Dozuki - Japanese Hand Saw

Shiny

This, in addition to looking really cool, is a Japanese hand saw known as a dozuki. Specifically, this a dozuki designed to crosscut, to cut across the grain.

Adirondack Chairs

Adirondack chairs, as we commonly consider them are classic fixtures of deck, beach, or other summertime outdoor seating. They also pretty universally suck. Don't get me wrong, the design has some good things going for it. They have a pleasing curve across the top; they lend themselves to painting, staining, or clear coating to match your personal taste. The wide arm rests make a great resting spot for your summery hootch of choice. They have a rugged, durable, character that makes them just fit on a deck or dock by the bay.

Really they only have one problem, but in the art of chairmaking it is the most important characteristic (assuming, of course that you have any intention of actually sitting in the chair): They're uncomfortable. The issue is that the seat angles up, making you want to lean back, and the chair back angles back for you to recline against. The seat angle makes it uncomfortable to sit forward, and the chair back angle is too often too much of  recline.

Solution: Reduce the chair back angle. Also, build eight in one big Chairapalooza.

Chairapalooza: 2015

Over Memorial Day Weekend, my brother, brother-in-law, dad, and I built eight Adirondack chairs. I've got a more detailed post about the chairs in the works, but in the meantime here are a bunch of pictures from Chairapalooza: 2015.

Ghost Maple Side Table

For Christmas, my brother and sister-in-law gave me an eight foot long, 11" wide, 6/4 thick piece of highly figured ghost maple (exciting, I know). I struggled for a while on what to do with it, and ultimately I opted for simplicity and mixing media in a way I hadn't before.

Java Gel Stain

It's a can of stain!

General Finishes Java Gel Stain has gotten a pretty hard push on social media lately (Seriously). I was making a frame for someone's college diploma recently, and she wanted dark wood but did not seem too thrilled with walnut. To achieve the desired aesthetic I could have held true to my tendency not to use stain and built the frame out of something like ebony, but that would have been ridiculously expensive (and really, kind of wasteful; that's not what ebony should be used for). This scenario is ideal for using a stain to darken a cheaper, lighter-colored, wood.

Bloodwood Nickel Pen

I've been turning a few pens recently. I'm doing it in no small part because it helps keep some rudimentary lathe skills sharp and also because unlike building complex furniture that takes days of labor, I can finish a pen in one work session. I had a small quantity of bloodwood leftover from my bed side stand, it's my all-time favorite wood to cut, and I thought, why not turn it into a pen. This is what I ended up with. More pictures after the jump.

Danggai Pen

We went to Arizona recently, and a friend of ours was kind enough to not only let us crash in his place in Phoenix, but also to borrow his car (on which we put a few miles; thanks again Brian!). Anyway, one of the ways we thanked him was by giving him this: