Another interesting project completed - whew!

It's not too often that I build something and think about it lasting more than a hundred years.  

Oh, don't get me wrong - there are times when I build a dining table or a bed or a cabinet, and I wonder what people will think of it when it's handed down over time. But this time - I'm talking about building something more like a time capsule.

The urn that I just completed will soon be on its way to Italy, where it will end up in a walled vault with a lease. There are a ton of rules and regs for transporting ashes - you can read about those here.

The cemetery in Turin allows cremains to be housed for 99 years, after which, the urn ... well, who know what happens to it.

Here's the inspiration for the build. 

Early Dynastic Coffin by Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum on Sketchfab

Tradition has this urn being build of Cedar of Lebanon, and my client tracked down a slab of it in Northern California.

 I spoke to the lumber dealer, and explained how I'd like it re-sawn, and within a week or two, I had these 4 slabs resting in my shop. 

We went through a ton of design considerations - everything from building with wet wood (which is sure to shrink) to utilizing joinery that doesn't rely on glue. It took months, and frankly, a lot of emotional decisions. 

Here's the crate, in which the urn will be transported.

 The contents of the crate need to be accessible for inspections, hence the buckles that secure the lid.

 Once the lid is removed, the urn is revealed. 

 Since this wood is fairly fresh, the aroma of the cedar rushes right out at you - it's pretty amazing.

  You can see that curve on the lid from this view - thanks to my buddy Rick for machining that curve on his CNC. 

When it was finally complete, the buyer and I sealed the cremains in the urn, using brass screws and plugs to cover the screws. 

What will the cemetery people find in 99 years, when this box is removed from its vault?

This crate and urn will soon be on its way to Italy. All in all, this was a pretty emotional project, but one I was very honored to build. 

Godspeed, Pia. 

 

A sweet experience

North Las Vegas is experiencing a building boom! 

No complaints here - within a few miles of my shop, there are new restaurants, breweries, boutiques, and one of my favorites - doughnut shops! 

I did some work for Pink Box Donuts a while ago - they're a specialty doughnut boutique, and their interiors include giant rolling pins hanging from the ceiling. They asked me to make some handles for the rolling pins, and I was happy to oblige.

Seriously, if I were a baker, I would make one of these for my own kitchen!

I was making a hardware run the other afternoon and realized I was across the street from one of their stores, so I pulled in for a quick treat. 

Their exterior is so playful, 

and I love the door handles!

Racks of products line the front counter, and they have a few specialty donuts specific to Las Vegas, 

like this Raiders donut,

and this Golden Knight donut.

l'm not 100% down with this one, but I'm sure there are people who buy one and give it to their friends or co-workers. 

I'd be a little butt-hurt if I got one. 

But looking up over the counter, I saw what I was looking for - the giant rolling pins. 

It's always fun seeing your work around town, no matter how big, or how small. 

My 2023 AWFS wrap-up

 

Well, the 2023 AWFS show has wrapped up, and ... I have thoughts!

BTW - a few people asked - AWFS stands for the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers. 

This was the second time that it's been held at the new convention center, and I'll say this - the venue is amazing. From the parking, to the jumbo-tron, to the view of the city - this place doesn't disappoint. Oh - and the Tesla loop that will take you to your hotel... this place offers some pretty cool amenities. 

 Everything about this place is SO much better than the old location in the North and South Hall.

That said - the number of this year's vendors seemed a good bit smaller, with some of the major manufacturers absent. No Festool - REALLY?!? 

I spoke to a lot of disappointed attendees who really wished for more. It seems like the show really hasn't recovered from COVID and/or the economy. 

This year's show featured a Tool Tour - if you visited all of the booths that were featuring new tools, you won something - a shirt, or who knows what?! There were so many vendors giving out freebies that one more shirt was just - meh!

One of my absolutely favorite new products at the show was Powermatic's new surfaces for their tools - and this demo of spilled water on their tabletop stopped me in my track. 

This new surface felt like a combination of teflon and powder coating, and I'll tell you - I WANT THIS on my SawStop saw!

Just last week, I spent an hour or two sanding rust off of my cast iron tops, and that gets old. In this hot weather, just a simple sweaty handprint can rust in a few minutes.  

The Powermatic rep said that this upgrade for their cast iron tops would add about 10% to the cost of a machine... well worth it. 

 But I'm jumping ahead! This year, I was lucky enough to be asked to help judge the Fresh Wood furniture competition, which featured work by high school and post secondary students.  

We started judging these pieces a few months ago, rating 200+ pieces online, and narrowing it down to around 40 pieces that were actually on display at the show. 

One of my favorite parts was getting to know the other judges - including Brian Boggs, an amazing chair maker from North Carolina. Four of the five judges are actual builders, and their resumes and reputations were stellar.

We spent the day rating the pieces, getting into some pretty intense discussions about the BEST OF SHOW. 

In fact, in the end - we actually made a new category - I forget what we called it, but it was something like - "the judges nod" for a piece that didn't technically qualify for the best of show, but didn't deserve to be ignored. 

I guess we judges have some leeway! 

These pieces were simply amazing - from the designs,

 to the amazing bent laminations.  

We all loved this table, and felt like it was meant for production!

The handcut dovetails on this piece blew me away. 

And the inlays on this guitar...well, I can't believe this work was done by a high school student. 

The award ceremony on the last full day featured awards given to the various winners, as well as a catered affair afterward. 

By the way, this table, with a massive 20' bent lamination, won BEST OF SHOW. This fine woodworker actually won several awards for a few of the pieces that he entered, and I suspect we'll be seeing more from him in the future. 

Back to the show - if nothing else, the vendors really go out of their way to make their booths memorable. This CNC cut dinosaur was taller than me. Well, that isn't that hard! 

And this giant robot posed for a lot of photos over the four days. 

Even this giant saw blade, which appeared to be in 3D, was a great backdrop for a lot of bloggers and content creators.  

I gravitated over to the Bridge City booth, and splurged a little bit. Their tools are pretty high end, and often out of my budget.

 But this little mini plane caught my eye and of course, I had to have one. (Hey, it beats jewelry!)

 This is just a guess, but you're looking at a few thousand dollars worth of planes... you can understand why I bought the mini.  

 Speaking of BIG - this dust collector hose was the biggest one I've ever seen. It was attached to a HUGE automated CNC machine, when one sheet of plywood could be loaded in one end, and furniture parts pop out the other end. If you've never seen a machine like this cut parts before, you're missing out.  It's quite amazing. 

This automated lathe/CNC cutter made the most amazing table legs - from turning them, to carving them with great detail. 

Again - amazing. 

There was, of course, tons more to see - from lumber dealers to drawer companies, hardware suppliers, you name it, it was there. I am in awe of the team that pulls this convention together.

Once of the coolest parts of this conference are the classes that are offered, and I attended a lecture by Paul Downs, a friend and mentor. If you're interested in running your own cabinet shop, you won't find a better book that his - Boss Life.

You can find it on Amazon, and thank me later!

I also attended an amazing class in Wood Finishing. Seriously, the woman who gave the lecture was one of the most knowledgeable finishers I've ever spoken to - she had so many tips and tricks about lacquer that just today, I used some of her advice  today, when lacquering a piece I just finished. 

You can bet I kept her contact info! 

The best thing about the show is the opportunity to rub elbows with all the makers and suppliers. It's amazing how much you can learn with just a few classes, or with speaking to the actual people who design things like drawer glides or cup hinges. It's entirely inspiring.  If you've never attended... well, you should consider it.

I'm already looking forward to the 2025 show!

My mitzvah for the summer

 

Since the AWFS Show ended last week, I've been playing catch-up with all the jobs piling up in the shop! Seems like everyone wants some new furniture these days!

One commitment I wanted to finish up was a donation I promised to LightHouse Charities - a non profit located just a few blocks from my shop. 

I'd stopped by to speak with them, and they'd mentioned that an opportunity to sell bread from their bakery has popped up. Even though it's blazing hot right now, they hope to sell some baked good at Gilcrease Orchards, a gem of a "pick your own fruit and veggies" nursery up in the northwest part of town. 

So they'd asked for some sort of tabletop rack for selling their goodies. 

You know - it takes a village - I never turn down a donation, so when Ken at Legacy Woodworking asked if I wanted some plywood cutoffs from a job that they had built, I picked them up. 

That was a while ago - and I stared at that stack for a long time, wondering what I would do with all of it. Sure, a few friends would ask for a board or two, but I still had a ton, even after giving much of it away. 

So it was a natural conclusion that I would build the bread rack from it - baltic birch plywood is a high quality plywood, beautiful and often used in food service displays. 

I started by making three shelves, in different widths. Since I had 3/4" and 1/4" plywood - I made the exterior frames from the thicker stock. Then I made the slats for the bottom out of the thinner stock. 

Once they were made, I had to decide on the "framework" that would told them all together. So I laid them out and played with some various design ideas. 

Nothing was really hitting me right, and then it dawned on me! A solid side would allow a stringer connection to the shelves, and also allow for a little artwork, if necessary. So I cut some sides, and clamped it all together, to see how it looked.

I love it when a plan comes together in my brain!

I purchased some special connectors 

from one of my favorite hardware suppliers - McMaster-Carr. I swear - they have the best assortment and quickest shipping out there. And reasonable shipping charges, which is pretty important, too. 

Within a day, I had the connectors I needed.  

Finally - I lasered some signage for the rack. It's screwed in place, so if they want to change the rack to sell something different, they can remove it, they can. 

They make a variety of items for sale, and I suspect this won't be the last rack I'll build for them.

 Luckily - I have more plywood!