Feedback from the Field

I've been a bit lax in keeping on with the blog posts. Lots of distracting little things happening these days, but now I'm very close to sinking my teeth into those black walnut planks I showed you in December, so please stay tuned.

On the topic of tuning-in to the blog... I'd like to thank the kind reader who sent in the following email and who gave me his okay to share it on the web site...

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Rough Milling the Desktop

With the chosen plank in hand, it's time to head down to a nearby shop for some assistance. The goal here is to flatten the slab prior to resawing it into a pair of book matched planks for the desktop. At a hefty 3 1/4" thick, 2' wide and 7 1/2' long it's tough to imagine doing a large job like this by hand. So... keeping my own safety and durability in mind (!), I decided it's time to hand the plank over to the good folks at Forest Products Supply and their trusty CNC router...

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Natural Edge Planks

Next project. A desk. Natural edged. Nakashima style. So... here I stand, many phone calls and short road trips into the search for just the right plank of wood. Sifting through piles of black walnut. Some air dried, some kiln dried, some a little of both...

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Gallery Debut - Jeffersonian Book Stand

The Jeffersonian Book Stand has now found its proper home with the Minnesota collector who came to me with the idea for this piece. It's really been a fun project!

I spent the last several days getting used to a new camera as I photographed the piece, and have just today uploaded the images to share with you via the website. You can find them in the Woodworking Gallery along with a more complete description of the piece. Also, if you've missed out on my blog posts chronicling its making, you can check them out here.

Please let me know your thoughts on my interpretation of a very unique historic piece! I look forward to hearing from you.

Hej då... and happy shavings!

Craig

Enter Nakashima

What do you get when you cross a library with an arboretum? Well, in Minnesota you get George Nakashima. Or, at least you get his furniture. Thanks to our late Governor Elmer Andersen and his wife Eleanor, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's Andersen Horticultural Library is fully stocked with some outstanding pieces of furniture...

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