A Rustic Office

Difficult Material

The doug fir beams for this project have proven to be the most difficult material that I have ever used. They are 10"x10" beams that have been laying outside for 10 years.

Beams stored outside for 10 years.

The beams have been stacked and stickered but they are completely exposed to the elements. That may include desperately hot temps in the summer to subzero in the winter and all the snow or rain that the seasons bring.

I had the beams rough milled and have continually taken the material down in stages with lots of moisture meter readings to follow it's drying and acclimation process.

Beams rough milled, ready to stack and dry in the shop.

Some of the material has come down to the recommended 6%-8% moisture content but it is still more unstable than kiln dried stock. A good example of this is how the panels require a few days to settle down after being glued up. The moisture introduced during glue up causes them to get a little crazy but they will settle down as the moisture leaves them over the next 2 or 3 days and then they seem to be stabilized.

Panels in glue up.

To get an accurate moisture reading I have extra stock cut due to the anticipated high loss rate. I cut the twisting stock open to take readings on the inside to see how it compares with the outside. This process allows me to get the most accurate reading and sense of stability characteristics.

A Fitting Design

Fortunately the clients want a chunky hand hewn effect. The home is a timber frame with very heavy woodwork in it. The client described it as having a "Fred Flinstone chunkiness to it." That would be an accurate description and it looks good with the wood floors, plaster textured walls, and stone fireplace.

Fred Flinstone chunky interior.

The rough textures of the handwork and saw marks are clearly evident on the wood. To create the effect of milling marks on the desk top I used a belt sander with 50 grit and sanded it in two directions to create an "X" pattern with the scratch marks to create a milled effect. It worked pretty good.

Millwork effects on desk top.

The front edge of the desk was sanded to create a hand hewn effect. I was virtually using the belt sander to sculpt the surface and it worked quite well. The look is proportional to the project and is fitting to the decor.

Rustic front edge on desk.Rustic Desk

The rustic look is a perfect interpretation of this material. It allows me a little grace for the way the wood is behaving. For as challenging as the wood has been, I feel confident that I can get some stable stock for the doors (at least I hope so;)

That's all for now.

Your friend in the shop - Todd A. Clippinger

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Day 2 Of A New Beginning

The Spoken Wood

Matt Vanderlist, the original woodworking podcaster, has started a new series of readings on the topic of woodworking called the Spoken Wood.They are intended to be an audio-only format so followers may download them and listen on their way to work. This is a much safer alternative to watching his video podcast on your iPod while driving.

The Spoken Wood will be rich in nutrition for the woodworker. The readings will be covering various topics, tips, and ruminations of woodworking. 

I am fortunate to be included in the line-up of well known and talented woodworkers and my entry has just been posted at Matt's Basement workshop. You can hear it at the following link:

http://mattsbasementworkshop.com/spoken-wood-podcast-no11/

Be sure to subscribe to The Spoken Wood so you don't miss any of the episodes.

Leaving the Nest

I am a bit surprised at the emotional factor in starting this new blog. LumberJocks has been my home for blogging.The feeling is a bit like leaving home after graduation. The possibilities are endless and the weight of the responsibility is palpable. The readers are now depending on me to insure the website and blog are properly maintained, user friendly, and reliable. 

There is also the loyalty factor. Martin has done such a tremendous amount of work to create the premier site for a woodworking community to gather, share, and ask questions. I am ever thankful for the hard work that Martin has invested in LumberJocks.

My heart strings are strongly tied to the LumberJock community, but fear not, I will not abandon my woodworking family.

I have long resisted doing my own active site with a blog because I did my research and understood how much work would be involved. My current site, Todd A. Clippinger~American Craftsman, is not really intended for the community of woodworkers although everyone is welcome to visit. It's primary function is to act as an online gallery for my clients and many of them are for remodel projects, not the more glamorous fine woodworking.

I have some photos in the site that show the process of project construction, but clients only want an overview. In my zeal to share the projects I did not want overwhelm potential clients with the details that would be nothing more than uninteresting minutia to them.

However, I have taken notice that the woodworking community cannot get enough of this information. The typical woodworker will ravenously consume these details to feed their hunger for knowledge. "The American Craftsman Workshop" will allow me to cater this information to the knowledge-hungry woodworking masses.

Be Patient - It's In the Works

I am currently operating on the blog platform only, but soon I will be adding the website format that includes the blog.

I am just learning how to use the tools, so you will see the structure of the site changing and being built before your very eyes! This is a big piece of history in the making for me.

If you have any suggestions please feel free to comment at the bottom of the page or email me.

toddclippinger@mac.com

Your Friend in The Shop - Todd A. Clippinger

Share the Love~Share the Knowledge

The Start of a New Venture...

This is the first blog entry for my new site and blog "The American Craftsman Workshop." 

My goal is to provide good nutritional information to wood workers by sharing my experience and knowledge. I hope that the projects I post will provide inspiration for your own work.

The site is currently under construction and constant changes will be occurring over the next few months as I try different formats before I settle into a comfortable one. There is a lot of content to add. I have lots of pictures and videos to edit and upload. The text will be written with all the juicy information that wood workers desire to know about the projects.

This is going to be a vast departure from my current site which operates primarily as an online portfolio for my clients, it is a static site and not really geared toward the woodworker. Clients are interested in seeing a brief overview of the construction process, but woodworkers want to know it all! This site will allow me to focus my attention on delivering an unlimited amount of the details for each project.

I hope to provide an easy to navigate site that is uncluttered and does not bombard visitors with advertisement. Everyone already knows where to buy tools and supplies, I aim to provide a site free from the commercial advertising assaults common to most.

I also have furniture plans that I will be making available later in 2010. These will be the means of support for the site and will also allow you to build some of the great projects that I have designed for my clients. I have often been asked if I had plans available for my furniture projects and I intend to get these out to you guys.

I have a lot of work ahead of me so I better get back to work!

Your friend in the shop:)

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