New Shop.

We took possession of our new space last week.

Still small, for a woodshop, but it's about twice the floorspace of our part of the shared previous location.

First order of business was white paint on the green walls.

We left the beams and sprinklers colorful.

A few days later, and we are in the thick of organizing the stuff we've moved in, building work benches and shelving, and soon to be resuming work on our current cabinet project.

Radiator/AV Cabinet

"Clayton Woodworks did an exceptional job on a very challenging project. Precise, punctual, professional and passionate. They custom built a cabinet to house both a radiator on one side and several media components (receiver, DVR, cable box, Sonos) on the other side, all within the same cabinet. They carefully followed the measurements and specifications of the other contractors who installed the media components. They even sourced the original and exact traditional metal grating for the front cabinet cover to match those covering the radiators in the other two rooms of my home. The details of their work is outstanding - they thought of everything! I have already referred them to several friends with the utmost confidence that they will deliver above and beyond."

Deck/Retaining Wall, Potrero Hill

"I was first introduced to Clayton Woodworks by my gardener. They were one of the service providers I considered to build a new deck and stairs on the side of my house. Their detailed CAD drawings helped me visualize what I wanted my deck to look like, and made them stand out from the other deck people I was interviewing. Once they were hired they did an amazing job. Their work is precise, the fasteners are all nicely countersunk and evenly spaced. Their aesthetic choices are informed. They are a pleasure to work with (very clean and courteous.) They helped me with several challenges, coming up with great solutions for design conundrums. They installed a counter-weighted trap door in my deck to hide the stairs to the garage below. And they even fixed some rotten framing that they found in my house. I couldn't be happier. The view out my kitchen window has gone from yuk to amazing! Since the deck is done, I have also hired them to replace the treads and risers on my front steps with ipe. Once again they have been a great asset, helping me to explore the options for amending a problem with the stair height on the existing stairway, and coming up with a creative and simple way to update the poorly-built, funky looking staircase. The steps are finished and they look great! Major curb appeal update. When Clayton does work for me, I feel like I am getting a very high quality of craftsmanship. I also trust them to advise me correctly. While decking may sound simple, the quality of their work is something closer to custom cabinetry (which they do as well.) I'd trust them to do almost anything, and I will continue to use their services when needed."

A small deck with two staircases alongside the South wall of the client's Potrero  Hill home.

We were referred to this job by Peter Forrest Kline, the landscaper.   peterforrestkline.com   He is renovating the back yard.

The lower set of stairs lead to the garage. They are seldom used, and take up a large amount of the potential deck area just outside the back door. We had the thought of creating a trap door in the new deck to utilize the entire available space. The old planter in the photo below was to be eliminated.

The upper staircase would now extend to the fence, and the fence would be faced with rough-sawn redwood, oriented horizontally, with some grooves added for a little detail.

Two of Carl's sketches representing the proposed work:

Once the demolition of the old deck was done we discovered some rotten framing in the walls and floor of the house that needed replacing. We removed a few pieces of siding and installed pressure-treated lumber in place of the old rot.

Here's a test fit of the upper stair stringer.

                                                 

The four stringers installed, with temporary treads up the middle.

The new fencing going up.

New treads and risers, new decking installed.

There's a little landing at the top, with which the new landscaping will merge.

In this photo everything is done but the trap door . That is being shop-built out of the same decking (1"x 6" Ipe) on an aluminum frame, and will swing on a 6' long continuous (piano) hinge. The net weight of the door will be about 140 lbs, so it will be counter-balanced to make it easy to lift and lower.

Peter is going to give the back yard a complete make-over. For our part we are putting in two retaining walls and a redwood trellis.

These retaining walls will be faced and capped with ipe to match the deck after the major landscaping is completed.

The trap door in closed position...

And open...  It worked out nicely that the trap door becomes a safety rail for the stairwell when open.

The counter balance is suspended from the two outermost aluminum frame members. It is made from a 7 foot long piece of 6 inch diameter cast iron pipe, swinging on clevis pins run through the frame. The pipe contains some steel bar stock for additional weight - about 160 lbs total. We were fortunate to have adequate space beneath the deck for all this to operate within.

A simple pivoting leg was added to stabilize the trap door in the open position. 

The door is easy to lift, whether operating it from above or below.

Below are a few shots of the completed landscaping.

Tintypes

We got a call from a local photographer to make some shadowboxes for an upcoming show. The six boxes were made of cherry, to be stained black and waxed. The client will do the finishing, as well as lining the interiors with black velvet and adding concealed lighting and non-reflective glass.

Michael is helping to keep alive an early photographic technique, the wet plate colloidon process. This process is primitive, painstaking, and particularly romantic in our present day digital realm.

One of the great things about our work is the people we get to meet. We've had such a string of good experiences with our clients, and this little job led us to spending the better part of an afternoon sitting for some portraits done by Michael. michaelshindler.com

Since the photographic plates must go immediately to the darkroom and the processing takes a bit of time, Michael had his friend John (another photographer: johntorrente.com) on hand to keep us enthralled with stories of his world travels, which alone would've been worth the trip.

Along with the good company, the visit yielded these remarkable "tintypes," rendering the two of us into what appear to be Civil War era carpenters.

The San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art is showing "Exposed: Today's Photography/Yesterday's Technology" in their Focus Gallery, from July 17th - September 19th.

Six of Michael's tintypes will be exhibited, in the above-mentioned shadowboxes.

If you're interested in having your own portrait commisioned, Michael can be contacted at his web address above.

Plyboo coffee table.

After a very busy month of May, we are having a quiet June. One thing we hope to do more of in the future is build furniture prototypes during breaks from our mainstay residential casework projects.

This coffee table is made from bamboo plywood leftovers from two different projects.

This sheet good is a rapid-renewable resource material sold by Smith and Fong. http://www.plyboo.com/

The table is 16" tall, about 28" x 44".

These are progress photos of the unfinished table.

Some old projects of Jeff's.

I decided to go on my own in 1987, having been a carpenter for about 3 years in Maine and Santa Cruz. I placed an ad in the local anti-nuclear monthly paper, and got a call from a man in nearby Aptos. He had about four thousand books in boxes, and wanted to create a library in an extra room downstairs.

The client, Roy K., had the idea to put the nosing on the shelves with a raised edge, in hopes of keeping the books in place in the event of an earthquake. I got a letter from him soon after the Loma Prieta Quake in 1989, letting me know that while his neighbor's books all ended up on the floor, his library was unaffected!

Also in 1987, I built this fence/arbor around the corner from where I lived in the Seabright neighborhood. I saw it recently, it's holding up well except for a sagging gate. Very gray and covered with wisteria.

A few years ago, I recognized the client at Peet's in Menlo Park. She told me that after I finished the fence project it had been red-tagged by the city for being too tall. Before ordering it removed, though, the judge presiding over the case drove by to see it, found it "such a lovely fence" that it was allowed to stand.

A cedar and copper front gate for a house in Portland.

I think this was my first table. Made for a great client in Portland that I made 3 more tables for over a few years time. The first photo in this post shows the same piece, with the interlocking center boards on the top, my favorite detail and one of the few things I wouldn't change, in retrospect.

Padouk Desk for an attorney. This wood is very reactive to UV light, and this bright orange faded to a rich dark caramel brown over the course of a year.

Another cherry table, this one a dining table to seat up to 8.

Detail of the apron/leg. Don't remember why I put that screw in it.

Mahogany side table. 

I'm hoping to get up to Portland later this year and get pictures of other furniture, as well as some additions, porches, remodels, etc., that never got photographed back when they were made.