We were recently the subject of a blog post on Design2share on the subject of biophillic design. Check out the post:
http://www.design2share.com/design2share-qa/2011/9/22/biophilic-design-wraps-its-tendrils-around-furniture.html
Here is a wikipedia definition of biophillic design: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biophilia_hypothesis
Some light reading.
This blog is intended to be a direct window into my workshop. It is intended to unveil the processes, joinery, and materials that are so crucial to the production of Five Fifths Furniture. Check back often for updates on current projects, future shows and expeditions to procure new and fascinating materials.
John Adams- Take 3, Success
This is my third attempt to make this colonial inspired Table-chair. Finally, determined not to reinvent the wheel and empowered by a crucial discovery of the necessary mechanism to allow the top to work appropriately, this design finds its contemporary incarnation. The top operates via a sliding tract that allows the dowel attaching the top to the chair to be placed in the center of the top for a more sturdy back.
Little Known and Little Used- Dogwood
For those unsatisfied with the with the overused "Neapolitan" (Cherry, Maple, Walnut) woods there are plenty of other options available, as long as you are willing to hunt them down. One such wood is Dogwood. The lumber is very dense and fine-grained and wears smoothly over time, which makes it ideal for shuttle looms and tool handles; it’s seemingly only commercial uses. The white sapwood smoothly blends to very pink hue and then light brown heartwood. When spalted it makes a very decorative wood for small accents. Small because it is an understory tree that is unlikely to reach a foot in diameter, but that is not always the case. Pictured below is an 18" Dogwood board I recently acquired. It also demonstrates beautifully the full range of colors and textures the lumber possesses.
And here is the same board planed and then finished.
Here are a few examples of spalted Dogwood I personally milled from a neighbors tree, probably the best way to obtain such material. As you can see the result was well worth the effort.
The lesson: never let what is readily available hinder your options.
Five Fifths at the Belmont Street Fair
Look for Five Fifths Furniture in tandem with Ashley May Jewelry Designs at the Belmont Street Fair in Portland Oregon on September 10th 2011. We will be located on Artist Alley on SE 34th Ave from Noon to 8pm. Stop by to see a beautiful assortment of smaller furniture items made with the same quality materials and solid joinery as our larger pieces. We will also be displaying our new business card holders in an astonishing assortment of little used and seldom seen woods.
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