Originally we were to just supply the wood for this project; the aromatic red cedar stringers and risers and the ash treads. That changed when the carpenter sort of messed up. He had gaps where there shouldn’t have been gaps.  “Could we help”?

Mike did a CAD drawing of the special cove moulding where the tread meets the stringer and we had the pieces made on a CNC router. The pieces made on the CNC router matched the straight cove material we had made.  I think the overall effect is pretty nice. I haven’t seen this done anywhere before. The white oak handrail starts at an ash partition.  The partition is mounted on a steel sub-frame with poplar blocking. Aluminum “Z” clips provide a nice fastener-free panel. The meeting joint between the panels and at the end cap is an ash spline.  It’s finished with an aromatic red cedar cap.

This 18 foot wide by 8 foot tall unit constructed of American black walnut solid and veneer, has a 1-1/2” solid slab top with a natural edge.

An interesting element of this piece is that it sits a half inch off the floor and a half inch from the ceiling. These void areas are air intake and returns. Hidden in the center soffit are two 6” flex ducted fans that draw air from the heated floor and exhaust it at the ceiling. There are also two 2” ducts that draw heat from the center TV cabinet. The lock mitered columns enclose the ductwork.

The curved upper doors and their laminated walnut and cherry track are on a 511” radius to follow the natural edge of the top. The track is suspended from column to column with no other support.

The cherry trolley wheels were cut on a CNC router with grooves cut by hand on a lathe. The wheels rotate on ball bearing hubs.

This unit was pre finished with conversion varnish.

We love being able to do new things, so when the customer told us she needed railings for her patio we jumped at the chance.

The newels and main railings are of aromatic red cedar found in the woods around the house. Care was taken to find just the right curves and sizes. We spent a weekend walking the property with marking tape and a chainsaw picking out likely candidates. With a pile of what looked like the start of a good bonfire we began selecting our posts. The posts are set on 2” galvanized pipe core drilled into the sub stair. They were later embedded in 8” of concrete and stone. We got to use some cool tenon cutters and our 1/2” hole hog drill to do the joinery and added a wedge just for fun. The vine work was grape and Osage orange. It was wired and nailed with hand cut clinch nails to the structure. No finish required.

Are you looking for a wooden sink? We’ve made them. This one is made of spanish cedar. It was dovetailed by hand, and the bottom sloped by hand for proper drainage.

Before	After

These storefront columns were originally made of iron. Over time the metal started deteriorating. We were asked to carve reproductions of the columns. Some of the original columns still stand.