Wanna know what we're up to? ...But don't want to be a creeper in our window? Come here & take a look!
Check out upgrades to the shop, progress & processes, and occasional shop silliness.
Whew.... Here's a batch of cellar well covers we did for a house up on Charles Street. They were have flooding issues when heavy rains would fill up their cellar wells. These are all spanish cedar with laminated safety glass and stainless hardware.... Bonus points for not having to worry now about Timmy getting stuck in the well!
Heeeeyoooo... Look at this beauty we picked up down on the eastern shore!!! For those of you who are still confused as to why we're so excited over here, this is a shaper. A shaper is essentially a router on mega-steriods... to put it in even more basic terms, it's a giant motor mounted inside a metal housing. The motor spins a steel shank that you slide a "cutter head" onto. The cutter head holds two, four, or multiple (in the case of a spiral cutter) steel blades. The motor is variable speed to allow you to adjust for large, deep cuts when you're hulling out massive amounts of material down to small, shallow moldings when you'll only see a dusting of shavings. It also moves up and down allowing you to adjust the alignment of your steel, as well as enabling you to use knives of different heights. We now have the ability to cut much larger and more complex profiles in one pass. Yes, that's right, I said ONE PASS! This is a huge time saver vs. multiple set-ups and passes. Which is great because the main reason we got it was for a mind bender of a job coming up.... Stay tuned!
Two doors or one... can you tell? This door was made as a replicate for an old pair of french screen storm doors for a second floor balcony. It was in a neighbourhood that is a bit particular about replacing exterior elements on homes in the community. Unfortunately, rainwater was splashing up off the roof, through the screen, leaking under the main door and puddling on the master bedroom floor. To solve the problem, we put solid panels in the lower half of the storm door to match the main door but matched the rest of the elements of the old screen storm door.... including making it look like a pair of french doors. You'd never be able to tell driving by from the street.... unless you spotted the one dead giveaway.... the knob on the left hand side instead of in the middle.... But we're not telling where the house is! You'll just have to keep a sharp eye out!
When you have this much snow to shovel, sometimes you get a little creative... Bait seemed to enjoy the outdoor adventure that's for sure!
so much for keeping a blind cat in a maze!
Look at this sweet little cabinet! All Honduran mahogany upper cabinet for our local lumber guy. Stained and hand rubbed finish. ...check back soon for round two! (A bathroom vanity in the same style)
Here's a sneak peek into how we make louvered shutters. We got in two individual shutters off the same house. They were completely falling apart and rotted out. The remakes were milled out of spanish cedar and all the tenons for the louvers are free floating in their mortises.
So this was a fun little project... a pair of wagon wheel windows for a church-turned-residence. Large sections of the originals had literally deteriorated away. What was left amounted to mostly paint... and brackets desparately trying to hold the paint in the shape of a window.
Now these windows were about 30 ft. up. The mechanism for opening and closing them was pretty simple. The window spins on horizontal brass pivots actuated by a rope attached to a catch at the top and a ring at the bottom of the window.
New shop acquisition!
I know... I'm supporting an addiction... But who am I to argue with true happiness? Fourteen cup capacity of hot coffee programmable to be ready at your fingertips first thing in the morning. It was a necessity, I tell you!
....the jury is out as to whether Joe now has lightspeed abilities... Happy new year!
Hey, all! Here's a little restoration project we did right before the new year. The client has 3 of these cherry bar chairs and a stool. They've been well loved, and the seats and legs were showing the wear. We took it in, sanded out the dents, dings, and old finish. We went with a hand rubbed tung oil finish for its resiliency and easy touch up capabilities (since this is, after all, going back to a family household that plans on loving it just as much as before). This is the result on the first one. Nothing like a little pampering to perk you back up, eh?
So, we get to work with some pretty stellar people... Lucky us, right? You bet! Two of such people own and have been renovating this gorgeous old brownstone. They also happen to be heading up a lovely organization that has been perking up the border of Charles Village and Remington with new trees, bright teal and orange benches, and vibrantly arranged planters and green spaces! Those are two giant projects! This time we were just making a pair of sills for them before the cold weather really starts to set in.
Okay... so I'm a little late getting this one up... BUT, check out these rooftop railings we replaced!
It only took two medallions, over 100' of railing, and countless balusters. We also remade a pair of arched windows that were failing, and replaced all the old screens on the third floor with shiny new bronze screen. Just scroll through the slide show to take a peek! (And, yes, that's a 20' railing hanging out of the truck... hey, it's got a flag on it, right?)
Success!!!
Great job by everyone who participated! We had a HUGE turnout of visitors on Saturday. A big thanks to The Lovebug Junkies, 3rd Grade Friends, and Raindeer for contributing the rad tunes Saturday night. Definitely the best Open Studios yet!
School 33 even has an interactive map to make it easier to plan your art crawl!
http://school33.org/index.cfm?page=events§ion=4&subsection=studioMap
We're participating in School 33 Open Studio Tour for our 3rd year! For any of you that don't know, it is a two day event where artists from all over the city open their studios for public view. It's a great way to see how different artists approach their creative process. Come hang out, drink, & check out all the things going on in the old Post Office Garage. We have the most participating artists of any building in the city! There will be art, grilling, and two bands on saturday night!
The Lovebug Junkies - http://thelovebugjunkies.com
First peek at our new record, "Concussions", coming soon! Recorded at the old (and freezing) St John's Episcopal Church in Mt. Washington village, winter 2014. Addtl recording done in Towson, MD. -- Principal Engineering - Tom Hogle, D. Carlo III Produced by RB & DC Video accompaniment by the band.
Third Grade Friends - https://www.reverbnation.com/show/16851926
Oct. 10th & 11th from 10am-6pm.... See you there!
What's shiny, noisy, and a neat freak? .....no, not Rosie the robot. It's our new dust extractor!
Old Dust Extractor, meet...
...New Dust Extractor!
It doesn't like to brag.... but it's a pretty big deal.
OH HEY GUYS. ....it's a website!
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