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Posts tagged “walnut”

Overkill

Posted on 5 August 2015

The quirky little projects we get are some of my favorites.  They fall outside the typical reach of woodworking, and most folks wouldn’t want to be bothered.  And while they are rarely lucrative, there are other kinds of compensation.   Two years ago (I couldn’t believe it when I checked the email thread!), a regular client asked if we could fabricate the missing wooden handle for an heirloom pistol he had. I of course said yes, before even seeing the project.  I know nothing of guns or gunsmithing, but weird old stuff excites me, and the transgressive allure of a firearm made the project irresistible.  Up close, the pistol was even more interesting than I had imagined, unlike anything I had ever seen.  …

Categories: History, trade secrets

Tagged: boot pistol, machinist, pistol, Rikert Engineering, Steve Reichert, underhammer percussion pistol, walnut

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How to turn 6-foot boards into a 7-foot table

Posted on 3 September 2013

We had finished the carpentry for the kitchen, and the only thing missing was the table.  The clients and architect had long planned a large, counter-height table to complete the kitchen, but a suitable table was not presenting itself.  The unusual dimensions almost certainly precluded finding a pre-built table, and no custom design had gelled yet.  The call from Paris (Texas) broke the logjam.  It turned out that our client’s grandfather, a woodworker, was close to retirement, and he was clearing out his shop.  He had a pile of walnut that he’d had cut almost 50 years before and never gotten around to using.  Would his grandson be interested in it?  He was, and worked to convince me that I should be too.  Several…

Categories: Found, Shop work

Tagged: Helios Design Group, Paris, table, Texas, veneer, walnut

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Paul’s house in the woods

Posted on 4 August 2013

I first heard of Paul Koval years ago from a graduate of the Cabinet and Furniture program at North Bennett Street School.  I was complaining about the paucity of really good cherry lumber at the big wholesale yards where we usually buy our hardwoods.  I think it was Sam Chase who said to me, “Well, there’s this guy, and he’s out in the middle of nowhere, but he has some amazing stuff — wide cherry and air-dried walnut, really gorgeous.”  I called the number on the little slip of paper that Sam gave me, and crossed my fingers.  Wood guys can be a grouchy bunch, wary of greenhorns wasting their time, and I was newly enough in business to still feel like an impostor.  …

Categories: Found, trade secrets

Tagged: Ashby, coffee table, furniture, George Nakashima, maple syrup, Paul Koval, sugar house, walnut

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The walnut saga

Posted on 18 November 2010

We recently finished a renovation in Brookline, MA, in a generally worker-friendly building:  there was air conditioning and heat at the appropriate times, and, since we were working in a penthouse unit, an excellent view.  The building had only one dammit feature, which will become relevant later in the story. The architect we worked with, Carol Marsh of Helios Design Group, did her job perfectly:  she designed a beautiful space, and left the details of execution to us.  Perhaps the most challenging detail of the kitchen was a ten-foot-long walnut counter, supported at one end by cabinets and at the other end by a single leg. The fun started early, as it turned out that stock of sufficient length was not common.  Highland Hardwoods…

Categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Brookline, screw-ups, stairs, steel, table, walnut

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