Here is the completed mobile Bar Cart made of solid maple.
The finish does not show well in these photos but is a combination of cherry, yellow and ebony stains with a wiping varnish seal.
This piece was personalized with a carved stylized monogram on the centre back panel.
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Here are shop photos of a solid cherry wardrobe, nearly completed. The doors are stained, not yet varnished and almost ready to install.
The drawer and shelf bottoms, and back of the wardrobe are made of Spanish cedar panels ‘floating’ within the frame construction. This was done to minimize risk of the panels cracking because of seasonal changes in humidity and temperature.
Posted on June 8th, 2009 by Carl
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My son has commissioned me to build him a mobile bar. Made of soft maple, here is how it looks at this stage. He asked me to carve a monogram , you can see in the rear view.
The front view shows the doors (not installed) and I am currently preparing the shelves.
It will sit on heavy duty casters and when done will weigh over 100 pounds empty.
More pix to follow.
… rear
front inside, dividers to be installed …
… front … doors shown but not installed yet …
Posted on May 11th, 2009 by Carl
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I have been working on this project for several weeks … a wardrobe made of solid cherry, with cedar inserts for the back and bottoms of shelves and drawers. This project has presented many challenges since I work alone and it is simply very big (78″ high). The top is joined to the sides with dovetails, and the shelves and divider are joined using 1/4″ dado joints. The cedar back is semi-floating, glued and screwed on the side edges only so that any expansion will be toward the centre which has a 1/4 inch of play.
I am now working on the drawers and doors, soon to be installed.
Will post more soon.
Posted on May 11th, 2009 by Carl
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I recently applied the finish on my chess table. Here is how it looks. Made of solid black walnut with inlaid walnut and maple veneers for the chess squares. I invested 150 hours to completion.
An earlier post shows some of the steps in its construction.
Posted on March 12th, 2009 by Carl
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Here below you can see one of my recent projects, a solid maple dining table. The top is 1 1/16″ thick and is 72″ long by 40″ wide. Two extensions of 16″ each can be installed to handle more dinner guests. The finish is an antique chestnut stain with 10 coats of tung oil on the visible surface.
These photos were taken in my shop … ready for delivery.
Posted on March 12th, 2009 by Carl
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Since I decided to go into the furniture business, I was seriously cramped in my workshop, which was built without any consideration of going into such a business. Late in 2008, I doubled my workshop so that I could more safely and effectively undertake my projects.
While I have configured my major tools within the new space and have started to build some projects, I may relocate some of the equipment if I think I can improve efficiency. Here are some photos …
… the expansion has a vaulted ceiling, which allows me to store 16 foot lengths of wood.
Centrally located is the table saw, which allows me to work more effectively with large pieces.
… I built a large mobile work station. I also built a smaller one, that allows me to easily move pieces to/from the band saw, jointer, gluing station, planer and table saw … 
… you can never have enough clamps, these are some and I will be adding more …
… I have 3 routers, and above is the plunge router and table … it is mobile and I have not yet decided where to station it … and below is a view from the old shop into the new addition. This shows most of the tools … and I can use the far wall to store 16′ lengths of lumber …
Posted on February 1st, 2009 by Carl
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One of my customers asked for a solid pine sofa and ottoman. For me this was a very interesting and challenging project.
To start, I searched for plans, but was unsuccessful, so I referenced the sofas in my house, and taking my client’s sketch, design preferences and specific measurements as a start, went about preparing a design.
Here is the finished project.
The sofa is 8 feet long and 3 feet deep. The back has slots at the top and bottom to allow the cushions to be secured. The ottoman is 2 feet by 4 feet. It can also serve as a coffee table. The top lifts off, offering easily accessible storage.
The sofa presented several challenges … the sofa frame is solid mortise and tenon joinery with panels and drawers as shown in the photo, but it also needed to be modular so that it could pass through a standard doorway. For this reason the 2 back and the seat pieces are removable. Also, shop space limitations required that I complete final assembly in my garage, where I had to improvise extenders so I could clamp the complete length of the unit (my longest clamps are 60″).
Here are a couple of shots during construction …
Posted on December 8th, 2008 by Carl
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Here is a variation of my sofa table design for another client. Essentially with dimensional differences and with the carving on the bottom, instead of on the face and sides as for the other. The finish is a combination of 2 stains, first an alcohol based yellow followed by an oil based black. They were separately applied followed by 8 coats of wiping varnish.
… it is difficult to see in this picture, but under natural light, the effect is a deep greenish with the wood grain very evident in gold.
Posted on September 29th, 2008 by Carl
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I intend to specialize in outside furniture and have been searching for designs and plans that I like.
So far I have not been able to find much that I like, so I adapted a plan for a picnic table and bench shown in the photo below. This is a simple set made of pine built to withstand the outdoor elements.
I will develop some other designs for next season. If anyone has a specific design they would like, I would be happy to use it.
Posted on September 17th, 2008 by Carl
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This is the advanced project at L’Ècole et l’Àtelier d’Ébénisterie. You can see the finished project on a more recent post.
It is made of black walnut. Here are some pics showing how it is constructed …
… the chess squares are individually cut and glued to an MDF base that is inset into the walnut top. The decorative border was precisley cut and inset into a 1cm by 1mm rabbet and then glued.
The single drawer can be pulled open from either side. It required very precise work to ensure all table and drawer elements were square to achieve a good fit with minimal gaps.
Posted on August 17th, 2008 by Carl
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