Live-edge Walnut Bed

This is what had been on my mind up until about three weeks ago.

• Kickstarting my live-edge furniture career.
• Sourcing my lumber more locally. Oregon woodworkers should use Oregon lumber.
• I graduated college three years ago; I should no longer be sleeping on a futon mattress on the floor.

The bed above accomplished all three of these things and then some.

I will never be able to build this bed again. Why? Each piece of live-edge furniture can never be recreated.  It’s beauty is achieved by incorporating wood’s natural edges into the work which can’t be mimicked by man and his fancy tools. A woodworkers, we can only forego the typical dimensioning of lumber, instead incorporating natural edges into a work. This style, brought to popularity by George Nakashima, adds a more lively aura than any squared up and symmetrical piece. What’s truly enjoyable as a carpenter is observing every piece of lumber and letting it decide where it fits into the furniture.

MORE LIVE-EDGE LOVE And GALLERY AFTER THE JUMP

Kubbin’

A while back, one of my favorite craft blogs, Wood & Faulk introduced the Kubb set. While the name alone was enough to pique interest, it’s Scandinavian roots also appealed to me. Matt Pierce, mastermind of W&F, put together simple guidelines for building a set and with the encouragement of my Swedish pal, Anna, I got to work.

While Pierce fashioned his set from an fresh piece of walnut, I had a box full of mahogany scraps left over from a bench I had just made. The catch is, none of the pieces fit the required sizes, especially the Four x Four x Twelve King Kubb. So instead of ditching the mahogany, I laminated pieces together. Always trying to breath new life into fall-off.

The great thing about my predicament is the requirement to think creatively. When it came time to join a King piece, I looked no further than the Swedish flag. Rummaging through my scrap crate, I found a perfect piece of maple to contrast the mahogany’s rich blue tone… OK, not so much the truth, but to my knowledge there’s no naturally blue wood, the closest species would be Peltogyne, AKA Purpleheart. Anyway, I think the mahogany works fine.

Now the important stuff. Kubb is a swedish lawn game, developed to defeat pesky Norwegians and prevent them from entering Sweden. Well, that may be a far cry from the truth, but it does pair nicely with fermented liquid and fetching parks. It involves tossing batons at the opposing teams Kubbs in attempt to ultimately topple the King. There’s a great twist to the game that I dare not attempt to explain, and leave you to find out for yourself.

Dirtbag Deluxe Camperbed

Outfitting a pickup bed for life on the road has been on my radar for a while, the problem being is I don’t have a pickup. So when my friends Charlie and Sheri’s plans to travel around central and south America fell through, the resorted to a 4-month climbing road trip. I’ve become their go-to carpenter over the past year, so when they decided they needed an outfit for their gorgeous purple Tacoma, Brusier, I seized the opportunity.

 Unfortunately, the 3 months they allotted their mechanic to repair a failing engine while they were off in Thailand wasn’t enough time, and when we began the project, the truck was still in the shop. Going off Charlie’s measurements, we began cutting all the pieces, but I’ve been building long enough to know that assembling the entire thing without fitting in in the truck first would be a brutal mistake. And, of course, when the truck finally arrived, there were some mismeasurements, which were quick fixes since. Patience pays off, friends.

The outfit has two drawers… GIANT drawers. I’ve never made one even close to the size of these two. We joked that if Charlie’s in the dog house, he’ll have to sleep in one of the drawers; probably the narrow one, depending.

Sheri was having a tough time comprehending the fact that home for the next four months is a pickup bed. Once she took a look out of her bedroom window though, she felt better.

Charlie busted out an old fashioned bottle opener as a kitchen add on. Unfortunately, the space between the outfit and tailgate was too tight. That was until I countersunk it. Was it worth the extra effort? Absolutely because after long days of climbing, beers must be opened easily by exhausted hands. Plus it added a dimension of character that tied the whole damn thing together.

Climb on, guys.