Chalkboard Blocks

I've made several sets of blocks over the years as gifts for friends with new babies or grandchildren.  Blocks are wonderful toys: they foster creativity, hand-eye coordination, and last for generations.  Two sides of each block have chalkboard surfaces.  There are 32 blocks in a set, housed in a little box with a sliding lid.

 

I make blocks from cut-offs and scraps from past projects.  These are reclaimed southern yellow pine from a dining set.  I have 4 sets available.  If you are looking for a perfect last minute Holiday gift for a baby or toddler, look no further.  Price is $120.  Drop me a line or call (732-996-9740) if you're interested.

Grid work

I'm almost finished with a couple of subwoofer enclosures that I designed as grid work boxes, sort of like a tightly compressed shoji screen.  They are getting a distressed black milk paint finish; here they are just sanded.

The grid panels are made up of half-lapped strips of wood.  It's one of those painstaiking processes that either put you in a zen like state or drive you batty and go on forever.  This is what they look like as they are during assembly:

When I was an apprentice my mother brought me a magazine photo of some antique wooden cookie drying racks and asked if I could make them.  If you bake (or know anyone who does) you are familiar with the common drying racks made from metal wire. They work, but they're not very pretty.  The antique ones were made the same as my grids above, although the pattern was small squares rather than narrow slots.  I avoided it for a while, but finally surprised my mom with a pair one Christmas.  She loved them, and has used them ever since.  They took so long to make that I never made another set.

 

But I made a pile of extra slats for the subwoofer enclosures in case any of them broke or warped during construction.  I put them together for a new set of cookie drying racks.  These were for my girlfriend.  She put them into service immediately.

Acting like a photographer...

And now for a photographic diversion...

 

When I was growing up this was the very busy regional depot of a dairy. Not much milk or ice cream has passed over the loading dock lately.

The Old Dairy

Here is a place I frequented as a kid in the woods behind my parent's house.  Yes, it's a big sewer main over a polluted little stream.  Hey, It's New Jersey, you do with what you've got.  Anyway, that sewer pipe served as a bridge to the other side of the woods.  I remember quite a few lunches eaten while sitting over that stream.  Later, in high school, it became a shortcut through the woods to get to the field where track practice was held.  

The Sewer Pipe

I've got a few other photos here.  I hope you enjoy them.  If you have any interest in prints (or prints with custom frames), drop me a line.

Filling up space

Most of this random dining set has been posted here or in my portfolio, but this picture gives a better idea of how it fills up it's allotted space.  Picture walls may or may not be your thing, but they can enliven an otherwise bare wall, and bring old memories back into your daily life.

Bedroom set

Here's a quick snapshot of the bed and nightstands I just delivered.  Rift sawn White Oak with medium-dark brown finish.  Better photos to come as soon as I get back there with my camera equipment. 

 

Coming attractions

I've got a bunch of interesting furniture in the pipeline and I'm starting to gather materials.  A couple of pieces are spec'd out in weathered barn siding.  That can be tough to source, but I know a guy in upstate NY who squirrels away lumber every chance he gets.  He had some interesting boards that had been vertical board and batten siding on an old local barn that dated back somewhere in the 1800's.  I went and brought home a truckload.  I can't wait to get into this project...

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​Old Barn Siding

​Checking the moisture content to make sure they're good to go.

​This should last a little while...I hope!