Welcome to Medullary Ray

Reclaimed Home Office Desk  Sometimes it's a phone call, sometimes I'm just driving down the road and come upon a stack of beams put out on Friday from a construction crew, sometimes I have to go hunting but inevitably I come across timber that has served it's purpose and is slated for the landfill. Most of the time I look at the wood and can see right away another use for it.  Laying out the wood for a project is a huge element in the success of the piece. Noticing the grain direction, colors, knots, splits or figure all have to do with the overall design of the piece. I rearrange until my body feels that right feeling. It's a sense. All is right. That's when I proceed to the first step.    Just because the wood is reclaimed doesn't mean it comes looking like the finished product. It all started for me when I was invited to come get some wood from an old metal mill. Friends of friends were turning this old building into a physical therapy center and they had fl...

An example of elegance, simplicity and breathtaking beauty. The Parota slab comes from Costa Rica in the Guanacaste province . We had it shipped to my shop in Portland Oregon where I milled, sanded, and finished the slab. I designed and built the base after getting the slab in my shop. I wanted to see and feel the visual weight of it and make sure the wood I used in the base was compatible in color and grain. The base is made from Shedua, the one and only wood in my entire selection that had the correct matching! The base and slab fit perfectly and are solid as a rock! Exactly what I wanted for a 220lb slab.  Here are a few detail shots of the wood. I am still waiting for photos of the table complete in L.A. The slab has outstanding ribboning and below is a detail shot of the sap wood: Above is a test fit of the base to the top. There are rails that set inside the top which register it on center, fasten it and create a very strong bond between the base a...

check out my post titled "Documenting Our Work" to read more about this furniture Made from American Cherry this is a Dresser which incorporates a headboard and more. The clients who commissioned me to build this have a bed in the middle of their room with a four sided vaulted ceiling reaching its peak in the center. As you can see this is much more than any old headboard. It is also a dresser, two bedside tables, reading lights, bed cubby holes (at the top of the pillow area), and it is a wire chase for any electronics you may want to store in the cubbies. I might as well add that the headboard on top is a sculpture.  Stay tuned! Today was photo day so I have many photos to filter through and work on. I will doctor up the background on the pic here and remove the wheels from the dollies! :-) This measures about 8' 4 1/2" in length, aprox 28" deep and under 5' in total height. Commission me to build your next furniture!

Zoom!      Pow!      Sha-zam! I’m catching my breath, bent over holding an aching back and looking at all that sawdust I now have to clean up. Whew, I’m beat! This is ‘me at work’. I sure do make a lot of messes and often I turn and look hoping that I will be able to see some manifestation of all of my calculations, problem solving, testing, gluing and sanding. Nope, I still want more to look at. Seems these days that I set out a task to do and quickly discover that I have to do ten things in order to accomplish my goal. This is why I feel like I'm taking ten steps back for one forward! I can't help but wonder if this happens in your line of work too. How do you get through it?!  Please tell me, I want to know! I often hear from people that my line of work must feel so good because you can actually see a product at the end of the journey. This is true and it does feel good if you like wh...

What is successful Design in furniture? Successful design is functional and visually pleasing. The challenge is to arrive at a design that meets both of these qualities equally. I believe woodworking is very much like the martial arts.  It is discipline and focus and being in tune with your senses, your feelings and the material that you are working with. Sometimes we just know we should wait to make that cut or start that glue-up and other times we know that everything is in alignment and there is no time to waste. It is a very personal process. Design is much the same. We struggle with the radius of an arc, the heaviness of a line, the proportions of a cabinet all related to the wood we are using and perhaps the final placement of the piece. Design is exciting! It can be a lot of fun to design your next desk or chair or armoire. Even more exciting to choose the wood. What woodworker doesn't like to go look at your local hardwood supplier and see what they mi...

This Dresser is a POP, (point of purchase) display for a new hot company called  tünr . They make specialty socks and laces for iconic footwear.  The cabinet is made of sapele, wenge trim and hard rock figured maple. I also made a tower for their traveling sales show. It packs in an overhead suitcase, comes apart and assembles easily.  And  where  is this cabinet going? NYC!