All About That Brass

It looks like brass is back in – bright, shiny, golden brass. The last few jobs we have done featured plenty of brass, and they have been for customers who I would say are “in the know” for design trends. The styles are less decorative than previous iterations, but I am surprised by how quick it is back. It seems like just yesterday we were taking out everything that resembled brass and replacing it with oil-rubbed bronze. I guess there are only so many choices, and brass isn’t a bad one.

A great example of the brass trend roaring back are a couple sets of cabinets we have done lately which featured brass, not only in the hardware choices, but also added to the cabinets. We have previously done a set in black and just recently a set in walnut. The brass inlay is a fancy touch which isn’t too hard to pull off, but there are a few tricks which we figured out through a bit of trial and error.

The first set of doors and drawer fronts set we did were made from mdf with the grooves routed on the cnc router. We used 1/8″ thick brass and super glued them in the grooves after we chiseled the corners square. It worked well, but we planned to sand the entire panel in the wide-belt sander and that’s where things went a little sideways. Even with the lightest and quickest of passes, the brass would get hot and expand and then pop out of the grooves. We were able to finish up by hand, using a block backer behind the sandpaper, but the process took quite awhile. Luckily, we were only doing a handful of doors. In case you are wondering, the orbital sander was a no-go because the brass and mdf sand at different rates and the orbital sander would leave the brass high and the mdf low, resulting in a non-flat surface. The only way to ensure a flat surface is with very even amounts of sanding through the wide-belt sander or with a stiff backer behind the sandpaper.

The panels above were made from mdf, painted black with brass inlays.

On our most recent set of walnut cabinets, I decided to step up the brass to 1/4″ x 1/4″ and it made a huge difference. We were able to put the panels through the wide-belt sander (still taking light passes) and have that be our almost finished surface. We then very, very lightly sanded with the orbital sander just to get the brass surface finished consistently, but had no issues with the brass wanting to pop out of the grooves. The structural difference between 1/8″ thick and 1/4″ thick brass and its ability to dissipate heat, both added to the success. I think it also helped to have more glue surface on the side of the brass to keep them in place.

These walnut frames also feature a brass inlay, but this time we used thicker brass.

The walnut panels were a bit easier to finish than the black set because the entire panel was only clear coated for the finish. The black set required us to tape off the brass before painting black and then clear coating the entire panel. To get a perfectly flat finish, the black set also took a few extra coats of finish with 320 sanding in between to level out the surface.

Click the link above to see the walnut panels with brass inlays at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show.

Besides the brass hardware, brass is finding its way back in fixtures and accent pieces too. We found ourselves also working on a set of brass and walnut shelves to accompany the cabinets above. It seems like the brass is coming back and designers are not being shy about using it. Take a good look around the internet and you’ll find brass, and it will be as big as ever.

More brass. This time we used it for a shelving unit and True is using it for their refrigerator handles, also at the KBIS show.

Installing Live-Edge Floating Shelves in a Corner (and Wall to Wall)

Floating is pretty much the only way we install shelves anymore. We could install them other ways (you know, with brackets), but nobody wants brackets anymore. So, you might ask yourself, “If the only installation being requested these days is floating and the kids at WunderWoods install a lot of shelves, why was was it so hard for Scott to figure out how to put live-edge shelves in a corner?” Seems like he might have run into that before. The crazy answer is, no, I have not run into it before and no one has ever asked.

If you don’t give it a lot of thought, it doesn’t seem too much more difficult than a regular floating shelf installation. However, I was starting to think it was impossible (especially wall to wall) until I dreamed up a way to do it months after the initial request. While I was working on it and letting this part drag on, I remembered thinking, “I wonder how long it will be before brackets come back in style, so I can put up these corner shelves?”

My first, and only other plausible solution, was to install the rods and drill the holes at a 45 degree angle from the corner and slide the entire assembly (both shelves together) into the corner. This would technically work, if the corner is open, but it wouldn’t work if the corner was closed in on the ends and it sounded ridiculously hard to drill and install. It pretty much would never work. That was it. That was all I had for a long time.

I kept thinking about regular shelves and how nice it would be if I could just drop it on some shelf pins, or how nice it would be if they were just square-edged shelves and I could slide them in without fussing with that inside corner where the live edges crash at some random angle. Then, finally, I put the two ideas together. Slide the second shelf in at an angle on a post and drop the other side down into a funky joint on the other shelf. It is a tough one to explain without me being able to use my hands, so I put an animation in the video for you to see how it works.

Overall, the installation is the same as we do for live-edge mantels (click to see how to install a live-edge mantel) and other live-edge shelves. We do sometimes use Sheppard brackets, but they wouldn’t work in this case either. The main difference for this installation was the inside corner, which was cut on the CNC router. It’s a fun little joint which we cut quite often but with the addition of a little ledge. Check out the following video to see how it works. It’s a lot easier than me trying to explain it.

We’re all done in New York

We finally did it! After several months of work and me saying, “This is the last trip” a few too many times, we have finished up our install of the True Residential Refrigeration showroom in Manhattan. When this started I hadn’t been to New York (when I was old enough to remember), and now I can get from St. Louis to the job site in just a few hours and not even look up from my phone. It’s crazy to think what a difference a few months can make!

While we where finishing up we shot our last video for the job, which is below. Watch until the end (or just fast forward) to see the final product. Now, it’s time for some good ol’ toasted ravioli.

I Shouldn’t Complain About Not Having Enough Space

New York has a lot going on and a lot going for it – space is not one of those things. If you are not a people person, it probably isn’t the city for you. If you like to have room to work and a place to put your stuff, it definitely isn’t for you. Luckily, I am used to working in a tight space with a lot going on, and I don’t mind it. It doesn’t speed anything up, but as long as everyone isn’t too grumpy, working in tight quarters can be kinda fun and exhilarating. It only becomes less fun when it is time to get your stuff done and there is no way to actually get to it.

Our first installation trip in New York had both the joy of working closely with all of the other trades and the exasperation of having those same people in your way most of the time. I often feel like our shop is too small, but after going to New York and having 15 guys, a truckload of cabinets, a bunch of fridges and everyone’s tools in 1,200 sf. of showroom, I feel like I should shut up about it.

Click on the video below to see how much stuff we were able to put in a 5 lb. bucket.

“Hey Buddy, I’m Walkin’ Here!”

Well, we got our cabinets to New York, off the truck and up to the 6th floor job site, but not without some excitement. I didn’t get it on video, mostly because it’s not easy to video while everyone is yelling at you, but I can tell you it would have made for some great TV. Will he get the truck unloaded on time? Will the other contractors let him live? Will the honking ever stop? All of these questions and more will be answered on the next episode of “This May Not Have Been a Good Idea”.

It started out great. The driver was there by 6 a.m. He pulled a magnificent u-turn in the corner intersection and got into the loading dock rather expeditiously, and everyone was joyous.

The marching orders from our general contractor were to get in early, claim your spot, unload the truck and ignore everyone else. That’s not really how it normally works for me, but hey, I’m in New York. You do what you got to do, and we did it. The first 30 minutes went great. Everyone we saw was still riding the adrenaline high of getting the truck in the loading dock. Then the mood started to change.

Other contractors in the building began showing up, early mind you, and couldn’t get in because we were in the way. Pedestrians started heading for work, also early, and couldn’t get by. Drivers trying to beat the rush could only use one lane. I know it’s hard to picture here in suburbia where we are used to having space.

We unloaded the truck as fast as we could, but it wasn’t fast enough. The yelling picked up and so did the honking. It seemed like everyone was on the phone talking to somebody else about how they were trying to speed up the process and get us out of there. Finally, the employees in charge of the loading dock said we were out of time and made our driver pull out and park in the street.

We focused on the truck. We got him unloaded and out of the way and at least stopped the honking. At that point I thought we were on easy street. The truck was gone and more than half of the stuff was up to the job site. All we had to do was get the rest of it up the freight elevator, and we had all day to do it. Wrong again. Turns out freight can’t be delivered after 8 a.m., so as not to disrupt the other businesses in the building. Fine concept, I just didn’t know about it. I have never worked in a building where the freight elevator can only carry freight before 8 a.m.

Right at 8 a.m. one of the building managers, popped out of the freight elevator, violently waved her arms as though she was calling a runner safe at second and yelled, “No more, no more!” She disappeared back in the elevator and we stopped moving. I didn’t know how to handle this one.

We stood there in the basement for awhile, knowing we had to do something. The freight elevator is big and we decided that if we got one more shot at it we could fit everything else. So, we went New York style, loaded up the elevator, made sure we got it in one load and headed to the 6th floor. We did not see the building manager and had everything officially off of the elevator and in the job site before 8:20 a.m., just a little past curfew.

Then our general contractor turned his phone back on.

Apparently, you just need to get used to people yelling at you when you work in NY.

Click on the video link above to see us getting everything to New York (minus the yelling and honking).

How to Find the Center Without Doing the Math

Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like to follow convention. I swear I don’t do it to be ornery (though my wife might disagree), I just enjoy viewing things from different angles. I always take a different route when I can and like to approach life the same way. One of my differing viewpoints is on measuring. For some people the measurement is the measurement and that’s it. For me, not so much. It doesn’t seem like much of a hill to die on, but I think it is at least worth discussing. Measuring with tape measures and using some system like imperial or metric to communicate those measurements with others is important, but it isn’t the only way to accomplish many tasks. One of the most common places to subvert mathematical conventions is in dividing spaces evenly, and a great example is finding the center of a piece by dividing a space in two.

Finding the center with math can be simple – half of 24″ is 12″. But, it can be hard too. Real quick, tell me the center of 157-13/16″. The answer will take some math and possibly a calculator to get to 78.90625″ or 78-29/32″, and then you need to find that on a tape measure – more math to figure out that 29/32″ is just between 7/8″ and 15/16″and isn’t even marked on your tape measure. The conventional approach would be to do the math, mark the measurement, and double check the math by measuring from each side to verify that the center mark is the same distance from each edge. But, I am here to tell you that you can skip the math part.

The measurement or the actual number on the tape measure is somewhat arbitrary at this point. All that is needed is for both halves to be the same, whether or not it lines up with a mark on a tape measure doesn’t matter. Think of it like this, that center point is going to be in the same place no matter what measuring system you use. The measuring system is just a way for you to communicate a number from piece to piece or to someone else.

So, how do you find the center without doing the math? The answer is pretty simple. Skip the math part and just go straight to the verifying part. All you need is a tape measure and one good eye. Here’s how to do it:

1) Look at the piece and put a mark in what looks to be the center. Maybe you have a great eye, maybe you are done.

2) Measure to that mark from one side. It will most likely be a wacky, non-conformist number like 28-15/16″, plus a skosh. Simplify your life and move that mark to something easy and something on the tape measure, in this case 29″.

3) Measure from the other side towards the center and mark 29″ again. Now you will have two marks on your piece. If you have a good eye, those two marks will be very close together. If not, pick another number that will get those marks closer together. For example, those two marks might be about 6″ apart, so add 3″ or subtract 3″ (depending on if they overlap or not) to each side and remark. Now they will be close together. Still no math.

4) If you are only roughly splitting the piece in two, it is easy enough to eyeball and mark the center at this point, since there is very little distance between the two marks. If you need to be accurate, just change your measurement a little. If your marks are about 1/2″ apart, change it by 1/4″ on each side. At some point the numbers will be exactly the same or they will be 1/16″ or less off. Once you get to that point, you have no choice but to eyeball it and put a mark in between the marks.

I love to use this system and smile a little bit inside when I do it, feeling like I know some secret no one else does. I know it’s not the case, but I still think it is fun to find the center without all the official math. Heck, I could even do the same thing with just a random stick if I needed too. On a recent project, I was cutting it very close on length and needed to make sure my layout was in the middle of the slab, and I got a chance to use my “no measuring” system again, and this time I got it on video. Check out the following video where I show my measuring marvel in real life:

What to Look for When Purchasing Used Lumber

I buy what I would call “used” lumber (even though it may not have been actually used) on a somewhat regular basis. Most of my purchases have come from barn finds because I like to buy in larger quantities and lots of barns are sitting out there with big stacks of lumber in them. I make sure to only purchase if the price is right because I have learned the hard way that the lumber is never as good as everyone thinks it is or wants it to be. And, there are many reasons for this:

1. Not cut from high-grade logs: The lumber is cut from whatever logs were available at the time. There may have been some high-grade logs (from the bottom of the tree) in the mix, but there were definitely also low-grade logs (from higher up in the tree). This means the lumber will have more knots and other defects. In the hardwood industry, logs are sorted by grade. Low-grade logs are milled to make low-grade products, like railroad ties and pallets. They aren’t even milled at grade sawmills.
2. Wood is more precious to the owner: Wood that should be trimmed off was kept simply because they weren’t ready to let it go and it didn’t hurt anything to keep it.
3. People involved in the lumber production are not professionally trained: Usually the owner of the logs and the sawyer they employeed do not know enough about sawmilling to produce the highest quality lumber. Many sawmill owners do not understand how to cut for grade lumber, and even if they do, they are often given direction from the log owner to maximize yield and not grade. Beyond that, cutting for grade involves flipping the log in the sawmill many times, requiring more work and more time, so those steps are often skipped.
4. Lumber hidden in a stack is always lower grade than everyone remembers: After the lumber is cut and tucked into a stack, it looks higher grade. It’s too easy to forget about defects and only remember the perfect boards.
5. Lumber is cut thin and inconsistent: Often (almost always) barn find lumber is cut a little thin and inconsistent. People ask for 1″ thick lumber and the sawyer delivers, even though commercially produced 1″ thick (4/4) lumber is cut at 1-1/16″ to 1-1/8″ thick. Lumber rough cut right at 1″ thick often doesn’t dry, joint flat and plane entirely to 3/4″ or more in thickness. As well as being cut thin, the lumber is usually cut inconsistently – a result of inexperienced sawyers, poor-performing equipment and no real need to worry about consistency of cutting. It’s not easy (and more work) to make sure all of the lumber coming off of a sawmill is the same thickness from end to end of each and every board.
6. Best boards already used: This one is self-explanatory and obvious. You would use the best boards first too. It just makes sense that the lumber which remains may not be the best boards out of a log.

All of these reasons explain why the lumber won’t be as good as you would hope, but it is also helpful to see examples of what makes lower grade lumber. Click on the video link to see a recent batch of walnut I purchased and what I found in the stack. And, remember when purchasing used lumber, just don’t pay too much.

Old Orange Kitchen Cabinets Get Updated

We recently delivered a live-edge maple slab door to a customer and there was a lot of talk about making sure the maple wasn’t too yellow. She had her maple floors refinished as part of her house remodel and she was worried about the color of the new maple door. It wasn’t too much of an issue because the maple slab had an array of colors, including black epoxy, but when we were installing the door it became clear why she was worried about the color. Turns out she had a kitchen full of maple cabinets which had turned amber orange over the years and now clashed with the refinished maple floors.

I saw what she saw – bright white, newly and expertly refinished maple floors underneath old, crusty and orange maple cabinets. The cabinets were still in decent shape but they definitely needed some help to not look so old. She picked the right day to ask if there was anything that could be done about the color because I was riding high from a successful install of a very cool door and there was no way I was going to act like I couldn’t do it.

I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to go about it, but I knew it would start with sanding. And, since everything in the kitchen, including the crown moulding was made from maple-veneered panels with an mdf core, I spent a lot of time very carefully sanding. After I had my parts sanded to an even and much lighter color, I started to apply the Raw Sealer finish from Basic Coatings. I chose this finish for one main reason, and that is because it is the exact same finish the flooring company used. I could have used another water-based finish with a white additive, but I figured why fight it? Use what they used on the floor and I should have the best chance of matching it.

The Raw Sealer has a very small amount of white added to it and I found that I wasn’t getting enough white in the finish until I was up to about six coats on my test pieces, so I decided to add some more white. I added enough white latex paint (about two tablespoons per quart) until the finish was the right amount of white in two or three coats instead of six. The white paint added brightness and covered the yellow orange of the maple, and it will work to retain the original color since the paint won’t yellow. It worked like a white wash for the cabinets and really did the trick.

The most difficult part of the job, besides the tedious sanding, was applying the finish with the white added. It needed to be applied evenly, so I needed to make sure my gun was working great and so was I. There were a few times where the color didn’t look too even or the gun sprayed a little wacky, but I was able to quickly wipe that panel off with a wet rag before the finish dried and reapply.

I spent a lot of hours on this job (more than budgeted, of course), but I think it came out great and I might even be convinced to do it again someday in the distant future. Click on the video link to see what I started with and how it all ended up.

Festool Domino Connectors Pull It Together

About two years ago we started using Festool Domino connectors in the shop because we were working on a trade show display which needed to pack flat for shipping. The metal connectors are made specifically for this occasion, and if you have ever put together a piece of breakdown furniture (think Ikea), you have probably used something similar.

Festool Domino connectors are used for breakdown furniture. (photo from Festool)

Wood “dominos” are normally glued in like dowels for a permanent joint. (photo from Festool)

The connectors work great, fit into a normal Domino slot and are easy to use, but since they do require an access hole to tighten the lockscrew, they can’t be used everywhere. And, just like a Kreg screw connection, there will be never-ending discussions about whether or not this is “real woodworking”. Regardless of how real they are, the connectors have found a place in our shop and recently we found another great use for them.

Jeff, our building and finishing extraordinaire (he can do it all), was working on a desk which came together at some funky angles and decided to try the Domino connectors for alignment and clamping, and it worked great. The corner joint, which he glued together, lined up perfectly and pulled together tightly. Previously, we used other variations of under counter hardware an/or wacky clamping setups to pull the joint together and they always seemed a bit amateurish, like we were just making it up as we went, and often we were. But, not now.

Now, we are using the Festool Domino connectors not only for pieces which need to breakdown, but also for connecting and clamping those hard-to-clamp joints. And, just recently, we built a big walnut bar which required both, in the same piece. We had several joints which needed to clamp together permanently, and since the bar was very big and U-shaped, it needed to come apart in the corner to be assembled on site. The Domino connectors worked perfectly in this case, and I am sure you will be seeing more of them in the future.

Click on the video below to see how the project came together and how the connectors made it all possible.

Not All Trees Are Created Equal

Recently, I got a call about a walnut tree which fell in a storm. The homeowner knew it was a walnut and gave me a call to see about doing something with it, hoping to sell it. I get these calls regularly, especially for walnuts, and I always follow up so I don’t miss the good ones.

Even though most of the calls are about walnuts, most of the walnuts aren’t much to talk about. I’ll ask questions about the diameter, where they and their tree live and why they took it down, and though these questions will get answered, the overwhelming theme is, “It’s a walnut”.

Well, just because it is a walnut doesn’t mean it is a good walnut. I have received plenty of calls where I never bothered to pick up the tree because I could tell that the tree wasn’t great and the owner was way too attached, and often, they want me to take down the tree.

I only pay for a few trees a year. I don’t really mill that many logs overall, and they are readily available just for the asking, so there isn’t much incentive for me to spend money on them (really, almost all of the logs I get are free). But, this one was different. It met all of my criteria for a tree to both spend the time and effort to retrieve it and to also pay the homeowner.

Click the video above to see a great walnut tree and how to get your chainsaw stuck.

So, what makes a tree stand out from the rest and why is this one worth paying for?

First off, yes, it is walnut. You now have my attention. Species does matter and walnut is at the top of the food chain for our local trees here in the St. Louis area. For example, walnut currently sells for $12 bf. while other hardwoods like hard maple, white oak and cherry are in the $4-$7 bf. range. But that doesn’t make it a good tree, that just makes it worth a good close look.

Diameter is currently the biggest driver for me deciding how bad I need a log. The bigger the diameter, the more options there are and the more wood overall. I draw the line at 24″ in diameter on the skinny end of the log, inside the bark. Any smaller than that is a tree which I can easily find and usually procure without spending money. Though smaller logs do still have value, they don’t have enough value and I will not pay for a log under this size. The 24″ size gives me the option to make bookmatched dining room tables (usually 42″ wide) out of only two pieces. If we end up going to a three-piece table top, I only really need an 18″ diameter log and those are widely available at no cost. This walnut was over 24″ in diameter at 30′ from the ground, so it was the perfect size for what we do. Length isn’t usually a problem, but I do sometimes get calls about big diameter trees with very short trunks which branch off close to the ground. The longer the main trunk the better and this tree had a super long trunk.

This walnut tree was more than big enough.

Location is the second thing I ask about when discussing a tree because it affects so many aspects of the growth and my ability to process it. First off, the location affects the way the tree grows overall. A tree which grew in the open is usually short, wide and branchy. This one obviously, started its life with trees around it and reached up, producing a nice long trunk. I am cutting this tree into slabs, but it would also produce very nice, straight-grained, knot-free lumber.

Location also affects what is in the tree, specifically metal like nails, screws, hooks, chains and wire. Trees which grew in a bad neighborhood, in a small yard usually have a tough life and are full of problem-causing metal. This walnut spent its life in a nice, big front yard in a happy neighborhood on a street which I know has produced a lot of nice trees and shows no signs of metal.

A nice yard in a nice neighborhood is a nice start.

Location also affects how easy it is to access. I get a lot of calls about trees at the bottom of a hill in a back yard with a little gate and no way to get to the log. This tree was in the level front yard right next to the driveway with nothing around it. Access couldn’t be easier.

Overall health of the tree and quality of the logs is the last thing I look at. In this tree I looked for scarring from lightning strikes, busted branches, possible hollow spots and rot. The roots showed a little bit of decay, which could have led to some hollowness in the bottom of the tree, but it was minimal and ended up not affecting the logs. There were some busted branches from the fall, but all of the main pieces showed no signs of breakage. It was entirely solid and sound. On walnuts, the speed of growth also affects how wide the sapwood (white outer layer of wood) is on the log. If it grows very slow, the sapwood may only be 1/4″ wide, while on super-fast-growing trees in a wet, wide open yard might have sapwood which is over 3″ wide. I’m looking for a good balance for live edge tabletops with the sapwood about 1″ to 1-1/2″ wide, and again, this tree was perfect.

A very solid walnut log with the perfect amount of sapwood.

Everything about this tree was as I would have specified and the fact that it was already down and most of the top cleaned up made my assessment easy. It was nice to be able to get a look at the cut branches at the top and the busted roots at the bottom to get an idea of the quality of the inside. I could have only had a better look at the inside of the log if it was cut to length, but I told the homeowner that I wanted to decide where to cut it and do that myself. Besides getting my chainsaw stuck and my crane giving up at the end, this experience and this tree was as good as it gets in my business.