Dream Forest Studios

This is the continuing saga of the Woodworking Chemist. Last week, our hero was on a project that could have spelled certain doom. At the last minute, the caped client wanted joinery that would have been extraordinarily easy with power tools after all of the power tool work was done. Unfortunately, this studio has no boy wonder to dig him out of this mischief. Glue ups done, on a 16 foot piece of lumber. This time, our hero relied on his tool belt, and pulled out his trusty chisel.

After this was completed, I went into formulating the color match on a larger scale.  The original match was done weeks earlier before the client went away to Paris. It was now up to me to make a batch of dye that would work. This portion of the project, for some strange reason is always what I enjoy the best. I guess since I mix chemicals for a living? Oh well, I put on the first coat of dye and I was really amazed at how well the material worked. Since I was working with a medium like oak, I wanted to make sure the pores were leveled so that my client would not look at his shelf and see a cheap rounded over look on the wood. I leveled the wood with 3 coats of shellac. Each coat was meticulously rubbed out with fine sandpaper. Then, after that was completed, I began the polyurethane. Five coats of hand rubbed beauty later, 5 coats of tinted wax was applied and rubbed out.

The whole reason I have begun this venture of mine is that I really enjoy the feeling I get when someone admires a piece of work, whether it be furniture, a bowl, pen, or custom woodwork, and knowing that from start to finish a portion of myself goes into crafting each piece. Interacting with my clients, using my hands in balance with my mind and other senses, as well as seeing their satisfaction and appreciation for something that, if properly cared for, will last generations is a wonderful gift.

Well, folks – thanks so much for this opportunity for me to express myself.  I am feeling very good about myself. I just got finished working on my first big commission for some clients of mine. A lot of things went through my head as I was handed this opportunity.

The project came through an off the wall way. I worked with a gentlemen, whom I had the pleasure of sharing a cubicle with for 2 years as a professional chemist. His father, who found out I worked with wood as a hobby, wanted me to build him a mounting board for a wooden boat that he was receiving from a friend. After a conversation, and a handshake, I was able to find out that the boat was a scaled down replica of an 19th Century wooden boat called the “Rattlesnake.”  The “Rattlesnake” was a boat that was made from a very light, and tight grained wood, and was then to be placed on top of a walnut grand piano.

My project defined, I started to work. I was able to make the main portion of the board out of maple, and then trimmed the edges of the board out of walnut, so that both portions of the big picture could be represented in harmony with each other. The piece was oiled, polished to a satin gloss, waxed and polished out and delivered to my friend’s father who’s eyes were lit up with delight.  At this point, I knew the path of my career was changed forever. He said “WHOA, this is beautiful, what exactly are you doing in this place? My friend, you have really missed your calling in life.” After a few chats with him, he told me that my soon-to-be client (although I didn’t know it at the time) told me the same thing. 

A few months, and another handshake later, I met my client for the second time. He said to me “Mike, a friend of mine has an apartment with a small piece of furniture in it, and what she wants is for you to match a piece of cherry furniture color and make a shelf out of an existing window sill. I’ve seen your work, and I’d like you to do it.” Upon review, the wood wasn’t cherry at all, rather oak. We started the project with a catalog he had found with lumber with a milled profile in it for the side of the sill. I was able to find a similar profile in a nearby lumber yard. At that point, I bought a small section of the profile, only to be told that “it’s too small” and “she really doesn’t like it, what else you got?” I said “Well, I have some profiles of my own, I will give you a few samples.” After milling out a few samples, I turned them over to the client.

One of the profiles that I had gotten turned out to be a success. I prepared a whole bunch of color samples from dyes I purchased.  It was at this point, the most time was spent doing nothing as my client was off to Paris to enjoy some of the wonderful French wines and cheeses. A color match was found, and the 19 foot of oak was purchased. Shaping and sizing was done. The boards were rough cut, and the run moulding was attached to the boards. I turned over the boards to my client to check the size of my measurements and overall fit.

I found out during the project that he used to be a carpenter and owned his own business. I felt nothing but pride in knowing that an old-time woodworker wanted my work. I also was very fortunate that he was able to guide me through the steps of the process without getting frustrated. The original fit was “neh, ok, but not good enough, oh, and can you mitre the joints on the ends. I don’t want to see the end grain.” It was at this point, that I found out the hard way that the many classes I took on sharpening paid off. My chisels were sharp. Fortunately, the only tool that I’ve ever been injured on was a hand tool. Here a chop, there a chop. Five hours of chopping, and my first ever successful hand tool mitre joint complete. The finishing begun. To be continued….