Milling

My friend Mohrgan recently had a maple tree removed from his back yard and decided to get it milled into slabs. The portable bandsaw mill pulled up to his house the other day and we started cutting up his tree on a windy, cold October day. Well Frank, of Franks Planks, actually did all the cutting, but we helped load and push and roll the logs and finished lumber around his front yard. It took about a day to get everything cut and he got a lot of great wood.

For helping him out he's going to give me 4 slabs that we cut from the crotch of the tree. They should provide for some opportunity for incredible results.

I've also got my eye on some more of his large slabs that would be perfect for desks, benches or kitchen tables. I'm working on sketching up some ideas for the y-shaped slabs with a nod to Nakashima's work.

The wood is being sent to the kiln and should be ready in about a month...I can't wait.

MB

Nakashima

I just came across George Nakashima's work for the first time the other day. Do you know how it feels to have an idea that you just can't find the right words to express? Then the next day you're walking along and a song comes on that says exactly what you want to say, but only a thousand times better than you could have ever said it. That's how I felt when I saw his furniture.

Simple, elegant, and honest. The raw beauty of the wood is magnified by the presentation, but at the same time functionality is dominant. Japanese joinery is an art in itself, and it's these techniques that make Nakashima's work so spectacular.

His work is a reminder of the beauty of simplicity and the natural world. It also acknowledges uniqueness and individuality.

I've ordered one of his books, The Soul of a Tree, and I'm looking forward to learning more about this great builder.

MB