This week’s post is a commission of an arts and craft style island. The most prominent features of this island are the 4″ thick (¹⁶⁄₄) hardrock maple posts. After the joints are cut (to receive the panels), the outsides are roughed on the bandsaw and routed to a jig for precisely matched shapes. That’s a long router bit. A larger outfit would just run these through a shaper in one pass. With a limited need, I can’t justify that sort of equipment and setup. Taking multiple passes is slower but effective, none-the-less.

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We have three exciting designs on going.

First, the carving of the Lord Baltimore is the fifth and quite likely the final piece in a nature series of cabinets. This will be painted but because of the delicacy of the leaves and petals, the wood choice is hardrock maple. Slow going, but it holds up well.

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I’ve begun work on the fifth and probably final piece in our accent line. Using the same case shape, this piece will feature hand-carved hibiscus flowers. Alder frames bisect the carvings and each carved pane is maple for extra resilience.

We’ve had the Lord Baltimore hibiscus flowers in our garden for a few years now. They bloom with gorgeous 10-inch flowers that usually last for just a single day. I wanted to capture that momentary beauty forever in this piece.

The original drawing was exploded to full size and transferred to each pane. A small router was used to waste the majority of the panes, leaving a clear outline of the flowers. The plan is a jet black finish on the body and frame, with vibrant greens for the stem and striking red and yellow on the petals/stamen.

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For the next accent piece design we are taking the grape motif from the the gate and applying it in a smaller scale. We had the opportunity to purchase a small (2′ x 2′) CNC machine nearly ten years ago which has made this project much more approachable. By taking a 3D file and computing it, we are able to generate a toolpath file that tells our machine what to carve. My son (with the majority of the computing skills) imports, scales, tweaks and renders the CNC files for routing.

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The idea for this mantel was to look as though a timber had been rough-hewn with an adze (swung between the legs), mounted on its corbels, and set within a natural stone fireplace surround. The advantage of building with smaller pieces is a reduction in the overall weight and simplified wall mounting.

The front piece (1½” thick) was left solid while every subsequent piece had its center removed. Face gluing these boards created a hollow box. With a couple of scrap middles, I made a cleat with a few sticking out.

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The legs of this writing desk are a traditional cabriole style, adding a special bit of fun to the project. They begin with beautiful 4″x4″ walnut blocks with a pattern transferred on two adjacent faces. The first face is bandsawn along the pattern line and the waste section is saved. The scraps are nailed back into place, allowing the second side to be shaped.

After two cuts, a graceful ‘S’ shape emerges as the basic cabriole contour. This process creates a dramatic change between the original, bulky blocks and the new, more elegant form.

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I saw this piece as coarse and a bit rough around the edges. I purposefully left in some cracks and knots. Hickory has a rugged nature and the animalistic look for the handles magnifies that effect.

The line suggested long and slender, so an Oryx horn came to mind.  Instead of a ring around its diameter, I opted to spiral along the tapered and curving length. The mahogany will be ebonized with a jet black finish which will give an interesting contrast to the calico hickory.

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The original intent was to color the hills to look plant-like, as a landscape, using a variety of colors for texture. There are two reasons why I chose not to add this coloring: I didn’t want to directly mimic the look and feel of Maui— that undeniable medicine is not going to be replaced by any bookcase. Also, the sculpting really stood out against the solid color, almost in silhouette. It would be lost amid the flora.

The maturation of the grassy green became vibrant and naturally warm; It just fit. Clean and simple. Next, the cabinet will be finished with a final clear coat and the front panes will be set in. The soft texture of water glass seemed an appropriate choice for a piece inspired by the islands.

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I wanted to get a very vibrant green, to recreate the feeling of flying over Maui. I picked the most brilliant green grass during the spring time and had the colors matched at the paint shop. In an effort to be a bit more environmentally friendly, I’m using a water-based paint.

Since most woodworker’s pieces are some shade of brown, it’s exciting to expand the usual range of color. This green is the first of my cabinets to receive the color treatment, but there will be more in the future as the colors provide a wider range of interests.

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