Video Cabinet

This Mission-style video cabinet was designed to hold over 200 videos or many more DVDs and CDs.  Constructed from solid oak, the completed piece was fumed to bring out the natural grain of this beautiful wood, then finished with three coats of hand-rubbed paste wax for protection and luster.  The interior features solid oak adjustable shelves that can accommodate any future media format that the homeowner may purchase.

Linen Cabinet

This linen cabinet is actually two separate pieces.  The base cabinet has 12” drawers and the top features shallow drawers for table linens and adjustable shelves behind the leaded glass doors.  This set is also solid oak and all the drawer fronts were cut from a single sheet of oak plywood with the grain realigned on the front of the cabinet.  The glass doors were custom designed to match the homeowner’s color scheme and to evoke the style of Frank Lloyd Wright’s art glass.  Because this linen cabinet stands in a high-traffic area, the wood was stained and then sealed for protection.

These two pieces were build to replace the original cabinets, which no longer met the customer's needs, effectively tripling the storage available.

Bathroom Vanity

This Mission-style bathroom vanity redo included resurfacing the countertop, refacing the cabinet with hardwood veneer, new doors and drawer fronts, and accenting with custom molding.  Sink panels were replaced with swing-out drawer panels that reveal storage trays.  Thin strips of oak were used to trim the inside of the sink rim, and were polycoated to resist moisture.

Entertainment Center I

This entertainment center was built to fill the space to the left of the fireplace and to house the 36" TV.  It features a TV swivel, adjustable shelf behind the door, and grommets for multimedia wiring.  The electrical socket plate was brought forward into the back of the cabinet for easy access and a finished look, and another socket was installed in the top left rear. 

The center measures 7'W x 3½'H x 2'D, is built from solid oak (top, face frame, door, etc.) and oak plywood, and weighs over 220 pounds!  It was stained to match the customer's other furniture, sealed with three coats of polycoat, then selected portions were finished with Howard's Feed-n-Wax and Liberon paste wax.

Entertainment Center II

This entertainment center was built to fill the space to the right of the fireplace and is the twin to the one above.  There are three fold-down doors, one of which also folds in the middle to avoid the couch.  The fireplace gas escutcheon and the electrical socket plate were brought forward into the back of the cabinet for easy access and a finished look.  Another socket was installed in the top left rear. 

The center measures 7'W x 3½'H x 2'D, is built from solid oak (top, face frame, door, etc.) and oak plywood, and also weighs over 220 pounds!  It was stained to match the customer's other furniture, sealed with three coats of polycoat, then selected portions were finished with Howard's Feed-n-Wax and Liberon paste wax.

Fireplace Mantel

This mantel was built to match the cabinets above and completes the built-in set.  Done in the same style and finish, it precisely fits into the brick ledge above the fireplace, and wraps around both pillars to create double the space of the previous mantel and quadruple the space of the bricks themselves. 

The mantel is six feet wide and a full foot deep, is built from solid red oak, and offers ample storage space.  Every visible seam is mitered.  It was stained to match the customer's other furniture, sealed with five coats of polycoat, then finished with Howard's Feed-n-Wax and Liberon paste wax.

This small cabinet was built to hold the user's laptop as just the right height for her elbows, offer space for her mouse, and adjustable shelves for mail and other papers.  Fully adjustable gliders allow the cabinet to be leveled on any surface, be easily movable without marring the floor, yet stay close to the ground at all times.

The stand is constructed of solid red oak and oak veneer plywood, stained to match the other items in the kitchen and living room, sealed with five coats of polycoat, and finished with Liberon paste wax.

This small table was needed for storage and holding decorative items to set off the new bay windows (and their shelves).  It was done in the same style and color scheme as the other furniture in the room, and included detail on the apron that matched nicely with the coffee table.

The table top, legs, and apron are constructed of solid red oak.  The shelves are oak veneer plywood, edge-banded with 3/4" solid oak.  The table was stained to match the other items in the kitchen and living room, sealed with five coats of polycoat, and finished with Liberon paste wax.

Prairie Clock

This Prairie-style clock is constructed of solid oak, and finished with oil and hand-rubbed paste wax.  The art-glass dial is in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, and is backed by a mirror to aid in viewing the time from any angle.

The clock comes apart like a Japanese puzzle box: there are no nails, screws, biscuits, dowels, hinges, or doors--two magnetic catches hold everything together.

This piece won a 1st-place ribbon at the 2003 San Diego Fair Student Showcase.

Craftsman Cabinet

This Greene & Greene-style cabinet is made of mahogany with rosewood accents.  The cabinet features solid mahogany drawers and top, and two adjustable shelves.  Doors and drawers feature silent magnetic catches using rare-earth neodymium magnets.  These magnets are also used in mahogany retaining clips, so that the glass door panels could be swapped out for art-glass in mere seconds.  The cabinet is finished with lacquer and paste wax.

This piece won a 1st-place ribbon at the 2003 San Diego Fair Student Showcase.

Water Feature Tray

This tray was custom-made to fit the client's water feature, which had been sitting in a cardboard box for easy movement and water-containment.  The new tray is made of solid birch and birch plywood, and finished to contrast nicely with their new hardwood floors.  Heavy-duty varnish was used to repel water, and the bottom was coated with felt for easy mobility without harming the floor.

New Tray

Cap Rail

The cap rail covers the partition between the foyer and living room.  It is made of solid birch, stained to compliment the new hardwood floors, and finish with varnish rubbed to glossy sheen.

Replacement Cabinet Doors

These doors replace the melamine ones that came with the house.  Not only didn't they match the new decor, but the doors and cabinet edges were delaminating!

The old cabinet face was also delaminating and had to be stripped.  New birch edge-banding was ironed on, and stained, varnished and rubbed out to match the doors.

Prairie Grandfather Clock

This Prairie-style clock is the big brother to the mantel clock.  Constructed of solid quartersawn white oak and finished with oil and wax, it features a much larger stained glass dial, with heavy-gauge copper hands, and a few other innovations.  The sides and back panels were bookmatched; indeed, the back panels are matched from the bottom all the up to the back door.

This will be display at the 2004 San Diego County Fair, in the student showcase, during the month of June.  I'll be there too at the booth, on June 12 from 3:00 to 7:00.

This piece won a Cristen and Ryan Dailey Scholarship.

School Shelves

These shelves hold school and office supplies, and is built completely out of melamine.  Once again I built something for myself that I couldn't lift!

Media Bookcase

This set of shelves are eight feet tall and nearly eleven wide.  Built to hold our media collection, the set is only six inches deep and all shelves are adjustable.  Not wanting to spend a fortune on wood, the entire set is made of 3/4" red oak veneer plywood--except for the top cap which is solid red oak.  Knowing that this couldn't be made (or moved!) in one piece, I used knockdown hardware, which allowed me to construct the set one bay at a time.  I used three coats of Black Walnut colored Danish oil finish, with two coats of Liberon paste wax.

Eventually, each of the eight doors will have two panels of glass (medium green granite cathedral), and feature dovetailed rails and handmade knobs and plates.

Torsion Shelves

These small shelves are ideal for holding pictures in our stairwell.  A torsion-box shelf fits tightly over a rectangular strip which is screwed into studs or anchors.  I made these out of scrap 3/4" red oak veneer plywood, faced with some leftover quartersawn white oak, all finished with Black Walnut Danish oil finish and Liberon paste wax.  I love the whole idea of "no visible means of support".  Each shelf weighs about a half pound, yet is so strong that I could literally climb on it.  They also fit so tightly that when I decided to move one to another location,  I had to destroy the anchor strip to get it off--but the shelf itself was fine.  Eventually we will fill most of this space with these shelves so that we can display the rest of our pictures.

Mobile Mission Bedframe

This Mission-style bedframe was made to house a queen-size SleepComfort 7000 bed.  Below the mattress are six large storage drawers and two smaller drawers to hold the wired remotes.  The entire bed rests flat on the floor, but raises up to roll away from the wall for easy cleaning.

The drawers on each side were cut from the same piece of wood, to match the grain along the entire length.  Drawer tolerances of less than 1/32" were used to make the drawers practically disappear from a distance--only the drawer handles give them away.  Smaller drawers that hold the wired remotes are located near the headboard for easy access; they use internal spring latches, and their openings are limited to as not to whack the nearby nightstands.

The top cap and corbels add to the Mission styling, as do the four-square inlays at the top corners of the head- and footboards.

The sides of the bed are all 1" thick solid red oak, with 1/2" oak-veneer plywood for the headboard panels.  The posts are 2" square solid red oak, and the four-square inlays are grain-matched cocobolo.  The drawers are of 1/2" Baltic birch plywood, and the superstructure uses 3/4" Baltic birch ply.  The bed weighs nearly 400 lbs. by itself, and yet it takes only 20 lbs. of force on the 18"-long 5/16" aluminum handles to raise each side for rolling using a system of pulleys, aircraft cable, levers and 1000-lb. capacity furniture castors.

Mission Bar Table

This Mission-style bar table was made from quarter-sawn white oak.  The quadrature legs use an effect popularized by Stickley to display the quartersawn ray fleck on all sides.  Hidden mortise and tenon joinery is used at the top, while the through mortise and tenon joinery is used for the lower stretchers.  The table goes with the Mission Bar Stool, below.

Mission Bar Stool

This Mission-style bar stool is derived from the Stickley Billiard Chair (hence the footrest).  It uses the same quadrature legs and mortise & tenon joinery as the table above, and features a removable cushion and seatback.

The 40 lb. chair is ridiculously sturdy, yet surprisingly easy to move.  Now I need to make two more for the rest of the family...

Workbench

Speaking of sturdy, I finally got around to building the workbench I've needed for years.  The top is a torsion box made from 3/4" MDF; even though it's mostly hollow, the 7' x 3' x 3-1/2" top weighs over 225 lbs.  The design comes from that used be the Palomar College Woodworking program, and was stretched to fit the larger top.  The supporting structure was made from solid ash.  I added a tool tray to get the clutter off of the working surface, and two vises.  I found the Wilton vises on eBay and while cleaning them discovered that we were all made in the same year--that's right, they're nearly 45 years old and they work great (just like me!).  The entire workbench weighs in a little over four hundred pounds. It's built to take a maximum of abuse with a minimum of complaint.

Prairie Pendant Lamp

This Prairie-style pendant lamp was is replacement for the kitschy French-country thing that was in there before.  The five panels rest in a  mahogany frame finished to resemble Hawaiian Koa.

All joinery is through mortise & tenon.  The lower horizontal pieces  have 1/4" square tenons; the top pieces used 1/4" x 1/8" (that was fun).  The tapered posts fit through the top.

The glass panels are my version of Frank Lloyd Wright's Wheat panels from Taliesin.  Because the side panels are only 3-1/4" wide by eleven inches tall, I consolidated many of the pieces to make it buildable, then further enlarged parts with 1/4" edges to be no less than 1/3" on any side.  I continued the pattern to the bottom to hide the bulb and fixture.  Altogether, this lamp contains over 460 pieces of glass!

This piece won me the prestigious Andrew Teich Scholarship at the Palomar Awards Banquet.

Storage and Entertainment Cabinet

This cabinet is nine feet wide, eight feet tall, and two feet deep.  Its sixteen drawers have more storage space than two full-size dressers!   There are adjustable shelves on either side of the large center entertainment bay, which features a base unit for components which is sturdy enough to hold a big-screen (CRT) TV.  The side shelves are concealed with regular doors, and the entertainment bay uses pocket doors. 

The entire cabinet was built of red oak veneer plywood, with solid red oak being used as necessary for structural considerations.  It was finished with Deft Step-Saver (Oil, Dye, and Polyurethane) in Golden Oak.

Because of access constraints, the entire cabinet was built with knockdown hardware to facilitate assembly in place.  I offered to grain-match all front surfaces, but the client declined.

Oval Firewood Storage box

I still make fires like I did back in Boy Scouts: paper, kindling, small wood and logs.  Unfortunately I had a container for each and things were getting a little out-of-hand.  This Mission-style firewood storage box is an answer to our storage and organization needs.   The side slats are solid red oak; the bottom is red oak veneer plywood, and the whole is finished with Black Walnut Danish Oil finish and protected with wax. 

My friends couldn't believe I was going to use this beautiful box to store firewood; although only the inside would see any damage, I relented and lined the inside with cardboard.

I am pleased to have built this entire box out of scraps I had laying around.  This project won a first place ribbon at the San Diego County Fair Student Showcase.

Shaker Boxes

These Shaker oval boxes are made of solid quartersawn cherry, ornamented with copper nails, and finished with Back Walnut Danish Oil Finish.  These are sizes #1, #2, and #3 (top to bottom) and nest inside one another like Russian petroishka dolls.

Appalachian Ladderback Chair

This classically American design has been made in the Appalachian Mountains for centuries.  I heard that the two-slat chair was not nearly as comfortable as its three-slat cousin, so without changing the rest of the frame I added a third slat. 

The point of this chair was to use the tools, methods, and materials that have been used for generations.  To that end, this solid oak chair with woven hickory-bark seat was made predominantly with draw knife, spokeshave and scraper.  Indeed, I left the tool marks to celebrate the chair's rustic heritage.  Only six surfaces have been sanded: the top facets of the two front legs (which are visible), and the bottoms of all four (which aren't).  I finished the chair with Black Walnut Danish Oil finish, and protected it with wax.

Veneered Chessboard

This chessboard was made by veneering over an MDF core.  The field of maple and mahogany squares is surrounded by a border of bubinga and black strips. The board was finished with a coat of oil to protect it while I figure out what to do with it...

Veneered Tabletop

This tabletop was made from beeswing eucalyptus over an MDF core, and finished with a coat of oil while I figure out what to do with it. 

The perspective view shows the bookmatched pattern.

The side view shows how the grain flows over the edge.

Master Bathroom Doors

These double-swinging doors separate the (noisy) master bathroom from the master bedroom.  The hardware will allow both doors to lock at ±90º.

Since the giant sequoia design spans both doors, the inner frame members are made of an amalgam of wood and aluminum angle, which runs the length of both such pieces.  The aluminum adds rigidity to the doors to protect the intricate glass panels.  (See picture at right.)

The inner frame members are held in place by long screws through loose tenons.  The doors can be disassembled to remove the glass for repair, by removing the tenon screws and the small knobs that hold the push-bars to the wider outer frame members.

The panels were cut with a diamond ring saw and constructed using copper foil.  The doors are mahogany with cocobolo accents, and are finished with Danish Oil Finish and protected with wax.  The doors casings are also made of solid mahogany and finished similarly.

Three-Slat Appalachian Ladderback Chair

This classically American design has been made in the Appalachian Mountains for centuries.  Compared with the rustic comfort of the two-slat chair, this one features different seat joinery and is much more refined: the front legs and all lower rungs are tuned on the lathe, and everything is sanded.

This is the first "normal" piece of furniture I have made for any of my classes at Palomar--and it won me three scholarships:  the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association Scholarship (for chairs), the first annual Barry Gruer Memorial Scholarship, and the Rockler Scholarship.  Please accept my deepest appreciation for these awards; receiving them all in the space of an hour was unexpected and humbling.

This chair was made from green cherry, with a hickory bark seat and cocobolo accents.  The overall construction of the chair was similar to the two-slat: steam-bent back legs, mortise and tenon joinery, and notice the front legs are wedged from the top for appearance and strength.  The whole was finished using Russ Filbeck's sanded-oil method, and protected with paste wax.

Four-Slat Appalachian Ladderback Armchair

This classically American design has been made in the Appalachian Mountains for centuries.  Featuring the overall structure of the two-slat chair, this one features more slats and arms for comfort.

The top slat acts as a headrest, and so requires a more aggressive reverse bend at the top of the back legs.  The arms are sculpted and joined to the front legs with a wedged mortise-and-tenon, and to the back legs with dowels and screws.

The chair was made from green walnut, with a hickory bark seat and ebony accents.  I used the Tennessee bark this time, which gives me more consistent results and strength.  Rather than using the tab-and-slot method of splicing pieces of hickory bark (which can pull out under tension), I used the thong-and-knot technique; this allowed me to "string" the seat with about 60 pounds of tension.  The whole was finished using Russ Filbeck's sanded-oil method, and protected with paste wax.

This chair received a first-place ribbon at the 2007 San Diego County Fair.

Jewelry Box

This jewelry box was an exercise in hand-cut dovetails and mortise-and-tenon joinery.  It is made of solid white oak with ipe top panel and button.  It is finished with natural Danish oil finish and protected with paste wax.

The flush-fit top is a mortise-and-tenon frame with an "overlap" panel (like interlocking letter 'C's) of beveled ipe.  It rides on flush brass-pin hinges, stops open, and closes with a beveled button made of ipe.

The sides were resawed and cut "cardboard box" fashion, so as to unfold into a continuous grain match around all four sides.  Dimensions of the box and the dovetails themselves were chosen to make maximal use of the golden ratio for a visually pleasing effect.  The 1/2-inch bottom is a bookmatched frame-and-panel.

Six-Slat Appalachian Ladderback Rocker

This classically American design has been made in the Appalachian Mountains for centuries.  Featuring the overall structure of the four-slat armchair, this one features more slats for comfort and support, and rockers molded into the bottoms of the legs.

The top slat acts as a headrest, and so requires a more aggressive reverse bend at the top of the back legs.  The arms are sculpted and joined to the front legs with a hidden mortise-and-tenon, and to the back legs with dowels and screws.

The chair was made from green urban black oak, with a leather seat and cocobolo accents.  I decided to use leather this time for more comfort and a different look.  The leather should last as long as the traditional hickory bark, but is stronger and has more consistent properties, which allowed me to use a great deal of tension while weaving.  This seat is extremely comfortable!  The chair was finished using Russ Filbeck's sanded-oil method, and protected with paste wax.

This chair received a first-place ribbon at the 2007 San Diego County Fair, and won the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association award for Outstanding Achievement at the Palomar College Woodworking Program 2007 Awards Banquet.

Boggs-Style Shaving Horse

Based on the Brian Boggs design, I built this shaving horse completely from scraps, and used it to make all of my Appalachian Ladderback chairs.  Though heavy the horse disassembles for easy storage and transportation.  It features a padded and adjustable seat--even my eight-year old could use it!  It also features a ratcheting clamping bed to easily accommodate pieces of widely varying sizes.

After the six-slat rockers were finished, I refaced the bed and clamping bar with scraps of leather for longevity and a sure grip.

Greene & Greene-Style Towel Racks and TP Holder

These mahogany accessories feature the cloud-lift motif and cocobolo pyramid plugs, replacing the dated ones to match the G&G bathroom.  All accessories were sealed with shellac and protected with paste wax. 

Queen-Size "Annie"-Style Bed Frame

This bed frame was inspired by a set of six that I built for a theater company (MET2) to use in their production of "Annie".  Each component of teh frame was made from three thicknesses of 3/4" plywood, and the components were triple-biscuited to each other.  The frames were finished with high-gloss white paint and lacquer, and protected with paste wax.  I re-used the old metal box-spring support.   

The idea here was to raise the bed far enough off the floor to give ample storage room, yet keep the mattress low enough to use without a stool.  The headboard had to be high and sturdy enough to be leaned against for reading.