woodworking Archives - Page 10 of 11

Hyper-Realistic Sculptures Carved from Eastern White Pine

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

At first, you might look at Randall Rosenthal’s artwork and think – what’s so special about this? It’s just a stack of newspapers, or a box with some cash on it. But reach out to touch it and you’d be in for quite a surprise – because it’s all made of wood. Eastern White Pine, to be specific, a smooth and highly malleable wood that’s perfect for achieving incredible detail like this.

Each sculpture is carved from a single solid block of pine and painted with acrylics. Even the paper, rubber bands and skillfully crafted corrugated edges on cardboard boxes are carved from the wood.

What makes these creations even more amazing is that Rosenthal isn’t looking at some kind of source material while he’s creating each one. He sculpts them as he goes, achieving incredible realism with nothing but his imagination.

See more of Rosenthal’s work at Bernarducci Meisel Gallery.

Trend Watch: ‘The Hobbit’ Sparks New Interest in Wood Interiors

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

All of the stunning custom woodwork seen inside Bilbo Baggins’ earth-sheltered home in the 2012 film ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ has piqued public interest in intricate craftsmanship. The filmmakers and set designers interpreted author J.R.R. Tolkein’s description of Bilbo’s residence, Bag End, in rich wood tones with lots of arches.

“We used round doors to be true to Tolkein’s descriptions in the book and also we used his sketches,” production designer Dan Hennah told The Los Angeles Times. “The ceiling in the kitchen is stone and inspired by cellar design, and the arches throughout were used as a structural element to maintain the premise that Bilbo’s house is underground.”

The magazine Woodworking Network also took a look at impact the film (and of course, the books) has had on the custom woodworking industry. The round doors, scrolled details and other elements of the hobbit house have inspired similar treatments in private homes, hotels and shed designs.

Woodworking Network notes that “In the film, perfectly circular doors are indeed set in matching jig-sawn door frames, components pegged into place. Middle-earth is a pre-industrial society, so everything had to appear handmade and unique.”

Take a look at one particularly notable example, by architect Peter Archer. Beautiful hobbit-inspired details include a ‘butterfly’ window with center-hinged panels, a round 3-inch-thick door and rounded rafters (pictured above, and in the video). Fine Homebuilding has more pictures.

3 Woodworking Craft Projects You Can Make With Eastern White Pine

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

Eastern White Pine is considered one of the best woods for crafts, since it’s so easy to carve and sand, leading to a smooth final product that will age beautifully over time. It’s recommended for a wide range of products, including birdhouses, toys, magazine racks, signs and other handmade items – there’s virtually no end to what can be created with it. You can find Eastern White Pine at most hardware stores, or purchase craft packs online from shops like The Wood Box. A site called All Crafts offers a large compendium of woodworking plans for small projects like these. Here are three examples.

Birdhouses

From Birds & Blooms comes a simple pine birdhouse project using minimal materials and tools. It’s an easy task for anyone who wants to try their hand at a basic building project, even if you’ve never built anything before. The hole size is variable so you can customize it to the types of birds in your yard, whether you’ve got an abundance of little chickadees or larger bluebirds.

Toy Cars and Trains

Tarjany Designs and Woodcraft.com sell plans for traditional, non-toxic wooden toys, ranging from single cars made from a single slab of wood to intricate train sets with moving parts. No matter what your skill level is, you can find a project to make as a gift for a special little one in your life.

Simple Spice Rack or Pantry Door Rack

A spice rack is another simple DIY wood craft project that can serve as an introduction to making more complex items. Make a small one with just three shelves using the free plans at Woodworking Down Under, or try your hand at a larger rack that fits inside the pantry door at Shanty 2 Chic.

Class Teaches 17th Century Woodworking Techniques in Eastern White Pine

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

Master woodworker Rob Cosman not only offers dozens of tutorials on YouTube, along with a series of DVDs, books and tools, he also teaches workshops in Ontario, Canada and online that share his techniques. Using traditional hand tools, Cosman builds chests, boxes, cabinets, desks, seats, mantles and many other items, often using Eastern White Pine (also known as Northern White Pine.)

“Pine is the one wood that can accept the dings of life and not look out of place as a result,” Cosman writes. “It is also the wood that ages better than all others.” Cosman’s pine gallery includes tables, a bookcase, a Shaker wall cabinet and several chests of drawers. A workshop teaching advanced woodworkers how to build a 17th century chest also utilizes white pine.

“True to the era, we shape this chest using everything from an adze, to a scrub plane to a custom made curved sole wooden plane. With dovetails cut on the round this will challenge everyone.” If you can’t get to Ontario, you can take online workshops for both hand tools and power tools, with two 30-minute lessons per week.

The craft of woodworking is experiencing a revival as many people in other fields return seek out the satisfying experience of building something with their own two hands. Community woodworking shops are taking off around the nation, and as woodworking jobs begin to boom, learning centers of all sorts are offering a wider variety of classes.

This Week in Wood: Intricately Detailed Miniature Wooden Watches

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

Tiny gears and finely pointed clock hands move in circles inside intricately wrought pocket watches by Valery Danevich. But as beautiful as the craftsmanship may be, it’s not even the most impressive aspect of these handmade creations: they’re made almost entirely from wood. Danevich produces fully-functioning wooden pocket watches, with the springs the only non-wood components.

Born in Ukraine, Danevich comes from a long line of carpenters, and watched his father and grandfather work when he was a child. While cabinetmaking, furniture, spiral staircases and antique restoration forms the basis of his own business, he wanted to push the limits. What else could be made from wood?

The carpenter began experimenting with wooden movements for clocks in 2005, and refined his process from there until he was producing these miniature masterpieces. They measure a mere 30 millimeters in diameter and 13 millimeters thick, and are carved from birch burl, birch, apple and bamboo.

See more photos at Woodwork Essence (via Reddit.)

This Week in Wood: Untouched 18th Century Woodworking Shed Discovered

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Jeff Easterling

The oldest woodworking shop in America has been discovered virtually untouched in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The extremely rare find reveals an 18th century joiner’s shop with the date ‘1789’ painted in the rafters. University of Delaware professor Ritchie Garrison came upon the historic structure on the site of a preschool, bringing several experts out to verify its age. Craftsmen used the shed to create intricate woodwork.

Though the preschool had been using the woodworking shop for storage, not realizing its historic value, it’s still in remarkably good shape. The woodworking benches and tables are still in excellent condition. According to Garrison, the shop is filled with clues as to how it was used. Some benches were covered in paint while others bear saw marks, testifying to the variety of tasks that were performed there.

Evidence of a removed fireplace makes it clear that the woodworkers were doing tasks that required warmth, like using glue. The type of glue used during that time had to be heated to a certain temperature. Bill Flynt, a former colleague of Garrison, tested the wood of the shop and found that it is second- or third-generation wood, meaning that New Englanders had already cut down and replanted lots of trees by that time.

While reports don’t identify the type of wood used, it’s highly possible that some of it is Eastern White Pine, which was heavily in use at the time in Massachusetts. Growing all over New England, Eastern White Pine has a long history in early American architecture, furniture and other types of construction.