Contemporary Windsor Bench with Arms

Waltham Bench with Arms

4 1/2' Waltham Bench w/arm rail

Up until now, my Waltham line of benches did not have arms but I made four of these at the request of a client.  I am very happy with how it worked out.  I made this in a 4 1/2' and a 5' version.  This bench is $3800. and the Waltham Bench (the one without the arm rail) is $3000.
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions and do take a look at the rest of my work at TimothyClark.com
This bench is built of poplar for the seat, cherry for the rails and ash for the spindles, legs and stretchers. It is finished with black milk paint, linseed oil, varnish and wax.

The faceted seat front was new for this design. It shows up in my Waltham Side Chair seats but no where else until now. It just seemed like the right thing to do as I was shaping the seat.

The bench above just had it's arm rail mounted. You can still see the spindle tenons and wedges at the top of the  arms and under the seat. Once these are cleaned up, it will be ready for paint.

Ziggy says "When is Spring coming?"

Happy Winter,

Tim

Cherry Pencil Post Beds

Cherry Pencil Post Bed

Over my 30 years of making furniture professionally, I have a few designs that have been mainstays of my business.   My Pencil Post Beds are one of those.  I seem to consistently make at least 2 and maybe 4 of these each year.  The bed is a lot of cherry. 2 1/2' square posts at the base with a  transition to an eight sided taper.  This transition is made by way of a carved "lamb's tongue".   The facets of the eight sided taper are scribed with a spar makers scribe and then power planed to rough out stock to get close to the scribe lines.  The final sizing is done with a hand plane.  

Bolted joints make for a solid, quiet bed.

Every bed is made custom to fit the customer's mattress dimensions and to finish off at the height desired by the customer.   At present, I offer three options for finishing off the posts.  They can be left bare, they can have cross bars (known as testers), or they can have finials.  I turn the finials by hand. The finials incorporate a 1/4" diameter steel post that sticks out of the bottom. This is simply dropped into the hole at the top of the post. No wooden peg to break off.

The rails are joined to the posts with an exposed bolt that makes a very solid joint that will not wear out. If the bed were to "loosen up" over the winter due to wood movement, they can simply be tightened.  I discovered this design on an original Shaker meeting house trestle table that was made to break down for storage. I loved the practical honesty of the bolt. There was no attempt to hide it behind a brass decorative plate or to sink it deep into the wood.  It was celebrated for what it was. The right material for the job.  I do offer a completely hidden bolt design but there would be an extra cost as I have custom nuts made for the bolts and the woodwork required is time consuming.   I prefer  to see the blackened bolt as a detail that contrasts nicely to the warm wood.  Check out this and other designs at www.TimothyClark.com.

Queen size bed with finials.

Posts after final shaping ready for finish sanding.

Detail of the post and finial.  

Enjoy the crazy weather we are having.  Rain and 50 degrees yesterday.  Today, 15 degrees and a snow storm. 

Lucy says, "Just enjoy the weather!"

Tim