Furnishings
“Always know how to work with your hands - so when there are times your brains won’t be enough - you will always have work”. The advice of my great-grandfather, relayed to me by my dad, made a lasting impact - I’ve always complemented my formal education in engineering with hands-on, mechanical pursuits. When I’ve found myself with a lack of turbines to design or studies to support - “brain work” - I’ve created work to support a burgeoning restaurant industry in need of handy furniture makers.
Shou sugi ban tabletops - the wilder
Along with maker Nihco Gallo, I experimented with a shou sugi ban “burnt wood” derivative technique to furnish 30+ dining tables for new downtown bistro The Wilder. Exposure to an intense flame causes alternating wood grains to char in a highly contrasting pattern. Tables are edged with walnut and spray lacquered.
Simple bar stools - earth eagle
Seeking an upgrade from low quality Chinese-made lab stools, Earth Eagle Brewings hired me to design and build a rugged set of barroom furniture that could handle the demand of their reveling customers. Rolled re-bar rungs and a plain matte finish match their wonky-rustic interior. Heavy gauge steel and American welds make these stools equally suitable as jack stands as they are as furniture.
Tractor seat stools - earth eagle
Their taproom colloquially referred to as "The Bunker", Earth Eagle Brewings owners Butch and Alex don’t hide their appreciation for rural, rustic-industrial decor. The two could think of nothing finer than some all-steel tractor seats to "cup the butts" of their imbibing clientele. MIG welded steel, lacquer finish, lifetime warranty.
Growler Chandelier
I coordinated with designers Julia Gamborg Nielsen and Richard Lindvall to perform design-for-manufacture and production of this one of a kind chandelier. The lamp is Installed in the lounge at Bad Lab Beer Co.'s Somersworth brewery. Design features 80+ cut glass growlers, 60" rolled steel rings, and a remote controlled LED light system.
high top tables & Stools -Birdseye Lounge
Owners of the Birdseye Lounge sought a minimalist interior inspired by visited Scandinavian lounges. To meld the style with their New England setting, partner Nihco and I opted for large slabs of locally sourced white ash with a healthy polyurethane coating. A set of three tables and 50 stools were furnished, designed to "nest" for storage.
Unit table
This one-off was produced as gift to a loved one, also as a reprieve from the labor of heavy-duty steel fabrication jobs. The production was an exercise in light brazing, with an emphasis on precisely-right corners and flat faces. Polished steel with wax finish, glass top. Accompanied with a stainless steel prism vase of matching proportions.
Stainless steel French press
This accoutrements was produced with an enjoyment and respect of the dangers of investing oneself into the crafting of a one-off piece. The cost of error compounds exponentially with each step in the process; a miscalculation in the final stages would waste days of work. Undesirable manufacturing techniques required for production: turning and machining of thin-wall stainless steel tubing, stainless MIG welding of fine detail and moving parts, crude metal spinning. Features a hand-made replaceable strainer system. Makes good coffee.
Growler Terrarium
Never one to waste a specimen of odd geometry, I couldn't part with the dozens of growler off-cuts from the BadLab growler chandelier. The funnel-shaped glass pieces called for cast-concrete bases for transformations into cacti incubators.
Old fashion cocktail glasses
These modest cocktail glasses are modeled after the proportions of a traditional "Old Fashioned" rocks glass. My first foray into the art of metal casting, a short run of 12 was sand cast from recycled aluminum. Also function well as candle holders or telephones.
Old Fashion
2 parts Bourbon
Splash club soda
Angostura bitters
Sugar
Orange Wheel
Maraschino Cherry
Muddle bitters, sugar, and club soda. Add bourbon on ice. Garnish with fresh orange wheel and cherry. Serve immediately.