Windsor Office Chair and Windsor Bench

I could not wait to mention these two new pieces that I am finishing up. I have not properly photographed them yet so here is a shot from my finishing room. I finally found some office chair hardware that I like and mounted my Cod Rib Arm Chair on it. It is a great feel and an interesting look. I picked the Cod Rib chair for this first experiment because of its modern airy lines. It seems to just float above the minimal black hardware.

The bench is my first one in my Waltham style. Later pics will show the how nice the traditional stretcher looks on this design as well as the stretched out crest rail.

Both of these designs were a bit of a mystery as to how they would look, so I am very happy that they look great, if I do say so myself. I will be taking these to Woodstock, Vermont next weekend to the Fine Furnishings Show. September 26,27.

Now I just have to build my booth for the show...

More pics to follow.

Cherry Windsor Bench

I recently made 4 New Waltham side chairs for a customer who

then asked if I could build a 5' bench to match the chairs. Here it is. The New Waltham Bench. I have wanted to build a bench like this for quite a while so I was very happy to have a customer commission one. Sometimes I have the time to build new designs without it being a commission, but most times my new designs are the product of a customer asking for something new. Often these new designs are based on my previous work.

Please feel free to contact me about this new piece or any other work that you may have been thinking about.

Happy summer,

Tim

Cherry Pencil Post Bed

Here are a few images and videos showing some steps to making the posts for a pencil post bed. I have already cut the post to a four sided taper on the table saw. the next step is the tricky part. Turning this into an eight sided tapering post with a square base. First, I am using a spar makers scribe to mark the last four sides to the post. Next, I need to chisel out the lamb's tongue that is the beginning of the second four facets of the post. The rest is power planed and finished with a hand plane. The last images show a completed post.

Pencil Post Bed with Milk Paint

This is my latest pencil post bed. My design has not really changed in years but this is first one that I have painted. This was suggested by the interior designer, Cindy Neal of Texas, who chose the dark brown color of milk paint. It is an original color as it had to mixed from black and chocolate brown. She specified a different mixture of the same colors for a set of Waltham chairs that went to the same house in Cape Cod.

I have to say that I really like the way that the paint shows off the shape of the bed and especially the facets of the eight sided posts. As I buff out the paint, I allow a bit of paint to be taken off of the edges which helps more to highlight the lines of the bed.

The wood is cherry so the highlights are a nice red/brown. This bed is king size and the top of the mattress will go up to the bottom edge of the headboard. All of my beds are custom in that I fit them to your mattress thickness and can place it to your desired height off of the ground.

Windsor Chairs on the Cape

I just delivered these 8 Waltham arm chairs and 2 Tall Waltham arms to a beautiful house on Cape Cod. They seem to work very well with the table and I am sure that they will enjoy the view. Sorry for the bad photos but at least you can get the basic idea.

A fair curve

A fair curve is something that even the untrained eye can appreciate. It may be taken for granted when it is fair and true but it is easy to see when it is not fair and true. It will stick out like a sore thumb.

A fair curve does not need to be constant like a section of a perfect circle. It can have a changing radius along its length. I love this curve of my Waltham arm chair rail where it transitions from the side to the back of the chair. Complex , yet simple. Or simple but complex.

See all of my chairs here.

Boats of Bangkok

Some of you may know that I have a strong interest in boats and boatbuilding. About 10 years ago, I was building small boats as well as building furniture. On this trip to Thailand, I discovered some very beautiful boats on the Chao Praya river in Bangkok. All, wooden. These that I have pictured just touches the surface. The two on top are tourist/commuter boats. Both are very fast and smooth riding. The river can get rough with all of the traffic. These are definitely more comfortable than a subway or street taxi. The commuter boats come into the dock very quickly and passengers get off and on in stop about as long as a subway stop. The crew used a bosuns whistle to signal passengers loading and unloading. This seems to serve as a signal to passengers but also to the captain who is way out of sight of the dock. These designs all seem to come from the fishing boats that are still used today. These are fast efficient boats that also in my experience seem quite safe. I would love to have the time to do some real research on these designs. Maybe that will be the next reason for a trip to Thailand. Most of these images are of the Longtail taxis that are the fastest. The large automobile engine is mounted on a pivot that allows it to be swiveled for steering as well as the long prop shaft can be lifted clear of the water. You may remember James Bond using one of these to fend off a would be assassin in Live and Let Die.

Ok, time to get back to furniture.

The orange boat (below) that has a very low stern section is a tug that is pulling 5 very large barges. We once saw tow of these pulling a load and they were both healed over to one side so that the lower rail was actually under water. These fatter boats seem to be mostly water taxis or tour boats. They all would make nice house boats.