Bill Van Gilder

During our project for Chris Cooley we able to briefly meet with Bill Van Gilder. It was only after I googled him that I realized how much he has done and who he has become! Here is some information on Bill and a few pictures-


"A professional potter for more than 30 years, Bill van Gilder began his clay work at age 15, as a studio apprentice to the late Byron Temple. During the following years, he apprenticed in Ireland and England, and received a degree from Harrow School of Art, London, England. He then established and managed two large teaching/training centers in Southern Africa (Lesotho & Swaziland) under the auspices of The World Bank. Bill returned to the U.S. in 1979 and established a studio and craft gallery atop South Mountain in Central Maryland, which he continues to operate today.
Van Gilder has served on the faculty of The Art League, Alexandria, VA, and is founder/director of The Frederick Pottery School, Frederick, MD. He currently leads workshops nationally and internationally, on pottery forming, decorating, and firing techniques, as well as workshops on kiln building. He has recently designed a line of professional potter’s tools (van Gilder Clay-Tools), available through retailers nationwide.

Bill also writes a regular ‘Teaching Techniques’ column for Clay Times magazine (USA), and is the creator, writer and host of Throwing Clay, an internationally televised DIY Network Television series about making pottery.His clay work is exhibited and held in collections worldwide. It has been featured in ceramic periodicals including Clay Times, Ceramics Monthly, Ceramic Review (UK), Ceramic Arts (China), Sgraffito (S. Africa), and books including 500 Teapots and High Fire Glazes (Lark Books), Salt Glazing (A&C Black, London), and The Art of American Ceramics (Krause Books) and more. Van Gilder recently authored Wheel-Thrown Pottery, a cooperative book venture from Lark Books and the DIY Television Network."

A history on the dovetail joint.

"A dovetail joint or simply dovetail is a joint technique most commonly used in woodworking joinery. Noted for its resistance to being pulled apart (tensile strength), the dovetail joint is commonly used to join the sides of a drawer to the front. A series of pins cut to extend from the end of one board interlock with a series of tails cut into the end of another board. The pins and tails have a trapezoidal shape. Once glued, a wooden dovetail joint requires no mechanical fasteners.
The dovetail joint probably pre-dates written history. Some of the earliest known examples of the dovetail joint are in furniture entombed with mummies dating from First Dynasty of ancient Egypt, as well the tombs of Chinese emperors. The dovetail design is an important method of distinguishing various periods of furniture."

Here we have used the time honored hand fit dovetail joint in a drawer that goes with our "Transverse" occasional table. Enjoy the pictures and feel free to comment.

Facebook news

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Colley project note:

We forgot to mention that the HUGE slab of black walnut was salvaged and picked up on site, cut into 2" thick sections, and kiln dried by Wood Eye Wood products. Chris's HUGE table was the first to be made from this huge tree and there are many left to pick and choose from! We would be happy to provide pictures upon request.

Cooley Gallery project

Chris Cooley happens to have a bit of an artistic side and has been making pottery for years when he's not busy training or playing for the Washington Redskins. In fact, he owns an art gallery in Leesburg, VA. Chris needed one large display table in the center of his gallery and two long narrow tables to go along the wall. Through some good fortune, Chris got connected with Wood Eye Wood Products and we were honored they asked us to collaborate on the design and building of these three tables for Chris' gallery.

The main display table is a huge slab of salvaged, natural-edge black walnut with an amazing rainbow of pastel colors and large natural cracks to add character. We decided to create a simple yet sturdy base for this amazing slab of wood because we didn't want to compete with the amazing top. After constructing the base we installed 4 tiger maple butterfly inlays where the cracks needed to be stabilized in the event of further cracking with the change in seasons. The top measured almost 50" wide by 10' long and believe it or not, it was one solid piece. Enjoy the pictures below:







The two long, narrow wall tables were made from ambrosia maple with beautiful blue worm streaks. The planks were so long that we decided nothing would do these boards justice better than our continuous plank design. The continuous plank is one of our Appalachian Joinery originals; the design transforms a long plank of wood with natural edges on both sides into a minimalist functional contemporary work of art. The plank is divided into three sections where the two ends are cut off and dovetailed into the top creating a complete allignment of the grain with a beautiful touch of craftsmanship. The planks were a solid two inches thick so to cut and fit these dovetails was such a pleasure. When all the dovetails were cut and fitted we installed a new addition to the continuous plank design, elevating feet. The feet lift the table off the floor and create a shadow line that gives a sense of balance and completion. While the continuous plank design is breathtaking in itself, we felt that the sense of nature in the natural edges of these boards was the real focal point.

Sneek peak of the Chris Cooley gallery project

Here are a few photos to view until we have a chance to write a full description of this amazing project.

A great idea by one of our facebook fans to win the packaging contest!

OK, here is my idea. Where I work we generate a lot of paper, and we actually hire a company to come and take our paper. They then shred the paper and recycle it. This way, we know that confidential documents are destroyed, and that we are still recycling the paper. There may be big, or small, businesses near you who would be thrilled get rid of their paper (for free!) , and you could use the shredded paper as packing material for your awesome stuff! Depending on the business, they might need something written assuring them that the confidential documents are, in fact, being destroyed. This would be a win-win for everybody!

A new repurposed salvage.

Our local Asheville NC sawyer provided us with some amazing spalted Appalachian box elder with amazingly vibrant colors and wild grain. Box elder is in the Maple family and grows all over the Appalachian mountain range. The tree was felled naturally by wind and the high quality material was saved and cared for. We chose to make serving and cutting boards with this beautiful wood so many people may enjoy the natural beauty it provides.

Enjoy the pictures and yes we ate all the chocolate ourselves.







More pictures available at http://www.etsy.com/shop/AppalachianJoinery?ref=pr_shop_more

New inventory at the saw mill.

We use a lot of hardwood lumber from Wood Eye Wood Products in. in our furniture and thought it might be fun to share their story with you.

Wood Eye Wood Products Inc. is a locally owned & operated full service sawmill providing quality lumber & wood products from local, sustainably harvested or salvaged timber, as well as custom processing of your logs into usable lumber products.

Wood Eye Wood Products was established by Keith Schoonover in 1989 with a portable mill sawing on site for land owners & at different venues as a demonstration / educational tool, WEWP has been recognized for providing high quality sawmill services and wood products ever since. Keith is on the Frederick County Forest Conservancy Board where he serves as chairman. WEWP acquires much its material from tree services in Frederick & Montgomery counties.

For more information on Keith and Wood Eye Wood Products visit there new website here- www.woodeyewoodproducts.com

Packaging contest

Appalachian Joinery wants your help! We have been selling lots and lots of our salvaged wood serving and cutting boards and mailing them all over the USA and Canada. Right now we use reused cardboard and reused bubble wrap to package our boards so they arrive safely to their destinations. We want to hear all of your ideas on how we can improve on this packaging method and reduce our impact on the earth. We are open to any suggestions our readers may have and the person with the winning idea will be published on facebook and also win a free medium size board of their choice with free shipping from our etsy shop listed here- http://www.etsy.com/shop/AppalachianJoinery?ref=pr_shop_more. To enter post your creative packaging ideas on our facebook page listed here- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chester-Shuey-Handcrafted/92042118666 and the winner will be chosen April 5th.

Good luck!!

Square is here!!!

We use square to accept credit cards in person or over the phone. It works great!!

https://squareup.com/about

Etsy mania!!

The Naturalist stool is no longer a custom order only item! We have them in stock and ready to ship for a super low rate on our Etsy shop page - http://www.etsy.com/shop/AppalachianJoinery?ref=pr_shop_more

News clip on american made products and the workers behind them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38MfZ17nT50&feature=player_embedded

Were gearing up for the heavy craft/art show traffic that asheville tourism brings! We plan to be at the Asheville Farmers market every other weekend starting in April, and The Bele Chere festival in July is not to be misssed!