Redwood Picnic Table

My friend asked me to help him build this 10-foot picnic table for his back yard.  He bought $400 worth of farmed redwood since it is so incredibly weather resistant.  Redwood requires no chemical sealants.  His previous picnic table was made of fir and, according to my friend, it crumbled from the moisture of the fog.  The San Francisco moisture can also wreak havoc on regular screws, so we used galvanized decking screws which have extra zinc plating.  I developed a lot more respect for construction workers during this project since the 16 penny, twist nails that we used wore my arm out.   He and I  pulled the whole project together in an afternoon, and I hope to make another one another day just because I love to build.  

My Niece's Rocking Chair - Hard Maple and Walnut $1000

Building the Form for the lower rails.

Gluing and clamping slats of wood to the form.

This form was used to make the back styles.

It took about 40 hours to make this piece.  To make curved pieces, I had to make forms (kind of like molds) to which I glued several thin slats of wood.  Curved work is fun but presents lots of challenges.  I finished this with high-gloss polyurethane and wax.  It is designed to fit a 2 to 3 year old.  Again, no nails or screws in the entire piece.  Any metal in a rocker would just make it feel cheap.  The next one should only take about half that time.

Walnut Coat Rack

We were in serious need of hooks for jackets and hats at home.  I found some scrap walnut, bought some nice hooks and fastened them into the front.  I key-holed the so that screws attached to the wall nestle into the back of the coat rack and remain hidden from view.

Crib - American Walnut $3000

This curved arm is made from twelve thin pieces glued together.

This bronze screw fastens into threaded inserts inside the piece.

Here's the crib in action.

I generally prefer to go without nails or screws.  However I incorporated some knock-down hardware so that this crib can come apart.  Most of the joinery is traditional wood-glue joinery, however the four side pieces are attached with threaded inserts.  With plywood, this would compromise the strength of the assembly, but with solid walnut, this crib doesn't budge an millimeter.  The curved arms are bent laminations, meaning that I cut 12 thin strips of walnut, slathered glue between the strips, and clamped them with about 25 clamps to a curved form.  Once the glue dries, the shape is permanent.  The piece was finished with a coat of boiled linseed oil and two coats of amber shellac.  

Coffee Table - Hard Maple (Stained) $400

I made this for a customer wanting the specific dimensions, 36 inches long by 17.5 inches wide.  She also wanted slats for a bottom shelf.  Matching the stain to her other furniture proved to be most difficult.  Next time I'll do the construction and leave color matching to a finishing expert.

Cradle for Niece - Hard Maple and White Oak $1200

About 30 hours of work went into to this pendulum style cradle. I stayed pretty traditional by using woodworking joints only: dowel joints, dadoed grooves, and biscuit joinery. No nails or screws in the whole thing. These pictures do not show the final product since I eventually finished it with shellac and carnuba wax.

Two 3/4 inch dowels of oak hold this maple rail into the maple side board.

You're looking at an oak tusk tennon, which is hammered-in and can be removed as well. Tusk tennons are very strong, yet allow for assembly/disassembly. They're also decorative. It's only half way in for this photo, and put in backwards too.  Oops.  good thing I can pull it out and reverse it.

Side Table - White Oak & Wenge Wood $250

The two dark bars are wedges of wenge wood.  Around it is a section of the table leg that goes through the table top.

Completed this project using scrap oak from previous projects. I decided to go traditional with the double-wedged mortise-and-tenon joinery at each corner. The dark wedges are made from an African wood called wenge (pronounced WHEN-gay).

I kept the wedges that were sawed off as decorative items. Maybe not so pretty, but it helps people understand why the wedged mortise-and-tenon is the strongest joint on Earth.