Bradford Custom Furniture

5/5/2011 Table for the great outdoors

2011-05-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is a 60" dia. outdoor table. I'm using a material called Garapa which is from Brazil (also refered to as Brazalian Ash) , the material is recomended for outdoor use much like teak and Ipe. It's hard, dense but machines and glues well. The top is on the left, and on the right is cutting the leg mortises.

Legs are glued uo on the left. The top is going to incorporate 4 "drop leaf's" so I needed to cut the 60" diameter into a square then take the cuttings and cut them into an arc completing the circle. So on the right is a template being made for the arc's

At left is the straight edge for cutting the circle into a square, and at right is the first cut. Yes thats a very old B&D saw. Dont use one very often so I had to summon that one up from the archives.

Not sure why these are here, just more of the cutting process, not very good with a skil saw so maybe just documenting the fact I didn't ruin the top. Who knows. And here we are waiting for the drop leaf hinges and cutting the arc's.

5/5/2011 Update Architectural Digest Home Design Show - NYC

2011-05-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is a Walnut Jewelry Box I submitted for the Furniture Society Silent Auction at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in NYC in Mid March

This is the booth with all items on display. Unintended but I did get the Furniture Society's mission statement in the pic on the right.

The picture below shows my Jewelry box in the background with a Sam Maloof chair front and center.

April 13th update

2011-04-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

Here's to starting up the blog again. A little bit of woodworking but more on Spring and the garden. Had a piece at the Architectural Design Home Show in NYC, and finished a rather large bookcase project, but will be working more on stuff for the house. The porch is now finished and in use (right).

Making a new table for the porch. 60" diameter with four drop leaf's. Table goes in the spot on left, table top in progress on right.

Here is a bit on gardening, the left is the compost piles, the right is the main garden. Have some early season greens and lettuce out, plus broccoli and cabbage. Been told I'm good at two things making sawdust and dirt. I may get a little carried away on the compost.

Two shots of the backside of the house, shop on left with the new porch in the middle. Pic on right shows the mighty oak and the garden.

Here was another project from the shop for a client. This is a grilling stand to be used with a "Green Egg" grill. Great grill but a bit pricey...sticken with my cheap ole webber. Margaret's gardening wagon is on the right. Stand is cypress with a General Finishes Outdoor Oil finish.

New shop entrance on the left...the door is the same just a new deck and railing system. Kylie on the right soaking up the rays next to the vegatable transplants. Thats it from ole Barnsdale road for now.

BPB

Pedestal Table Part IV

2010-02-08T04:30:00.000-08:00

Pedestal Table Part IV

This is the fun stage where things start coming together and it begins to look like something.

I like to cut the dado's first, usually in several passes until I reach the desired depth.
Without changing the height of the blade I set the fence up for cutting the tongues.

Here again I make several passes until I reach the desired thickness of the tongue.

At this stage I like to dry fit everything together to check the fit.

Clamping this base together is a bit tricky. The blue clamps on the left are old Record clamps that have real deep jaws. There real nice and are some of my favorites, cant find them anymore.

So now we can see what its going to look like, pretty cool I think.

And here we are.......

Pedest Table Part III

2010-02-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

Pedestal Table Part III

This is the stage where we start assembling the arch and shaping the legs.

Once all the arch pieces are cut I like to lay them out, and then trace the pattern on the pieces. Then I can layout where the mortises will be cut without interfering with the layout.

The mortises were cut in the same manner as used with the legs, however here on the arch I varied the width to stay within the pattern.

The glue up for the arch is slightly different than with the legs. First since the arch will be a closed loop, I rough cut to the inside pattern lines before gluing. I glued the top three pieces in the same manner as the legs using the bench vice and clamps. Then I glued and pieced together the whole arch as shown at right.

With the glue applied then I just used clamps and equal pressure to get the arch square and let the glue cure.

Even with glue and tenons, I like to reinforce the joint with pegs.

Depending on the design and the wood, I'll either use a matching peg or a contrasting wood for the peg. To maintain a strong joint I do not drill and peg completely thru the material, just thru the loose tenon material.

The next step in the process is to rough cut the pieces. I like to do a quick sanding of the pieces then retrace the template outline in case some of the pieces have shifted during clamping and gluing.

I rough cut using the bandsaw, I'm not trying to be precise at this point, since I'll be using the router to clean up all the waste.

Using a top bearing flush trim bit and the template, its a very straight forward process to remove the waste.

Since all these parts are 1 3/4" thick, I make one pass with the top bearing bit and the template, then I can remove the template and make another pass just using the top bearing bit.

Then I can switch to a bottom bearing bit to finish removing the waste material. Top and bottom bearing bits are showed at left. On the right are all the finished parts.

The next step will be to cut the dado's in the hubs, and the tongues on the legs and the arch. Below I have one of the tablesaws set up to start cutting the dado's in the hubs. The shops starting to look a little crowded.

Pedestal Table - Part II

2010-02-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

Pedestal Table - Part II

Here we are concentrating on the two "hubs" that will be the atacching point for the legs and the "arch". Nothing complicated just a bit bulky because there 5" thick. I rip to a 5" width using the bandsaw then clean up the face on the jointer.

The same applies to cutting to length I rough cut to a 10" length using the bandsaw, then cleanup this cut using the tablesaw. When I laminated the hubs together I made sure that one end square and flush, so then I can use this end as a reference point in squaring up the cut on the tablesaw. Since its 5" thick I cut halfway then flip it over and cut the other side.

The two legs are splayed from the hub at a 30 deg angle in relation to the arch. Rip these on the bandsaw and clean up the cuts on the jointer. These need to be nice and flat since this is the attachment point for the legs. Later on I'll cut a 1" deep dado here for the legs.

The last two pictures illustrate my high tech angle gauge I use for setting up the saws and making the cuts.

Pedestal Dining Table

2010-02-03T04:49:00.000-08:00

Pedestal Dining Table

One of the first projects for 2010 will be a pedestal dining table using walnut and maple. The table will be 40" wide by 72" long. The base will be made of walnut based on the one shown below.

I designed and built the above table in 2004 using cherry for the base and cocobolo for the top. It's a modification of and open pedestal that I have used for various tables, however in this instance I have "stretched" the base to accommodate a rectangular top.

In conjuction with this table I'll be making four chairs and four barstool all which require 8/4 walnut. So here's the starting pile.
For the two "hubs" on each end of the pedestal I'll use 12/4 walnut laminated together.

Gluing up the hub.

The four legs of the table require three piece each, that are tenoned together. The center part is cut at 45 degress on each end. I lay these three pieces out and trace the final shape from the template on them to determine where to situate the mortices.

Using a morticing machine (I have had that old router for 20 years now, first router I ever bought) cutting the mortices on all 12 parts is fairly quick.

All these parts will be joined using "loose" tenons. In this case I'm using 1/2" poplar.

Shown below is my fancy angle clamping jig, a vice and two clamps.

Next up is laying out the center "arch" and routing the mortices, plus final sizing and cutting of the "hub

2009 Year in Review

2009-12-15T04:48:00.000-08:00

2009 was busy year at the shop with a total of 20 pieces being built, making a total of 133 pieces in 10 years, everything from a spiral staircase to jewelry boxes.

2009 started with a tall cherry "Bistro" table. The table is 36" in diameter and 40" in height. The design is based on early pedestal tables that I have built.

After the table, next came a walnut rocking chair, the second walnut rocker I've made, making for a total of nine

The third item was a "tray" table made of bubbinga and maple. This item was entered in the "Dual Personalities: Multifuctional Contemporary Furniture"at the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, NC. The top of this table comes off and can be used as a serving tray. The table is still on display at the Grovewood Gallery.

About this time I lucked out and came into the possession of another table saw, and since I wanted keep my old one as well, I ended up building a cabinet to house both saws. Not quite furniture but definitly handy for cutting wood.

Also this year I branched out and made three different bathroom vanities, this particular one went into a master bath in the historic district of West End in Winston Salem, NC. I also made a matching mirror for this vanity.

I also made a series of seven tables made from cherry, maple, birch and walnut. Four of these tables went as a wedding present and the other three were entered into a juried exhibition in Knoxville, TN

Also entered in the exhibition were these two barstools. This was my first attempt at a juried exhibition and I had the good fortune of being accepted. This was only my third exhibition, including the one for the tray table at the Grovewood Gallery.

The exhibition was the 15th Tennessee Master Woodworkers Exhibition in Knoxville, TN. It was a great event and very nice exhibition space. This is my humble display.

This is a bed that I made for delivery early next year, was hoping to put the finish on this year but it looks like I'll finish it up after the holidays.

Finally the last three pieces for 2009 were these tables. The tall sofa table is for one cousin and the two end tables are for another cousin. The walnut for these tables came from the property where my cousins grew up.

Catching up on updates

2009-08-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't had a chance to post any updates since last November I thought I would do a quick review in reverse chronological order.

In May of 2009 I finished two projects one being a "tray table" more on that below, and the other being a walnut rocking chair shown below. I was very happy with this rocker the grain of the wood turned out to be just spectacular.

The other project was a "tray table" which I did for an exhibition at the Grovewood Gallery adjacent to the Grove Park Inn, The theme of the exhibition was "Dual Personalities" so each piece had to have more than one function. In my case its a table where the top is removable and becomes a serving tray. The base is made from Bubinga and the top is made from rock maple from the family farm in Michigan. Then following is a link to the exhibition: www.grovewood.com/dual_personalities.php?artists=bradford .

Prior to these two projects I made a Bistro Table for a client in early March. The tables is over 40" in height with a radius of 36". The table was made to be used with existing bar stools and to fit into there current kitchen. The table is made of solid cherry.

And finally late in 2008 I made a ladder for a client in Va to work with their recently built post and beam home. The ladder was made from cypress with cherry treads and it blended well with the materials used in the home construction.

The wood pile

2008-11-13T06:40:00.000-08:00

This may not be furniture but should be someday. This is about 1100 board feet of walnut, maple and cherry.

The wood is from the farm I grew up on in Michigan. There still one truck load left there that I'll get in December. Most of the wood is walnut. The logs on top of the stack are chestnut from a tree here in Winston Salem. As you can see below some of the walnut is 16.5" wide by 10' to 12' long.

Almost all this is cut at 8/4 thickness, so it will probably take about 2 years to dry. Most of it is also clear of any defects and has some pretty spectacular grain. Currently I'm a little over 800 board feet of walnut, and 200 of maple and 150 of cherry. Still more to come.

With all this lumber to store I went ahead and added storage space to the back side of the shop

The total size is 10' wide by 18' long. As you can see its built into the hill so I ended up doing a alot of digging there for awhile. So far its been very handy for storage, and my roofing job seems to be keeping it pretty dry.

Oak and Walnut Chairs

2008-11-13T06:20:00.001-08:00

Here are two chairs made from Oak and Walnut. These chairs are a hybrid from chairs produced by George Nakashima and Sam Maloof. George Nakashima (and family) are famous for his two legged cantilevered chair, and the leg joinery and seat construction is based on Sam Maloof 's process. These chairs are great for a carpeted room since the feet act like ski's so the chair can slide up to the table very easily. Also since there are no front legs there very easy to get in and out of in a crowded space. I made a prototype of this style late last year so these are #2 & 3. These were completed in September.

Lacewood Rocking Chair

2008-11-12T03:59:00.000-08:00

Another project I need to update, is the Lacewood rocker shown above. I had forgotten how dense lacewood can be, it machines and works alot like oak but this batch seemed much heavier and denser than I remembered.

The seat is made from 5 pieces cut at opposing angles and glued up. Prior to glueing the leg joinery is cut, and the seat profile is cut on the bandsaw. The seat is glued up using dowels for additional strength. The profile of the seat is completed using an angle grinder.

The legs for the chair are joined using a modified hip joint. These joints can be easily produced using a router. The back legs are at 3 degrees, while the front legs are perpendicular . The legs are rough cut on the bandsaw then finished using a template and a router.

The rockers and back slats are produced using bent lamination. I rip the stock to a thickness of 3/16" then using a male/female press I glue and clamp the pieces. After the glue has cured I shape the pieces using an angle grinder and hand rasps. Then its on to final assembly and sanding. Alot of sanding, then a hand rubbed oil and wax finish.

Kitchen Islands

2008-11-10T04:17:00.000-08:00

These are several Kitchen Islands that I made for a clients new house. The Islands mimic the post and beam structure of the house. The Islands are 3' wide by 6" long with a 2" solid hard maple top and cherry and maple bottom. All three Islands are on 3" caster so that they can be moved to different spots in the house.

The top was edge glued using biscuits then cut to length and width. Using a plunge router with a 3/4" planer bit, and the jig in the picture I was able to "dish" the top out leaving a 1" rim a 1/4" high all around the top. The bottom frame was constructed of 8/4 cherry using mortice and tenon joinery.

The following picture shows the clamping and glueing of the base for the Islands.

To keep the base rigid the corner braces are morticed into the frame. All mortice and tenon joints are glued and pegged as well. The last part of the Island is a shelf on the bottom I made from maple and laid out in a grid work using half - lap joinery.

The top was finished using a "salad bowl" finish so its safe for food contact, and the base of the unit was finished using oil/varnish mixture and then an oil/wax mixture.

Lacewood Rocker

2008-03-25T03:59:00.000-07:00

One of the projects this spring in the shop is a lacewood rocker. This is a lacewood rocker I made 4 years ago, and currently resides in northern California. We were fortunate to be out there two weeks ago, and I was able to get this picture of the rocker. The picture on the right shows the lacewood I was able to get for the current rocker project. Lacewood also sometimes goes by Silky Oak, and there is a wood out there called Leopard Wood that sometimes is confused with Lacewood. I've always purchased mine from a local supplier and have been very satisfied. I like to make sure and purchase all the wood for the given project at the same time since there is a varability in the color of lacewood from shipment to shipment. For a project like a rocker or a chair the width of the material is critical in order to minimize waste. For the seat of the rocker I need 5 pieces 24" in length by 4 1/8" in width the back legs need material a minimum of 8" in width. I was able to find stock that was 9.5" wide which would work great for this project.

One aspect of this project was to make some slight modifications to the rocker at the clients request. One modification was to increase the height of the back of the rocker, therefore requiring a new template. I keep all sorts of scrap plywood in the shop just for template. For the most part a new template evolves from a previous template as shown in this picture I'm using a previous leg template to make the new leg template.

In order to minimize the waste I like to layout the legs on a piece before I make any cuts, this also gives me an idea of what the grain pattern will be for the legs as well. From there I can start cutting out the pieces for the seat. As I mentioned earlier, the seat is where the rocker really starts, and everything else is milled and fitted to the seat. To make the seat

I use 5 pieces that are 24" x 4.125". However the sides are not cut at 90 deg to the face but at an angle of 3 deg. In effect this "coopers" the seat .

The picture on the left shows the 5 seat parts (left to right) there are other seats stacked below. On the front of the parts I like to mark the direction of the cut so as I rip them on the saw all the angles match up correctly. I use a simple wooden jig to set the saw blade (shown on the right).

When all the parts a ripped to the corresponding angle direction and clamped together the seat profile is shown in the picture above. By cutting the parts this way it helps provide a contour to the seat that will be built upon later in the process. Since the table saw is set up, I'll cut the other four seats at this time as well. In the next installment of the blog I'll talk about what happens next to the seat, also I'll be discussing the next phase of the Kitchen Island as well.

2008-02-19T17:52:00.001-08:00

Cutting and Glueing in the Snow

2008-02-19T15:53:00.000-08:00

Here we are at the shop, pretty as a picture. This snow didnt last very long and turned the dog run into mud. Not good for a white english setter. So far we have been concentrating on the Kitchen Islands. The tops are being made out of 8/4 (2") thick hard maple. The base will incorporate 12/4 (3") cherry legs, and 8/4 (2") cherry for the cross members and corner braces. These islands are for a client with a post and beam house. The base will incorporate post and beam cons truction techniques, with the corner braces matching those in the house.

Glueing up the top which is 72" x 34" by 2" thick was a heavy and large undertaking. The legs were also a bit of a "large" undertaking. Since I don't have a power saw that will cut 3" thick stock I rough cut the material to length by hand. Then using the band saw I was able to cut them into 3" squares. Next up will be planing the legs square.

Here's a few more pictures of whats going on. Of course I need to show one more of the shop in the snow.

Welcome to Bradfordcustomfurniture

2008-02-18T15:22:00.001-08:00

This blog will be about current projects I'm working on for clients here in the shop. Currently these projects range from Kitchen Islands, a Rocking Chair, and two Side Chairs. The purpose of this blog is to illustrate how I go about making commisioned pieces of furniture.