Blog Woods

As hard as it is for me to believe, its time for another birthday present for my boy. He loves to draw, so I decided on making a box to hold all his pencils, crayons etc.

Now normally my posts start from the beginning and follow the creation process through to the product. This ones going to be different - mostly because as the time crunch came on, the picture taking pretty much stopped.

So here it is, a bit backwards, but hopefully still worthwhile.

The completed box:










And now for what I have in way of "step-by-step" photographs.

The beginning:


The middle:


The end (assuming that you understand that by "end" I mean end of the beginning):


And pictures of two tips or techniques that Ive found useful for making this style of box (which is really just a giant version of my pencil box):

The first involves shortening one end section to allow the top to slide in and out of the grooves. I rip down the center of the groove and then plane the remaining waste down to the bottom of the groove (well, "bottom" when the piece is oriented as it is in the finished box). It is easy to go too far, and then the lid does not fit snug; there is a gap between it and the end of the box. My improved technique is to first take a pencil and draw a line down the back corner of the remaining groove. As soon as this planes off, I stop. Pretty simple, but pretty darn effective. Why did it take me so long to think of that?


The second is a simple way to test the fit of the rabbeted bottom (or top) into the grooves in the box sides. I just grab an offcut of the grooved stock and use that as a handy gauge to test the rabbets. Again, simple but effective, and embarrassingly slow to come to me.



I guess I better start planning next years birthday present, as it will be here before I know it!

Ejler Hjorth-Westh works it for the camera.

Who wouldnt want these guys on their shop wall?

We’re hoping to gauge demand before we decide on how to make them. If you’d be interested in a 2014 MWA calendar for about $20.00, please let us know in the form below. It’s already mid-November and we need to get moving on them if we’re to have them in time.


Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.

invariably, after the question how much does a slab top table cost?, the next question is, are there other kinds of table bases i should consider?  there are.  the legs shown above are our most popular style.  based on a shaker design, below, they are cut (wastefully, i admit), from a slab of 1.5" thick steel on a waterjet, at a local steel fabricators shop.  the process is extremely accurate, but slow going through the thick, solid steel, so the individual cut pieces are expensive even before we grind, polish, drill, tap and assemble them.  they are beautiful though, and extremely rigid, and give the heavy slabs a lighter, sort of floating, familiar, yet contemporary look.  click the photos to enlarge them. 
each section consists of the main vertical, a 10" wing for stability and a 2.375 x .375 bar  to tie the whole thing together.  we offer natural, top and below, rainbow, a dark browny, bronzy, patina, and black.  these finishes are then top coated to stabilize them.


we also offer fabricated metal bases in a variety of styles.  above and below are our trapezoid bases.  also offered in various finishes, they can be fabricated in any size and can accommodate a design change to allow for a drawer.







with the square or rectangular tubing, we can offer a variety of shapes, including squares and xs, shown below.  these bases can be polished and patinated, or left more or less as is, like above, for a sort of industrial look.

the restaurant tables below we re fun.  randomly space 5/8ths rebar was welded between two steel plates, randomly painted and randomly rusted.  given that these were 42" high, tghey were bolted to the wood floor, but shortened to traditional dining table height, im sure they would make for an interesting look.




we also use plasma cut tapered legs on some of our dining and console tables.
or, our bridges base could also be adapted somehow to a larger, taller scale table.









and your imagination .. were open and happy to discuss your designs, either for a slab top you already own, or for a whole table we can design and build for you.  in general, prices for custom steel bases start around $1000. for the welded tubing designs and go up to $3500. to $4000. for the waterjet cut, thick, patinated steel bases.

Im in Indianapolis for the Delta Faucet blogger event and the past two days have been great! Ive always known Delta to be an industry leader, but after learning more about the brand, I am truly impressed! I cant wait to share more soon!

Last night I found a few amazing clearance items at Target. Run to your local Target to see if they have any left!

So today I wanted to share a few of my favorite online clearance finds!


1. Mongolian lamb fur pillow cover - amethyst - 16x12 - $44.99 - West Elm or check out Anthros bold yellow version here
2. Large Ikat Polka Dot napkin - 20x20 - set of 4 - $15.99-$20.00 - West Elm
3. Ruched White Coverlet - Twin X-Long only - $24.99 - Target 
4. Striped Guest Towels - set of 4 - $13.96 - World Market (In Store only)
5. Oasis Stripe Pillow - $13.96 - World Market 

Happy shopping! :)

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P.S Google Reader is going away on July 1st, so if you follow there, make sure to find another reader. Ive heard great things about Bloglovin and Feedly. Also, they allow you to transfer your Google Reader feed, which makes it so easy! I also post most of things on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter if youre interested in following there too :)

I finished the round table makeover, but havent taken photos yet, stop back Monday to see what we came up with!!

Hope you have a great weekend!! We have so many projects going on, we can hardly walk through the garage! Hopefully well get a lot done! :)

The mantle is finally installed, and it looks beautiful! Here are the installation pictures...
The first is a picture of the corbles being installed. The corbles have two mounting screws on the backsides. They will take some of the weight. Ive added an additional 3" screw through the top of the corbles to help with some of the "pull" of the mantle.
I then measured and marked for the wall portion of the french cleat and installed it. After that, the mantle simply slid right into place! Because of the way I set up the cleat initially, I was able to adjust the mantle left and right as needed!

The next step will be to finish off the surrounding trimwork. I have about 3-4 days left on this project and I will be finished!!!