Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Today I ...

Sat in a big purple chair.
Visited with some old friends.
Milled enough white oak for two chairs.
Talked with Gracie who stayed out all night.
Picked colors for four new chairs.








Thursday, June 19, 2008

Number 5

We just now finished ADK Number 5 , also known as "Steve". Solid beefy white oak. Color is Benjamin Moore "Alpine Trail", which is very close to Martha Stewart's "Mosaic Tile". The guy or gal who has the job of naming colors; I want that job. What a blast. Sit around a room with a group of like minded people, shooting the breeze and laughing your ass off. And getting paid for it. Like coming up with band names. Speaking of bands, "Number Five" is one of my all time favorite albums by The Steve Miller Band, circa late seventies. Check out "Going To The Country" and "Hot Chili". Classic tunes, classic chair. This one's for you Steve.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Early Work


I am still pretty new to this blog thing. This is a test to see how I can add images to the page. I made a random selection from my "pics" folder and this is what came up. A couple of early chairs from my "stick phase" for a client on Mount Desert Island. I definitely see an adirondack style leaning. They were made of rock maple saplings with a "Waterlox" tung oil varnish finish, which should have made them impervious to the weather. I wonder how they're doing. As I write, there is a humming bird by my window, working a flowering bush I do not know the name of. With my Benjamin Moore, classic colors fan deck in hand I identify the color as: "Drop Dead Gorgeous", number 1329. That is going to make a great chair color.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Not Made In China

You want to reduce your "Carbon Footprint"? Then buy locally. That made-in-China summer patio set you just bought at the big box retailer for short money (and the thousands of others that are invading the country one container ship at a time) just left a huge skidmark on the planet. Think about the Chinese factories running 24/7/365 belching toxic stink into the atmosphere. (I don't know how many people will actually be able to "see" the summer Olympics in Beijing.) Think about the amount of diesel a container ship consumes on its transoceanic voyage. Look at all those big scary tractor trailer trucks jamming our highways, hauling "goods" and all the energy consumed in warehousing and distribution. Now take a closer look at that patio set. It's a piece of crap. You'll be lucky to have it last three summers. Then it ends up in the land fill. And what do you do? Head back to the big box retailer and buy another one. That's what we're programed to do: consume, consume, consume. It's time to break the cycle. I'm here to help. Buy one of my chairs. They're made here in Maine, from locally available materials, supporting local jobs. They will last a lifetime and if by chance they end up in a landfill (the horror!) they are bio-degradable. You won't be getting a piece of crap. And you might just save the planet.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Four Chairs

I have now completed four of 100 adirondack chairs. Four baby steps in three weeks. At this pace it's looking more like two years to complete my "journey". Unless I can quit my day job. That's where you come in. I encourage you to visit my website. All chairs are posted there. Buy early, buy often.

My current design platform is called "The Weekender". The idea was to start simple.
Take the basic adirondack form and make subtle changes and improvements. By raising the seat and decreasing the pitch, my Weekenders are a breeze getting in and out of. (< Is that a dangling participle?). My arms are wider than the average adirondack. Big enough for a plate and beverage, eyeglasses and newspaper. I love the Weekender for it's generous proportions. They're made of solid white oak , purchased from an 85 year old gentleman in Madison Maine. I use Benjamin Moore's premium exterior soft gloss acrylic house paint. Two coats over a Kilz primer.
I expect my chairs to serve a lifetime of summer days.

"One", "Two", "Three" and "Four" are all based on the Weekender platform. I am very happy with the way they came out. Simple, substantial and comfortable. Now it's time to move on. New ideas are percolating. It's back to the workshop for me.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Chair Talk

This is my first blog entry and I am very excited. I have built 4 of 100 chairs so far and will talk more about them tomorrow. Right now I'm just interested to see how this works. Then we'll talk chairs. Chair talk.