Cafe Great Divide Table Project

May 16, 2013

finished pieces, furniture, projects, table, Welding, woodworking

A couple of months ago, a long lost friend of mine from grade school popped up in my life again. I had not seen him in over a decade when I received an email out of the blue, asking if I would build the furniture for a cafe in Silverton, Colorado that he and his brother were opening. Originally he asked if I was capable of making over 40 pieces – 10 tables with chairs and a few benches. Of course I was beyond honored for the commission and knew that I could not pass up the opportunity. However, being only six weeks away from the opening, I knew that I had no chance of completing the job in that time frame. We discussed the possibilities, and agreed upon my building the 6 cafe tables and letting him source the chairs and benches.

I immediately got to work designing a table that had all the modern industrial qualities of my other pieces, but more well-suited to the abuse it would be receiving in a busy cafe. Weston wanted something with paint or color, with the rough grain raised look of some of my other works. The only caveat was that he needed the tables to be easily cleaned. Its a hard combination to get the look of a rough old barn, while still offering a spill proof and easily cleaned surface. The solution ended up being a simple one, and one that I feel adds an extra depth of aesthetic that I haven’t encountered before. I used a bunch of ‘scrap’ lumber from a great source down in Oregon, and wire brushed the wood to make the grain pop. After that, I poured a two part epoxy over top. The epoxy gets rock hard, is scratch proof, clear as glass, and easily cleaned. My cousin Felix, who has been collaborating with me as of late (when not working on his company, Quiver Bicycles), helped with the design and welding of the frames, which we built strong and sturdy to last many years in the cafe.

With this project has come an exciting revelation. In addition to working on these tables, I have gathered a handful of other projects and commissions for the summer. I am quickly finding that I don’t have enough time outside of my day job to keep up. This means that I have officially put in my resignation to pursue furniture making full time – I could not be more excited!

I own a debt of gratitude to my friend Weston for trusting me with such a large project. It was just the kick in the pants I needed to leave my day job. I hope that they serve him well in Cafe Great Divide – and if you happen to be in Silverton, Colorado, make sure to stop by and take a peek! I also need to thank my wife for all her love, support, and encouragement. She is a brave soul to encourage me to quit my job and follow my dreams. There are many of you out there reading this that have also given me so many kind words of encouragement. Thank you all!

Stick with me. This may be one hell of a journey.

Reclaimed Gym Floor Coffee Tables

April 3, 2013

Coffee Table, finished pieces, furniture, projects, Welding, woodworking

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Recently I have been increasingly grateful for the accomplishment I feel in creating or fixing things. Our society is so focused on things such as productivity, time, money, and technology that I seldom take the time to make art, play music, build furniture, cook food, write a handwritten letter, tend a garden – anything. It is so important to broaden my mind through the act of creation. I am realizing more and more how much I crave time spent in my workshop, and how my day to day outlook and attitude are directly related to the amount of time I spend in creative mode. I find It easy to get sucked in to the chaos of life happening around me and end up spending most of my time feeling like I am just surviving the day. Because of this, I have decided to commit a real effort to getting this furniture business off the ground. These are some of my first projects that I have made with the idea of selling, the first not made for my own space. If you like these, you can take them home with you!

As most of my projects start, I went on another treasure hunt for inspiration. I ended up at one of my favorite spots and discovered that they had recently deconstructed an old gym floor. I could hardly believe my eyes. They were stocked with these beautiful pieces of maple, some over 9 feet long! I opted to start with a smaller piece with turquoise and yellow from the painted court lines. I was not sure quite what to make of them, but eventually decided on more coffee tables because of the layout of the striping.

I set out to make these tables as clean and precise as possible, and that could not have been possible without the help of my cousin Felix Madrid of Quiver Bicycle and Machine Works. He has taught me the welding skills that I used on previous projects, and was generous to collaborate on the metal work on these tables. We hope to be working together on many more pieces in the near future!

Raw Nightstands

March 13, 2013

finished pieces, furniture, projects, Welding

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They say that necessity is the mother of all invention. Mickey and I have been using stacks of books and boxes as our nightstand for years, so I finally decided to remedy the issue. We were poking around our local reclaimed building materials store when we happened upon some very unique material. The stock is a bunch of old fir flooring that has seen many lares of covering. It looks like its been painted, glued, stripped, splattered and stomped on. We fell in love with it and had to build something out of it – quickly it became the inspiration for some raw nightstands.

We don’t yet have a bed-frame (yes you guessed it, ill be making that too) but I selected the hight of the stand so that you can easily access either shelf while enjoying the comfort of bed. I plan to take the raw look a bit further before i consider them complete. A little lemon juice here and there to start some surface oxidation will do the trick nicely, before I seal it all up under a nice coat of wax.

Inside-Out Coffee Table

January 27, 2013

furniture, Welding, woodworking

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One of my favorite places to go looking for inspiration is my local reclaimed building materials store. On one occasion a few months back I found some great pieces salvaged from an old barn. It was obvious that they had been painted a few different shades and coats of red and white, just as you would imagine any classic barn. The part that got my attention was the ‘back’ of the boards. They had a really interesting ‘bleed through’ affect along the edges, as if the boards had been painted with such a thick coat that the extra paint worked its way around the edges and onto the back of the piece. I’m sure this was no accident. Its more likely that the inside edges were painted to keep driving rains and moisture from rotting the barn from the inside out. But why not paint the entire surface on the inside? I can’t imagine how much paint it actually takes to cover a barn. I’m sure it was a cost saving measure. Whatever the case, I liked it.

I was also recently gifted a nice little ‘buzz box’ welder by a good friend of mine, Rob. I had practically no welding experience before this project, and really wanted to give it a try. My wife had been drooling over some modern styled coffee tables from one of her many inspiration sources, and asked if I could design and build something similar. I gladly accepted the challenge.

My goal setting out was to design a piece that fit exactly into its surroundings. I did some research into how tall a coffee table should be in relation to the couch/chair, and how long it could be before it became a chore to navigate around. My findings led me to make this table – the same height as the sitting surface, and enough room that if someone seated at the middle of the couch wanted to walk away, they may do so without disrupting those seated on the ends.

Our current couch has ¾ inch square tube legs, so I kept that dimension for the table materials. I also wanted to have a little fun with the wood, so I turned it on a 45-degree angle to help give the table a little flow, and help your eye move across the top. I wanted to put my feet on the table, and not worry about catching a piece of end-grain with my boots and pulling out a nice splinter. So I needed to find a way to conceal and protect the edges. I ended up using a cap that runs around the entire top that gives a nice sturdy feel. I used a similar brushing technique as I did on the kitchen table, but held off on the burning portion this time to preserve the paint coloring. It was a little light work with a wire brush, then a penetrating carnauba wax finish.

I hope you enjoy this one, and maybe sparks some ideas or inspiration of your own.

Spoiler alert: Next up, matching nightstands (in progress) and Harley progress!

1958 Harley Hummer Project Update

July 9, 2012

in progress, motorcycles, projects

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As with any restoration project, things seem easy until you get your hands dirty. That has certainly been the case with this project over the last year.

The project started with a simple tear-down and catalog of parts. I became well acquainted with the service manual, making lists of every nut, bolt and piece that I would be needing to find in order to complete the build. I also made an assessment of which parts were too damaged to be restored, a longer list than I would have liked to admit. I also came to the realization that I was not going to be able to do the project entirely myself, especially considering that the bike is a family heirloom and my wife wanted it to be perfect as a tribute to her uncle.

The first decision I had to make was what to do with the engine. When I opened it up, it was obvious it would need a full rebuild and custom repair work to one of the cases. There is one thing I know to be certain; When in doubt, yield to an expert. If you spend any time looking into the world of Harley Hummers, you will repeatedly come across a man who calls himself “Mutt”. Mutt is one of the most respected Harley Hummer experts and runs a business specializing in these old two-stroke engines. I sent the engine off to his shop in Texas and unexpectedly had it back in my lap, completely rebuilt and repaired, only one month later! He has also been an invaluable resource for answering all of my questions and helping me track down obscure parts.

While the engine was being rebuilt, my good Friend Rob Miller helped me immensely by letting me use his sand blasting cabinet to clean off the 50 years of dirt, grease, and old paint. While we were working on the frame, we found a crack in the chain stay. Rob is an expert machinist, and helped me with a fishtail repair. Using Rob’s metal finishing expertise, we decided to add a bit of detail by using a Parkerizing finish on many of the smaller pieces, and any other part that had a close tolerance and would not fit properly after adding on some extra material from the powder coating process.

After much labor blasting and repairing the frame, the larger parts were clean and ready for powder coating. I brought them down to Kens Powder Coat, for an 80% gloss black finish. Ken is old school and has decades of experience with antique automotive restoration and he did a fabulous job. Once the wheels and hubs were powder coated, I took them to the Wheelmaster to lace them for me.

Currently, I am doing my best to track down those last few elusive parts. I am hoping to have some luck soon so I can complete the roller and bolt them on. I also need to finish up the metal work on the fenders and tank so I can start painting. My wife has decided to go with a birch white, with 50’s era turquoise highlights. The handlebars are really crooked, so I am re-bending them to their original shape. As soon as the roller is up, I will post some more pictures, and try and get some of the painting process as well.