Although we’ve got a lot of projects going on, and have completed many since my last blog entry, I’ve been to busy to put together a well organized post.

In lieu of something cohesive, here are a bunch of random photos from the shop, mostly taken by Jen Zahigian.

My rare numbered edition Fat Tire Ale Bicycle.  Too beautiful to ride everyday.

My next project (pictured above) which pulled up to my shop about 2 weeks ago.

Our last project (will show in greater detail in next post) getting prepared to send to finisher before final assembly.

Here’s our little modern garden bench in the making. 

We start with a mix of salvaged and culled wood.  People wonder, why do you charge for the materials when you get this stuff for free?  Well, first of all, it’s not all free.  Secondly, the wood we do get for free is pretty junky,  and to make this salvaged wood usable takes time and a considerable amount of work.  We cut out the bad parts, pull out the nails, and plane it down to the good stuff.  The bottom line is, we’re taking a bunch of wood that is otherwise destined for the landfill and giving it a second life.

Aaron gets busy with the bandsaw.

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Mass Production

The stamp of approval.

Stax of benches.

Salvaged Wood Planter Benches, on Sale now, $98.

Check this out -
Our local design rag, Ventana, featured us in the September issue. Kudos to us. I know September was awhile back, but I been busy, yo.





In a seemingly unrelated post, I had the strangest dream the other night.

I was at my friend Tristen’s old house in the country. They always had a bunch of animals out there, like dogs, horses and peacocks. So it wasn’t strange when, in my dream, I looked out the window and saw a dozen or so really furry black cats. What was strange however, was that about half of them were wearing prescription glasses. The same kind Julie Kotter wore on Welcome Back Kotter.
I woke up from the dream laughing. Then I got to thinking, “You know, you never see animals with prescription glasses.” Then it occurred to me that there probably aren’t even optometrist vets. Well, one thing led to another, and I created the Eye Chart For Cats.

So for all you cat lovers out there, here is the first step towards better feline vision care.

Our Airstream client wanted a minimal place to prepare food. We gave him a small convection oven (microwaves just don’t make good food) a fridge with separate freezer, and one of those water boiling electric teapots.
In the following photos, the bulk of the cabinetry is complete, so it’s mostly just pictures of us applying the Formica tops.

I doubled up layers of ply, to get a nice 1-1/2” countertop thickness. I created the curves using different types of moulding. The white part is a pretty standard door casing. Clever.

Josh Ganshorn and Tom Brown. A winning team. In this photo, Josh is trying to burn Toms hand.

I don’t know if this looks easy or not, but It’s really a pain bending this stuff and making it stick correctly.

The finished bench, ready to install. What some people don’t realize is that beyond the obvious benefits of a bench, it’s really just a way to hide the wheel wells. Hence, the shallow depth in the lower portion. I tried to make the most out of every square inch, so I created the small but deep cubbies for books and sketch pads. The owner is an artist, after all.

The morning after drill. Tom and Josh load in the pieces. I think Andrew Benson is around here somewhere.

….And Voila. Ready for appliances. Notice the small opening where the fridge goes (on the right). It’s the service access for the hot water heater.

The semi-symmetrical layout turned out pretty good. All these curves are sexy (and a pain-in-the-ass to create).

I design or build something just about every day. I am a member of Heartwood, a Cooperative Woodshop in Berkeley, California, that has been around for more than thirty years.

This blog will be a place to share the process of my work, from preliminary sketches to the finished product.

Lucky for me, my wife is a photographer, who loves to document every step of the way. We have a catalog of images and thoughts to share with you, so please drop by again soon…