I recently ordered a whole mess of American Black Cherry from Pennsylvania. This stuff if beautiful and very clear / defect free. This will age to an amazing soft red.
I’ll knock $100 off the cost of a Danish cord bench in cherry with mention of this post. And, as always, free shipping on my benches.
The Avery Footstool in solid walnut. 30”x15”x15”. When I originally designed my MCM Bench I included these handles on the ends but haven’t included them until now. I think they fit the smaller proportions of this piece well. They are hand carved to match the end rails. This was a fun piece to build and I’m over moon with the final product. Thanks for checking in.
Just delivered this Mid Century Bench to a great client. This turned out to be a very beautiful piece. Solid walnut with a hand woven danish cord seat. Standard dimensions, 48x18x16. I have two more in production that will be done after a custom order. Look for them to be available this fall. Thanks for checking in.
My Danish Cord Stool was recently featured in a custom home here in Cardiff by the Sea. My friend Cindy did all of the interior design and it came out great. When she asked if she could use some of my pieces I was stoked.
You can see more of Cindy's great work here: http://www.cindycourson.com/index/#/cardiff-by-the-sea/
More on the stool here: http://www.alibiwoodworks.com/blog/2014/4/7/mid-century-stool-wrap-up
Thanks for checking in.
Honored and stoked to be exhibiting my Mid Century Dresser at the Design in Wood Show at the San Diego County fair. Humbling and inspiring to show a piece of hand made furniture with some of the best in the country.
Here is a nice little blurb from the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association Website:
"The 2016 Design in Wood Exhibition is co-sponsored by the San Diego County Fair 22nd District Agricultural Association, and the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association (SDFWA). The talented, dedicated, and hardworking SDFWA members make this unique, popular, and award winning exhibition a success. Over 1,500,000 people are expected to visit the fair this year and this exhibit is the standout. Now the exhibition has national sponsors, gives out awards and over $20,000 in prizes to entries in 25 classes. The Design in Wood Exhibition, celebrating its 35th year, truly contributes joy, inspiration, recognition, and support to the community it serves."
...bona fide
Just started this Mid Century Bench for Cyndi. A fresh roll of Danish Cord, L Nails and some very nice walnut stock.
Now that the stock is broken down into rough sizes it has to acclimate to the conditions here in my shop. After a week or more it will be ready to flatten and prepare for the joinery. Till then, thanks for checking in.
Just wrapped this super fun build;
81 individual pieces, 9 glueups, 86 walnut pinned joints, Graduated drawers in American Black Cherry with undermount soft close slides, Black Walnut case, Highly figured Claro Walnut top and drawer fronts all came from one board.
36"w x 20"d x 32"h
The highly figured Claro Walnut top and drawer fronts came from one piece that I had been saving for just the right project.
The case is built around these blind dado webs pinned with walnut dowels
Tapered feet to keep the case up off of the floor and give it that Mid Century feel
These tiny chamfers are beautiful as they pick up the light but they are also functional; the edges are too sharp after hand tooling and can actually cut you. The Cherry drawers are pinned with Walnut dowels to match the patterning on the case.
I recently picked up some very special lumber. I have plans to build our dining room table later in the year and I made the decision that this is the last table I'll ever own. I believe in making furniture that will outlast me and hopefully become heirlooms.
To that end I searched high and low before I finally found Logs to Lumber. I've been casually looking for something special for about 6 months so when I found this set of 6 quarter sawn and book matched walnut boards I bought it immediately.
76wide x 72 tall x 1.25 thick
Being book matched means that they were milled from the log sequentially and will open like a book to match each face. This allows for a larger and more seamless appearance.
Quarter sawing is a method by which the boards are sawn from the log with the annual rings mostly perpendicular to the faces. Quarter sawing yields boards with straight striped grain lines and greater stability than flatsawn wood - just what I want in a table.
Note: image borrowed from Google image search
Nerdy wood speak aside this is pretty rare to find anymore and very special. With the recent fad of "slab" furniture (which I eagerly await the demise of) it's very exciting to find a sawyer with this level of talent and pride in his craft.
Thanks for checking in.
I have puzzled for hours on end trying to figure out a particular danish cord weaving technique and I think I've finally cracked it. To augment my MCM bench I have been designing a few chairs. I wanted a seat back with danish cord, but no visible nails - in keeping with my 360 degree visibility philosophy. This technique allows me to place the warp strands with no nails in the back, which means the chair will look great when pushed in at the table. As always I'm starting with this rough sketch, so now I can move to a real mock up.
Thanks for checking in, real life mock ups to follow.
Chores are done. It's a very nice day for a few hours of hand tool work. I'm also working out designs for a few new projects that will be coming in 2015.
Thanks for checking in. Have a great week.
Just finished: Mid Century Bench in solid walnut with a hand woven danish cord seat. This bench is so great. Designed and built by hand here in our sleepy little beach town, Cardiff by the Sea, California. Coming in at 48"x16"x18" this bench works great in an entry way or at the foot of a bed. This bench has been sold, but I would be happy to create a custom bench to meet your needs. Just drop me a line.
Above and Below: The signature horns on the ends of the bench are hand carved. It is the details like this grain wrapping through the radius that sets hand made furniture apart from the fray.
Lots of L Nails to accept lots of weaving.
This Danish Cord is a great contrast to the richness of the walnut, is an unbleached paper product and very sustainable.
Leave a comment or drop me a line if you have any questions about this bench. Have a great week.
When we moved into the house, this bathroom had been shared by a group of college students for a few years and was...not real nice. In fact, I gutted it down to the studs before we ever showered in it. I generally try and demo as little as possible to reduce landfill contributions, but there were some pretty serious neglect problems. The good news is we had an opportunity to create some unique furniture. Sure, a bathroom vanity isn't always on the average list of definitions for furniture. In my house it sure is, though.
I knew right away that I wanted it to take cues from a mid century modern credenza or dresser. I looked at all of the hyper modern manufacturers to see if I could save a little time and buy something. Nope. There is some good stuff out there, for sure. Just not what we were looking for.
I took out a ridiculous faux oak, country styled vanity and created this custom vanity in its place. The exterior shell is all American Black Walnut ply. I used solid Black Walnut dowel legs to tie into the furniture in the other rooms in the house - they are typical for the period. Solid surface counter in white with a very minimal edge overhang.
And this right here: this is where the real magic happens. This is the difference between a custom piece of hand made furniture and something you can buy off of the shelf. Whats the big deal? Context sensitive design, thats what. That sink up top drains through the P-trap in the wall below. That P-trap is a space killer in almost all vanities you can by at the big box retail stores. That is why you will see doors on so many vanities. They allow for room the plumbing. Unfortunately it is a huge waste of space. I solved this by making 2 half drawers in the center. This is much more efficient than a dark shelf that you have to bend over to find.
All drawers use soft close Knape Vogt Slides.
I grain matched the drawers for a clean, modern and consistent look.
About those drawer pulls. If this wasn't for our house they would be the typical chrome or stainless steel. But, because we live close to the ocean we give a few subtle nods to the beach life, like these hand painted urchin knobs.
The tiles are 12x24 Marazzi Italian, high recycled content, linen texture. Unfortunately, they stopped making them. I liked them so much that I had planned to use them in the kitchen, which will soon be remodeled too.
Octopus towel hanger guy is happy. Thanks for checking in!
What a week it has been. Parts of the site are offline and being recreated - bear with me on that. I've got some new content in the works.
In the positive side, new business cards. The front, shown here with my Auriou Rasps, came out great. I'll post the other side later this afternoon. I'm real pumped on them. As someone who makes objects I still get excited about analog things.
If you made an order, I'm on it this weekend. Enjoy yourselves!
It has been a busy few weeks at the shop. I have had quite a few orders for plant stands to keep me busy. I am putting the oil + varnish finish on them now, so all other work stops. Cant have any dust to contaminate the beautiful deep grain finish. I will have a few images of them to share when they are finished. Thanks to all who have ordered. The e-commerce portion of the site is coming soon and will make this easier.
I have also been working on this prototype stool that is very exciting. This one is solid American Black Cherry and created specifically for my workbench since I need a place to sit when I am using hand tools. It would be easy to adapt to counter or even bar height. When it is finished I will talk a little more about the design specifics.
Here you can see a groove going through the top rail and the signature "horns" on the end. These may look familiar from my logo. The groove is there to accept the danish cord weave that will create the seat. I think this is going to be super comfortable.
In the picture below you can see how the joints get fared together and the corners get rounded over to give it a really organic feel.
Here is the model I create for form and composition. I talked about this here. Even with a full CAD plan and 3-d model there is a fair bit of freestyling that happens. For now, I have eliminated the handles on the ends - I think it ends up creating a much simpler and stronger form.
And of course Cali is super stoked to see it come alive.
Next update this weekend. A few more things in store...Stay tuned and thanks for checking in.
what do we have here? Danish cord! Real excited for this little project. Stay tuned.
Where we are now
Wow. So, its February already. It has been a whirlwind around here. First, let me welcome you to Alibi Woodworks. This site has been in the making (in my head) for some time, now. Start small, go slow. As Dieter Rams says "less, but better." That pretty much sums up what Alibi is all about. Right now, this is a gallery of furniture created and a blog of ideas, processes and creation.
This all started with an idea. A kind of question. Why not just make it? I guess you're not supposed to make things anymore. When I was growing up, I remember watching my father make his own tools to finish a job at hand. Making things has always seemed natural to me. But, there is this disconnect between the time when everyone made something and now. A loss of craft. We could lament that, for sure. Instead - let's be that change. Now, I don't mean we should all be Luddites and scorn modern convenience. Maybe we should just think a little more about where things come from. Take craft beer. I love craft beer and living in San Diego I am at the epicenter of the movement. That whole thing started because someone asked, why not just make it? A little passion and a little creativity and things get started.
Whats next
Here's to 2014. There are lots of really exciting projects coming up; an ultra groovy mid century / modern desk; our little side table is getting some friends...with a few more drawers; and a dresser so good looking you will want to take your clothes off just to put them in it.
If you see something on the site you that you want to order, just contact me. I'm currently working to find the best shipping methods before rolling out the whole e-commerce portion of the site. I am also using this time to create some real interesting prototypes.
This is Cali. She loves hand crafted furniture almost as much as sleeping. Almost.
