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Posts tagged “Jamaica Plain”

Rescue!

Posted on 13 February 2014

Unless something goes terribly wrong,* carpentry is not usually not about adrenaline rush.  Firefighters burst into burning buildings to save puppies, while we shave another few thousands off a piece of crown miolding to make a perfectly coped joint.  Slow and steady tends to suit my constitution, but a bit of urgency now and then can be nice, too.  So I was excited to get the call from Lex, a repeat client of ours:  “There’s an oak library in a house in JP, and they’re about to gut the building.  We can have it if we can pull it out tomorrow; otherwise, it’s landfill-bound.”  We jumped into action, though our shop is not equipped with any slidey fire-poles.     The house was substantial…

Categories: History, Seen, victorian, vintage

Tagged: Jamaica Plain, library, oak, salvage, victorian

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3-D printers?

Posted on 14 August 2013

I believe it’s rare for tradespeople to think of themselves explicitly as business owners, and I’m not an exception.  We see ourselves as makers of things, and we grudgingly accept the business side as the necessity that allows us to keep making.  For example, in the past when people asked me about my business model, I used to fumble for a coherent answer.   I’ve gradually come to realize that I do have a business model, though it’s been implicit for much of my company’s existence:  We can succeed if we provide products and services that can’t be replicated in a factory.  We’re based in Boston, where wages and expenses are very high, and we rarely make the same thing twice.  This is not…

Categories: Shop work, Uncategorized, victorian, vintage

Tagged: bracket, corbel, Jamaica Plain, mahogany, sapele, shop work, victorian

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Also found in the bathroom

Posted on 7 July 2013

Gold ring with 4 small diamonds

 

I guess there’s something about bathrooms in Jamaica Plain.  We found this ring tucked behind a vanity cabinet during a whole-house renovation a few years ago.  When it turned up, I anticipated a tearful reunion scene when we presented it to our clients, but the ring wasn’t theirs, and they didn’t seem especially impressed (I thought it was pretty cool).  Our current clients were more excited about the dentures.

Categories: Found

Tagged: bathroom, diamond, found, Jamaica Plain, ring

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Found in the bathroom

Posted on 2 July 2013

  Someone tucked these dentures behind the beadboard behind the vanity cabinet in the upstairs bathroom.  Were they playing a prank, or was this some kind of time capsule?  I regret to report that my squeamishness prevented me from thoroughly examining the materials and detailing in the teeth.  Perhaps I’ll have more to report later… We found the envelope in the space under the bathtub, in the same bathroom as the dentures.  The addressee is Ethel Beaument (sic).  I got sucked into the website of the Jamaica Plain Historical Society recently and discovered that Ethel Beaumont seems to have been the granddaughter of a Col. Frederick Beaumont, an early owner of the house we’re working on.  The account suggests that some version of the…

Categories: Found

Tagged: 1925, bathroom, bond recommendations, dentures, found, Jamaica Plain

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Affordable architectural detail.

Posted on 27 August 2012

Jamaica Plain newel post
Categories: Seen

Tagged: Jamaica Plain, newel post, scrollwork, spray paint

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Work of double curvature, or how to bend handrail the way it doesn’t go.

Posted on 12 May 2011

Mary Horst, of Horst Buchanan Architects, Inc., approached me in November of 2010 about reworking a stair in an early ’80s condominium in Jamaica Plain, MA.  The original stair was open, giving the new homeowners visions of late-night tumbles, and the design had not aged well.   Budget and logistics required that the framework of the stair remain, but Mary wanted to add risers and half walls, and eliminate the oak balustrade.  The biggest challenge of the job would be fabricating a new wall-mounted handrail. Mary’s new design required a continuous, smoothly curving handrail with no visible joints.  Because the stair transitioned from straight rise to curving rise and back again, the handrail would have to change pitch in addition to following the curve of…

Categories: Shop work

Tagged: curved work, epoxy, handrail, Jamaica Plain, lamination, Stair

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Kind of Blue

Posted on 14 April 2011

We’ve gotten a chance to do some fun work lately — curved handrail, walnut tables in the style of Nakashima — but it seems that the formula for getting good press is staining some plywood bright blue. My friend David Doyle, longtime owner of the bookstore Rhythm and Muse, called me recently about making a table and drink rails for his new tapas restaurant cum vinyl haven Tres Gatos (a reference to beloved family members, not menu items…).  The goal was to make a big impact on a light budget, and Dave fell in love with an intense blue stain from Trans Tint. The stain, plus shellac and a UV-blocking top coat from Target Coatings gave us what we were hoping for: The funny…

Categories: Shop work

Tagged: Blue table, David Doyle, Jamaica Plain, restaurant, Rhythm & Muse, Trans Tint, Tres Gatos

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