Packing Up Moving Back

For those of you that follow this blog, and others who stop by from time to time, I thought I would let folks know that it will be awhile before I post another project. We have sold our home, and shop, in West Tennessee and moving back home to the Greater Cincinnati area after being here for the last 9 years.  I moved here for a work transfer and have been retired now for 18 months. 

The big draw of course is family, 3 children, 4 grand children, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews.  We were fortunate in this economy to sell this house so quickly (less than 3 weeks) and the home we are purchasing was under construction and we’ll be moving in Christmas week.

So for now, my “projects” involve packing tape, boxes, and filler paper, but as others have said, it is giving me a chance to clean out and see what exactly I have collected over the past 9 years. 

As mentioned in previous posts, some of the power tools are gone. The workbench as well, that will be the first project in the new shop, the Benchcrafted Shaker style bench so I will post when that project gets underchoice.

I will be back in the basement again, and have already marked my space.  The type of work I do and the increased use of had tools will allow me to set up a nice area to build the things I enjoy, and the best part is I will be able to teach my grandson’s the joy of working with wood. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!

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The New Year

Ahhhhhhh.... I alchoices think of the New Year as kind of a blank slate .... I know its just another day/week/year coming up, but I like to think I can start anew and correct little things in my personality that irk me. Hasnt happened in the past; probably wont happen this year either. I did, actually, even though everyone else had a paid holiday, spend some time today organizing my office and getting my job list on my whiteboard, but, why is my bench alchoices such a mess .... Where is that thing I had in my hand not TWO seconds ago? Why oh why oh why do I hate Quickbooks Pro 2010 sooooo much? Why dont I have a proper tool cabinet of my own after 35 years of doing this when everyone else in the shop is so orderly? This is starting to look like a list of new years resolutions and maybe it is ... Well see ... My wife Kit is finally getting a real bureau as we speak, after about 5 years of me talking about it, so there is hope, maybe .... I leave you to ponder the above with me and also you can ponder the stuff below I scraped off my bulletin board recently ... Enjoy ... Dont go too deep with it ... Its light stuff ... Click the images to enlarge them ....
I had a wonderful conversation the other day with an old friend about the current vagaries of the custom work business ... the slow pay .. the almost order that takes as long and is as complicated as the real order, the lack of choice caused by the lack of demand, and it all boiled down to cash flow. Things do seem to be picking up though recently, (dare I even say it????) The above quote from Paul Downs, a Philadelphia furniture maker who was interviewed a few years ago by, I think, Woodshop News is a true thing. His quote above resonated with me as it has been the back story of my 31 years in business ... So true ... We like the craftsmanship, but we also need to do the money stuff. ... almost everyday ...
Error and Trial .... We often say we work from one recovery to the next ... No mistakes, no progress.
We dont know .... in some choices, another part of the story of my life ... listening for inner voices .. Id like to write some this year about creativity. Where do ideas/designs/processes come from? Can you teach other people to have ideas? Im interested in your thoughts ... Comments?
Failure to failure, one recovery to the next ... obstacles into opportunities .. variations on a theme ....
More on having ideas above... We do know,however, that every idea is not a good idea ... Then there are a few humorous ones ...
I love Roz Chast ... she often has her finger on the pulse of the thoughts in the back of my mind.How can you not buy that coloring after a good ad like that ... ?
A little Zen .... I guess this means that hings are just as they are, regardless ... Who can tell how events will be transformed? Indeed ... I love this story .. Its from the reference section of the Steven Mitchell translation of the tao te ching. It also, along with the one below, has the most thumbtack holes in it and I now can retell it almost verbatim ...
Tom Peters gave me this one one day when I was complaining about teenagers (Will, I think) ... Nature? Nurture? Coincidence? All Of The Above? Who knows?
Good thing ...
The Moby Dick guy .... Hand lettered and posted by the time clock for about a year by yours truly .. Everyone should memorize this one ...
Jim Harrison ... another favorite ... ready and attentive .... love the concept ...
And, I would have written you a shorter blog post too ...

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Moving An Old Friend

We got to visit with an old friend last week ... It was a pool table that I built and installed in1993. The owners have recently sold the house and the table will be arriving at its new home at their sons house in Connecticut this Wednesday.
Its an antique table that I bought, planning to use it in my own home for myself and Sam and Will to enjoy. They were 8 and 10 at the time ... But, like the one before that one, a client came through as I was involved in the restoration and bought it before we finished. After losing two that choice, I bought a more homely one that I painted and refelted and still own today ... Its how we got started in our pool table career ... I think weve made 14 or 15 now .... This one was #2. click the photos to enlarge them ....
It was in a beautiful home, which called for a really nice cue and accessory rack that also made the trip out ...
If youve never seen one in pieces, heres how it goes ... You unbolt and disassemble the pockets and rails, pry the million staples from the felt and you are left with the three pieces of slate that are screwed to the wood frame below.
Then the wood frame is unbolted and broken down into its various parts ...
And youre good to go ..
Youve got a bunch of pieces when youre finished but it all makes sense if you take it a step at a time ....
The house is a beauty, designed by Jeff Barnes, a Manchester architect noted for his style and attention to detail ... Here are a few images just so you get the idea ...
The main entry
Coming into the kitchen from the garage
We were making this table when the client saw the pool table we were working on at the same time ...
Detail of the ebony and abalone inlay
A classic Sam Ogden turning piece ...And, a nice place to entertain ... great house !!!

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