I have been thinking about new work for the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in NYC and the Smithsonian Craft Show in D.C.. The need for new work seems to have converged with a bit of success one of my pieces has had in the blogosphere. I recently added Desk #1 to my website. I made this piece while I was a student and it marks the moment that my style had matured. The piece is still one of the best that I have made and someone at the Russian design blog Novate agreed. Well, I think they agreed! Please do not shatter my fragile ego if this translates to something less than flattering.

Occasionally a blog post will go a bit viral. This one traveled through a number of translations into half a dozen languages before it ended up in English again. This digital success encouraged me to do something that i have alway wanted to do- revisit this piece. In the coming blog posts I will chronicle the process of designing and building a piece like this.

My goal is to pick up where I left off with the desk and see if I can push new ground. The first principal that will be different is the two tiered approach to the curved elements in this desk. The original had a three layer system. The model below helped me get organized and then…

I was able to pull the actual curves down from the shelf and mock it up. Purchasing and inventorying these steam bent curves was one of the best things I have done for my workflow! Once I had the curves where i wanted them I was able to cut plywood blocks to help me figure out the angles that I would need to cut on the legs. You may notice that the curve on the left is quite thick. I will need to trim it down before I go any farther.

I take the piece over to my big saw, the Tannewitz, and peel off a useable chunk. I love that saw!

A quick trip to my State disk sander to clean up the bandsaw marks and I am back to figuring out the joinery.

I mentioned these pieces before. They will show me the profile that the legs will need to have to give the desk it’s shape.

Here they are lined up agains the end of the 3″ thick maple board. You can see that my approach to woodworking is very efficient! I will be able to get the maximum yield from this piece of wood.

The legs start their transformation from this huge plank at the chop saw station. Then it is back to the trusty Tanny to rough the legs out. I used the plywood template from the previous shot to set the angle of the table.

I take the legs over to the Oliver Jointer to clean up one side of each leg.

Next in the chain is the planer. I will clean up the side of the board parallel to the one that I just did on the jointer

I get some more mileage out of those plywood pieces. I use one to set the angle on the table saw.

Now they see their final action. I set the angle on the small jointer to clean up the remaining rough surfaces on the legs.

I have replaced the plywood place holders with the actual legs.

As of now everything is right where I want it. I am ready to lay out and execute the joinery. It is going to be quite involved so I will leave it for the next post.

Tags: Model Making | Woodworking | Work In Progress

I have been working on a commission for a site specific bench. A circular bench that will wrap around this majestic Beech. The trunk is nearly 5′ in diameter and the root system is nothing short of beautiful. This challenge has pushed me in a number of new directions- all of which are very exciting.

Here is the model as it came into focus. I had to compose in 3-d after coming to the realization that the bench would be based on very large sweeping curves. I wanted the curves to have a dynamic relationship to the tree and root system.

The bench featured a number of seating areas that related to the actual use of the property. A chaise like section was coupled with a seat that faced the sunset.

The next step had me devising a way to mock up the curves in my studio. The chalk circle represents the trunk of the tree.

It had been my hope that t he roots of the tree would spill out from under the bench blurring the line between bench and tree.

Nice try but the reality was that the bench needed to be bigger. MUCH bigger.

I went back to the drawing board and increased the diameter of the circle bench from 12′ to 18′! Now that the scale is right we were able to focus on some of the details in the piece.

Here is the model which reflects those changes. If you click on the picture below you can rotate the circle bench. (does not work on the iPhone/iPad)

Here are a few more shots that should complete the picture of this bench. Now for the next challenge…actually building this piece!

Tags: FBn | Work In Progress

I have cleared some other work from my studio and I am back on the new concrete bench full time. In the last post I had filled the forms with concrete. The next step is to remove the casting from the form. This should give a better idea of how the whole casting process works.

First I turn the form over so that i can remove all of the screws and bolts.

The pieces start to come off. The small blue circles are plastic inserts buried in the concrete to allow a soft foot to be screwed to the casting. This will protect the floor of the bench is to be used indoors. This bench is going outdoors on a concrete patio so the foot will serve as a shock absorbing transition. Without it the leg would surely chip. The brown and white and blue mess in the center is apiece of foam that formed the relief in the foot detail.

With the side piece removed the white PVC edge is revealed. This insert forms a very important detail in the leg. Lets take off more!

You can clearly see the recess formed by the foam block. Remember that the leg is upside down.

The last piece off will be the PVC board that formed the step detail in the face of the leg

Here it is removed and the leg is now in the proper position.

The rest of the shaping on the leg will be done with this wet grinder. Before I tackle the final detailing I need to focus on the seat.

Here we go! I begin by cutting and gluing together foam. The foam will help make the seat lighter. The next installment will focus on the stainless steel that will reinforce the seat.

Concrete Bench Part 1
Concrete Bench Part 2

Tags: Work In Progress