and it will return to being a ROCK when humans are all dead and gone from this planet!  There is even an entire beach in northern California, known for its beauty, that’s totally made of glass shards due to a now defunct glass factory located nearby.  It’s all been rounded by the sea and re-deposited on the beach.  And study after study cannot find any detrimental effects to the environment…it’s a ROCK people!

Am I an eco nut?...not on your life.  However common sense and a general care of where and how I live goes a long way towards being green.

Remember who your friends are

For those of you who have followed my blog you know who BOB is.

He is the guy who comes in the shop and helps out with decades of experience as a math professor and a couple decades beyond that as an all around good helper and handyman.  He is also the guy who gave me my tree to work on my masters project.  He has been a very good friend and one I am indebted to. 


With that said, I'm repaying debts. :)  Jan, Bobs wife isn't getting around as well anymore and needed a ramp on the back of the house. So, I made a materials list, Bob went shopping and I came over the next day.
    
8 hours and 2 pulled hamstrings later: Jan had a new ramp on the back of the house.

She had a new ramp that allows her to get into and out of the house on her own. Giving her back the  freedom she was missing.

After giving Jan back some freedom and crippling myself for three days, do I feel I'm 'even' with Bob?...not on your life! 

Beyond anything and everything Bob has done for me or I have done for him , or we will do for each other. - It doesn't matter.  We are friends and friends help each other, and if you cant rely on your friends to be there for you like this ... maybe you should find better friends. 

Start by Being A Bob.

Square Pegs into Round Holes

Nature VS. nurture?....That's the time old question isn't it? Well I believe BOTH...but not in the traditional manor.

I believe that a normal healthy mind is capable of ALL things at conception....natures bounty if you will.
Then we nurture it into oblivion! The only thing that stops this is the individuals personal desires.

Case in point:
When I was in preschool, at about 4yrs old, I was told it wasn't possible to put the square peg in the round hole in that little toy with all the shapes (shape sorter?) - I STRONGLY DISAGREED - I got in trouble with the teacher.... In those days they were made of wood LOL (yeah I'm old....so are most are you so give me a break LOL).  Then at recess they gave me the shape sorter...and a small ball peen hammer (metal) I spent all recess diligently working with small taps and put the square peg into the round hole. I was VERY proud of myself!  I had proven my point!  Again, I got into trouble....with the teacher, principal and MOM (she had to pay for it LOL).

I don't believe anything is impossible. -I- may not be able to do it. -You- may not be able to do it., but somewhere at some point in time someone was able, can now  or will be able to do it simple because someone said "YOU CAN'T".

Today almost 40yrs later I've almost perfected putting square pegs into round holes as represented in my furniture produced. My mother seemed disappointed when I told her about it yrs ago....I guess my nature was stronger than my surrounding nurture. 

MY Shop

We often ponder the question, of “Who Am I?” versus “What Am I?”.  Some people do their job, because it’s what they do.  Some people do their job, because it’s who they are.  I guess the only difference is passion.  So let me tell you my story about Hal.  An old-timer, retired woodworker and friend. 

Hal owned his shop for 40 years.  The time came where he decided he was old enough and done enough and it was time to walk away.  To enjoy the sunset of his life and spend time with his wife.  So he made amends with all of his customers, sold off most of his equipment, cleaned out the rest and took it home to store it in the garage.  And then went back to turn in the keys on his leased space.  They did the walk through, everything was fine.  He gave the keys back and no longer had his shop.  He got in the car and started on his 40 mile drive to his new home.   He made it about 400 feet before he pulled over and broke down in tears.  He wasn’t sad, he wasn’t upset, and he wasn’t happy or overjoyed he was simply lost.  After 40 years he had no idea what to do, where to go, or who he was.  He’d lost his passion. 

So let’s jump forward a couple of years with old Hal.  He’s now a happy, energetic go-lucky type of guy.  He bought a new table saw, put it in his garage and now instead of 5 jobs a month, he does 5 jobs a year.  

Guess you can’t take the man out of the shop, because if you do you’ll break the shop that’s still in the man.  

No Fluff

Ok it has come to my attention that some people think I don’t post on my blog enough….  Well maybe that is true.  There are many things going on in the shop that I probably should post about.  But here’s the thing on that…I only post the things that I think are important and that I hope may not only be informative but that also can teach something.  While I –could- post 10-15X a day like I see some others do…here’s the reality of it …I believe it lessens what I post.  People simply stop looking or worse still block people who post too often…  Does it matter to you that I’ve made another trophy?(I make hundreds a year)  Do you care that my other ½ came into the shop today and that this is one of only about 3 days a year where I’m actually typing this from the shop instead of from home at night?

Point and lesson from today?...NO FLUFF!!!! I try not to post it…nor do I read it J

Growth Rings as a finger print

  

I may have my dates wrong on this, but I’m close.

About 1993 they found a Viking dragon ship in the muck of the bogs of Northern England.  Archeologists excavated it and did whatever they do to clean it all up.  But then somebody had the question, where did it come from.  So they started looking and tried to figure out how to figure out where this Viking longship came from.  After floundering for months, somebody came up with the bright idea to take a core sample from the keel of the ship (because typically on a wooden ship, the keep is the singular larges piece of lumber in its construction).  So they took the core sample and started studying the growth rings.  By studying the growth rings they were able to tell the weather patterns of the years during the trees growth (flood, draught, fire, etc.).   So once they figured out the weather patterns they started looking around for another record of weather dating back 800(?) years.  What they finally came to first start comparing to, was arctic snow/ ice core samples.  Comparing the two they were able to identify the exact year which that tree was cut down in order to make the keel.   Continuing with the fascination of the idea, they decided to see if they could find the forest used to make the ship.  They went around the port, that became the bog the ship was found in and finally found a “forest” of stumps buried a few feet underground a couple of miles away.   So they started digging around and digging up stumps and wouldn’t you know it, lo and behold they actually managed to find the exact tree that became the keel.  How did they know it was the same tree?  The growth rings of course.  

So they started looking around at other trees of this forest and comparing it to other parts of this longship and were able to identify several other parts back to specific trees.  Somewhere along during this the forestry ministry of England heard about what they were doing and went and asked them how accurate they could be.  The response was, they’ve been 98% accurate in identifying parts of the shop and various other artifacts that they had found.  So the ministry came up with a great idea. 

Now see there’s a little known problem around the world – poaching – of trees.  Some will call it illegal logging, but it’s basically the definition of going into protected lands and cutting down rare and endangered species of trees in order to sell them from profit.  But now we’re back to the fingerprints.  When you cut down a tree you leave a stump.  That stump has growth rings, those growth rings are the trees fingerprint, and now we can find and track the log.  So this is just what the English forestry ministry proposed.  What they proposed was simple, take a data base of the fingerprint/ growth ring of every log harvested.  

Somehow, somebody in NATO thought this was a great idea.  So around 2003 this became standard practice for any responsible nation.   Now, can we catch the random little tribesmen in the jungle cutting down a tree?  No.  Can we tell that a tree has been illegally harvested?  Yes.  Can we track that illegally harvested tree back to its source?  Absolutely.  At least as far as the first man who bought it.  And he of course is the problem.  So now we can lock him up and the villager or tribesman can get a commission to legally harvest when and where appropriate.  Thereby protecting the natural resources. 

So I’m thinking this is going to be one huge database at some point, with all of the gazillion trees cut down worldwide every year.  But, it’s kind of a nice thought that in a 1000 years somebody will be able to find my table and track it down to the forest that it started in.  Hopefully they’ll appreciate the work I’ve done.  

The Right Tool

     Use the right tool for the job!...How many times have we all heard dad tell us that!? (Even as he was pounding nails into the walls with the back of a screwdriver LOL)
     Lets face it he was right and now its our turn to scream at our kids(WOOT!). Even still we often DON'T use the right tool. No matter how we try, because as simple as it seems it's often more difficult than it seems to do.
     Many people think that a pencil is all you will ever need in a wood shop. To a large degree they are probably right.

The question is "Which pencil???"

I use a lot of marking implements in my shop. A standard old #2 pencil is great MOST of the time, however. I work in 128ths of an inch every so often and a #2 pencil no matter how sharp, just wont do the job. So in that case I use a marking knife. When I am marking walnut in irregular shapes (I actually do this quite often) a Pencil just doesn't work at all - it doesn't make enough contrast to see the line when cutting on the bandsaw - I use a green pencil (or even better -shocker- a PEN, ink and all LOL) because they create more contrast against the browns and reds of the walnut. When I'm marking the center of a hole (for drilling) I like to use an ice pick - Its simple and does the job. Lastly, remember those big square pencils grandpa always told you was the only pencil you will ever need because is a 'carpenters pencil'? Well I even have a use for that one - Sanding. Yup I said  it right , SANDING. When I'm doing a final sand on a job and I'm looking for all previous grits scratches a square carpenters pencil is what reach for, its big and lays down a lot of graphite. Which makes scratches easy to see, then I just sand it until the graphite is all gone and more often than not - so are the scratches.
     So you see I went through and wrote this whole blog asking and telling about our sample of a pencil as a tool and still never answered which one is the RIGHT one for the job, as I stated earlier its not such a simple question. All I can say is you know when you are abusing a tool and dad also taught you this - Take care of your tools and they will take care of you.

Be A Bob

Years ago when I was sitting in math class doing a whole lot of nothing my teacher had a poster on the wall that I remember clearly :

     Be A Lert , the world needs more Lerts

     I always thought it was funny and I have never forgotten it.

     Bob is my friend who graciously gave me the olive tree in his back yard that is supplying most of the lumber for my master's project. He also supplied the shovels, pick , rakes, tow chain, chainsaw (I have since bought my own) etc.Until he went in for eye surgery this 75yo man worked out there helping me dig, trim and so on.

     Now let me tell you, I'm 42 and have NO PROBLEM saying I'll work a 20-something guy into the dirt. But i gotta say this 75yo man with his 1920's work ethic put me to shame and outworked me till the day before surgery. He also managed to teach me a lot along the way. He did all this for nothing. It benefited him nothing. He is just that good of a guy.

     Moral?...while the world really does need more Lerts....Be a BOB, the world will never have enough

Secrets

I was just watching a video on U-tube where someone was SHOWING how the secret compartments they had made worked. To say the least I found this appalling. They are called secrets for a reason! Am I upset because he is giving away trade secrets? Eh - whatever.

What I am upset about is that someone commissioned the piece to be made in good faith in order to hide something. If they choose to tell about their piece  - so be it. But for a furniture maker to be telling how & where & TO WHOM he sold this secret compartment is appalling.

For thousands of years before banks were commonly available it was the furniture makers job to make secret compartments to hide valuables in. Most often if someone could afford to commission a piece of quality - they could also afford your head in a ditch. Hence the tradition of keeping secrets was founded and enforced with a furniture maker until it became a point of swelling pride.

Then some yahoo (who does BEAUTIFUL work BTW) goes and puts it on U-tube for the world to know  not only who to rob...but how to open the compartments and where to find them!.....even worse some other country with cheap labor will steal his ideas (since he showed in great detail how the system worked) and mass produce them at 25% of his cost.
How does someone so talented make such a dumb mistake?

Trophies

    We all like receiving trophies. I make a lot of them for customers. But, like many I don't receive many myself.

     Today I received one of the best I have ever been awarded.

     Back up one year. My daughter's friend from High School was working on his Eagle Scout award.
He was to make a podium for the High School wrestling team.  One of the types that has a 1st, 2nd, & 3rd award levels.  He asked if I could provide (donate) the shop for him to build it and offer some advice on construction methods.  To which I agreed (what kind of a schmuck wouldn't?)   He came over a few days later and built the podium to the concept of a kit.  (Part of it he had to instruct younger scouts to finish the project, this is a leadership award after all).

     That was a year ago (+) and I haven't thought about it much since.

     Today he came back around saying he had been accepted to a prestigious college.  Letting it be known that it was in no small part due to his Eagle Scout award as his grades weren't all that good. What he brought with him was a thank you card. Written by his own hand.

And there you have it - MY TROPHY. A hand written thank you.  By a 18yr old boy turning into a fine man.

This card will be hung in my shop to remind me that while cash for a job well done may be nice (And a necessity of life) sometimes there are payments that are worth so much more.

Do you walk on water?

Neither do I. Although it seems many of us believe we do.

Point in Case:. I am a furniture maker working towards my masters ------------ .  I ask A LOT of questions. I ask my friends, family, other professionals around me.  Heck I've even asked strangers!...What do I ask them?  I ask "what do you think of this?" Or that? Or the other...Why?....because the more I learn the more I understand that I haven't learned much, LOL.

We are in a trade that is AT LEAST 7000YRS OLD (that is the age of the earliest known piece of furniture - a stool) and honestly I realize that in my short 42yrs I haven't had TIME to be exposed to everything that has been learned in this trade in the last 3 1/2 millennium.

Back to the case
     I walked into a friends shop the other day (He is a commercial cabinet maker) and he was making a dresser for his soon to be born daughter. He was using drawer fronts that were left over for a job a couple of yrs ago. Now dont get me wrong they were NICE drawer fronts - solid beech and 5 piece - and he had made the dresser to match them. Kinda. What he had done was make a European style cabinet and slapped a face frame on the front of it with a typical 1/4" back with the sides and front going flat strait to the floor. Now this is going to be a very nice Euro/American style cabinet. It is not however going to be a nice dresser.  
  It lacks legs...or ornamentation or supports to the back or quality drawers (He was ordering them made with a butt joint const.)  He put a roman ogee around the tops on 3 sides to 'dress it up' as he put it...but again this would look good sitting in your kitchen as a bank of drawers, but this was a DRESSER for a LITTLE GIRL! it needs a toe kick & a wall to be attached to as he built it.
    

My problem here is this : He didn't ask any of the 7 guys around with furniture making experience.
     Was he required to? No. Should he have?...Why not? We are all friends & more than willing to help in any way we can...We are all like surrogate dad wannabe's for him and happy about his new born to come. So there would have been no shame or downcast looks at him...We all know what we know & for each of us what we know is different from the next guy.

BUT apparently he believes he walks on water. He among all of us is the only guy to never ask for help, or advice and is insulted if advice is offered freely (So I didn't on this occasion). Its sad for me to think of his little girl growing up with furniture for the next 20yrs that her mother would be proud to have in the kitchen...but will always look out of place in her bedroom - especially that of a little girl.

Lesson
     If you want to be good at anything - leave the ego at the door.  There is more to learn than you have time to and it never hurts to ask, all you can do is learn.

P.S.: It took me 15yrs to learn this lesson and still sometimes struggle with it.

MY Shop

We often ponder the question, of “Who Am I?” versus “What Am I?”.  Some people do their job, because it’s what they do.  Some people do their job, because it’s who they are.  I guess the only difference is passion.  So let me tell you my story about Hal.  An old-timer, retired woodworker and friend. 

Hal owned his shop for 40 years.  The time came where he decided he was old enough and done enough and it was time to walk away.  To enjoy the sunset of his life and spend time with his wife.  So he made amends with all of his customers, sold off most of his equipment, cleaned out the rest and took it home to store it in the garage.  And then went back to turn in the keys on his leased space.  They did the walk through, everything was fine.  He gave the keys back and no longer had his shop.  He got in the car and started on his 40 mile drive to his new home.   He made it about 400 feet before he pulled over and broke down in tears.  He wasn’t sad, he wasn’t upset, and he wasn’t happy or overjoyed he was simply lost.  After 40 years he had no idea what to do, where to go, or who he was.  He’d lost his passion. 

So let’s jump forward a couple of years with old Hal.  He’s now a happy, energetic go-lucky type of guy.  He bought a new table saw, put it in his garage and now instead of 5 jobs a month, he does 5 jobs a year.  Guess you can’t take the man out of the shop, because if you do you’ll break the shop that’s still in the man.