Custom Furniture Examples
Details of a final test chair for a client in the Sam Maloof style (curly soft maple and walnut). Various new techniques were mastered, such as: (almost) indestructable Maloof-style joinery for the legs, recurve lamination bending for the lumbar-supporting back spindles and power carving for the organic look and feel of the piece. This first attempt took over 150 hours of labour.
Details of two practice chairs: one being a café chair featuring a bent laminated “hoop”-seat and radiuses/curves-galore; the second being a simple “right-angle” chair. The latter demonstrates how much work goes into properly fabricating even a (strongly made) simple custom chair - it required 38 precise mortises (holes) and 38 precise matching tenons for the joinery (last picture: layout before glue-up).
We make these hand-turned walnut-offcut lamps and usually have some on hand (please inquire). As seen in the third picture, the parts are carefully cut to a little over the final diameter, glued together into “slices” and then glued again as stacks in a “bricklaying” technique to give the final look. Each lamp requires 114 precisely cut pieces (mostly trapezoids). The shade was also made of solid wood veneer (shop-sawn), but is not currently available due to issues with repeatability.
Details of a solid walnut mid-century modern sideboard designed, fabricated and installed as per exact specifications for a special client. Note the heavy under-bevel for the top, the hand-cut dovetailed drawers and the detailed grain matching. This one was deceptively tricky since it required high-end European “knock-down” joinery hardware (Festool) for ease of movement. Simple elegance.
A little bit of self-indulgence here. Here are the details of the wall-hanging tool chest and workbench that I made for the shop (between other projects).
Details of a George Nakashima inspired solid walnut mid-century modern credenza. In the Nakashima tradition, we used a solid walnut slab locally sourced (from Cornwall) and stabilized it using a combination of contemporary (“C-channel”) and traditional techniques (butterfly keys). Each horizonal board on the front drawers and doors was meticulously matched to create a harmonious flow. Sculpted drawer and door pulls round out the piece and give it the organic look and feel the clients desired.
Details of a Chris Gochnour designed sideboard in local ash and walnut burl. As is our way, the drawers were constructed using hand-cut dovetails. The doors slide across the face of the drawers and feature the book-matched walnut veneer panel.
Details of the top of a coffee table inspired by an old table purchased from van Leeuwen in the 1980’s. The original was done using teak veneer for the top and solid teak for the legs and rails. In this reproduction, the client opted for a curly and fiddleback solid maple top with maple legs and rails. Since the top is made of solid wood, the natural wood expansion and contraction was carefully considered during during design and fabrication.
Furniture Repair Example
This chair came to us with a broken arm which the client wanted mending. We cut off the remaining tenon and dowel, drilled out and fabricated new mortices and a “floating tenon”, inserted a new dowel and glued it back up. Almost good as new (given the chance, we would have stripped the old finish off the chair and refinished it as well).
Built-in Furniture/Millwork Examples
Details of an oak bathroom built-in cabinet from 2013. The angles in this bathroom were an interesting problem to design around.
A custom maple built-in closet to replace the 1950's builder-grade closet. Our design really optimized the space for the clients.
A custom built-in floating "cubby" in a client's mudroom from 2015. The client wanted room for boots below the cubby and enough space to hang long coats. We designed, fabricated and installed the piece.
Detail of the custom moulding made for the previous floating cubby. The client wanted moulding made of fiddleback maple. While a challenge to work with, the fiddleback turned out nicely and we're proud of how it looks on the piece.
We love designing around a challenging space. This is an example of a built-in slide-out wine cellar under a client's basement stairs from 2016. The maple trim around the piece was custom made in our shop.
The slide-out wine cellar from the previous picture.
Kitchen and Bathroom Examples
A kitchen pantry from 2014. We managed to source some ribbon-figure cherry veneered particle-core. The wall "nook" was also custom fabricated by us.
A custom vanity that we designed, fabricated and installed in 2013. We also fabricated the mirror to match the angles of the vanity.
Additional Services
We also provide custom woodturning and carving services. From chair and table spindles to bowls, we will turn it. From cabriole legs to carved lettering, we will carve it. Ask us what we can do for you. Some examples of our work are shown below.
Maple burl bowl
Acanthus leaf carving
Maple burl candle holder
Cabriole leg "ball-and-claw" carving detail