A late Happy New Year

Yes, it is a bit late to wish you all Happy New Year. But hey, I am sure you got more than enough at the correct time, a one now will keep that happiness rolling on.

Last week was the Society of Designer Craftmen's show at the Mall Galleries in London.  I had four pieces of work on show:

• Cherry and walnut tallboy
• Ash hall table 
• Sycamore and oak bedside cabinets 
• Oak and ash blanket chest 

On Wednesday and Thursday last week I was a steward at the show, which basically involved making sure items never got damaged and answering any questions asked - and that might not only be about my pieces!

Doing a show is hard work, the hardest being break-down as everybody is there packing up and trying to get out as quick as possible!  It didn't take too long, and it didn't rain too much as my furniture was loaded into the van, but it was all wrappped up to protect it from the elements and knocks.

So I am back in the workshop now, and am working away on the Drinks cabinet I talked about in an earlier post. Currently I am making the sides of the cabinet.  They are curved and are made from laminating 1.4mm thick veneer into the curved shape............

My stand at ELDS 2010

So the show ran for three full days, with a private view on the Thursday night. 

I must say that although I normally stand up all day in the workshop, at the end of an eight hour day in front of my stand, my back was killing me!  I must have looked an older man than I actually am as I walked down the road towards the tube station, and then struggled to sit down on the train.

Although the weather was cold, there was good attendance at the show. Of course wanting to look my best in front of all the public, I could not risk wearing a hat on my way to the show in morning as my hair would get messed up and be sticking up all over the place. I never realised I was that vain.

Here is a picture of my stand this year.

In addition to having just furniture on my stand, I also had a number of different boxes for sale (jewellery boxes, pencil boxes, champagne boxes).  I am pleased to say I sold a good fair number. It does make the day more pleasant to sell something!

I am back in the workshop now making a blanket chest. This I hope will be one of the items in my next show.  For details of my upcoming shows, check out the 'Exhibitons' page on my website.

What's the buzz?

So in my last post, I was talking about a black and white chest of drawers that I was making. Yep, done that now! And also I have made the following items:

• Two bathroom cabinets


• Four jewellery boxes from oak and sycamore


• A shelf unit for a computer room


• The carcass of an AV cabinet


• Twenty two drawers made from cedar


• Nine dovetailed pencil boxes


• Three book cases

And at the moment I am alternating between making a sideboard and a blanket chest. So I have been busy.

Today I have been spraying some of the sideboard door. The sideboard is completely black, and having sprayed 35 big panels black, the spray room is now black. And sometime, like yesterday, I seem to get as much black over myself as over what I am spraying. Don't ask how or why, but yesterday I did manage to spill 1/2 litre of the lacquer, all over the spray room table, floor, my measuring scales and myself. Although there was lots of black running everywhere, the air was a dark shade of blue!

While I am waiting for coats of lacquer to dry, I swap between projects. So today not only have I been shaping the legs of the blacket chest, I have also been making some 3d CAD models of a drinks cabinet I want to make for early next year.

I plan to make the cabinet from oak (the light brown in the model) and wenge (the dark brown in the model). As it is a drinks cabinet, the top most shelf will be used to hang wine glasses from, while the other shelf used to store spirits and mixers. I can't decide yet if I should made something for the bottom shelf area for storing wine bottles lying down.