Today the Bee Bar was finished:

So that’s it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers 

Well yesterday was the do or die day.

The set up was ready and I had to get the stump bored out. I spent most of yesterday finishing the drill bit. I used Ti coated carbide inserts for the bit and I should have used no coated or at least removed more of the coating before brazing. Next time! The set up was pretty simple and I was ready to go.

I used a Milwaukee 1/2 Drill to turn the bit. I secured the stump on the bed of my mill. The vacuum was connected to the rotary port on the bit.

The stump had a curve in it and I was really worried about drilling out of the side of the stump. 

The drilling took about 30 minutes. The center plug will be used for something else in the future.

Thanks for checking in.

Cheers 

I’ve started working on a new project along side the Bee Bar. It’s going to be a boom lamp. The base is kind of dictating the direction as it’s a Mahogany stump from North Key Largo. I have wanted to use this piece for a while and have finally figured out how I’m going to bore the center.

Getting ready to level the bottom with a router. 

Routing the bottom of the Boom Lamp base. 

The center needs to be removed for several reasons. One is weight. Two other reasons are that I need a place to run the electrical and I need a place for the boom counter balance. This wood has made me realize the finite supply that I have, so the idea of turning the core that I will be removing into sawdust is kind of repulsive.  I’m going to core drill this thing.

I’ve started fabricating this core drill. It’s 3-1/2 inches OD and 3-1/4 ID. The stump is about 39 inches long. I’ll be adding carbide teeth to the drill in the next couple of days. I hope to start drilling this weekend. 

Cheers till the next post. 

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I headed out to work in the studio full time. It all started with a trip to the Boca Raton Museum of Art in …… Boca Raton. I saw a piece there that inspired the long process of putting together the things I needed to go solo. In the West African collection I saw a tribal bench. This is what that chance encounter produced:

I love this thing. I could sleep for days on it, but use it only now and again to catch a nap. Not sure what I’ll do if someone decides to buy it out from under me.

I still see the piece in terrazzo, a material that I’m still learning about and getting the feel of.

The new year is going to see the terrazzo piece and a whole bunch of new stuff.

Cheers and Happy Holidays,

Paul 

November is almost done and December is just around the corner.

It seems like things have slowed down but really they haven’t. The end of last month and the beginning of this month found me tooling around North Carolina in the snow on a motorcycle, down into North Georgia and then back home. 

The beginning of the rest of the month found me shooting new pictures for my portfolio and for some printed collateral that I will be sending out in Dec.  I now am the proud owner of a photo studio so to speak. I’ve always wanted one.

That all brings me back to the Carl Auböck table. Carl was a Bauhaus era designer that has this uncanny design that is similar to one of mine. Although I’d never seen his work till my wife sent me a link, I figure since he did it before me, he should get some credit. Anyway, here’s the progress of that table. It’s made from Swietenia Mahogany. It’s a mahogany native to South Florida. It’s also a wood that was salvaged from North Key Largo in the early 70’s during the construction of Ocean Reef Yacht Club and community. Where this once numerous species grew is now a fabulous golf course. 

This particular section is from the lower trunk and the start of the roots. This tree had been dead for many years before it was found. It was speculated that it had been killed during a hurricane flood of the area it was in.

Although I have only seen pictures of the Aurora Borealis, that’s what this section of wood reminds me of. Unfortunately this coloration will change over time as the UV rays darken the wood.

Here is a close up of this very unusual hardwood.

Scroll over to Oct. to see the first part of this post. Or Click here 

I plan on incorporating more of this material in my pieces in the future.

Keep posted and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers,

Paul 

Carl Auböck, an Austrian designer,

lived before my time. I just met him today. My wife sent me a link to a guy that she thought had designed stuff that was kinda like my style. She was right, or I’m designing stuff kinda like his style?

This is a project I’m working on:

Now my Mahogany root section has no legs but if you’re familiar with my stuff, you know I like tripods.

Carl Auböck’s table:

Sigh! History comes to bite me in the ass. 

Homage to Mr. Auböck: This is a cocktail table 17″h x about 58″ x 40″

The color pattern is natural to this wood; Swietenia Mahogany.

This is the underside detail showing the original crosscut chainsaw marks made by the sawyer that sliced this from the original root section.  

Foot detail: 

My wife’s reaction to this piece was “It looks like a bird house!” All I heard was “B I  R   D    H      O      U        S            E        ” slowing down like a record that has been stopped mid     s o  n   g.    All I could think was WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! She tried to fix it by saying “I mean in an organic way.” That didn’t help. So, without further ado; here is the B I  R  D   H     O     U      S       E lamp. Yes it’s a lamp. Deep sighhhhhhhhhhh!

I have finally turned a piece of wood in the new “Metal” lathe.  It’s one of those things that most people wouldn’t think of doing. “You turn wood in a wood lathe.”

 I took a quick picture so I could get this out of the way.

 Thanks for stopping by and enough of the lathe pictures already! 

Daughter Numero Uno has asked for me to make her furniture when she gets married?!?!?! Two beds, that’s a lot of work. “Why would I need two beds Dad?” Hehe….. uhhhhhhhh I don’t know!

I usually only post things related to what I do at the studio. This Enviro section was originally about the types of trees that the wood I use comes from. Today though I’m posting about some Cuban Tree Frogs that are finally emerging from the aquarium (thanks Carol) that has been their home for the past 3 weeks.

The tree the frogs are perched in is one of two Paradise trees that were put into pots by my daughter and me. I figured that it would be OK to post these pictures here. 

I never realized the process of the eggs turning into tadpoles turing into frogs was really that incredible until the aquarium they were in sat on our kitchen counter for 2 and half of the last three weeks. I might attack documenting the process as we experienced it but right now, here are my newest babies.

Thanks for checking in,

Paul