May 31

Bookcase Side Table – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

I’d say that turned out pretty damned close to my original design! This was my first time making something from rough cut lumber. I designed this piece in SketchUp to sit next to our couch, be usable for drinks on the side and knick-knacks on the back, and hold all of Tamaryn’s cookbooks. I built it out of scrap lumber obtained from a furniture maker – these were his cutoffs. The tops are live-edge walnut, the base is ash, and the shelves are walnut and mahogany. The whole thing took roughly three weeks from start to finish. Much of it’s creation was documented with more descriptions on instagram.

 

   

 

May 04

Bath Caddy – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

I finally completed this bath caddy for @tam_a_ryn. I think she likes it. It’s inspired by @wilker_dos’s design. I watched her build video a while back for a rough idea and just made something similar on the fly… with only like 5 screw ups or design changes while making it. Ha. It’s made of cherry, walnut, and maple – which was all rough sawn and a little warped Craigslist scrap initially. It was a lot of fun just getting to use my new planer to find some beautiful grain hidden within. The top slats slide to accommodate different devices, and I’ve left the grooves open to “future proof” it (as long as we have this bathtub). I can slide in new panels to fit anything else she wants to take to her bubble bath. 

  

Apr 13

Covered Wood Rack – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

Finally finished our firewood/lumber drying bin! I’ve been working on this on and off for the past week in the garage. It’s mostly for all the random logs and rough lumber I’ve been collecting. I have an alert set up on Craigslist for whenever someone cuts down a tree and is giving it away as firewood. Last week I acquired a bunch of fresh black walnut logs and desperately need an outdoor place to store them (our garage is a nightmare right now). And we needed a place to store the wood for our fire pit is that it’s “sit outside” weather. Made from construction pine and cheap cedar fence planks. It’s mostly based on a random plan I found online.

The white logs are a recent black walnut I got for free. The rest is for the firepit:) some elm in there too. And the big logs are locust. Not sure if I’ll do anything with them yet.

 

Feb 18

Elm Coat Rack – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

Coat hanger complete! I made this thing out of an old half-rotting log someone was giving away as firewood in Squirrel Hill. I loved the endgrain, which seemed structurally sound enough, and thought it might be pretty inside. So I milled it up with my cheap chainsaw, flattened it with a router/jig, filled the knotholes with epoxy, sanded and sanded, added keyhole slots in the back, added the hardware, and finished it with Arm-R-Seal. I was gonna square it up, but @tam_a_ryn liked the sawed angles from when it was originally cut down. The hooks are staggered because I couldn’t bring myself to cover that beautiful knotted figure. Still not sure what species. Checkout the before and after pics at the end. More of this in my story highlight. Inspired by a similar coat rack made by one of my favorite woodworkers on IG, Matt Plumlee @gotwoodwrkshop.