theprojectmodern

It seems like at least once a week I can’t find my keys, or my wallet, or …, so I decided to make something in an attempt to resolve this little predicament. I’ve always disliked having all my on the go items just laying around, so having a wall mounted piece keeps things up, away and organized.

The Butler is made of solid walnut and several layers of baltic birch.

When not in use, the walnut slides closed and hides the charging wire within.

The backside of the walnut is routed out for the charging cord and a pocket is routed out of the backside to allow for the additional charging cord and extension cord head so that the piece can be mounted up high on the a wall possibly.

mmmm ribs…..

I’ve been working on the mickRib for sometime now. It’s crazy how much time you can put in to something so small and simple looking. I originally got the idea for this lamp from this circular shape I saw that had some random curves in its shape. After doodling for a couple months I decided on the scale and base and worked on my first template.

It took me some time to decide how to make the piece. I went back and forth between potentially bending, joining at the curves, and possibly making the interior all one solid piece. After a couple different trials, I eventually decided to make it with ply that was joined together but with small gaps between each piece to let the light out and accent the light in an interesting way.

Making identical replicas is a little tricky when there are so many curves in such a tight area with such thin material. My first attempts on the router table were a little sketchy with the bit wanting to grab the piece at certain points. After a few runs, I was able to make an initial mockup, but decided it would be best to find a better,safer way to make the next round. This is a pic of my dads hand. I told him about my experience so he came over to experience the sketchiness.

This is the setup I built to keep the routing a lot simpler and safer and it works great. I cut the ribs out, leaving an 1/8″ of meat, attach the piece to the 3/4″ template and place it in this jig.

The next challenge was to get the lighting fixture into the neck as clean and simple as possible. I decided to run it up the 1/4″ gap in the neck and relieve a small section on two opposing rib pieces for the head of the fixture.

Some finishing touches  to get the bulb and fixturing just right and she’s ready for a photo shoot.

I really like the lighting that this bulb gives off, it nicely accents the wood and gives ample light to the room without being too in your face and distracting.

I just got a few new pics of the Belomo sideboard. Thanks Long!

I got the opportunity to collaborate with John Adams with JAG Architecture on this table set for a custom space and it has been a great project to work on. The initial challenge was to have a table that could seat 6 and allow for a way out in the middle, all fitting within the existing bench configuration. After a few different concepts, we came up with a small and larger table with leafs that would protect the dining table from the elements in cocktail position, and fold down with room for a 6 people.

In order to provide upper and lower support for the table, John and I came up with a swinging arm. When in cocktail position, the two arms would sit over one of the existing legs and on the underside of the table, and when in dinner position swing out for support.

We came up with a pear shape for the large table, with one straight edge to allow for hinging. The shape has a rounded 90 degree angle allowing two people to sit on each side of that angle.

On the small table, in order to provide leg room as the table depth is small to fit the space, the structural post was set to the back. This made for a unique base stand, so I made a full scale mock-up to make sure the stability was right.

The tables will be outside in direct exposure, so John chose stainless steel for the bases. He’s had too many powder coating let downs to choose anythng else for exterior.

The tops are made out of Ipe to match the bench. This stuff is extremely dense and it’s definitely not the easiest to work with. At the time, I thought it would be easiest to join everything at once, but thinking back smaller pieces are much easier to clamp down and would think about going that route in the future, at least with some of the heavy hardwoods like Ipe.

The supports for the underside of the table need to be flush to allow the swinging arm to nest tightly against the bottom of the table top. Therefore, I made a routing jig for the supports out of mdf to ensure a tight fit of the leg supports and the routing went smoothly.

I have to say this part of the process stressed me out a bit. I put a lot of time in to making the tops and getting the shapes just right. So when it came time to route out the invisible Soss hinges, I was a little on edge. The thickness I was cutting into is only 1″…its going in to end grain…and the inside edge that gets routed leaves less than 1/8″ of wood. Anyhow, I was able to get all of them in for a really nice clean look and I’m really happy with the look. I had a couple hiccups but the end product is clean.

All the pieces are pretty much put together and I’m just about ready to put it together. Time to oil up the tops, install the hinges and stops, polish the stainless and put it all together.

Haha, I just read that last line  I wrote 4 days ago and I can tell I didn’t anticipate things taking 3-4 more days. I still had to work out some small things and that did not happen quickly. That included tabs for the feet, stops for the swinging arm, and overall adjustments to get everything to work just right. Here are some shots of the nearly complete piece. Its waiting for a couple last minute adjustments and polishing but nothing too noticeably different than what you see here.

Progress in South Park has just added a few of my pieces to their collection. If you haven’t been to Progress, check it out. They’re a cool modern home and gift shop in the recently renovated Burlingame garage. And if you’re not doing anything this Saturday afternoon, South Park is having their quarterly walkabout, a cool neighborhood gathering with food, drinks and cool stuff.

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I’m excited to send off my first table to Silo in Sonoma, California. They are a new store opening on October 1 so if you ‘re in the neighborhood check out the store and the floaster, my first piece for sale in a retail store.

www.micklish.com