timber slabs will be furniture soon

Soon to be timber slab furniture.  We cut these massive oak timbers into slabs and stacked them to dry back in 2007.  They've been air drying since, and are now ready to go into the kiln.  That'll take a month or so, and soon they'll be ready to build furniture from.

I'll be sure to post as soon as we get them back from the kiln.  Timber Slab Furniture.

snow day

Snow day today.  After what must be a record snowfall last night of 11", we will be closed today.  Way down here in the Southeast, we don't know what snow clearing equipment is.  And certainly very few knows how to drive on this stuff.  Looks like a great day to work on lots of website, furniture design, and marketing projects.  Ok, we might just make a little time to play!

Snow Day.

sunrise on the way to work

We get started at 7:00 am each morning during the week, and during these short winter days, are ahead of the sunrise.  Last week we were greeted by this beautiful sunrise on the way to work.  For my local buddies, this pic was taken overlooking McFarland Park, with the Tennessee River and marina just behind.

Tennessee River View

The high Saturday was 39 degrees, but must have been the hottest 39 degrees ever. With this Tennessee River view and Southern exposure from our back deck, Linda, I and our three pups baked in the radiently warm and soothing sun.  Perfect day to get caught up on some overdue reading and r&r.  Tennessee River View.

Welcome master craftsman Ross Leblanc

It's always a treat to visit and share with and work with other woodworkers.  But over these past several weeks, it's been a total blast working with master craftsman Ross Leblanc.  In addition to being an amazing artist and craftsman, he's got such a fun spirit.

Ross recently moved back to the area and I'm hoping he'll continue to help us with some of our most interesting/challenging projects.  I'm in awe of master craftsman Ross Leblanc's masterful woodworking skills. 

IHFC InterHall

!!!!!  I just couldn't wait to share the news that we will be exhibiting our furniture in what I believe to be the best venue in the world.  The High Point Market is clearly the number one market in the world for furniture (ok, I understand that Milan has more buyers, but it is open to the public where High Point is for the trade only).  And InterHall is without question the number one venue in High Point.  It is a "rigorous juried" selection process.  Gaye Outlaw, from InterHall leasing stopped by and visited with us at the Fall Market, but we just recently found out that we are in.  Help us celebrate our first showing in our InterHall venue in space IH200 in April.

Regional Furniture

More and more I cherish the nuances of life.  Being a southerner you have to love accents.  And I always enjoy hearing a Californian explain that they don't have an accent!  Ha!  This morning a friend from Alabama, that lives in New Orleans, Michigan and Argentina emailed this pic, thinking it was a "cajun swing".  Any Alabaman know's this unique piece of furniture was originally designed and developed in North Alabama in the early '70's.

I think each part of the country is proud of and holds strong ties to their uniqueness, wherever they can find it.  And it seems furniture is a good example.  Thinking about american regional furniture this morning, my first thoughts were of adirondack chairs.  But with my second cup of coffee, combined with what friends might suggest an extra dose of a.d.d, my mind whirled through;  rustic furniture's wonderful sticks and twigs, one of my personal faves - mid centery modern that I grew up bumping into as I was learning to walk, shaker's plain and functional furniture following (or leading) their rigid spiritual journey), Williamsburg  - which seems to have closer ties to Southern London than it does Virginia, then I took a deep breath in an appreciation for the wonderful Greene and Greene style of exposed joinery.

If you have an appreciation for a style of regional furniture, or if you have a pic of your favorite piece of regional furniture please share.

curved walnut bench

We have one more leg to mortise into this solid walnut bench.  But I'm beginning to wonder if the bench is straight??

sharp saw blades

In woodworking and furniture making, sharp tools are a must.  Here in North Alabama, the only place to take our carbide tipped saw blades is to the professionals at Miner Saw.  Pictured are blades ranging in size from 7 1//2" to 16"

last project of the year

Yesterday we traveled to Nashville, delivered and installed our last project of the year - a massive solid walnut entertainment center and shelves.  The top of the entertainment center is 4" thick.  The shelves are 11 1/2 feet long.  I've got to remember to bring my photography lighting in the future.

alabama white christmas

We woke up to a beautiful surprise this year.  Santa dropped off a white Christmas present last night.  Here in North Alabama, we don't see many of these.  Come to think of it, I THINK i've seen maybe a couple in my past 52 years.  Alabama white Christmas.

A bigun in the sawmill

This massive oak log just barely fit in our really big sawmill.  We can cut a log five feet in diameter, but this bigun's even bigger.  So Monday, we had to cut about 5" off of the bulge of each side to help "her" fit.

From here, we'll cut slabs till we get down to 18" or so from the ground.  Then we'll use the remaining log as a table top to plane some big slabs that we just got back from the kiln. 

The Bowman Bench

We had much fun building and finishing this beautiful solid walnut bench this week.  It will probably be the last finished piece of furniture for the year.  Monday we'll package it up and ship it to it's new home in one of the most beautiful area's of the country, Santa Cruz California. 

This little bench has received several compliments from friends dropping by.  I'm pretty sure we'll be building more of these "Bowman Benches" in the near future.

Matties shadow

Mattie can't go on our daily walks without a frisbee in her mouth.  And, whenever she gets a chance she'll carry two (or more) at a time.

dimensional leg joint

I've been using these (what I call) dimensional leg joints for the last two or three years.  It's an evolution of George Nakashima's butterfly joint (or key).  Actually it took several iterations to get to this point. 

A couple of months ago I needed to add some stability to two legs of a console table, and I think it worked out quite nicely. 

john lennon's lost last interview

What a treat on last night's Nightline to see for the first time what seems to be John Lennon's last interview.  Not sure why it just surfaced, but wonderful none the less.  You can stream it from ABC's website.

Southern music issue of Oxford American

Can't wait to get my hands on the annual Southern Music issue of the Oxford American.  We have SOOO much music talent here in the Shoals (Alabama), it's fun to see what neighbors are featured each year.

The Oxford American is such a prestigeous journal.  I can still remember my Dad's face when he brought into the house the issue that he was published, sharing it with my Mom, the English Professor.  He got his money's worth ouf of that one.

Welcome back to Alabama - Operation Migration

It's really exciting each year to see the baby whooping cranes being lead and taught their migration path to Florida in this out of the box way.  Just took a look at the Operation Migration website and their live chat seems to be saying that this Ultra light led "scout troop" just crossed the state line on their way to their annual respit in Russellville.  I'd love to see a landing, but am pretty sure those baby whoopers will beat me there. 

Oh, it looks like the guy in the ultra light is texting updates!  Yikes!

Their mission:  "To promote the conservation of migratory species through innovative research, education and partnership."  Cheers to Operation Migration.  I hope you enjoy your Alabama visit, and please do come back to see us!

Today's Google Doodle

Google Doodle's continue to impress.  This one celebrating Rosa Parks and her 1955 Montgomery Alabama bus boycott.

We love Baker Furniture

We've enjoyed this piece of Baker Furniture for over a couple of decades.  But it was just over the past year of so that Linda started letting the pups up, knowing that a recover was due.