IP21 Single/Group Work Table

The fourth piece of furniture to build for IP21 was a desk that would fit in a space that is about 6 feet wide, but could extend to seat groups of people in a larger space. The idea is to design furniture that is multi-purpose and can grow and change along with the company.
I did some exploring and found a lot of different table leaf hardware and long drawer slides I could use, but in the end they seemed like more of a hindrance than a help. So, I designed a system that would work, using three tables of descending size nested together:

I liked the idea that, if needed, you could have three completely separate tables. But, once I got them all together, the legs of the smallest table got hung up on the legs of the biggest table, and it wasn't able to extend as it needed to. I had to cut two of the smallest table's legs off to allow it to glide all the way out. This eliminated the possibility of having three separate tables, but it does allow for a 5 foot wide table to extend to 14 1/2 feet, as you can see below.






This table was a challenge to figure out, but I am pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Second IP21 Desk.

The second desk for IP21:

These images are pre-sanding and finishing. The top still has the protective paper on it, but it's 3/4 thick plexiglass. As with the other table, this one has no hardware holding it together...just the pressure of the joints.

Magnetic Storage

I just epoxied the super strong magnets into the storage boxes for IP21. And I only got my fingers pinched in between them once.

The plexiglass proved much harder to work with than I expected and for a short bit I thought that I had ruined a $500 sheet of material. But when all was said and done, the plexi looked great and I had only a slight pulled muscle in my right arm (that 3/4" thick stuff is HEAVY). The edges buffed out nicely with 400 grit sandpaper and some steel wool.

I'm sure the images of them magically hanging from the ceiling will be much more dramatic.

IP21 Desk v.1

The first full scale version of the IP21 desk I've been working on*. There is no hardware holding it all together...just pressure fit joints and 3 grooves in the underside of top to keep it in place.

*All these images are pre-sanding and waxing...that'll really make that grain color pop.

Bike Drawing

I'm currently working in collaboration with composer David Jensenius. The plan is for me to make 10 drawing machine drawings that he will than compose music from.

Here is the machine strapped to my bike before the maiden voyage (please note the beautiful rug under the bike):

I rode this trusty bike to work today to make the first drawing:

...and here is the drawing it made:

Reverse Order

I was recently hired to build a cherry bookcase for a renovation going on in the Upper East Side. Along with that came a few other things to build but I was most looking forward to making the bookcase. Not that it was a fancy or crazy design...maybe the opposite. It was straight forward rectangles which to me meant that the lines had to be nice and straight or else they would stick out like a sore thumb. I put a lot of time into it and was very happy with the result, as was the general contractor that hired me:

But alas, it was never destined to see a single book. It seems the client walked in and felt that it closed the room in too much. By all accounts they thought the work was good...it just wasn't what they wanted.

So this is how I left the job site on Monday afternoon. Out it came, leaving only a plaster wall that needed a lot of repair work...

It was disheartening to say the least. But those are the breaks I suppose.

One more thing...

I built this great house for a client...but he still seems to prefer the pool house:

Table Thought

The challenge is to make a usable, stable table (and maybe a chair) out of one piece of plywood that uses no screws or any fasteners to hold it together...just a series of cuts and grooves to allow the wood to be banged together with a mallet. This is one idea for it. It seems like something that could allow for added pieces to create L shaped desks, multiple desks, longer desks, etc...

New Set of Floating Box Drawers

Oh it's been awhile. I've been working away down here in hot and humid Brooklyn...a bit of studio work and a bit of shop work. This is what I have to show for my efforts for now:

A few other things are in the works, including but not limited to, a few scale models of ideas and a bit of drawing. More to follow when it cools down.

Great...Lakes.

Today was a bit slower...I guess I mean less traveling. We tried to skate a park in London, ON but they were doing work on it and it was fenced off. After walking around and looking at it, we weren't supper sad to not skate it.
After that we moved on the Chatham, ON. This park was a bit of a street-plaza type thing...so I was a bit out of my element. But it was still a lot of fun. When we were sitting in the van after skating, just about to leave, I watched a little kid roll his ankle pretty good. Being the nice guys we are, we brought him a bag of ice fresh from our cooler.


I feel like we paid it forward a bit with the bag of ice and were rewarded with a very smooth border crossing...the guard even liked out drawing machine decks we are making. Although, he had very little good to say about Detroit...even using a bit of cursing to describe it.
The first stop in Detroit was a little skateshop on the outskirts of town called Refuge. It's a good shop with a ton of product. And enough non-leather shoes that I just couldn't help but buy a pair. We asked the guy about skating in the area and he sent us to a park that we think was called Riley (?). A pretty great park with bowls and street stuff...and it's on Rich's favorite street in America:So it's been a good trip so far...a good amount of skateboarding today even though it's been incredibly hot.
Tomorrow we're off for Chicago for most of the day.

Well Isn't That Just Great Lakes Tour

Well the semi-annual skateboard trip is back on this year after a brief lapse last year. Blame the economy...blame Rich's new job...blame Canada...last year we just didn't pull it together. But this year is starting off with a bang.
We met up in Portland on Thursday night to pick up a little retirement gift for my parents:


I put a lot of time over the past year into making this strip canoe...it's too much to go into in this series of entries. So I'll save them for another week.
To our surprise, the boat stayed on the roof for the entire ride back to Syracuse and proved to be a conversation piece at rest stops...making me want to stop less.
It was good to get to my parents house and celebrate 24 years of hard work by my mother...I think they liked the boat. Good food was eaten and tasty wine was drunk.
This morning, before leaving Casa DeRosia, we took a walk back in the woods to Brickyard Falls. An old favorite swimming spot from my childhood, it was a good warm up for Niagra Falls.
Rich had never seen Niagra Falls. It's a pretty amazing sight. 675,000 gallons a second pour over the Horse Shoe side...too much to fathom.

Customs has never been my favorite part of going to Canada. Two trips ago I was accused of being a male prostitute. But today wasn't too bad. Sure the van got searched...but I kind of expected it after Rich told the agent about the knives in the van...oh and really, who's not going to search a dented, white package van with two guys in it and don't know where in Canada they are going to that day/night.
Oh well, it really didn't take that long. Now we're in lovely Woodstock, Ontario for the night. Tomorrow beings the actual skateboarding part of the trip with a few stops in Ontario before venturing back across the border to Detroit. 8 mile?

How to Make an American Rug

I finished my rug yesterday. It was a long process and I learned a lot...like to buy all the yarn at once so that it matches (rookie mistake)...and don't plan to dye the rug to match the yarns. This second one resulted in about 10 inches or so tearing away from the rug. So now I have a 4' x 5' rug. It was a bit heartbreaking for a moment...but I recognized it as a good learning moment...something to take note of and not repeat.


I plan to make another one...different skateboard drawing and slightly different colors.
So here's to 4 more months of latch-hooking.

I Made New Handlebars for My Bike

New Website

www.workshopdesignbuildllc.com

Sourcing Out the Work

My new assistant hard at work on the rug: