Last Minute Entry

Guess I was supposed to say something about my inspiration and design, huh? lol

Like I said, I was an alter boy for several years … and was always amazed by the craftsmanship that went into all of the furniture around the alter … everything was just massive … with very clean lines … it was pretty powerful stuff … that I could just sit and stare at for hours … or at least until someone reminded me that the priest was waiting for me to bring him something … esshhhhh

As far as the actual construction and the materials used for this … I have a stash of reclaimed lumber that I’ve been saving up for this project … it’s nothing real special … but I really love knowing i can give new life to someone else’s scraps … especially if I can turn em into something beautiful … almost everything but the breadboard ends, tenons and plugs would be finished with veneer … anywhoo… hope you guys like it!

-- Lip's Dysfuncational Firewood Farm, South Bend, IN

Massive…now I get it!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

lol …OK … so I’m a whole lot better at coming up with one liners and punch lines than i am at really describing my thought process … to be perfectly honest … the whole reason I was working on a Greene and Greene inspired bookcase for this Challenge … was because my other idea (this bookcase) was more than a little unconventional.

This piece was actually designed to go against the longest wall in my great room … I made it roughly the down length of the couch which will be facing it … and just about as tall as the back of the couch … so that when you are sitting on the couch … or the chairs on either side of it for that matter … the books or items on the top will be right about eye level … my original thought was to run several more traditional bookcases down the entire length of the wall … but as the gears started turning in my head … I really started to like the idea of making a single piece of furniture that would showcase a small collection of my favorite books and collectibles … and that’s where the “massive” church alter idea really came into play … I wanted something that drew your attention … to both itself and the treasures placed upon it …

OK … so back to my alter boy thoughts for a minute … while everything on that alter was “massive” ... it wasn’t “massive” for structural reasons … if I had to guess, I’d say the table top was a good 6-8” thick … for a table that at the most had to hold some chalices and a bible … the pastor’s chair … massive … the podiums where they made the readings … massive … and in doing so … they made sure that everyone who walked through that door knew that those things … those people … and when I said I loved the clean lines … there wasn’t any decorative molding on that old alter … they didn’t try to dazzle you with gold …

Now the last really big part of my thought process had to do with the top … ... my original napkin doodles were taller than this piece … with four shelves … all inside the four legs like the two lower shelves in my final design … I was walking into Barnes and Noble one day when it really hit me … even when I go there with a particular book or magazine in mind … it never fails … I have to pick up at least 2-3 books on my way in … you know, the ones they have on display when you walk in the door … it’s not like I buy 2-3 every time … but I do give them a good once over to see if their as interesting as the cover … or the title … or whatever it was that caught my eye … the more I thought about it … it hit me again, I’ve never been walking down one of their isles and just randomly been snagged by a book that had been properly stacked in the bookcase … then when I thought about the books and magazines I have at home it hit me again … yeah, I’ll read books and magazines more than once … but not usually by choice … usually what happens is the wife will be moving some stuff around … and leave a book I had long forgotten about out … and I’ll run across it … and we’re off to the races … at any rate … I figured most people don’t go digging through your bookcases when they come to visit … but if they find something interesting laying around … like say a coffee table book … they’ll take a look … so long story short … that’s how the top evolved …

-- Lip's Dysfuncational Firewood Farm, South Bend, IN

Hi Lip,

This is an interesting design. You have done a nice job with it.

Good luck in the contest.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I hope it gets built. I think it will be a great piece. I really like the design!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Very Good Looking Design, I also would like to see it built, I love the Greene and Greene. Just received my copy yesterday of G & G Shop Drawings from Barnes and Knoble. Best of Luck in the Design Build-off.

-- Your Brother in WoodWorking John, Pittsburgh , PA.

Lip, I’m with the others on hoping this gets built. I hear ya on the commentary about ‘massive’ I often had the same questions when I was a kid. It all makes much more sense now. Just knowing something isn’t going to be crushed by and errant placement of a heavy coffee table book gives one a sense of accomplishment by itself. Great design and keep us posted. I didn’t pull down the file yet but how thick are the main legs?

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

AWESOME!!

Good Luck.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

This is an interesting design.

-- jeanmarc manosque france