The latest project in the shop is a low sideboard that is going to be used as a TV stand for the client’s new flat screen.

Progress as of today (4/8/09)

It is the first piece that I am building for a client that has redesigned their downstairs and wants to update their furniture to suit their new look with this piece, a new dining room set, a sideboard, and a side table.

After some initial conversations with the clients, the general style, something that I would call “modern shaker” popularized by other furniture makers like Thomas Moser and Christian Becksvoort, and the material, cherry, were decided. So, I set off for one of my favorite vendors to find a flitch of cherry so that the set of new furniture would match in grain and color.

Besides being a gorgeous drive out to western Mass near Stockbridge, I love to go out to Berkshire Products for their amazing selection of lumber.

Enormous Lumber Packs

Huge Bubinga Slab

I call it a woodworker’s Shangri-la. They specialize in wide slabs, bookmatched sets, flitches, and exotic species. When I am out there I find myself wandering around each of their 4 barns staring up at all the enormous lumber with my mouth agape. (If anyone wants I live-edge dining room table out of bookmatched English Elm give me a call. I have been dying to make something out of this wood since I set eyes on it a few years ago.)

Bookmatched Elm Slab

After a few hours combing through the barns I settled on a cherry flitch with some nice color and interesting figure.

3-year old inserted for scale

Through some careful planning, resawing and design I should be able to get the majority of the primary wood for this client’s projects from these four boards, ensuring that the furniture will match in grain and color, as well as, in its design.

More about the design at a later date…

-CB-