Hendrix Table?

If the sun refused to shine

I don't mind, I don't mind

If the mountains ah, fell in the sea

Let it be, it ain't me.

Got my own world to live through and uh, ha !

And I ain't gonna copy you.

Now if uh, six uh, huh, turned out to be nine

Oh I don't mind, I don't mind 

If all the hippies cut off all their hair

Oh I don't care, oh I don't care.

'Cause I've got my own world to live through and uh

And I ain't gonna copy you.

White collar conservative flashin' down the street

Pointin' their plastic finger at me, ha !

They're hopin' soon my kind will drop and die but uh

I'm gonna wave my freak flag high, high !

Fall mountains, just don't fall on me

Go ahead on mister business man, you can't dress like me

Don't nobody know what I'm talkin' about

I've got my own life to live

I'm the one that's gonna die when it's time for me to die

So let me live my life the way I want to

Yeah, sing on brother, play on drummer.

Hendrix

Coffee table

Glass top coffee table coming soon!

Heres the template for the glass guys, my part will be the base.

Scheduled for sometime soon!

All flowered up

I take flowers to the cancer center sometimes, they have done so much for me.

Yes I have lung cancer.

Desk is completed

Thar she blows! A completed desk of curly maple frames and curly cherry panels. 

This piece has taken some time to get through my shop, in part due to some health issues I have but also because the nature of this piece has dictated careful work at slow intervals. When I look at the piece I see lots of subtle Phil details, the most obvious is the leg design. Its got a 45 degree angle that puts it at the corner and makes the sculptural shape add a strength to the over all piece, a taper, a switch of a shape top to bottom, its got more there that a quick glance can see yet the quick glance does see a balance and strength. The cherry is so dynamic its only going to get richer and darker and more beautiful in the years to come.. The drawers have quarter sawn sycamore interiors which is a taditional lumber to use for stability and beauty.

Time to write a letter! Cheers!

Cherry front with half blind dovetails, mahogany pull, leg detail, quarter sawn sycamore interiors

My son got married!

These two are the coolest.........lots of love to them........

Ready for oil

Here is the desk complete with drawers and pulls, all she needs now is oil finish.

The curly cherry drawer fronts and curly maple legs and frames will make a dynamo combo- I cant wait to put on oil, it brings out the grain and curl.

Dovetails

Dovetails are a pleasure to cut

Fitting the drawers and selecting the size pull I am going to make, I keep some old samples around so I can see the subtle size requirements for this and other pieces- I'll make a custom shape for this desk.

Final parts

Working on final parts for the desk, I am using quarter sawn sycamore lumber for drawer parts, very stable lumber and it looks cool inside the drawers.

Zoom

Zoom the cat

Leg details, plant parts

Now that the desk is glued up I can flush the leg details and other joints. The smooth character of the details is a subtle thing, once you see what the joints do together and how the leg detail raises a little above the desk top surface, its nice to find these little touches, to look close and feel with your hand the smooth shapes and feel of the wood, this fibrous woody plant material that I get to build with, its pretty cool, its just a plant.

Coffee or tea?

There it is, a wedge or two, protect the top. 

Looking good now, all safe and glued together. Time for a coffee, or tea?

Clamp blocks

I've got glue on the joints and its knocked together pretty close, now I'll use my shaped clamp blocks to get the bar clamps on, tight but not too tight, hammer it in a bit, tighten, 

check for square, music, glue squeeze.............

Prepping the glue up

Checking the measure, checking again, these parts have been worked and sanded and shaped so I don't want to split or crack anything, on the other hand the joints must be tight and strong......music, measure, double check, GO FOR IT!

Grey hawk

Grey hawk in the Tucson desert

Some time

I've got so much time invested in these parts that the glue up is always a little nerve racking. A crack, a split, an out of square clamp up, there are many ways to wreck these parts....... thats the fun of it.....

Prep glue

Always checking dimensions, it would be nice if the pieces went together smoothly. These parts are almost ready for panels. Clamping will require special glue blocks for the shape of the legs.

Chickens!

Nothing to do with furniture but hey, chickens! 

Scroll down for wood stuff....

Cherry panels

Now that the frames are close to done, I get to prep the wood for the panels. This cherry has some fantastic grain and will jump with finish on it. I'm lining up the grain on the three top panels so that the figure dances across the top as a whole.

Glued and ready for smoothing.

Pre-fitting parts

I can really see the desk now and it looks great. 

The parts are dry fit to check align and measure a few things

Tipped upside down it looks almost done........

Using the eye and the hand

Here I'm using a clamp to bend a stick of wood to draw my curved lines, I transfer them onto the leg and then bandsaw and shape the leg.

Checking for true lines

Checking for true mental capacity....