New lumber inventory!

I have been stockpiling walnut trees for a while now, most of them I cut down with or without the assistance of Shafer Tree Care. All the trees have been cut into 2" thick natural edge slabs, air dried for a year, and kiln dried to furniture grade moisture content. I find this is the best way to start with a furniture piece, instead of the restrictions of using dimensioned lumber from the mill. Another reason I cut the wood like this is because it gives a client a unique experience when they are able to look at unique boards until they find a shape or grain pattern that matches what they invisioned. see more here www.appjoinery.com

Shaping seats.

I am often asked how the seats on my stools and chairs are carved/shaped. During the production of the new Stasis II I decided to take a few pictures which illustrate the process step by step. Below are the pictures with descriptions. Keep your eyes out for the Stasis II on our facebook page "Chester Shuey Handcrafted" as I think you will like the new lines and contemporary appalachian look.

First I choose the best grain from a 15"-20" wide board, this board is walnut and came from a tree on Carpenter Mountain in Virginia. The Stasis II seat is made from one board, the original Stasis seat is mae from 3-7" wide boards glued up.

The next step is to use a pattern and mark the seat shape profile. To achieve an even depth I use a router on the deepest part of the seat, then the halfway points between the seats peaks and valley also get routed out to make shaping not so much guess work.

For the fun grinding/shaping/carving step I like to use an attatchment for an angle grinder called the "Holly Gallahad". The attatchment shapes hardwoods with ease and control and is a lot safer than the chainsaw wheel commonly used. I use this attatchment to the point that my router lines are barely showing.

The last is to switch attatchments on the grinder to a sanding disc, I like 36 grit. Use this to refine the seat and make any adjustments you feel neccesary. Most importantly, sit in the seat and make sure it is comfortable! If anyone has any questions feel free to email me at appjoinery@gmail.com

Website changes

Our website was hosted through mobile me and they no longer exist. Here's our website until furthr notice. www.appjoinery.weebly.com

New boards on Etsy

Finally listed new boards on etsy! Some really nice ones this time!

Making of the "Zephyr" dining chair.

The Zephyr dining chair focuses on a ergonomic, flowing, and rythmic backrest that cascades into a choice of three completely different seats, the Form, Flow, and Fiber. The Form is shaped to contour the curvature of the body and distribute weigth evenly. The Flow is a continuation of the cascading backrest and shares the ergonomic aesthetic and touch. The Fiber is a classic and comfortable upholsterd seat that may come standard with burlap coverings. Ill post more pictures when finished.

Selecting the best grain from raw materials.

Roughed out frame

Joinery on front of frame

Joinery on back of frame

The Flow seat on left and Form on right.

Cutting and serving boards are back!

For those of you who have been asking when will we be making more boards the time has come. We finally accumulated enough off cuts from boards we used to make furniture to make a run of boards to sell on etsy. The variety or species will include thick black walnut, thick box elder, black locust, and black cherry. All of which were sourced from local, eco-friendly operations. There will be a variety of sizes that range from small cheese boards to extra large sushi planks. We are really exited for you all to see the large box elder boards that have amazing color, grain, and a super wild natural edge! We will try to get these boards finished and on etsy as soon as we can so stay tuned.

Cut off's from rough cutting the boards.

Sir Maximus has a chew before the scrap makes it to the fire bin.

Wild and burly edges on the box elder.

Work in progress

Sneak peek of a solid cherry chest with 6 dovetailed drawers and a floating live edge walnut shelf.

Walnut Stasis stools in progress.

Just a few shots of 5 walnut stasis stools in progress. Grinding, sanding, sawing, and now ready for finish. Remember All stools 25" tall or less ship anywhere in the country for only $20.00 each for the month of March.

To view the finished stools go here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/89002551/bench-built-from-sustainably-harvested

Custom wormy chestnut nightstand

This custom nightstand is made from recycled 150+ year old wormy chestnut found here in western North Carolina. It features a hand dovetailed drawer and complemented with a hand hammered metal knob.

Cherry Relief stools with maple legs.

Here's 3 Relief stools made for the Soderland residence in Boston. The seats are made from locally harvested black cherry and the legs are made from locally harvested hard maple.

Stasis stools in black walnut and ash.

These Stasis stools feature a warm and welcoming hand carved black walnut seat with sturdy contrasting ash legs.

Selected work: The Swancy resident's counter stools.

3 of our "Stasis" stools 25" tall with wild black cherry seats and figured maple legs. Just right for this family of three on their all natural/organic farm.

Feel free to email me with any questions at appjoinery@gmail.com

Selected work: The Chang residents's entertainment center/cabinet.

This cabinet was custom made for this space at 5' long x 36" tall and is constructed of 100% locally harvested Appalachian hardwood. The case itself is made from richly grained black walnut with a natural edge top. The sliding book-matched door panels are made from beautiful and rare spalted sycamore and complemented with a contrasting walnut rail and style border. The cabinet is constructed with traditional dovetails for maximum strength and longevity. The shelves are a substantial 1 1/8" thick with two perpendicular supports to eliminate any slight movement that may occur in the shelf. The back is constructed of two solid panels in a rail and style manor, and features a 2" grommet hole for low profile wire access.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at appjoinery@gmail.com

What we mean by "Sustainably Harvested".

Harvesting:

We recently struck Appalachian gold! We were turned on to a huge black walnut tree located on the perimeter of a forest property in Burnsville, NC. (Picture # 1) The property owner informed us that the tree had not leafed out in 3-4 years and it was showing signs of age. A tree in this condition is a gamble, it can be either woodworkers gold, or simply rot not even good enough for firewood. The tree was obviously dead and it was running the risk of damaging the property owners fence, there was no question in our minds about cutting this tree down so we called on the help of Shafer Tree Care. Brain Shafer of Shafer Tree Care is a quality minded Arborist and certified by the ISA. He makes sure that every bit of tree that has to be removed due to age or damage is saved from the landfill and recycled by putting it to good use for lumber, mulch, or firewood. When the tree was felled only about a half of an inch off Brians bulls eye I was AMAZED! No other trees were damaged in the process. I imediatly ran to the tree to see if the gamble paid off and YES! 100% solid wood, with beautiful grain, and just a 1/4" of sapwood surrounding the perimiter of the tree which is commonly about 1-2". The tree was more than I ever could have expected it to be and we transported it directly to the saw mill.

Milling:

We traveled north from our shop in Asheville to Billy Rice's saw mill in Mars Hill, NC. Billy Rice is known all over western NC. for his ability to read a tree and make the best possible use of it for lumber. High on a cleared mountain top lot I pulled down his long gravel driveway only to meet his two Australian Cattle Dog puppies (Picture # 2). My wife Amy and I have a 3 year old Australlian Cattle dog which we love to death so needles to say I played in a puppy pile for about 30 minutes. After being nibbled on by puppies we decided it was time to mill the walnut logs. Billy set up his "Woodmizer" which is a portable saw mill capable of milling 26" diameter logs ( Picture # 3) and our log was going to use every bit of that. We milled the first log( the butt log). The deeper into the tree we cut the more beautiful the grain was! The first log was filled with clean straight grain and rich nut brown tones as walnut is known for. The second log was the next 10' long section of tree above the "butt" log. The second log has a "crotch" section which is where the tree trunk branches out into two. As we milled this log we completely forgot the first log existed and our jaws dropped further and further as we milled deeper into the tree. The "crotch" section displayed the most figured and characteristic grain I have seen in a long time ( picture #5). "Crotch" grain is commonly used in gun stocks, veneered drawer fronts, Book-matched panels and table tops. It is truley natures work of art. When all the logs were milled the lumber was transported to our lumber storage building to dry.

Drying:

The drying process is one of the most important. The wood can cup, crown, twist, crack, and it is important to be meticulous about stacking and storing. We stack each board on top of another and space them with 3/4" sticks to maximize air flow inside our ventailated building ( Picture # 4). The boards are 2" thick and we have to wait a full year before they reach a 20-30% moisture content. After a years time if the moisture content of each board is between 20-30% we load them into a solar kiln to bring the moisture down to 6-7% which is standard for interior furniture, cabinets, hardwood floors, and trim. A solar kiln works with the sun like a green house, the kiln has a clear glass top angled towards the sun which collects heat and warms the kiln to 100-110 degrees. To keep dry air circulating and remove the moisture a fan is installed at the top of the kiln blowing towards the glass roof and circulated the dry hot air through the lumber pile. A small vent at the bottom removes any unwanted cool moist air when the top fan is running. Other than completely air drying lumber for 10-15 years this is the most efficent suatainable way to dry lumber.

In a years time we plan to have these once in a lifetime boards on display for customers to pic from and have made into custom furniture. We are working on a showroom space right now so stay tuned for more info.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the picture's.

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Jumping on the Google + bandwagon.

To keep up with the rest of the world we decided to join Google +. If you have Google plus and want to follow us here is the link https://plus.google.com/115171169320519029650/posts

Thanks,
Chester Shuey

Selected work: English walnut dining table.

We recently delivered a "Harmony" dining table to a local couple in north Asheville. The top is made with two wildly grained English walnut boards, book-matched and salvaged from western Maryland. The base is made with gorgeous black walnut. We will be building two "grace" high back chairs for the end of the table, and four "New hope" chairs with locally salvaged black walnut and hickory to fill in the sides to complete the dining set.

Not such a great picture but enjoy!

Selected work of the week: Chef's Board

This custom 36" x 36" chef's board is made from salvaged Appalachian black walnut which was locally harvested of course. The joined walnut work surface beautifully blends the rich dark heartwood and creamy sapwood while providing a flat 36" x 36" work surface. We added bread boards on the ends to stabilize any movement, and a lip on the inside edge which keeps the board from sliding around while in use.

Thanks to our customer we were able to provide pictures below. Enjoy!




More boards available for purchase on our Appalachian Joinery etsy shop listed here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AppalachianJoinery?ref=pr_shop_more

Free shipping special!

Receive free shipping within the U.S.A. at our etsy shop until Labor Day by using the coupon code "laborday2011". Hurry to get first picks on out new inventory of unique boards!

Selected work of the week: Dovetail joinery of epic proportions.

Recently we had the opportunity to work on a one of a kind custom bench. The bench was made from wormy chestnut that dates back 200+ years. The wormy chestnut was salvaged from a stock/tobacco barn in Madison county N.C. built just before the civil war. The building was constructed using these beams and old fashioned dovetail joinery. We thought that using this same joinery technique to construct this bench would not only be the strongest and cleanest looking design, but it would respect the craftsman who originally hand hewn the logs and hand cut the dovetail joints for the building. Dovetailed corners on an building never needed to be fastened in any way due to the the angle of the dovetail and gravity constantly pulling down on the beams which naturally pulls the corner tight. We maintained that same level of craftsmanship on our bench.

May these 200+ year old wormy chestnut beams live another 200+ years in the form of a bench!

Enjoy the pictures!