Lost Treasure

I think the picture says it all. The biggest Bur Oak in Tennessee lies behind me never again to shade the landscape as it had for the past 200 years. As you can see it was hollow way up the trunk and 80 mile per hour winds from a storm last Thursday night was just too much. When I heard about this tree it was if I had just lost a close friend who I thought would always be there. You can't blame anyone for this. It was just time for this tree to go. But it still breaks my heart to know I won't see this tree in town anymore. The mayor in town has already contacted me about making something special from this tree. My sawmill can only handle the branches so stay tuned to see what we decide to make.

On a happier note Logan's little league team the "Muckdogs" have finished the season undefeated, 12 and 0. Logan is the lead pitcher and lead off batter. Yes, I am a proud father. This was the last year Logan can play little league baseball and I will sure miss going to the park for games. 

I have several chairs to finish and build and much to prepare for in the shop. It has been so hot that working in the shop has not been so bad. I do look forward to lighting up the wood stove again.

The garden has done well this year and soon I will be building a garden tool shed based on the timber frame in Jack Sobon's book. Logan and I have been collecting flat stones for the foundation lately around the local creeks. I will travel back up to Indiana soon to start milling all the timber for the shed. I will post more on this later.

Inspired by Ammonites

Lately I have been working on changing the carvings I use on the comb back chair. I am making a writing arm chair out of walnut and white oak for a show with the Cumberland Furniture Guild and this will be the test chair for the new carvings on the comb and handholds. The idea came from a good customer who owns a vintage guitar store in Nashville. He has been telling me about how the carvings on vintage violins would be ideal for my chairs. He brought me an Ammonite fossil to see what nature can produce as a perfect spiral. There is something intrinsic about ammonites that is aesthetically pleasing to humans. Whether it be phi (the golden number), or the Fibonacci spiral (observed in galaxies) something is just pleasing to everyone. So seen below is what I have started. The famous Stradivarius violins worth millions use this same carving.

  I just returned from Bill Nelson's farm in Indiana with lots of white oak we cut into 2x's for a back porch cover for the shop and post for an extension on the pole barn to cover the saw mill. As you can see I have put off finishing the rear porch for long enough. The covered porch will be nice to put my steamer and maybe some firewood near the back door. Later this summer I will be cutting timber for another timber frame structure for a garden tool shed. I am having way too much fun.

  Several weeks ago I hosted the Cumberland Furniture Guild's spring meeting. The topic was sharpening chair tools, steam bending, and drill bit grinding. The shop has never seen so many talented artist. It was a great day and it was great to see everyone. I strongly encourage all local artist to join the guild.

 If you live in the Tennessee area I will be featured on NPT public television's" Tennessee Crossroads" next Thursday June 21st @ 7 pm central and again on Sunday June 24th @ 10 am central. It will be a 6 minute piece on what I do here at the shop. Please watch and let me know what you think. I do know I am not ready for Hollywood.

Busy as a Bee

 Recently I had Mac here for a continuous arm chair class. This was his first chair and he did a fantastic job. He completed it in 5 days with time to spare. Mac is a nurse in Georgia but lives in South Carolina and use to ride submarines. He also is a bee keeper and brought me some awesome honey. 

I will be hosting the Cumberland Furniture Guild Spring meeting on May 19th. All are welcome. The topic will be tool sharpening and steam bending. We might even do some turning or anything else someone might want to see. The Guild is a group of studio furniture makers as well as enthusiast who love the art of furniture. The meeting is open to all and will be from 2 til 5 pm this Saturday.

www.cumberlandfurnitureguild.org

Turning / Sack Back Class @ KMSW

I recently returned from a two week stint at Kelly Mehler's school in Berea, Ky. I was fortunate enough to assist Pete Galbert again. The first week consisted of spindle turning and tuning chair making tools. I brought all the materials which included the maple logs you see below. Students were able to turn green maple freshly split from the log by yours truly. It was a great work out.

Kelly had 9 lathes set up in the machine room. Everyone seemed to enjoy the sharpened tools with the maple. Pete did a fantastic job building everyone's confidence.

I was really impressed at how far the students improved with their turnings as the week went by. Pete has a natural ability to get people to turn with ease.
The second week involved making a Sack Back windsor chair. During the week Peter had me building his ratcheting shavehorse ideas. My new horse was the guinea pig and man did that pay off. Below you can see one of the prototypes. This version failed due to a weak section of walnut. A newer version in hard maple and we were in business. The final shave horse felt perfect while shaving spindles and was solid as a rock.

Everyone left with a completed chair and a smile. This was a great group of chair makers.

Peter had all the students sign the bottom of the demo chair which he painted and presented to Kelly at the end of the class.

Thanks again Kelly and Pete for another awesome class.

Table Class Offered

Recently I had 3 students in a Sheraton style table class here at the shop. A small walnut table with a crotch front dovetailed drawer. The legs were turned and the dovetails were cut by hand. Mortise and tenons and a good lesson in padding shellac. Overall the class was very successful and they learned a lot about hand tools and taking raw lumber to a finished piece.

Here below you see Keith, (me standing), Pete, and Skipper. They were a great group of guys to teach. They were all very focused and fun to cut up with. I think I will offer this class again in the near future. It is a good break from chairs but I look forward to getting back to curves and angles.

I just returned from Berea, Ky. at Kelly Mehler's school helping Peter Galbert for two weeks of turning and chair making. I'll post some pictures very soon.

Delta Sun Farm

I would like to introduce you to my new neighbors Mike and Caitlin. Mike made a hoop back chair with me here during Christmas. They are starting up a CSA ( Community Supported Agriculture) which will supply the locals with organic produce, fresh eggs and pork.

They have a beautiful 13 acres to plant and raise their pigs and chickens.

Here is Mike tilling up the fresh ground. This week we are building a greenhouse so they can start their seeds for next spring. I am looking forward to see this process. I have always wanted to learn organic gardening from a pro. Check out their blog and join the CSA if you live nearby.

Logan's First Dovetails

My son Logan came to me a while back wanting to make a lap desk so he could have a place to read, do homework, or draw, write, etc.. I told him what was involved and how you had to dovetail the box together. He picked out a piece he found in a shaker furniture book. After I cut out everything and set up to dovetail the sides I decided to get Logan involved and before I new it he was chopping away and with great success.

I don't know who was happier, me or him!
I'll post the completed piece later. It turned out nice and he uses it every day.
The stairs and loft came together fast and has proven very useful. I now have the band saw upstairs hooked to a shop vac. I ran lights and plugs everywhere and have another shop vac hooked to the lathe downstairs. All I have to do when sanding on the lathe is hit the switch and all the dust is sucked away and the noise is upstairs. Notice the brace has been cut away going up the stairs. I guess people watch their feet when climbing stairs because everyone seemed to smack there head on it so it had to go.
About a year ago I ordered bench vises from "Benchcrafted" and a couple weeks ago I finally started building the bench. I reduced the length to 6 feet from the plans. I walk around the bench a lot when carving seats and 8 feet seemed too long. I think it went really well and this bench should not dance around when I carve tough seat blanks (elm).
I still need to wipe on some oil finish and make some dogs. The vises are very strong and seat blanks do not slip in the face vise. I have several classes coming up and look forward to breaking her in right.