New Shop! New Sign! New Rate!

Tim McCready Fine Furniture & Architectural Woodworking has officially been subsumed by Bankston & Bailey LLC. All future business will be conducted under the latter name. We're moving into a new space in Richmond's Scott's Addition on May 1 (more details forthcoming), and our new shop rate is $50/hr. Check out Hunter Duke's drawing of our new sign:

Lock Lane Cases Complete!

I put the finishing touches on the built-ins on Lock Lane this afternoon, installing knobs and touching up a few paint spots. This was a very enjoyable project from the design phase straight through to hanging doors. Having a great client who really appreciates one's work is always a pleasure!

I hope to have a more professional photo of the complete project to post sometime in the next month or so.

In the meantime, if you happen to own one of the Lock Lane condos with this particular floor plan, I saved all my drawings and templates...

Installation Finis! Painting Starts Tomorrow.

Here is a roughly patched-together shot of the completed woodworking over on Lock Lane. Tomorrow I'll do last-minute finish prep, then prime everything. I'll mortise the door hinges and start making the shelves tomorrow as well. I expect I'll wrap up by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Installation Day 2

Today was my second full day installing the pair of bookcases I've been working on for one of the new Lock Lane condos. The great electrician Don Brewster met me first thing this morning to take care of rewiring the electrical and cable outlets in the cases. In the early evening I got started on the trim for the larger of the two pieces--I'll finish up installing moldings and hanging doors tomorrow and the next day.

Arches, Neck Moulding, and Keystones

Today I missed the U.S. Concepts arch moulder we had at the place I worked before going out on my own. With that machine I could have churned out the radius casings for the arches on this project in a matter of minutes. As it was, I built them up from three separate elements which are being glued together in the shot below. You can get a sense of the nice morning light in the shop from this photo.



I was curious to see how the mouldings would work together in the real world--I'd seen them in my drawings--so I used some double-sided tape to hold things in place in order to have a look. To my eye, the way the radius moulding wraps around and forms the neck moulding on the pilaster seems ever-so-slightly odd, but the research I've done confirms that this is the way to go. I don't remember it looking strange in person, and I kind of think I'm seeing it that way now because there is such low contrast in this photo between the pilaster's capital and the wood behind it.



I also made the keystones this afternoon. The photo below shows one taped together--sometimes I like to do that before committing myself with glue and clamps. I'd been through several designs of the keystone, and finally found some very helpful guidance in Asher Benjamin's 1830 volume The Architect, Or Practical House Carpenter. Benjamin suggests that blocks of this design be divided into 9 parts, with the center section representing 5 units to 2 units for each of the outer sections.



Dover Publications prints a nice paperback edition of Benjamin's book (ISBN:0486258025) which is available for around $10 at just about any online book seller.

Progress!

The pair of colonial built-in bookcases is coming along nicely. I made the raised panel doors today, and tomorrow I'll get started on the moldings for the arches. I'm hoping to begin installing the cases on Friday.

Below you'll see a drawing of the right-hand case and then the case in its current state.

Next Up: Locke Lane Cases

I'm starting full-steam ahead on a pair of painted colonial built-in cabinets with arches, keystones, fluted pilasters, and raised panel doors. I owe a lot to Wendell Garrett's fantastic book American Colonial (ISBN: 1885254997) for design inspiration. Cases of this kind typically had scalloped shelves and were used for the display of porcelain and other valuables. I've adapted that form for the storage and display of books. I particularly like the keystones in this design, which are modeled on one at the Morris-Jumel mansion in Manhattan. To my eye, it almost hints at art deco.

Ginter Park Bookcases Pt. 4

The upper cases and face frames went in today. Tomorrow I'll install the bed molding, which in this room functions as a small crown. Then I'll start painting.



Check out how cattywompass the ceiling is to the left of the chimney. It dips about 1/2" over a 10" span. The good news is that the bed molding is positioned below the ceiling just enough to make the dip disappear. That's a piece of good luck.

Breakfront Base Complete!

Yesterday afternoon I finished the chinese chippendale breakfront base I've been working on. If you've not been following these posts, please note that I'm not responsible for the upper section of this piece; I only made the base to match.



Finishing took the better part of last week. After prep was complete, I used a water-based aniline dye to match the background color of the existing piece. A thin wash coat of shellac followed, and then grain filler tinted with japan color. After the next coat of shellac, I applied walnut crystals and a different aniline dye to approximate the color variations in the upper piece. Once this was done to my satisfaction, a few more coats of shellac were brushed on. Finally, I rubbed-out with steel wool, then waxed and buffed.

Thanks to Alan and Harold for their extensive help with this finish!



The client hasn't chosen hardware yet, if you're wondering how one opens the doors and drawers.

Fret Moldings Installed

I spent the day installing the fret moldings on the breakfront base I've been working on. This was incredibly tedious work, but I'm not complaining; as any of my friends will tell you, tedium is my middle name! These were some tricky miters because no 45 degree angles were involved. The larger doors required 52/38 degree cuts, while the smaller doors were some other combination summing to 90. I used a brad pusher and tiny brads to hold each piece in place until the glue set. Altogether, making and installing these little moldings took about 12 hours. Sheesh.

Tomorrow I'll fit the drawers, hang the doors, and do finish prep.

Breakfront Progress!

Today I made the doors and drawer faces for the breakfront base I've been working on. Tomorrow I'll make and install the fretwork moldings you see in the drawing below.

Locke Lane Condominiums

I'm in the early design phase of a project at the old Locke Lane apartments on Grove Avenue. The apartments have been renovated into beautiful, high-end condos, and one of the new owners commissioned a pair of built-in bookcases for his living room. I'm getting to the point where I'm happy with the basic proportions of the case work, but am fussing a lot about details, like whether or not the heads should be arched. Here's where the sketch stands at present.

Chinese Chippendale Breakfront

I've recently been working on the base for a Chinese Chippendale breakfront. The client has the upper case and needs a base to match. Below are some photos of the work in progress as well as examples of the kinds of measured drawings I use in the shop.

Flat Files Finished!

On my last two days working for one of Richmond's oldest suppliers of building materials, I installed a set of flat file drawers in the drafting room. Eventually, the top will be painted a deep, semi-gloss red while the sides and plinth will be some neutral color to match the room's trim. The six drawers are roughly 5" tall x 46" wide x 40" deep, i.e., truly huge. Each pair of full--extension drawer slides weighs about 20 pounds and cost somewhere in the $100 range. The exquisite mahogany I used for this project was in a shed behind the mill where I worked.



The shot below shows the cockbead I applied to the drawers' perimeters. I should mention that I used clear white pine as a secondary wood and that the finish is boiled linseed oil, shellac, and wax.



This last photo details the brass and mahogany knobs I used on the case. Lee Valley sells beautifully turned brass knobs which are recessed to accept any 3/4" diameter material. I chose to use mahogany to match the drawer faces. I thought the piece ended up with a bit of a nautical flair, thanks to this combination of brass and mahogany.



This was a fun project. If you're reading this and in the market for a chest of flat file drawers, contact please email me at timmccready@mac.com for an estimate.

Ginter Park Bookcases Pt. 2

Here's a picture of the right-hand side of the wall where I'm installing the built-in bookcases. I will be matching the existing cases you see in this photo over on the left-hand side of the fireplace. Once that's done, I'll build cases that go from the existing mantle-shelf level up to the ceiling on both sides.



In my last post about this project, I described the method I use to create a 3D "map" of the spaces I'm working with. Below, you can see how I use the computer model to derive templates for workpieces that have to fit into odd areas. I'll be extending the mantel shelf you see in the photo above over to the left-hand wall. Since the left-hand corner is about 5 degrees from square and slightly curved, it took some careful templating to make a piece that would fit just right.



This last photo shows the piece which will form the top of the new mantle shelf. If you viewed this piece from the top, you'd see that its ends are far from square and parallel. When something like this is fit properly, though, one doesn't see how wonky it really is.

Ginter Park Bookcases Pt. 1

I recently began work on a set of built-in bookcases for a home on Ginter Park's lovely Wilmington Avenue. I plan to track the project's progress here on the blog as I make my way through it. Though specific details vary from job to job, most projects go through a series of similar phases. With built-ins like these, my first step is always to make a very detailed three-dimensional map of the room.

The map of the room which will house the bookcases is pictured below. I generated it using 3D drafting software and my extensive field notes. Initial measuring of the space took about an hour, and making the drawing was another few hours-worth of work. It's very important to me that I get this map just right. Because of settling, old houses like this one rarely have plumb or square walls. The various kooky angles that result directly affect the dimensions of the cases as I'll detail in a later post. My concern at this point is that all those angles and dimensions are accurately represented in the model.


As you can see in the model, the house already has a case on the lower right-hand side of the fireplace. It's a mystery to me why the left-hand side did not also have shelves. When I'm finished, cases will go from floor to ceiling on both sides.

Goodbye Beckstoffer's

After 110 years of continuous operation, H. Beckstoffer's and Sons of Richmond's Church Hill have shut their doors. Over their century-plus of hard work they supplied Richmond's builders with countless lineal feet of fine millwork, the highest quality doors, and decorative architectural woodworking of every conceivable kind. Employees were notified of the firm's closure upon their return from the New Year's holiday. It almost makes me feel guilty for complaining about the turkey I received as a Christmas bonus.

My friend Clay and I went over to see the old mill this afternoon. He took a bunch of pictures while we were there, a few of which are included below. More can be seen here.

Happiness Is a New Saw

The best case scenario one can hope for when buying a new tool is that it does what its manufacturers claim it does. So often, sadly, this isn't the case. What woodworker hasn't been frustrated by a tool purchase when the tool doesn't perform as advertised?

The flip side of this equation is the feeling of satisfaction and possibility that arises in response to a new tool that does exactly what it's supposed to do without any tweaking or fuss. Happily, this was my experience today as I set up my new Laguna bandsaw, pictured below.


The first thing I noticed about the saw was how small it is. Despite its petite profile, it has a full 12" below the guide for resawing wide stock. That's one of the reasons I chose it. In the picture above you can see how the saw's mobility kit works. Wheels are affixed to an axle on the saw's left-hand side, and a removable wheeled lever fits into a tab on the opposite side. You can see the lever leaning against the wall. This is such smart design.


Everything inside the saw is so tidy and well-machined. This particular model is manufactured in Bulgaria. It comes with a signed certification from the head of the factory, which seems kind of touching and old-world to me. Let's just say it's something I've never encountered when un-crating a machine made in Taiwan. In the upper left-hand corner you can see the tension guide; Laguna doesn't even bother with the standard markings for this-or-that blade width. Everyone knows that as a spring wears, those markings become meaningless, and I like it that the folks who designed this machine responded to that fact by ditching the convention.


The photo above depicts the heart-and-soul of what separates a Laguna from the rest of the pack. Instead of using ball-bearing guides, they've gone with small pieces of ceramic--those would be the white parts next to (and behind) the blade. The rear guide actually touches the back of the blade when not under tension, and the side guides are set but a hair's breadth apart from the blade. This results in amazing control when pushing a workpiece through the blade.


Here's another smart feature of the saw. It's a plywood baffle into which one cuts a kerf during initial setup. It directs almost all of the sawdust down the dust chute on the right. Laguna went so far as to attach a bushing strip to the outside of the baffle so that it would connect with the lower door. The net effect is a relatively dust-free wheel housing. Anyone who has recently purchased a Powermatic bandsaw would likely give their eyeteeth for this.



This last shot is of two pieces of bookmatched oak veneer I sawed before leaving the shop this afternoon. You're actually looking at the sawn surfaces! They're about 3" wide by 7" long. Without even trying too hard, I sawed them to 1/32" in thickness. That was using a 1/4" 6 tpi blade! I can't wait to get my specialty resaw blade ("The Wood Slicer") on the machine tomorrow and have a go at resawing my last big hunk of wenge into veneers.

Brobdingnagian Brackets Complete

I finished the massive fir brackets this morning. See the photos below for the play-by-play.

Once I had my 6" x 15 1/2" x 70" slab glued together, I needed to cut out more manageable blanks. I used one of our big 36" Powermatic bandsaws to cut the slab into three pieces.



Here are the three blanks. The next step was to trace the pattern I'd made (see previous posts) onto the blanks and saw out the shapes. As you can imagine, it took some time to shape the profile with the saw, a block plane, and a couple of different sanders.



This photo shows the three almost-complete brackets after sawing and sanding.



Below you see a finished bracket, complete with its backing board. Each bracket must have weighed 20 pounds or so. I can't imagine how huge the house they're for must be.

The Mother of all Magazine Racks?!

Here are some shots of a magazine rack I recently completed for an addition to a beautiful Craftsman bungalow in Westover Hills. A special thanks to Clay for getting me this very enjoyable piece of work!

The rack is made from quarter-sawn white oak. The finish is antique oil (which goes on easily and is hard as nails) and wax. The lower two rails are slightly bevelled top-and-bottom to form a sliding dovetail where they meet the stiles.