Quickie Work Bench : A table from six scraps

Last year I pulled these six scrap boards from of a dumpster behind an old Ingles. They're pretty badly cupped but otherwise solid, hard yellow pine 2x12s.

 

It's amazing what people get rid of during a tear-out.

I squared up the boards and made some rips.

All of the wood for this project is stacked on the left. The only scraps are on the right.

You may have noticed that for way too long I have worked without a bench. Cuts were made out on the deck and most pieces were assembled on the floor.

So this is long overdue. 

 It's a simple design from scrap lumber and it went together quickly. If every project could be like this...

 I won't be making any more cuts out here.

This helper really digs it.

 He also helped me install additional bracing from the leftover cutoffs.

Little known fact about furniture biology: tables asexually reproduce more tables. It's a fascinating life cycle.
] j [

Adventures in Sierra Nevada Land: Clover's Rabbit Hutch Part I

In my ReBoot, I offered a dedicated post to Clover's rabbit hutch. I have so many fun images that I've split it into two parts. The story begins in Mills River, North Carolina where Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is busy constructing the largest 'craft brewery' I could ever imagine.

Through Kitty Love of the Asheville Area Arts Council, I learned of a call to local artisans: to collect and make good use of abundant crates and pallets before they should be turned to mulch!

These pallets are built with a 17-foot diameter arc to transport 60-foot tall stainless steel fermentation tanks from Germany! You can see some of the tanks towering in the background.

 

(no shortage of plywood scraps)

 

It just goes on and on. These images don't even show everything. Don, the Site Manager, took me around from pile to pile so I could see what was available. Along the way he educated me on Sierra Nevada's green building initiatives. However, I wasn't permitted to take images of the actual building sites.

We joked that the stack pictured below is only lacking a few posts and drying in and you have an instant cabin with a deck!

 Unfortunately, two standard sized pallets was all that I could fit into the Love Machine that day.

Back home, I set to the task of deconstructing my scrawny pallets. The larger one contained some decent boards and lumber. Virtually all of the wood available was heat-treated and so dimensionally stable and (relatively) free of insects.

 (below you can see the 'HT' stamp)

(the Juju jar is quickly filled with scrap nails)

The next day, I lured Justin into the fray. He came for a short visit with Charlie.

 Yup, almost Nine-Inch-Nails.

 

We grabbed three long pallets similar to the one below. The largest was a couple feet longer than this one.

Cutting the boards loose proved to be the quickest way of disassembly. Someone in Germany went overboard with the ring-shank nails . . .

 We agreed that for the use of his truck, Justin should take the choice material: straight clean pine timbers.

We had two other helpers along that day and they were thrilled to tour the Brewery site. After all, they were required to wear hard hats. This one is destined to have his tongue carried away by birds:

 They did a wonderful job of neatly stacking the boards upstairs in my workshop.

Just kidding; I had to do that part. But they did happily bring it all upstairs while Justin and I were busy cutting and whacking away.

The next day, I graded and stacked the wood; now I am ready to get to it!

How's this for synchronicity? Sixteen prime boards (relatively uncupped, unbowed, unchecked & untwisted) and the number sixteen randomly appears twice. In the end I needed exactly these sixteen boards for siding on Clover's rabbit hutch . . .

I might make a cutting board from the top piece there. I wonder, would that knothole be annoying or useful?

What's Up?

North Carolina's Bob Trotman  is June's featured artist. Post questions for him in the comments of this post.

I have done a lot of repair and some festival-going in the last week and a half. A few beautiful mashup things were sold quickly and I don't have pictures. One was an 80's shaped hardwood desk base that I matched up with a vintage sheet of bird's eye maple veneer plywood for the top. The bottom layer of the bird's eye looked like weathered leather but it may have been a severely distressed finish applied very thick? About 40x22, 7-layer finish ply with a drawer pull (type of thing) cut out along one edge - the most unique piece of scrap I've run into in a long time!

On this Formica table, I painted the legs burgundy.

Then I built Icehouse II bookcase on commission:

 Starting with the door (backing), I cut of the bottom to make it even and to clean off a thin layer of woodrot in the endgrain. The worn, graffitied door was beaten apart from the sides of the tool cabinet it once enclosed, so splintered edges were split off with a chisel. I then wire brushed away the loose paint chips and triple-coated it with water-based polyurethane front and back.(4 layers on exposed endgrain) The hinges were busted off to remove this one, but the bent latch is intact and rotates freely. (Icehouse I Bookcase also had hinges)

The side panels are cut from the plywood back of a very strange old stereo cabinet. I may cannibalize the rest and will try to remember to take pictures of it first. I gave bits of the componentry to Susan for the future making of a Bot.

The shelves are the very last of the shelf-stock donated by our neighbor Sam from a library tear-out in the early 90s. (Previously, I guessed they had come from a prior incarnation at 201 Haywood Rd.) I lost the shop countersink for about a week, so I used a flat auger bit in its absence. With a wide pilot, the flat recess created by the auger seems to create a lock-tight effect when the wood screws bite in at the end. So, lesson learned: losing tools leads to innovation. Lose your tools often as long as you are certain to find them again later.

___
] j [

JRun presents : monthly art feature : Interview with Ron van der Ende

Still Life, 2010 (studio)

I discovered Dutch woodworking artist Ron van der Ende on Empty Kingdom. Soon after, I contacted him about featuring his work on CARPEntryDIEM. He was remarkably open about his passion and process. Following is a portion of our conversations.

Flawless, 2007

JRun: When did scrap material begin to fuel the majority of your work?

Ron van der Ende: I started restricting myself to old wood as material for my sculptures in 1996 because it boasts a wealth of color and texture, it is readily available and inexpensive, and because it is inherently 'imperfect'. Sometimes it looks like it has been touched a million times. It feels good to make something of value from such a modest material.

Axonometric Array, 2008 (studio)

JR: "...touched a million times." I love that idea; some of your work really wants to be touched. So, how did found wood bring you to bas-relief?

RvdE: I vividly remember having my 'eureka!' moment. It suddenly dropped into my head that I could work in this material almost flat to produce a large and light sculpture. I realized instantaneously that it could be done, that it would be possible to do cars and limitless other subjects. That I would not need any detailed technical drawings but just one photograph. And that the result would be unique and spectacular and sell like hot cakes.

Fly Over, 2002 (studio)

JR: An influence from photography is not at all surprising, but it never occurred to me. The work plays with flatness and dimensionality, so maybe photography is just hiding in plain sight.

RvdE: It felt then (and it feels now) like I have stumbled upon a continent of possibilities that is mine alone to explore. And twelve years on, there is still so much opportunity to develop and grow.

Vostok, 2006

It allows me to use both painterly and sculptural solutions. Because of the 'illusion' it tends to draw people in, also people without any existing fondness for art. Also I always liked the idea of a fixed vantage point for anybody looking at a sculpture because it is a big nono with the crafts teachers. In fact it is the same with the use of colors. I'm a bit of a rebel in my own modest way!

Shipsection, 2003 (artist in studio) & Bathyscaphe Trieste, 2010

JR: Where do you collect most of your scraps?

RvdE: Most of my material I find in the streets. I find it myself or my friends call to report a dumpster/skip with interesting materials.

JR: Have your material sources changed over the years?

RvdE: It has shifted a little bit to buying materials at specialized stores because not as many material is being thrown away as a couple of years ago. People are making their own fake Piet Hein Eek furniture with it. Sometimes I buy stuff from the internet, like in 2008 I bought a lot of two hundred and fifty antique doors. That makes a full truckload!

JR: Have you developed relationships by collecting scraps from practical woodworkers or other artists?

RvdE: Not really. The scraps have to be old you know. 

JR: I know some old woodworkers here in Asheville. Maybe I will send you a few of their scraps.

RvdE: YEAH!

Plymouth Custom Suburban 1969, 2000; G.A.Z.21 Volga 1962, 2000; Capri, 2002

JR: Some commentaries have attributed a dark industrialism to your work. Is this an atmosphere that you intend to project?

RvdE: Mostly I'm dealing with sculptural qualities. I do not want aesthetics or style to be dominant in my work. And there is a conceptual side but not as 'words intended to justify the work', more as a strategy for possible associations. This becomes especially interesting when pieces are made in a deliberate combination. I used to work in themed series in the past. Series of cars for example, a set about polar exploration or space flight. But in recent years I've started trying on seemingly illogical combinations to great effect. In the end though, every single piece will have to be strong enough to survive in the world individually.

DS II (Pallas), 2008 & Phoenix: Rise ! (Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am), 2011 (studio)

Still Life & On Re-entry (Burning Log), 2010

 JR: Maybe it's too obvious, but did you play around with On Re-Entry (Burning Log) and Still Life? You know, having them speak to one another at an exhibition?

RvdE: I have not had these pieces together in a show, unfortunately. Mostly my work sells on the first exhibition they are shown in, so not much opportunity to make combinations like that. It's a shame in this case. Both these pieces have a life and death angle that would have made for a nice combination.

JR: Do you have any details or construction shots from those two endeavors?

On Re-Entry (Burning Log), 2010 (construction, details, studio)

RvdE: I did not have any of the Still Life piece, but some nice shots were made by the "Happy Famous Artists" Collective. You should ask their permission though. Tell then I sent you! They can be reached through their blog.

Still Life, 2010 (details via Happy Famous Artists Collective)

JR: You showed "Perishables" at the Armory in NYC in 2011 and, sadly, we missed it. Do you have any upcoming shows in the US?

RvdE: I'll have a solo show in the spring of 2013 with Ambach & Rice Gallery in Los Angeles.

727, 2008 & KO Valkyrie, 2010

JR: I would also like to include this video if you are happy with it:

RvdE: Sure. It's in Dutch though... I would translate but I'm terribly busy right now. At one point I tell the cameraman that I am sawing "a very tricky little piece of wood."

JR: Thank you very much for speaking with me and my community. It was a pleasure to get to know your work.

RvdE: Of course. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Best,
Ron van der Ende

Checkout 2 / Kassa 2, 2005

(June's featured artist is North Carolina's own Bob Trotman. If you have questions for Bob, please leave them here,

in the comments)