Despite having a enormous amount of room for storage (the other half of our side of the floor is empty) we are going to start the build out before moving in most of the machinery. Early on we decided that we would divide the space into two rooms, really three if you count the finish room. I liked the set up at North Bennet Street School where there was a bench room for close hand work and a separate machine room for all the noisy/dusty work. Besides being a fairly logical way to divide the shop, I think it will be a healthier way to work. (Who wants to wear a respirator and hearing protectors all day.)

My youngest daughter Grace showing off the latest Spring fashion

Before any actual building gets started, I took the time to create a floor plan on Photo Shop to figure out machine configuration. I find Photo Shop easy to use for this type of activity because I could create layers for each machine and move them around on the screen and look at things like in-feed, out-feed, and work flow. Here are the plans for the machine room and bench room.

Machine room with ductwork plan

Bench and finishing rooms

So first thing up is a wall dividing the space in half with two doorways: one that is a full 8 ft across for moving sheet goods and another that is only 4 ft across that will be closer to the lumber racks. While we are working on that, our electrician set to work with our layout and machine list to wire our shop. More about the construction in another blog.

-CB-

Well, CB Kearney is quickly outgrowing our current location, and it is time to expand. Besides, working by myself all day can get kind of lonely, and there is no one to bounce ideas off.  Two of my friends and fellow woodworkers, Don Price and James Watriss, from North Bennet Street School have come to similiar conclusions and are willing to look for space to share. We can consolidate our machinery and tools, reduce our overhead, and help each other out throughout the furniture making process.

Exterior of 250 Canal St (Washington Mills)

It took a while , but we were finally able to locate some decent studio space that meet our requirements; 200 amp/3-phase electric service, loading docks, freight elevators, adequate light, and relatively unobstructed space. We found all this at the old Washington Mills building at 250 Canal St in Lawrence, MA.

We were looking for a few months and every place we visited was lacking one thing or another; from cinder block walled contractor bays with no windows to flood prone basements. We saw it all and are happy that we waited. When we walked through the doors of the studio we knew that we were home.

The studio is just over 3500 sq ft and has 14 ft ceilings.

South West End of Shop

Only thee columns interupt the space, so there is plenty of infeed and out feed room. There is a small office at one end of the shop that we will convert into a finishing room for hand finishing. We’ll leave the spray finishing to the guys with a spray booth. One wall is all windows and the natural light is amazing. The only draw back that I can forsee is that the windows are south-facing, and it is going to be hot in the summer. We plan on air conditioning the finishing/office room, so hopefully we will be able to find some respite there. Besides I could probably stand to lose some water weight.

Let the build-out begin!

-CB-

I think the title says it all.

The website is live and, while there is still work to be done, I have to say this is a huge hurdle.

The website would still be an idea on my computer without the help of Greg Hren. Greg is an incredible photographer, a fabulous creative director, a bringer together of great people, and solid friend.

Two people that Greg was instrumental in bringing together for this project were, the ace website designer, Gary Hedricks from Elefantworks and programmer/designer Yosef from Trashpop Factory.

There were a couple of people working hard behind the scenes. My sister Jennifer, my marketing guru, was indispensible in helping me get my thoughts to paper. She seemed to have a better idea of what I wanted then I did. No wonder she is so successful in the advertising world. Jennifer’s friend Jen helped give the website its voice.

Thanks guys. I know that I would not be typing this without all of you.

Now begins the work of catching the blog up to reality.  A lot has been going on over the last five months at CB Kearney Fine Woodworking. Stay tuned. Same bat time, same bat channel…

-CB-