Todd Woodesign http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com Home of Furniture Designer / Maker Jim Todd (see page selections down below) posterous.com Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:36:34 -0800 Martian Sofa Table http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/martian-sofa-table http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/martian-sofa-table
This sofa table is made with cherry and tineo. I discovered tineo at my favorite wood supplier and had to get some. It's natural colour is very close to cherry, but it has the added distinct black lines between the sap wood and heart wood, very unique.
I've got a red finish that really punches out on this type wood, and did just fine on this sofa table.
I made two identical tables, one red, one left natural.
$600.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:00 -0700 Woodworker + Drummer = Drum Top Table http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/woodworker-drummer-drum-top-table http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/woodworker-drummer-drum-top-table
Finally!
Just as my mantel clock and liquor cabinet designs eventually found some curves, my family of small tables has now been rounded out.  At 24" high, these drum top tables are the same height as my cocktail tables, and with a 15" diameter, they would just fit within those square tops (which are 15 1/2" x 15 1/2").

Proportions were even more critical on this one, and therefore the full scale prototype got ripped apart quite a few times. Eventually, I arrived at these dimensions, and parked the model by the door of my studio so that I'd glance at it every time I walked by. It passed the walk-by test.

This one has a solid hard curly maple top, curly maple veneered aprons and the legs and beading are solid cherry. All with a clear laquer finish, super smooth. I will be able to prefinish each component, so it will be possible to have separate finishes on each of the parts.  (I think I'll try putting an "ebony-black" finish on the cherry parts for a high contrast.)

You'll see that the two top view pics show quite different character. The wood for these two tops was purchased in a lot as curly maple, but not uncommonly, some of it ended up not having the text book rippled pattern of curly; some of it sort of has the dots of birdseye maple, some sort of has the slow wave of quilted maple...   therefore, before I get into trouble with any hardcore curly maple connoisseurs, I'm going to make a point of calling these tops "figured maple", and send out a pic of the intended glued up top for approval when someone orders a table. It's more work to do this, but I like people to understand the randomness of grain patterns and possibly change their impression of what beautiful wood is.     Sorry, am I losing you? Getting a little to woodie there. Guilty as charged.

The introductory price for these round tables as pictured is ...$360. Yes, a dollar / degree! (Yeah, kind of goofy, but I doubt anyone will try to talk me down even one dollar!) Drum sticks not included.

The last shot is me back in the day, at The El Mocambo, ~1989. 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:43:47 -0700 Bedlam http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/bedlam-4 http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/bedlam-4
In reality, "Bedlam" was not to be anywhere near chaotic.  It would actually be intensely focused and carefully proportioned. After some discussion and brainstorming, I started to conjure an original piece that combined every element that I thought a bed needed, and no more. I designed a queen bed that would not need a bulky box spring, would have independent adjustable padded leather headboards, integrated side tables with hung drawer compartments, all with clean cubic geometry and the beautiful fruity grain of cherry.  I admitted that I was attracted to some of the platform bed designs out there for their Zen look, but I didn't want to create something that was going to break someone's ankle as they walked by. I made a model (pic #4) to work out the proportions and left the front legs to be resolved later on. (The vertical slab support turned out to be just right.) The drawers are mounted on self closing silent slides as usual. (The joke was that you put your gun in the front drawer, and the ammo in the side drawer... his and hers.)

In the picture of the model, you'll see that there's an additional wall at the head of the bed with a cantilevered slab shelf. This "head wall" was an option which might be executed one day. I'm thinking that this extra wall would border the position of the bed quite well, and it might look great with a grid of... brushed patina copper panels? Hmm.

Above the bed is an original painting by Jean Paul Lemieux,  a great complement to the setting.

This was the forth major project I did for these clients over a couple of years, and each one worked out so well. Two days after delivering this bed, I got this email from them:

"We are loving the bed. I still think it’s the nicest bed I’ve ever seen and appreciate it every time I go into the room, as I appreciate the beautiful wall unit every time I go into my study.  You are a master – a true artist.  Everything you do is unique and it’s a real privilege to live with your art."

Nice. I'll tuck that one away for a rainy day.

Time to decompress for a few days; I've got some dry walling to do, got my Ipod loaded up with some new tunes, perfect transition to the next wave.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:18:00 -0700 Dart Boxes http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/dart-boxes http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/dart-boxes

I developed this little design in my first year at Sheridan College, as a small production item. They're made of purpleheart and quarter-sawn swamp ash. This design has a special place in my dusty woodworker's heart because it was really my first official sale. (Other than making a deck, installing a door, fixing a chair...). You see, through Sheridan, I was graciously allowed to have a few pieces put in The Guild Shop in Toronto in a humble student section. I remember the moment when Don McKinley strolled into the bench room and said: "Congratulations Jim, one of your dart boxes sold." Well, there's probably still a dent in the ceiling where I hit the roof in excitement. He smiled in a way that I realized later wasn't just a "Oh geeze, what a newby!", but more of a "Enjoy the moment, tuck that feeling away for a rainy day, and meanwhile, get back to work and start thinking about the next design."
I did, I did and, I did. Thanks Don.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:50:00 -0700 Spalted Maple Cocktail Table http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/spalted-maple-cocktail-table http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/spalted-maple-cocktail-table
I had a quick request for this piece, and was happy to oblige. Matching up the pieces for a top like this is so consuming, in a good way.
Since I've been showing these spalted maple pieces, I've had more interest in this remarkable wood, so I've been looking for new suppliers.
I'm doing a dyed green one soon.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:31:00 -0700 Curly Maple Built-In Home Office http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/curly-maple-built-in-home-office http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/curly-maple-built-in-home-office
The alternative to a stand-alone concealed office, as in the previous computer armoire, is the made-to-measure built-in style of this desk and cabinetry.
 
In this case, I was already familiar with Dianne's tastes after working through the design process with her on the "French Cherry" jobs I had done. Therefore, with that personal familiarity already established, I was able to take the many measurements and her list of wants and dive right into the design process and get going relatively quickly. I've found that repeat customers are happy to jump into the game again with more comfort and even more eagerness. I guess they have seen how I can assess their needs and wishes, and how it works into a stew of ideas that always turns into a unique and successful piece.
 
This desk was completely customized for Dianne's sitting position, her storage needs for letter and legal files, binders and books above, and the placement of the computer tower, screen and pull-out keyboard. I also had to consider that this smaller room was a walk-through and had a sitting area with full windows on two sides. I went with the lifted legged file cabinet design on the bottoms to keep it more open, so as not to crowd the room with overly bulky looking cabinets. The light colour of the curly maple also made it less imposing. We resisted staining the curly (this would've been too loud for the room); a clear coat on finely sanded curly maple with black hardware sings quite well, the grain shows just fine still. Also, there's so much natural light in the room, which gives it a contemporary cottage feel, so no need to bring in anything heavy and dark.
 
This project gave me the chance to try a technique I had toyed with: a veneered crown to match the veneer used on the door panels. I used PVC pipe to make the well sized cove molding, which worked out great. It was basically the same material combo used as on the post in "Judy's Wine Bucket Stand", but a concave curve this time.
 
Since Dianne hadn't decided exactly how the computer wiring was going to be managed, it unfortunately was a bit of a rat's nest in the pictures, but it's all tucked away now.
 
A solid hard curly maple desk top is quite a prize; you can see the holographic grain in it, feel the smooth laquer finish, and it has a really nice knock to it.
I want one!
 
 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:04:00 -0700 Computer Armoire... http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/computer-armoire http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/computer-armoire
....going, going...
 
I got a call one day: "Hey Jim, the movers are here, we're heading back to the States... you said you still wanted to get a picture of your masterpiece...?"                  ....AAH!
 
Explanation: Delivering this piece was a back breaker, so there was a quick retreat to a warm bath at the end of the long day, without first digging for the camera. Therefore, no picture on delivery, no picture soon after, and no picture a few weeks later when I got that call. So that's why there's an actual mover's box in the shot!  ... the piece of furniture was quickly out of the house a minute later by 4 impatient, muscular guys.   At least I took these 2 snaps while they were tapping their feet.
 
What a piece to make. It gave me the opportunity to design a single office environment in a single piece of stand-alone furniture and work with some spectacular woods. I'd seen other commercial solutions on the mass market, but this was a chance to make a very unique piece that had an outer beauty and an inner calculated functionality.
 
Except for a few final details, my pencil sketch turned out almost like what you see in the picture, except it was designed to allow a final element of distinction in the choice of woods to be used.  I had a final meeting with my client to discuss such final details, and in the end, it was all left for me to decide. As I walked out their front door, I looked out at two flag poles set against Lake Ontario. There was a Canadian and an American flag. I was instantly inspired by the sight, and on the way home decided that the piece would now have these flag poles running through it, integrating the corner connections, the door seams and carrying through as a repeating detail on the sides and back. (The back was finished too so that it could be used in the middle of a large room, doubling as a room divider.) The poles and their bases were to be made of purpleheart.
The ripple in the lake was translated to a very similar ripple found in quarter sawn figured bubinga.  I found such veneer in big enough pieces of veneer to enable each panel to have an individual sheet.
 
It's very pleasing to find the recessed handles on the front of the nondescript tower of wood and swing the full length doors open to discover a concise workstation. The inside is veneered with a straight grain maple, which has a consistent non-distracting gentle grain. The recessed lighting inside also makes it brighter.
 
Although it has a discrete seam at its waist, the two pieces are individually still quite heavy. After being in a bit of a fluster to get over to the house and being rushed to take only 2 pictures, I was admittedly a bit satisfied to hear the movers grunt when they lifted the well built sections. Also, I had worked as a mover for 2 summers when I was a student, so it all seemed to be coming back in a strange circle.
 
 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:48:00 -0700 Pod Bedroom Pieces http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/pod-bedroom-pieces http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/pod-bedroom-pieces
These pieces had been fermenting in my head as possible companion pieces to the Bow Front Armoire I made years before.
They are veneered with curly maple with solid cherry borders and feet. With these pieces, I finally exhausted a nice supply of the curly veneer which had a curious pattern in it; there was a thread like squiggle evenly dispersed through the grain like something you might see in Japanese paper.
The feet this time, are thicker (a forty degree ellipse), and tow up more to a tighter radius on the bottom curve. I hand carved the door and drawer pulls.
Once again, I made a new form to make the curved doors in my vacuum press. (One day I'll have a form for every radius from ~6" to ~246" in 1/4" increments!)
They took on a character as soon as I started assembling the cabinets, even without doors. Their shorter stance was almost a human width, so animated references came to mind right away.
 
Hmm, maybe I should be designing a line of furniture for kids?   Or, maybe just big kids.
 
They reside in Guelph Ontario. At time of delivery, I suggested to them that they wander around at night and switch the placements of common household objects.
It was only a suggestion though.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:02:00 -0700 Spalted Maple Table Set http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/spalted-maple-table-set http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/spalted-maple-table-set

The spalted maple for these tables came to me through a friend Raymond, who is always dropping off bits and pieces of wood, parts of old barns, broken pianos etc.

One day he told me about how our friend John had a bunch of big maple logs lying out in a field. The wood was to be cut for firewood, but some of the huge trunks were too big to easily manage, so they had been left in the field for 2 years. Raymond suggested that we energetically go and retrieve some for our own firewood, since John wanted them gone.  In the process of rolling massive rugged hunks up onto his flat bed, I mentioned that if it was possible to cut these logs into boards, there might be some really interesting grain patterns caused by them sitting on the ground and starting to slightly decay.

Well, shortly after, Raymond told me that he had wrangled the last biggest trunk over to a Mennonite’s place, and it had been cut into boards. I went over with him and it overfilled my trailer. The maple had reached a state of spalting that was just amazing. It was caught in the process of decaying, rotting and returning to the earth... but the graphic figure in the wood was so completely alive.

I stacked it properly outside beside my studio for a year to dry, and then finally started cutting into it and selecting the salvageable wood. There is no selecting process I’ve ever seen that demands such a close eye, distinguishing the good from the bad. Some pieces were completely decayed beyond the state of stable, usable wood for furniture. Other pieces were a perfect sample of maple caught in the exact moment of spalting, before it turns into soft, crumbling “chicken wood”. But most pieces were a random combination of rot and stable wood, and it took 2 full days to go through it properly. In the end, it was about a 15% yield of workable wood, and 85% kindling.

Then, the artist’s eye finally came to use. Juxtaposing or blending distinct grain patterns took longer than I’d like to admit, because it was just so invigorating to play with the different characters in each piece of wood. Longer pieces were rare, so it was ideal to use the pieces for my small table series.
The black lines that sometimes separate areas are where the mold was finding a path through the wood cells. Some of these areas look like swatches from a Lawren Harris painting.
The legs and beading along the curved aprons are air dried cherry, a natural complimenting choice.

There's straight hard maple, then there's curly maple, then there's bird's eye maple, then there's quilted maple, and then, the most difficult maple to acquire in a board form: spalted maple.  Sure, you will find some in your log pile by the fireplace maybe, but finding a big enough piece that can be worked into a stable plank for furniture is hard.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:39:00 -0700 Bow Front Armoire http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/bow-front-armoire http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/bow-front-armoire

This is the piece that spawned the creation of some of my other work with elliptical ("pod") feet and bowed fronts. The inspiration came from the generous couple who commissioned me to make it. He is a Toronto firefighter who was at the time building a two-seater airplane in a garage, and she is a confident, gentle woman with a fabulous French accent. There were enough adjectives formed from their two characters to quickly brainstorm design elements and attributes...  strength, lift, subtle but assertive, refined, accurate, flowing, positive, animated yet eloquent... 
 
It is a 7' high armoire for their clothes.  It has 9 drawers and 2 compartments above with shelving.
The bowed front is slightly accented by the sides angling in five degrees. The top curve is also slightly accented, by a minute curve in the back which is just noticeable enough when it's up against a wall, about 1 1/4" inches over the whole height. The solid feet are 20 degree ellipses tilting up slightly to align with the tangent to the bottom curve. The same ellipse is used for the handle recesses, which have a comfy groove on the inside to reward fingers used to explore the inner spaces.
The whole piece is bookmatch-veneered with Australian lacewood from one log for complete continuity, from left side to front, to right side.
 
No decoration -- it's all in the selected wood grain on a carefully calculated and flowing design. This was a benchmark piece.
Shortly after completing it (late '90's), I was approached by James Strecker, asking me if I would be willing to be featured in a book about the School of Crafts and Design at Sheridan College. I was honored to be selected as one of ten people to represent the array of graduates from the furniture studio. It is called Sheridan -- The Cutting Edge in Crafts. I chose this Armoire to represent my work and provided a write up to go with this picture. There was also a series of questions James asked me on the phone... I was mistakenly under the impression that he was going to use my responses as guidelines with which to make his own summations... my responses were scattered through chapters in the book, and in the end it was probably accurate of the times since I was a wacko furniture guy living in an industrial unit.  Oh well,  it's only a book, it's not like it could  float around forever, like on the net... there's another topic all together.
Peter Hogan assisted me in photographing it in my Oakville studio.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Sun, 31 May 2009 14:25:59 -0700 Crebola! http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/crebola http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/crebola
The name came from "Credenza for Bob & Lola". (If you thought part of it came from incredible, I'm fine with that.)
 
This one's really special.
It had been a little while since someone had put me in a position to come up with a larger unique and original piece in my own style. I was basically told that they wanted something to put their dishes and bar in and "there's the wall where it'll go". Bob is amazing in inspiring people to do their best; he had pulled it out of people many times back in the day when he was a movie producer among other things, and so when he saw my abilities and gave me an idea of which of my pieces he liked ("Liquor Cabinet 2"), he easily set me on course.
 
I spent a week getting not much done other than brain storming, sketching, resketching and intensive model making. (The 2nd & 3rd pic are just the 1/4 scale model.) My office space is upstairs in my studio, adjacent to my concise music area. During the creative process of designing this piece, I would stare at pages of doodles and scribbles for a while at my desk, then walk over to my music pit to bash away on a guitar or go for a run on my drum kit for a break. By the time I was relieved, I'd sit down again at my desk and it would fall together right away.
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I was going to design the back foot. I knew that the side profile was going to sweep back and up to the wall as if there was some kind of energy transition between the piece and the wall, but this last supporting detail nagged at me for a spell. Finally, as I was sitting staring at the model with a handful of possible back legs in one hand, I used the other hand to flick away the model's present back foot to leave a void... that's it! "Just make it be what you are intending it to look like Jim!" The actual physical support hidden beneath is much more than air obviously.
 
I could've incorporated a template of a curve that I had from a previous project, but over 90", it was too curved for this piece, too "loud", so I made a long extension out on the driveway and cut a new radius that over the length of the piece would be noticeable, but very powerful in its subtleness.
 
The curly maple veneer I had on hand definitely had the figure I wanted, but over time it had become quite buckled and required the lengthy process of soaking it and pressing it between panels with absorbent paper sheets. I would need to change the paper each day for 6 days until it was flat enough to work with.  It was worth the work for this piece.
 
Once again, I made a custom mold to bend the door panels, which all went into my vacuum press to create the accurate curves.
 
To make the 4" solid aluminum feet fit into the base, I needed to make an accurate saddle on each end. This is where I pulled out my recently acquired knowledge of mold making (See "Preparing for the Grind" - previous blog entry). The 25lb(ea) aluminum cylinders were eventually taken to a place in Toronto to be anodized black. Really nice finish; satin black.
 
There's a very satisfying finger pull running along the top edge of the doors, with another curved space scooped into the mating cabinet's top edge.
 
Without the curly maple doors, skirt and side panels, the inner construction didn't look that flashy, just a lot of carefully cut angles and curves. Usually I would like to have the customer not see the piece on site until it is fully assembled, so that the final presentation isn't lessened by witnessing the gradual assembly. In this case though, Bob assured me that as he's seen the construction methods behind set designs,  seeing the guts of this piece during installation would not take away from the final 3D puzzle that would be the long awaited Crebola.
 
The granite composite top was bolted in place, dusted clean and there it was. Ba-Bam!
 
They had it loaded up with fine china, serving trays and a good selection of entertainment supplies before I had packed up my tools to leave. This was the first of 4 pieces I've done for them so far.
 
A project like this is what propels me and takes my skill set of designing and making to a higher level each time.  This is my game. Bring it on.
 
 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Sun, 31 May 2009 09:58:58 -0700 Home Office & Display http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/home-office-and-display http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/home-office-and-display
This piece centered around the availability of a slab of genuine mahogany that I had carted around from shop to shop for about 15 years. I had bought it for a run of "Top 20 CD cabinets", but eventually couldn't bear to cut it up. It was 12' long, and 21" wide, more than an inch thick. It was free of worm holes and stains, it was flat, straight, and basically "text book perfect". When talks started for this home office, it was the natural choice to finally put it to use.
 
As the colour choice was to be less conventional for this piece, I pulled out a bunch of samples that were more on the extreme side as a starting point. It turned out that the purple on curly maple (#3) was a good start, and the brown-mahogany (#6) would eventually go on the slab. Since all individual woods (and particularly different grades of mahogany) take stains differently, I used the back side of the slab as the biggest sample board ever.
 
I used top-end hardware for the heavy file cabinets and put in an extra center slide on the bottom to further reduce any wobble in the drawers. Load 'em up!
 
The 10mm glass shelves are suspended by special supports, protruding from the "Dijon" coloured back walls, which are a light curly maple.  The glass is just 1" shorter than the glass industry can possibly cut, based on the size of the massive sheets they start with. This glass wasn't cheap, and I realized that all glass is usually pretty pricey when you get up into the range of these long flexing strips, because they can break if they're not handled carefully by the glass cutters, and they commonly have to scrap them and they need to make new ones for the customer, who has to wait again, and again.  (Follow?)
 
The top plank is mahogany too, bolted through the back to securely cantilever it out.
 
Note that you can't see any connections through to the wall. This design feature made planning the installation quite a feat of mental gymnastics, but it worked out perfectly.
 
Nice piece, I could see myself doing it again, but it might take a few phone calls and time to find a slab of anything that big these days.
 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Sun, 31 May 2009 08:58:11 -0700 Martian End Tables http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/martian-end-tables http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/martian-end-tables
RED!
This is about as deep and vibrant a red finish you can get on wood, period.
The striped wood is rosewood, the rest is cherry.
They are 23" x 15 1/2" x 24"high.
(Note the bit of black shading on the inside of the legs at the bottom, quite effective.)
~$1000/pair, 4-6 weeks delivery.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Sun, 31 May 2009 08:11:39 -0700 "The Jamaica Job" http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/the-jamaica-job http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/the-jamaica-job
The whole job could've been made into a movie with all the drama and the length of the project...
 
Act I: "The Office"
Year 1993. A man who owned a high-end travel agency got in touch with me to redo a room in his office building so that it would go from a one man office, to a one man - one woman office. No problem! (Oh there, the Jamaican reference has slipped out already.) It was a challenge to squeeze the space without it getting too cramped. I talked with the two people to get an idea of how much space they needed for their movement and for their storage needs. Lots of ergonomically shaped counters and strategically placed sound absorbent panels for 2 phone conversations, lighting, shelving, file drawers, cord management...
It worked out great I thought. But when I finished installing it, I got a funny feeling that all my effort was not going to be appreciated for long, and I was right. It turned out that this was just a test job, before I got the big one. I never even got a chance to take a picture of my carefully calculated office configuration before the room was gutted and replaced with a single table to act as a mini-conference area. It was never going to be a 2 person space, it was just a test. It wasn't an overly expensive office job, but it was pretty weird to see the sweeping curved counters and fixtures poking out of a dumpster in the alley weeks later. I got paid, I guess it wasn't my business what he did with it.
 
Act II: "Designing & Making Furniture to Endure Humidity, Salt Water and Hurricanes"
The main act was going to be outfitting much of my client's villa in Jamaica which was still under construction. It needed some simple but well built dressers, standard shelving and then also a few stand out pieces. One of them being a wall unit that would house stereo equipment galore, a karaoke machine, TV etc. It was a lot of gear and it needed to be designed carefully for spacing, within a plastered cement opening. I contacted him soon after I got the blueprints for the place, and asked if he could get me the finished opening size for this wall unit, because if it was 1/2" off, or more, the piece wouldn't fit. There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and then he slowly explained that there had been more than a few contractors on this job that was already years in the process, and the blueprints I had were not current.  I asked if there was someone down there who could call me soon with dependable dimensions, and again, it was a "no."  Then he asked me: "What are you doing tomorrow?" ... "Uh, working, the usual, why?"  ... "There's a flight for Jamaica leaving tomorrow at 3pm, find your passport and your tape measure."  My obvious reply: "No Problem!"
So I got to the villa in its state of construction and pulled out my tape measure only to see that the opening had in fact stayed true to the old blueprints, and the measurements matched the 3 dimensions that I had embedded into my memory by now. I measured all along the wall to confirm that there wasn't a bow or anything anywhere... "112 3/4",  112 3/4", 112 3/4", 112 3/4", 112 3/4", 112 3/4"....  yup, it's going to fit. Now what? My return flight was 2 days later. Now what you ask?  Come on, It's Jamaica mon!!  Gooooood times.
 
I got home quite refreshed and got right at the whole project. Maple was picked as the main wood for the project because it was something that you wouldn't ever see on the island, and birds eye maple was obviously more exotic, so it was used for the front of the wall unit and the other significant pieces. The highest grade of lacquer coated everything everywhere to protect against the humidity and termites.  Due to the continuation of the revolving contractors, I didn't get down there to install for another 18 months. Crazy.
I was told that the new contractor on site had everything I'd need, "so no need to bring any tools."  I asked: "So there's a table saw on site now?" ... "Yes."  ... and nail guns, compressed air, drills and everything??" ...  "Ya ya!, Everything!, don't worry!"    Soooo, I only packed my trusty Japanese hand saw, a trim router and a couple of favorite hand tools, and my suntan lotion and set off."  ...
 
Act III: "Installing a Villa full of Furniture Without Tools."
It should have been done in 4-5 days with lots of time at the end of each day to lounge around the poolside bar and work on my sunburn, but no. I ended up having to cut lengths of wood with my failing Japanese saw, and then clamp a straight edge (from the remains of my crates) and use my trim router to clean up the saw cut. With 7 days available to complete the whole installation, it took 6 long days in the humidity. The Jamaican labourers called me Superman because I just kept going, fitting all these fixtures to the walls and installing cabinets with tired hand tools.  Then, they found out that I actually made all the stuff too! Then they thought I was an alien! Some of them were actually scared of me I think.
 
The villa was surrounded by an 8' stone wall with 5 highly trained German Sheppards who were disciplined not to eat a hunk of meat flung over the wall laced with poison.
There was a crew of guys working inside, and a crew working outside. If it started to rain, then the guys outside would come inside and sit down, so the guys inside would sit down too. This meant that if it started to rain, my work space was suddenly filled with 50 guys sitting on the floor watching me and telling me to "stop working mon."
There was a woman who sat in one room all the time who just sat there slowly bursting every single bubble in the 3/4" bubble wrap that I put in my huge crates. She didn't even do it with any sort of rhythm, it was maddening:   "pop!"....."pop..pop.pop".....       "pop......."      ".....pop"   .....  !!!!  Oh well, I had a job to do, and obviously on a different timeline, so I got to it and tried to enjoy it.
 
The wall unit went in fine eventually, except the fabric on the doors that housed the speakers had gotten stretched a bit after sitting in my crate for a year or so. I managed to iron it out with a clothes iron I got from my all inclusive hotel. Once again, I used left over crate parts, this time as an ironing board. These parts were disappearing everyday; apparently becoming parts of peoples' homes.
 
Another significant piece was the bar (pictured) which had a flowing counter top that "bounced off the wall" and continued over top a cabinet housing a sink and bar fridge. The flow of the top was to look like a visual continuation of... the moat that was running through the great room . That's right, who doesn't have a moat with a fresh water stream from the nearby mountain tops, going through their living room?? Just stunning.  Standing at the bar and looking to the right, there was a stellar view of the ocean with an invisible edge on the pool. (See pic.) Yes, that's what I had to look at every day I was there.  I like the stainless steel "guard rail" I put on the back of the bar's birds eye maple countertop, probably came in handy.
There was also a concave liquor cabinet I created to go above the bar, but due to new electrical fixtures, I wasn't able to slam dunk that piece up on the wall and get a picture, drats.
 
The 6th day was actually not too bad; I did manage to gear down a bit before the 11th hour. I finished installing mid afternoon and made my way to a tin shack restaurant off the beaten path and had the best meal of the week: goat's head soup, complete with mysterious bits of matter in the broth. This soup and the local people were a refreshing change from "the compound" where I was assigned to stay. It was a chance to get one step back closer to reality after working in an environment that was being created for movie stars. 
 
16 years later now, I'd do some things differently, but I could take another job like this one. Some time in January would be fine to go and measure openings.
 
 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Fri, 29 May 2009 11:26:05 -0700 Traditional Sideboard http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/traditional-sideboard http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/traditional-sideboard
This piece went with the cherry dining table previously mentioned. Like the table, all the wood came from one log, so the colour is remarkably consistent for a cherry piece. I like the detail on the top of the back splash; it's a French curve capped with an art deco / post modern cylinder nestled in it. This was the result of pouring over pages and pages of images of antiques to finally strip it right down to the pure geometric form. It ended up working with traditional look quite well I think.
In this picture, the cherry is still quite light in colour. It has darkened nicely since.
 
All traditional mortise and tenon joinery throughout the piece.   Solid cherry, mmmmmmm.
 
(As you can see, I was counting on using some photo shop feature to edit out the backdrop.)

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Fri, 29 May 2009 10:40:00 -0700 Dining Table Variations http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/various-dining-tables http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/various-dining-tables
I'm only showing 2 that I've done, but it shows most of the variations possible in a full sized dining table.
 
The first one is all maple, and goes to show how a light blonde wood can take a dye or stain well. Also, the top is one surface consisting of glued up planks but with no seam in the middle; the leaves go on the ends. The added arch in the side aprons and the swoop in the leg give it a French country look. (With straighter lines and tapered legs, it can be a Shaker style table.) The blue in this actually matches a blue thread in a nearby sofa. No kidding.
 
The second is a traditional style dining table in solid cherry with a clear lacquer finish. The planks in this case run across the width of the table instead of lengthwise, and the leaves go in the middle. This style could also have a squared end if desired.
 
With other woods, shapes, legs, details, colouring etc., a unique table design can be hatched pretty fast.
Only 2 tables shown, but if you look at the rest of my pieces in this blog, I think you will realize that I can pretty well make anything you dare me to consider. Contact me for recommended sizes or for a quote.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Fri, 29 May 2009 09:46:36 -0700 Jewelry Cabinet http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/jewelry-cabinet http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/jewelry-cabinet
I made this jewelry cabinet around the time I was making my "Top 20 CD Cabinets", as you can see in the base design. In this case, it's made of solid purpleheart including the drawers, which are of course dovetailed, which was insane; purpleheart is the last wood you want to use for finicky hand work. The inside of doors are lined with padded black velvet for rings. The handles are hand made with ebony.
 
The thing I liked about developing this design was the opportunity to make a "suspended crown". This was a continuation of my fascination with accurately suspended / separated elements, as in my liquor cabinets and my mantel clocks.
This crown has got a bit of the feel of classic dental molding, but you can see through it. One day I want to make a full size piece with this crown detail.
 
(Old photos, it's actually more purple than red.)

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Fri, 29 May 2009 09:18:00 -0700 Dead End Job http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/dead-end-job http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/dead-end-job
In the late 90's, I was approached by someone to take on a challenging position. The story was a bit fuzzy at first, but basically he needed me to finish setting up a 6000 sqft. woodworking plant in North Bay, and then finish off developing the prototypes and get the operation up and running, where a German consulting firm had left off. I said: "Sounds interesting, what kind of furniture is it?"   His reply: "Caskets." 
The deal was that the casket industry had suddenly changed in a way that invited new players into a once tight club. You see, it was now "legal" for a person to buy a casket from one place, and then have the funeral home accept it and use it in their services. Before, a funeral home was allowed to say that they would not accept a casket from outside their organization. As the rules had changed, it sounded like a new opportunity into a huge market. 
It meant that I would temporarily put my tools and equipment in storage and move up to the land of rocks and trees. Since I was still a single guy, I saw the adventure and the well paying job offer as an exciting new chapter in my work and in my life, so I made a trip up Hwy 11 to check it out the facilities.
After accepting the job, my new boss slid a pile of folders and binders across the table and said "This will get you started, look it over and I'll meet you up there next week."
When I got back to my office, I opened the front cover of the first folder on the pile to "look over", and found a post-it note that read: "With these figures, we can buy caskets at a much better price from our competitor."  Oh great, the numbers were bad to start off.  "Oh well, I've got a job to do."
Once I got up there and quickly settled into a lakeside apartment, I went over to the plant and tried to do a physical walk through of one of the prototypes to see how these things were supposed to be built, based on the consulting firm's thick binders. Long story short: the whole thing was bogus. My boss had been caught holding the bag on an investment deal and instead of cutting his losses, he decided to try to run with it. The plans were laid out with computer drawn accuracy with pages of instructions, but none of it made sense, and my boss obviously knew too. The consultants had charged outrageous bills to construct a business plan that only looked good on the surface. The shop had been outfitted with some of the most expensive and flashy equipment you can get, but then lacking many of the basic tools you'd need to just make a picnic table. Some supplier was probably in on it. The store room was filled with boxes of supplies that had little or no relevance to woodworking. I sent back thousands of dollars in unopened boxes to pay for simple things like a chop saw. On top of this, one of my crew of 6 workers had been offered my new job at one time, and then had the carrot pulled back, so that he'd be used as an informant to my boss. Of course, all the news going to my boss from this more than disgruntled worker was not positive. What a crazy position to be in. I grew some pretty thick skin and developed a pretty sarcastic sense of humour.
 
Less than a year later, the shop was miraculously up and running to industry standards (one casket per day per man on the floor, ie: 6 caskets per day), when we merged with a new direct to public franchise chain. The first sign of trouble was when the head of the new partnership and my boss thought each other were idiots and wouldn't talk to each other. More than a little trouble actually. The thing that put the nail in the coffin (!) for the whole operation was when they couldn't give me final specifications for the new line. We made 150 caskets that didn't match the descriptions in all their literature down in Toronto head office.  There were supposedly industry standard designs with standard hardware options and with standard linings etc. etc., but we were told to go with a different plan and in the end, they couldn't give them away. What a mess.  I had never worked in a funeral home or anything relevant, and I already had thought that most caskets were pretty gaudy looking to start, but when the new line started taking shape, it was quite a sight. "They want that?" my crew would ask. "Apparently..."   I didn't bother burdening my then dedicated crew with the stress I was getting when my boss would just bark down the phone: "Just make the $#*@!! caskets!" when I questioned the designs.  What a prehistoric business approach. I stuck it out though.
 
The whole adventure lasted about 2 1/2 years before it was laid to rest. (Oh ya, and... every shift was the graveyard shift. There were more of those, we had to keep a sense of humour.)
I was very lucky to meet some great people in North Bay, including my land lord (who I nicknamed "the landlard").  We played hockey on Lake Nipissing, tried making some bad wine, burned a lot of casket scraps at the lakeside campfire, jammed, went camping, cross country skiing and enough other activities to balance out life. John Lennon's quote applies: "Life is what happens to you when you make other plans."
 
Oh, and as you see me in the pic below, I'll tell you that these things are not at all comfortable. My boss pointed out though, that the customer never complains.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Thu, 28 May 2009 06:39:00 -0700 10X http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/10x http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/10x
This one's good, get a beverage and sit back...
 
Hey, remember back when it was a big deal to own 20 CD's? Ya, think waaaaaay back. (Oops, I just lost my 19 and under audience.) Well that's the time (the week actually) when I was inspired to make a CD rack to proudly display them. From a marketing angle, it was actually a good idea I think, except that by the time I had only progressed to the final sketching phase of the design (the end of that week), most people then needed room for more than 20 CD's. Hmm, OK, so it was then quickly renamed "Top 20 CD Cabinet". (That would be "Marketing Adjusting to Trends in Technology  101" I suppose.)
 
The inspiration for the design for the 3 main parts came from 3 places:
 
First, for the mid section, I had seen how the typical solutions were filling peoples' living rooms with cheap, shaky, boxy cabinets that gave the impression that the music encased in them was also cheap, boring and restricted. (That doesn't describe the kinds of music I personally listen to.) Right there, I was on a stubborn path to make something original, expressive and highly functional (-- something that would cheerfully bite me in the butt in many ways later.) I wanted to create a table top piece that had a free form arch to convey the natural body expression a singer makes when they are delivering a powerful phrase; a bit back on their heels, head starting to tilt back.  I remember that as I was drawing the side view, working out the spacing to make the slots radiate out evenly, I started seeing the feel of this organic curve all around me...  I could see one in the French curve in front of me on my desk, there was one in the tulip there on the other side of the park, it was on the front fender of that car that just went by, and it was there in the build before the final chorus in that song on the radio.
 
Second, for the base, I was always interested in how some old furniture styles had references to animal parts, like Chippendale's claw and ball foot. I wanted to make the same sort of reference by starting with a stereotypical colonial style base, but swooping the back leg out like a dog's hind leg, and then give the whole base a more cartoon feel. I was quick to work out these lines after still witnessing how furniture showrooms were trying to sell / tell people how to expect furniture to look. The 5 pieces in the base turned out to be quite a bit of work, with all the machining of non-geometric curves and hand sanding in hardwoods like wenge and bubinga.
 
Third, I wanted to again poke fun at the serious and elaborate furniture crowns on period pieces. I had it mostly worked out, but using the same sort of translation I did with the base wasn't enough to complete it; I felt that there was some other reference that was tugging at my brain. Then it hit me... there was a portrait I saw in art history class years before at Humber College. It was a side profile of some proud guy that had been hit in the top of his nose with a sword in battle, and because he was so proud that he had marched on in battle, he wanted the painter to use this direct side profile to get a clear view of this notch in the guy's head. It's funny what sticks in my head, because as I chuckled at the story in the classroom while staring at the slide projected up on the wall, I remembered the guy's hat. It was this red hat that had sort of a flat top, tilted back... fast forward to the continuing design process...  I went to the library to find the image in a book (dating myself again) with the card catalogue and my internal search engine I finally found the "Portrait of Federico Montefeltro".  A librarian gave me the appropriate scowl when the whole library heard my glee in finding it. My eye quickly rescanned the curves I had seen once before and I resaved it to my wet drive. I got home to my desk and with a bit more cartoonification, the drawing was complete. I could then start figuring out how I was going to make it.
 
So there it is: the culmination of seeing boring furniture for too long, a dog's leg, an Italian renaissance image, a bit of Bart Simpson... and that's what I call the design process.
 
But wait, here's the best part:
I took a few "Top-20's" into a great gallery in Burlington called Ad Axiom.  Karen, the owner, was a great supporter of the arts and had great appreciation for the effort that I and others were putting into their work. As my quick presentation turned into a fun discussion, a lady walked into the gallery and as she was scanning the gallery from one spot, she quickly commented on my CD cabinet: "That's not art, art isn't functional, that's as functional as a toilet paper roll holder, this is an art gallery!"...   Wow.  Karen and I looked at each other wide eyed, daring the other to laugh and let the lady leave and get in her car before we reacted. That experience was so funny and sad and inspiring at the same time.
Sooo, I returned a week later with "10X". It was the now familiar CD cabinet, but this time it had a stainless steel pipe down the middle of it, to make it... non functional.  Karen got it without explanation immediately. "10X" was the title because the price was ten times that of the functional version. (Hey, it's art right?) It obviously made quite an impact on her because she talked it up to everybody that came into her gallery, and before I knew it, my stock of 10 "regular" Top-20 cabinets were sold in a week.  Hah!  There's some kind of sweet justice eh?!  Dangerously inspiring though.
 
I wish there were more galleries like Karen's still. She made a very good name for herself, and periodically got the proper recognition for her part in the art world. Every time I came in to show her a new piece to possibly "push" on her, she always gave me great respect for being someone who was weathering the constant storm.
 
Additionally, you see that stainless steel pipe with the perfect bend? Well, as I was planning "10X", and was going through the motions of making the single (but non-functional) piece,  I was eventually at the stage of working on the pipe that would finally make it... art.  Without much thinking, I wandered over to the drillpress to insert the 5/8" pipe into the chuck to slowly spin it and work it with 400 grit wet sand paper up and down to pre-work the finish before I figured out how I was going to bend it.  Well, as it was 2:30am, and I was not sharp enough to remember that I had recently set the speed on the drill press back to full speed, and therefore without it being supported at the bottom, it picked up speed and quickly a slight wobble turned into a flare and the pipe bent out under the centrifugal force and hit me in the hip like an aluminum baseball bat. Aaaaaaah!   $#*%*!!!
The steel broke loose from the chuck when it hit me, and there I was lying on the concrete floor alone in the middle of the night, staring across the floor at a bent piece of stainless pipe resting 10 feet away from my new vantage point. I didn't move. I couldn't. I just lay there for a while staring at that piece of steel. When I finally pulled myself up from the sweat soaked concrete, I picked up the stainless piece and realized that it was virtually the perfect bend I needed, created by the near fatal accident. Is that some kind of sick poetry or what??!  Since then, my late night practices have changed dramatically: absolutely no moving parts if at all impaired by sleep deprivation or otherwise. I could have been gored if the pipe hadn't swung out completely to make contact with my hip bone; it might have traveled an easy route through my innards and made a nasty mess for my then studio mate to discover the next morning.
Sorry Mum, and yes, I'm much more careful now. I said I'm careful. I said I'm careful. 
 
Going through the concentrated design process of the functional version and eventually the tongue in cheek version, I found myself dropped into a conversation, a debate and a personal small inner battle that continues to this day:  "What the heck is art anyways?" (If a piece almost kills you, does that qualify it?) Does it really matter what label goes on something or on the person who made it?
I continuously keep an eye out for other inspiring signs and similar discussions on the distinctions between art, design, craft, and just functional stuff that ends up getting treasured ...like a piece of art. (How many times have you heard someone say: "It's like a piece of art!"?) Tools and musical instruments often start the dialog I find.
 
Also note that in the group shot here, I had signed the bottom right panel: A sign that I was having conversations in my head like: "...a painting has a prominent signature on the bottom right corner, so shouldn't my such piece have a signature on it?"  Since then, I've either grown up, not cared, or more likely, I don't want my pieces having a distracting scribble on a prominent surface. "10X" is written on the bottom of the piece, but as I still happily own it, I don't think that would be the title if someone came wanting to buy it today.  The pipe had hit my hip, but the whole experience whacked me in the brain even harder. Still does.
 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim Wed, 27 May 2009 21:52:08 -0700 Judy's Wine Bucket Stand http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/judys-wine-bucket-stand http://toddwoodesign.posterous.com/judys-wine-bucket-stand
 
It's called that because I really made it to hopefully impress her, although it was auctioned off and bought by someone else. You see, Judy worked at the Oakville Galleries and was the person in charge of phoning poor sods like me to see if they'd be willing to donate a piece for a themed auction to raise money for the gallery. This one was a wine gala and the third time I had been sucked in, and quite gladly I must say, because each time I got to briefly talk with Judy.
Reading between the lines yet?...
 
We'll be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary this summer, 2.0 kids.
 
It's made of purpleheart and curly maple and stainless steel. Note the 4" post is actually a 4" PVC pipe veneered with curly maple.
 
I think the guy paid less than $300, even with the wine flowing in the room. Another case of artists supporting artists. Oh well, not relevant in this case.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/39477/Trimming_Crown.jpg http://posterous.com/people/PTLkPOtXu9 Jim Todd Woodesign Jim