Modern construction techniques belie a design inspired by tradition. Locking miters join the case and dadoes house the many dividers.
With the front of the case divided into doors and drawers, I was ready to begin construction. Construction of the cabinet provided an opportunity to clear out the 1/2″ cherry veneer plywood I’d accumulated over the course of several projects. Continue reading
A Danish Modern coffee table featuring inverted trestle legs and a suspended drawer.
This Danish Modern coffee table caught my eye while I waited in line to ship a package today. Especially interesting to me are the V-shaped trestle legs and the front on the suspended drawer. The drawer front features a basket weave pattern I don’t think I’ve seen before.
The suspended drawer features a basket-weave front.
My forthcoming book on Mid-Century Modern furniture is now available for pre-order.
Amazon now has a listing for my forthcoming book, Mid-Century Modern Furniture. While I’ve seen the insides of the book in their laid-out glory, this was my first look at the cover. I like it. You can click through to preview the table of contents and introduction on Amazon. In addition to dimensioned drawings, the book includes a historical overview of the period and step-by-step builds of variations on a coffee table by Finn Juhl and book case by Børge Mogensen. Selecting the pieces was a bit of challenge since my intent was to include interesting designs that could be recreated in the home shop, a constraints which eliminated a lot of fine work that relied on industrial processes for construction.
Mid-Century Modern Furniture is due out in June.
Issue 250 of Fine Homebuilding features my article “A Privacy Fence With Appeal.”
There may come a time when having an article in print ceases to be a novelty for me, but I’m still thrilled to see my own byline, which is happening not once, but twice right now. The March/April issue of Woodworker’s Journal features my article on building the L & J. G. Stickley No. 220 Settle (see an introductory video here). The April/May issue of Fine Homebuilding includes my article on building “A Privacy Fence With Appeal.”
The asymmetrical layout of tansu provides inspiration for this tool chest.
The footings of my foundation extend inward about 16 inches at the back of my basement, forming a shelf-like space below the window behind my workbench. It’s a convenient space, but it tends to collect everything–tools, glue, fasteners, dust, etc. So I’ve been contemplating another tool chest build to fit the space (roughly 12″h x 38″w X 12″d) for some time. Since I’m in between projects, it seemed like a good thing to do; it would also let me clear some of the cherry plywood leftover from my last couple of Mid-Century Modern Builds. Since I’m also working on a class on tansu design and construction for Popular Woodworking University, I’ve had asymmetrical case design on my mind. After some iterating in SketchUp, I think I’ve settled on this basic layout: cupboard on the left, many drawers on the right. Many drawers. Many, many drawers . . .
I’m posting a short bibliography concerning works related to Charles Limbert and the Company he founded in advance of my 22 February talk on “The Mysterious Mr. Limbert” at the 2015 Arts & Crafts conference in Asheville, NC.
A Mid-Century sideboard occupies the left side of the frame in this scene from an episode of George Gently.
This Mid-Century sideboard caught my eye while we were watching “Gently With Honour” on Netlfix. Looks like four turned legs connected by minimal stretchers supports the overhanging case. An open compartment with shelves on the left and a closed cupboard on the right flank a central bank of drawers.
Call it a room divider or call it a display case, this piece has a delightful asymmetry.
Many dadoes and a few miters later, I finished the Mid-Century room divider. Oil, a few coats of shellac and some paste wax finish things off. Despite a frustrating assembly, the end result is fairly pleasing, and the basic concept–a case captured by two leg assemblies and divided by an asymmetrical grid of dividers–suggests possibilities for variations on the design.
Dadoes join the shelves and dividers of a Mid-Centruy Modern room divider/shelf by an unknown maker.
After what has been much procrastination and edgebanding of plywood, I’ve finally begun assembly of a Mid-Century Modern shelf. It’s an attractive design with simple joinery (read more about the design here), but there’s a lot of that joinery with eleven shelves to fit in the dividers and case pieces. Too, the design is a bit of a puzzle to assemble: normally I’d glue the case together first, then slide in the dividers and shelves. However, this design is has two show faces, so the dividers and shelves get assembled before being wrapped by the case pieces. I’m putting it together in stages, beginning with the left side and gluing a column of shelves together at a time. We’ll see how it goes.
The Grove Park Inn is home to the Arts & Crafts Conference organized by Bruce Johnson (Photography by Bill Murphy, Asheville, NC).
I’m thrilled to be presenting on “The Mysterious Mr. Limbert” at the 2015 Annual Arts & Crafts conference. It looks to be a fantastic program, with a good mix speakers, workshops, and sellers.