Laminating Instead of Steaming
I was staring at a pile of splintered walnut veneers and a ruined glue-up, wondering why I ever thought I could master the bend. Most textbooks will tell you that…
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Steam Bending and Its Springback
I was standing over a pile of splintered white oak, staring at the wreckage of what was supposed to be a dining chair back, when it finally clicked. Most people…
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Fitting Hardware to a Finished Piece
I was staring at a half-finished walnut sideboard last Tuesday, a drill bit trembling in my hand, wondering if I had finally overstepped. For years, the textbooks and the senior…
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The Spaces Between the Parts
I spent most of last Tuesday digging through a cardboard box in the corner of my studio, pulling out a prototype for a walnut chair that failed because the proportions…
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Finishing at Seven in the Morning
I remember standing in my studio three years ago, staring at a walnut sideboard that had cost me sixty hours of sanding, only to see a single, microscopic speck of…
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Planning for February
I spent most of yesterday afternoon in the studio, staring at a stack of rejected chair joints that I still haven’t found the heart to throw away. There is a…
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Bookkeeping That Takes an Hour a Month
I remember sitting in my studio three years ago, surrounded by the scent of freshly sawn walnut and the quiet hum of the workshop, staring at a shoebox full of…
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Five Thin Coats Over Four Days
I remember sitting on a stool in my first studio, surrounded by the suffocating scent of solvent, staring at a walnut tabletop that looked more like plastic than wood. I…
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Perfect Would Be Worse
I was clearing out a corner of the studio last Tuesday when I tripped over a stack of discarded walnut offcuts, each one accompanied by a scrap of paper taped…
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Patina Is a Record of Hands
I spent three hours yesterday scrubbing a brass inlay on a prototype chair, trying to chase a specific shade of oxidation that I thought looked “authentic.” It was a waste…
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