Work of the Hand, 20th year

Welcome to the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, Maine. In early October, I'll be exhibiting in their 20th annual Work of the Hand, craft show. Please click here for more about the show. I'll be there Friday evening for the opening as well as volunteering Saturday morning. Approximately 50 fine crafts artists will be showing.

Furniture Masters' Auction

This Sunday, September 20th, is the annual Furniture Masters auction. This year it's in Manchester, NH, at The Currier Museum of Art. Our silent auction and reception go from 6 - 7:15 pm. The live auction starts at 7:30. This ash, hickory and Danish cord bench is my offering for this year's auction. To see all of this year's pieces, please click here.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday the 20th, the Currier will be offering programs related to the Furniture Masters and the auction pieces. For more information on the tours, slide shows and demonstrations, please click here. This is an opportunity to see some wonderful furniture and the auction is great fun.

Ryan's Blanket Chest

I recently discovered that Bessey makes these angled clamping pads to fit their K-Body REVO clamps. They offer plenty of clamping power without a hint of slipping. They tilt from 0 to 15 degrees and saved me from having to make a set of angled cauls.

I had to make 2 small cauls to focus pressure at the ends of the lid divider.

With everything glued and cleaned-up, I can rout for the hinges and attach the lid. This shot shows the wedged through tenon for one foot. The frame and panel bottom goes in later.

I did a little splicing, attached the eye straps and now it's off to my friend Carl for stain and a lacquer finish.

The finish is 2 coats of stain and crystal lacquer. This color corresponds to the color of 2 lamps in the room that this chest will call home.

Laying-out angled through dovetails

This is the front of the lid of my blanket chest. Its ends are angled at 18 degrees. I remembered reading that angled dovetails need to be centered along a line that is parallel to a long edge. Laying-out off the angled end can lead to short grain problems at the tips of your tails. I start by striking a base line.

Using my small double square, I draw the centerlines of the sockets for the full pins.

I center the width of the base of the socket where my pencil line meets my base line.

For the top of the socket, I center its width where the pencil line meets the angled edge. I chose to make my sockets 3/8" at the bottom and 3/16" at the top. These measurements echo the pins in the chest.

I set my bevel gauge to connect the dots. You'll need a second gauge because the other side of the pin is at a different angle. With all the sockets marked on this side, you can square your lines across the end then angle them down the opposite face.

After sawing and paring, here's a finished end showing the 3 tails. If you cut a scrap to the same angle and lay-out typical dovetail as you would if the end were square, the difference will be clear.

Back at it

Here's the first of 2 photos of the bench that I built back in April. This one adorns my latest batch of postcards. This was shot by Dennis Griggs. Dennis shot all the photos in my portfolio.

This one was shot by Bill Truslow. Same piece but very different effect. This photo will be included in the catalog for this year's Furniture Masters auction. I love the way his lighting has worked its way through the woven seat and into the shadow.

This is a drawing of a blanket chest that I'm working on currently. Carol Bass designed it for clients of ours who have the live-edge trestle table in my portfolio. This was an early drawing and the feet ended up being from one piece. The box will be stained blue-green and the curly maple feet will remain their natural color.

Here's my progress, so far. In my next post I'll show how I laid-out the lid's angled dovetails.

Pecha Kucha Night - Portland

I'll be presenting, Thursday evening, May 21st at SPACE gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland, Maine. Doors open at 6:30, presentations begin at 7:20; $5.00. There will be about 10-12 presenters, each will offer 20 slides and speak for 20 seconds about each one. For more about this perfect concept, please click here. For more about SPACE, please click here.

I'll be revealing the secret of where ideas come from. Also, how this table ...

turned into this table ...

and how this blank ...

turned into one of these legs.

I hope to see you there.

Our Evening at the Masonic Temple

Morrigan came and helped me set-up. Colleen joined us once the event had started. This photo shows the display I pulled together for the evening. I borrowed the 10 1/2' riser and repainted it with this robin's egg blue that came from the "mis-tint" table at our local Maine Paint Store. I was lucky, at 1/10 the cost I found the exact color I was after. One of the sample legs, behind the far end of the bench, is painted to simulate a candlepin. 

The evening was sponsored by The Maine Center for Creativity. One of their larger projects is the design competition and execution of painting 16 oil tanks in Portland. For more please click here. Morrigan took this arial photo of the model of the project that was on display. The roadways in the photo represent I-295 as one approaches Portland from the South.