The end of January finds me back in the studio working on some fun things.

Right now I’m working on the ever present growing family of Wauli’s. Those things have taken on a life of their own. I’ve got multiple Wauli hooks, so far up to eight places and the ever popular single Wauli’s. Both are being offered in enamel and powder coat. I might have to quit my regular job…. hahaaha

Modifying 6 place Wauli for a custom order

White Wauli’s hanging out

Orange Wauli’s

Clear primed Wauli’s ????

 A project that has rally gotten me back to doing what I really love and that’s two office desks. With the economy the way it is, it’s great to see a small company growning. That growth tho, doesn’t mean that there is a big budget. So, with a little time and scrap materials and a few new ones, I’m building a couple of desks for a local company. I get to do the design and fabrication. Heaven!

Cutting the legs from some scrap steel.

The desk tops. 3/4 inch birch ply.

Thanks again for dropping by.

Cheers

October is here and so is the cool fall weather(HA) and that makes it perfect for scootering! Problem is I have never had a scooter.

I have been working for my brother trying to catch up on bills and such being that the art furniture business, like most luxury sectors, is struggling. While on the job one day the kind homeowner was walking by with some (3) Razor type mini scooters that she was tired of finding in the yard around her house. I happily offered to take them from her. My brother got one, since he too didn’t have a scooter, and I took the other two.

Discarded scooters in my truck.

One of the scooters was a Hotwheels and he other was a real Razor! The hot wheels was really nicely constructed but carried this ominous warning:

Now I fit the age thing, but the weight thing? Like what old guy is going to weigh 132 or less?? and I’m sure there is a safety factor but I like to jump scooters and do tricks on them. My potential weight could be way over 200 pounds. I was going to have to modify my scooter. First I wanted to combine the two and make one with the coolest parts. I like the all aluminum scooters so mine was going to have as much aluminum as possible.

Combined scooter in front, partsmobile in back.

Note the Razor gooseneck and front fork. The only steel parts now are the front fork and the fender.

Now a great journal entry would include step by step pics and explanations, but screw that. Here’s the finished product. I did beef up the main frame by adding a strip of aluminum to the underside and each rail  and completely welding the edges so there are triangular structures running the length of the frame. I also cleaned and lubed the gooseneck bearings and installed new ABEC 7 bearings in the wheels.

I hope your October is going well too. So get out there and scooter. Also, wear a helmet!!!!

Cheers.

Wow, I can’t say enough about this month already. I had one of my hooks featured on the daily ETSY feature. Woooooohooooo. I didn’t even know it until I realized that my site on ETSY had been hit over two hundred times in a short period of time. Also, a very kind ETSY person let me know too.

I sold some of my hooks. 

My little buddies waiting to be packed for delivery.

These are just one of those things that I really love. I’m so glad I put them on ETSY. They make me pretty happy. That might be weird but that’s how I feel. I think that if I were to mount a bunch on a wall, anywhere, they’d be cool with or without stuff on them. 

Strange, when I start thinking about doing other things, stuff falls in my lap. Not sure what it all means, but I’m having a great time.

Cheers,

Paul 

This is the chair that was on my bench for two months……… still working on the final details.

I haven’t decided if I’m going to veneer the wood on this piece or if I’m going to leave it crude like it is. I kinda like it this way. It makes it obvious that it’s to be used. I think if it’s to nice it’ll be kinda like a new car that you’re afraid to put the first scratch on!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,

Paul 

….. to make a funky ass portfolio. Someone needed a wooden port case. I can do that. Wanted catches for the lid/flap. Wanted a handle. 

Here’s what he got.

The handle is some stainless steel rod and tubing.  The hinge in some old denim jeans material. 

The wood is just some scrap pine and luan door skin. 

I put a masonite tray inside to help slide out the book that is going to be stored inside.  

The catches are just  two pairs of magnets. 

 I hated to see it go. 

Cheers for now,

Paul 

In February I got a call from my friend Oscar asking if I would go to Puerto Rico (PR) to help him pour a top for his cooking island. I was a little hesitant since I hadn’t done anything that big myself. I ended up going and here are some pictures from the trip.

Oscar and I have an uncanny shared interest in concrete surfaces.  Several years ago we realized we both had the same book, Conrete Countertops, by Fu-Tung Cheng. Not long after, we were experimenting with some concrete at the studio and made this.

I flew to San Juan where Oscar picked me up. It was about a 50 minute ride to Humacao.

One of many coves close to our destination. Most just down the road and around the corner. 

The countertop we were going to be doing was of course, organically shaped, not nice straight edges as shown in Cheng’s book.

O cutting the mica that will be the bottom of our mold.

One of the problems for us was going to be making the curved sides of the mold. We opted for cold molded plywood. We used 1/4 inch luan ply for the long radii and an 1/8 inch scrap plywood spacer this cool guy at Home Depot gave us for the tight radii. What a stroke of luck it was to find that thin ply. Bent with the grain the thin ply formed perfectly. We used contact cement for the glue as it would set quickly allowing for fast mold completion. For more rigid type cold molding, contact cement isn’t good since it will spring back and allow the ply to delaminate. 

First of four layers including the mica. We used blocks for support and to anchor the mold to the two 3/4 ply table top that O had made for this job. 

The long radii were made using the 1/4 inch plywood so we were able to space the blocks further apart. 

Molds almost ready for caulking. The countertop was over 8 feet long and at 520 pounds we opted for a two piece mold. Nested together, the two molds fit perfectly on O’s 4 x 8 work table.

O removing the masking tape after caulking. Cheng’s video was also very helpful in reminding us of the steps we needed to follow. 

After waiting for the caulk to set over night, we installed the rebar and inlays. 

It was decided that we would pour after lunch. It would give us time to relax. For me, the pouring was going to be the biggest question mark. For my terrazzo tops I use white portland and play sand. The play sand has a very uniform grain size. For this job we would be using PR Quickrete and Cheng add mixture. We were a little short on the add mixture and  the PR concrete is a different consistency than the stuff in the US. We learned after the fact the importance of pouring a test mold if in doubt. But all was not lost.

Mixing the concrete and Cheng add mixtures. O had opted for a blue color. Note O’s horrendous working environment. 

O and I were very worried about the water content. We had already gone over the specified amount of water called for on the bag and the stuff was still too dry. Cheng called for less water then the bag specified because the add mixture contained a water reducer. We went ahead and poured.  We figured voids could be dealt with, weak concrete though, might be a problem. The mixture was way to dry and did not flow.

Using a hand vibrator to vibrate the mix.  

Relatively dry concrete. 

On the morning of my departure to return to Miami, we popped the mold off the counter top. O still has a bunch of work as the dry concrete had a few voids that he’ll need to fill with slurry. 

Oscar grinding the top with his wet grinder and 40 grit diamond disc. 

Close up showing  porosity in the top. You can also see the large sea shell sand that is used in the PR Quickrete concrete. The sand is almost the size of terrazzo aggregate. It made for a very unusual consistency. 

Hopefully Oscar will send pictures of the top installed with the contrasting slurry he’s going to use to fill the voids.

Thanks for stopping by. I’m hoping your April is going by in a great way too. 

Cheers,

Paul

More pics from O:

Bar top mold. I noticed here that the little blocks seem pretty normal…… 

Here though, O has MARKED them all….. hmmmmmmm. Mold looks nice.  

Both Bar top and Island top done and in place. O did all the cabinets himself. Great job for his first project. 

Close up showing the aggressive aggregate that the PR concrete contains. O used standard concrete for the Bar top instead of the high strength mix that we used on the Island top. Still needed a lot more water but the finish was really smooth and void free. Having the vibrator clamped to the table was a big difference according to O. I like this shot cause you can just make out the PM Custom stainless bar legs.

Mold for the main counter showing sink insert and other inserts for cutting board and dish drain.

The finished Kitchen: 

More pics to follow.

Cheers,

Paul 

and the open house was postponed so  Bee, who is having her second show (first in a gallery) on the 9th of April at  Rex could concentrate on that.. 

It took me a while to remember what has been happening at the studio this month. The beginning of the month in some respects seems like so long ago. The main thing that happened was the installation of my dust collection system.  Oneida hooked me up with a cyclone system and even designed the ductwork for me. That system, coupled with a Jet air filter, has the shop practically dust free.

The Exactor saw arm helps considerably. My studio is kinda messy here in the picture because the system came in about 10 boxes. 

The rest of the month was taken up with starting about 5 new projects, three of which are new chairs.

A new thing for PM Custom was the building of skateboard decks.  Both decks that we built were plywood/fiberglass combinations. They came out pretty good considering they were the first. They were project decks that my kids designed and I helped build. We used West System  Epoxy to do the lamination. 

My oldest daughter did most of the manual labor on her board. 

Her friend helped and he did the paintwork and graphic on the bottom. 

My younger daughter did a lot of helping on her board and also did the graphics. 

Attaching the 8 inch  Independents

We wanted to mount 10 inch trucks on the Flying Beaver, but they didn’t arrive on time and so we ended up using 8’s on it too. 

Anyway, it was a fun month and I look forward to seeing what April has in store.

Cheers,

Paul