Goemaat tables for Deborah Philips Interior Design

This has been a steadily planned project for a few months now. Interior designer Deborah Phillips approached me about building a few tables out of one retail table...basically, cutting what was to be two tops - now three - out of one of these.

What we ended up with were a desk (23 1/2" x 70"), a coffee table (28" x 51") and a round end table that has yet to be built. The huge slab of wood came from Restoration Hardware in one gigantic 77" x 62" slab with a thin-walled sq. tube frame beneath it.

At almost 2 1/2" thick, it wasn't the lightest piece I've ever dealt with.





The coffee table is composed of 2" sq. steel legs with a 1" sq. steel perimeter around the top and 1" sq. steel cross members at the ends on the bottom. This piece has been force oxidized and sealed with a clear powder coat finish.




The desk's frame is composed of 1 1/2" sq. steel tubing throughout. The center ring is 6" dia., 3/4" tubing. The "rays" are solid 1/2" sq. steel bar. The desk has been finished with "breccia smooth matte" powder coat.

Windmill

Installed this afternoon...just in time.

Better pics and video of the mill in action to come...

Thank you so much, Paula...That this functions on more than one level is fabulous. Thank you again for the inspiration.

Cheers....

Some candies...

Not really any candies...but if you knew a Bosnian production manager that worked at Sticks named Ned, you'd get the joke. And I couldn't think of another title for this post.

Really, who IS the Squiggy though?


Above is a mock-up of one of two end tables for our house. Bethany and I picked out a piece of zebrawood last night at Woodsmith Store. The grain orientation can be really wild at times and makes power-planing difficult as the wood develops checking and chatter marks quite easily. I'll have my buddy, Toby, run these through his wide-belt sander to surface the tops. The frames are 1" square tubing that's been rusted and sprayed with polyurethane.



This is one of two reclaimed barn wood tables. The 1 1/2" thick table tops measure 20" x 36", with the one pictured above standing 34 1/2". Both are constructed with pinned mortise and tenon joinery, as shown below. The other table will be coffee table height.



It seems like I'm building everything in pairs these days, and this shelf is no exception. The books are actually going to be recessed into the wood and act as "book" bookends. The spines will be set back (as shown) so the recessed couple of inches won't be seen. These were inspired by Juxtaposed:Power from Blankblank. I can assure you mine won't be $3K...no kidding, follow the link.



Looking in my rearview mirror while leaving the shop, I had to pull over and take some pictures. This was around dusk, 8:56 p.m., as a nasty cell was rolling in...

Zart! Gallery custom doors - installation

Well, a slight hiccup yesterday delayed the final installation of these doors. I'll own up to the oversight - it was mine.
When designing, planning or fabricating, I like to have small reveals. This means I wanted an ever so slight gap between the bottom of the door frames and the tiled floor in front of them. Well, I failed to account for the bowing in the tile. On Friday, the doors would only open a foot or so before becoming bound up. To remedy this, I had to cut out a 1" section on each of the vertical uprights, weld them back together and grind 'em smooth.

With that done late Friday night, I left them outside overnight to rust the bare metal areas I had just ground. DB helped with the install again today and everything went off without a hitch...like it was supposed to on Friday.

Above is the view from the gallery looking into the back area. Below is a shot looking out into the gallery. Zart 1312 owner, Maribeth Trevillyan, adorned the backsides of the doors with fabric in order to completely block off view into the back room. We'll get some pics of that in the near future...

Thanks to Maribeth, DB, Kevy and as always, Bob Wagaman(!) for their help/input/support in one form or the other...It's always appreciated...

Zart! Gallery custom doors - fabrication complete...

I was going to post some other pictures for the completed doors, but decided not to because 1.) the photos I took looked crappy and 2.) I'd hate to spoil the surprise of the actual installation going down tomorrow with D.B. Tune in tomorrow - same Ratt time, same Ratt channel!

"Maybe we can dance, dance, dance!"

Zart! Gallery custom doors - II

Here are the trees I cut with a plasma torch (thanks, Kevy!) last week for the Zart! Gallery in downtown Des Moines. Some vineyard bar and a few hand-forged leaves will adorn the trees. Some forging of the trees is tomorrow's MO. The last pics have arrows pointing to the branches that will come out off of the door frame acting as the door handles. Should be pretty cool. Installation will be at the end of the week with D.B.

Rosenberg Residence - Planter Deux

Tracy and Steve Rosenberg have fast become quite the clients. I love their modern sense of style and attitudes as stewards of their home. Here's the latest addition to the southern exterior wall of their garage. 14 gage mild steel with a forced oxidation finish. 32" x 96".

Rosenberg Residence - "canine restraint structure"

I dropped off this mobile gate yesterday at the Rosenberg residence yesterday. Tracy had asked me last fall to start thinking of a dog gate for the coming spring. The oxidized finish matches the planter I fabricated for them last October. The switch grass negative image plays on actual organic elements placed in the planter box. To keep one's hands from getting rusty when moving, I sought out a couple of smaller tree limb crotches and attached them with some wood lags from behind. 1 1/2" sq. tube, 11 ga. mild steel plate, 3" x 3" x 1/4" angle and 2" swivel casters.

ISU - Institute for Physical Research and Technology

Here's an article on the Rosenberg residence job that was completed last fall. Many thanks to Iowa State University's Institute for Physical Research and Technology.

Rosenberg - Oxidation or "Rust Never Sleeps..."

Fabrication is complete on the Rosenberg's "modern" planter box. Today's task was to instigate oxidation on the exposed faces of the structure. I had a little guidance from Rick Lopez (and Paul!) at Iowa State University's IPRT Company Assistance – Materials Group. I did a little investigation on my own on the internet with little satisfaction prior to speaking with them. At a past employer, I had seen this process done in a day with consistent results, but didn't know the chemicals used. Muriatic acid was suggested by Rick to remove the mill scale on the hot rolled steel...and it worked beautifully.
I didn't have the time to apply numerous applications of a highly diluted acid over a week's time. Thus, the sculpture was taken outside and given a splash in the water before having some acid poured upon it into the areas where water had pooled while it was lying horizontally. The acid reacted instantly with the mill scale dissolving quite quickly. I used a disposable, bristled paintbrush to spread the diluted acid to the areas that had yet to react chemically. Places where the scale didn't immediately dissolve were given 5-10 minutes to soak. When the scale became difficult to remove with dirtied acid/water mixture, the entire surface was rinsed with fresh water. The smaller of the two areas (third and fifth photos above) required two applications. The larger area (first and fourth photos above) was unable to lay flat and had to be leaned at an angle, thus requiring four to five rounds of etching. After the mill scale was removed and the surface was a white/silvery sheen, it was rinsed with water one more time. A final misting of the acid/water mixture was applied and then allowed to dry. The mixture ratio of the mist was approximately 5:1 - 5 parts water to 1 part muriatic acid. Always add acid to water, never water to acid.
Before performing this, I took every precaution to protect myself and my surroundings. Safety glasses, chemical-resistant rubber gloves, leather boots and a respirator were all used during this process. Additionally, I did this outside in an spacious, open area, free of any obstructions. I personally would NOT recommend performing this inside unless you have the proper ventilation...i.e., a box-fan is NOT proper ventilation.
Hopefully this helps others looking for a quick rust "patina" when dealing with mild steel. All the supplies and safety equipment were purchased at Lowe's.