A Whole Bed

Today we put together the whole Linnaea bed & threw a matress up there to get the whole picture.



We're going to make a few changes: the upholstered panel looks too low & the top arch looks too thick. And even though Mark may want to kill me over this point, the panel could use maybe a wee bit more padding.



Here are the two footboards next to each other; but it turns out we don't really like the lower one.

Racecar? Fish?

Since everyone in the shop knows I've been working on the Linnaea bed, when they saw me working on this other project


I started getting weird guesses about the type of bed it was. Racecar and fish are the ones I remember. But really, it's a set of kitchen shelves.




v1.1 of the headboard was still a bit off the mark, so I've got to redo most of it. v2.0 should be around later this week

Uphostery in; Verdict too

Round one with the uphostered headboard. We're making a few changes and trying again.




We'll also working on the footboard, but aren't sure which direction we'll be taking with it.

Headboard

Hey look, a headboard.

Linnaea Bedroom Set

After the third time the Linnaea nightstands got put on hold, and in between teaching sofa building, I was given a Linnaea headboard to make




Later today I'll get to CNCing it




And sooner or later I'll ne getting back to figuring out the curved door & knife hinges to complete the nightstands

An update (for Brad)

It's been a while, and there has been some clamor for posts. So, there
may be a few postings coming, but only if you can deal with more
photos and less words

It's that time again

It's that time of the year where I go a little crazy. Huddled up indoors, trying to stay away from the weather and/or the crazies. Last year, I took to beating on things. This year I've been making a bit of jewelry in the evenings, with has some soothing and some frustrating aspects to it.

But a couple of days ago, I made the pre-prototype dining chair legs into a stool to bring home. These were what we thought we were going to use as the dining chair for the Linnaea collection, before I got funneled back to production work, and before our GM got the designing bug and started to work on his own version for the dining chair.

So I called dibs on the leg assemblies, and make a little stool out of them.



Mostly I wanted to freehand sculpt and carve the shape out, and get a chance to beat on some more furniture.

A little rough sketching, and then I started work with the draw knife. I spent about 30 min the other day on it, and it has already morphed away from the drawings.

Now if only I can get the weather to cooperate and warm up another 10 degrees, I'd feel a bit better spending time on it on the back porch.

A lack of posts

Yeah, yeah. I've been lax of late. Not from lack of exciting things going on, but because of all the exciting things going on.

So, the new product development got put on hold. Mostly so I can go build the strange and custom things that our customers are actually paying for at the moment. These have been odd hall tables, kitchen islands, and whole room's worth of bookcases.

I did get a chance to build two Linnaea dining tables; one that a customer bought based on the drawings, and the second one to go off and be displayed at one of the showrooms.

Now I'm off and running on a kitchen built-in, bathroom vanities, and a stereo cabinet for another of our customers.

Soon, I'm told, they will re-direct my energies back toward the development of new products, and re-design of old products.

Mostly I popped in to write about the "launch" of my Etsy store. I've finally managed to finish three of my goblets, and had the good fortune to be directed towards Etsy. I've got some other things planned to go up on my store, little boxes and such, but I'm still working on finishing them.

So be patient, and check Etsy often for my new work

More Linnaea

The Linnaea chest and dresser are now finished. Thanks to Brian for doing a fair amount of grunt work fitting the drawers. So here they are with finish on them and handles. And a view of the drawers!

SPX and Ignatz

October not only brings wonderful weather, but also some wonderful events. The Big Apple Circus, Pumpkin Patch, and SPX.

SPX is the biggest little comic convention, held nearby in Bethesda Md. Since I have not only attended, but in years past been roped into serving on the steering committee, as well as know a few folks still serving on the committee, I was thrilled to accept the assignment to make the stands for the awards at the show; the Ignatz.

"The Ignatz Awards, named for the character in the classic comic strip Krazy Kat by George Herriman, is a festival prize that recognizes outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The ballot is created by a panel of five cartoonists and is then voted on by the attendees at the event. This offers a unique reflection of the views the professionals and their fans."

Since I had never been at the awards presentation, I found the sample they sent for me to mimic a little strange. Once I found out that the actual award is a brick (because that is what Ignatz the mouse hurled at Krazy Kat) the stand started to make much more sense.

A simple mitred box, with cut out sides for the brick to nestle into, and a slanted front. Finished off with a 1/4" veneer ply bottom, and felt.

I wanted to improve upon the model I recieved as I went, as well as make it easily repeatable if I'm asked to make them again next year. The original had the 1/4 bottom mounted straight to the bottom of the box, with the plywood edge showing, as well as being screwed and pluged on the sides.

I rabbeted in the bottom, hiding the ugly edge. And I fastened the mitres with glue and headless pin nails, which are much easier to conceal.

As for repeatability, I made a jig to hold the tiny 5" sides on the tablesaw to be able to cut the front angle and save my fingers. The only part I was dissapointed in, was I didn't think up a way to repeat the cutouts on the sides. In the end I just bandsawed and sanded them, which leaves them different from one to the next.

Next year I'll figure out a way to keep them exact.



So, I'll be out at SPX this Saturday (Oct 4th), delivering the Ignatz stands, and checking out this years comic offerings. And so should you.