Wood US idea

 real spring is here !! after a pleasant, but strange, fake spring back in march where the temp went up into the 70s and 80s, now its really real spring.  the leaves are just starting to pop; the asparagus are up and were eating them; the crab apple tree went from greenish to PINK in 3 days.  and, weve had some serious rains a couple days apart to get the streams up for sam, the fisherman in the family.  click the photos to enlarge them.
 this display only lasts a day or two, but its cool when its up ...
                                    
  the toads are back and singing, and laying  millions of eggs in kits pond ..
 theres a little shelf holding up the air conditioner outside the metal shop where mrs. robin makes a nest.  she was starting to build on top of last years, which can be messy and risky, so kit whisked away the old nest and temporarily set it on the top of the grill ... it is an exquisite object, perfectly round in a way thats hard to imagine a bird pulling off.  the clay and grasses are from the edges of one of the ponds, and then the fresh grass lining in the nest below ... perfect ...
 kit thinks shell lay one more today and then start to sit ... beaurtiful !

and i finished stacking next years wood yesterday ... earliest ever.

and sunday, we did some spring cleaning.  borrowed an 8 foot step ladder, vacuumed off the ceiling fan, the top of the entryway closet and washed the insides of the velux windows !!!  wood heat can be messy, but with oil at $4.00 a gallon, ill take the mess thank you ... im getting the hang of the new blogger interface, but its a bit of a struggle ... grrrrrr ... i do like how fast the pictures enlarge when you clcik on them.

Update 4/22 ... Usually, after a long and complex project like this one, Im glad to see it go. You know, time for the next one. This one was different. Its been in the works for about six weeks, involved a lot of old and new skills, and everyone in the shop pitched in ... I give Will the credit for the turning, carving, fussy inlay fitting and finishing; Trevor gets the credit for the complex cnc work on the headboard and walnut overlay with the inlay pockets, and Sam, well, he did a great job with the metal shaping and patina work ... Ill take a little credit, for the CAD drawing of most of the ducks and for leading the parade, but it was overall a shop wide effort. Jim pitched in too but mainly his job was to keep our other projects truckin along. The clients were happy today and I thank them for their trust in us to commission and support us on a challenging project like this. Whew ! Ill also miss the ongoing duck puns ... ducks in a row, all ducked up, just ducky, duckinaround, what a bunch of quacks ... and so it went ... The whole project was a great one .. Click the photos to enlarge them ...
The whole shebang ...
To the right
To the left
At home

Other posts
Waterjetting the inlays
A Bed Update
A New Bed Project

Update ... Tax Day ... 4/15 ... Glad I have an accountant ... Jim had to leave early to do his ...

Inlay update .... Almost finished ... Sam has done all the chemical patinas on the ducks and I think he has just one or two more wing parts to wrap up tomorrow ... Will will be applying the final coat of varnish to the wood parts and well epoxy the inlays into the finished headboard next week. Cant wait ... Gonna be cool ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
To see how we made the parts for these inlays, check this post on waterjetting
This is the headboard today, after the gel stain coat ... top coat tomorrow ... Out the door soon ....
4/13/2010
Previous blog posts on the bed here and here
Close up of the center inlay for the headboard below .... Sams adding the color now ....
Inlays for the duck bed are underway ... click the photos to enlarge them, ... more later
Cad drawing of the headboard
Waterjet cut inlay parts ... see this post here
Trevors sample mdf headboard overlay ... Always best to test. You can quote me on that.
In the test pockets
Fitting, filing, and beveling where the pieces meet. Some of the individual pieces (beaks, wings and feet) were also made thinner to create an illusion of depth ...
The first sample center inlay ... cut in aluminum, just to see if it would work ... who knew?
The brass grass was rounded and the inlay pockets were pointed by Will with an Exacto knife.
Unpatinaed redhead
More on the inlays for this bed coming soon .....

Day 4 - the stairway

Nows the time to make the stairway, before anything else goes on. Ive made two stringers, and the necessary treads and risers. The most time consuming part is the layout. Once its right, I screw, glue, and assemble a completed stairway -