I wanted to share some photos

While I'm waiting to show you more progress on my house full of doors, I thought I'd share some interesting wood related photos.
    I was walking on the back of my land and noticed the Redwoods needles, from 2 springs ago, was starting to turn brown as it does each fall.  As the winter winds come,  these clumps of Redwood needles blow out of the trees and blanket the earth with a golden brown layer of retired branched needles.  The Pomo Indians say that each winter the Redwoods cry and they call these dead branchs of needles, Redwood Sorrow.

 

Instead of snow, our Coastal forest is blanketed with the Redwood "Sorrow" that returns to the earth to become mulch and nurture our beautiful Redwood forest.

  

Speaking of Redwood, our cousins to the West continent grow a third variety of Sequoia.  It is called The Dawn Redwood.  Wikipedia states "Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet  in height. Local villagers refer to the original tree from which most others derive as Shui-sa, or "water fir", which is part of a local shrine."

   About 20 years ago I planted a dawn Redwood on the edge of our garden and today it is about 35ft tall.  Every fall it looses all of its' needles.  

All of the needles will yellow then fall off and it looks like the tree has come to a fatal end until spring comes and life and foliage returns to this nobel tree.

  We have a western Maple that grows along the Pacific range.  Its' latin name is Acer Macrophillum, Pacific Maple, or Big Leaf Maple.  And this is why.........

These leaves turn yellow, not red or orange, and then turn into this tan shell of a leaf before they return back to compost and nurture the earth.


Another cool picture that I would like to share, is a very thin slice of old growth Redwood.  I cut it off the end of a board and noticed it was so thin you could see light through it......... so I took it outside and shot a picture of this slice held up to the afternoon sun in the Redwood forest.

A simple detail you should know ......... this end cut is 5-1/2" wide by about 1-3/4" tall.  Each line you see, indicates 1 full year of growth.  Part of this trees life grew in such a dark primeval forest, that it took 45 years to grow one inch in diameter.  Imagine these magnificent trees grow up to 20 feet in diameter, and have been on this earth since before the time of Christ.


So, one day my friend Sunray was sawing a 6ft cant (block) of curly Redwood into thick veneers for beautiful panels in our doors. Well it was so heavy that he decided to saw it in half to make it easier to re-saw the thick veneers.  And believe it or not (you really should) when he sawed this 6ft by 8 inch square cant of Redwood in half, he found this......

Yup ......... that is a bullet.  But look carefully that is a bullet that was shot into a young tree, maybe over 100 years ago.  There is no damaged wood behind the bullet and this piece of Redwood was over 120 years old before the tree was logged 40 to 50 years ago, and left on the forest floor for us to find and saw into beautiful veneer, like this

But I saved the the block with the bullet to tell its' story.  If your ever in the neighborhood ask to hold it and have a look for your self.  Can't wait to make "The Bullet Wood Door" for some nice (peaceful) folks!

I've shown this picture before, but take another look.  Here is a picture of the end of a board that was milled for me by a local sawyer.

 

This tree was originally fallen, by a man with an ax.  How very cool.  I'll bet he would be proud that we utilized his hard work and efforts to create a beautiful door to grace a home of a wonderful family.

Then, I'll end with this

This is a picture of some hand split curly Redwood and the cut end of a Buckeye Burl.  Not much more to say other then I love Natures paint brush.

Please visit Our Website to see more of this beautiful wood.

Let's get ready for this project!

Walking around the property, looking at all the preparations, walking through the rough framed home, and imagining just where the doors will hang for decades to come........ pretty cool.  Years of planning, earth moving, layout, milling logs, drying that lumber, and starting construction shows the love and care that is going into this gentleman's future dream home.

The garage and generator buildings are used to store building materials.  All of the site-sawn lumber was graded on site and air dried in a custom drying shed, pre-sealed and oiled on site, then stored under reflective tarps until it time to be used on the home.

Click on Any Image to Enlarge

The home will over look the meadow below, a forest to the East, and the Pacific Ocean is less then a mile to the West.  On a clear day the blue Pacific gleams on the horizon, inviting the viewer to hours of staring into the “future” with an afternoon of peaceful thoughts.

Months ago the owner started sorting out different designs for his doors.  Taking what he already had on the structures he had on his property, he added little details and varied designs.  I think I drew 3 or 4 different designs for the lower doors and his Great Room doors.  We changed some of the sizes, due to framing changes, and settled on the final designs.  Custom really means custom.

The owner has decide on Ribbon Grain VG Mahogany with figured Old Growth Redwood panels.  Some of the glass will be clear and some will be a textured art glass, called Seedy Reamy.  All of the glass will be tempered and insulated.


For more unique custom doors please visit our Website.

Let's build a house .... with custom doors!

Back in early 2004, I received an inquiry, from a gentleman, in the Bay area.  He had recently purchased a piece of property on the Mendocino Coast and he was starting his long term project of build his “dream home”.  He was start by building his Garage and he wanted, of all doors, a Dutch Door on each side of his garage.  Soooo we discussed designs, an estimate was given, and a long friendship had begun.

I built two Dutch Doors for his garage, which is really “control central” for a roof full of solar panels, which will provide all of his future electricity for his garage and home.

                                                                                                 

              



The siding on the building was milled on this land and this is one of the more beautiful garages I’ve seen over the many years I’ve been building and making doors.  It turns out that the garage is also the “headquarters” for future building projects ....... and answering the phone when he’s on his 
property.

Then, moving on to July of 2007 he contacted me regarding another pair of doors to be placed on his Generator out-building he was about to start constructing.  It is a large building up on a knoll between the Garage and future home site. 

getting closer to today ............ Then in June of 2010 I received an email from my friend.  It read ...."We are just about finished with house design here and I would like to meet with you to discuss doors.  Can I come by one of these weekends on a Saturday to discuss?"

We started by going over rough openings, design ideas, drawings, and more drawings.  Some of the doors are now onto version 6 and I think we've got it, the final designs.

  I enjoy the process, but mostly, I strive for three experiences with each door client. 

One, and foremost ..... that the client receives the design and door which makes them happy and fulfilled that they have received the "door of their dream".  

Two, that the client becomes and remains my friend.  It is not pleasurable when working with unhappy folks who do not appreciate the effort and craftsmanship that we put into each door we create.

Three,  I always sleep better when I am remunerated for my efforts.  I'm reminded by a thought, I once read,...."No one can ever pay you for what you love to do, but they can pay for for your time."

More to come soon ........ please visit my Website.

Soooo .... Let's Build-a-Door

I thought it might be informative to show a few pictures of the process of making a custom door.  This segment will be devoted to creating the door. 

I start with rough sawn 2” thick material that I cut oversized then the finish piece 

I joint each piece on its’ face to make it true and straight.  Then I surface each piece down to a 1-13/16” thickness.  After the rough lumber is surfaced, I joint an edge to make the stock straight and square.  Then each piece is cut to width and length and sized to my calculations for each piece.  I then layout the mortise pockets and the dowels, which I make myself out of Mahogany or White Oak (these woods don’t rot like commercial Birch dowels)

When all of the pieces are ready for assembly, they are laid out over the bench an pre-glued 3 times with the exterior glue I’ve used for 30 years without a failure. 

 

 After every piece is pre-glued, we start putting the door together from the bottom to the top.

When all of the pieces are put together we go to extraordinary efforts to clamp the door, flatten all the joints, and clamp the pieces from side to side and top to bottom.

Then I start cutting out the sidelights, two, and the process happens all over again

Each door is constructed with the same methodical steps, never taking short cuts or making compromises in the construction of each door, sidelight, or transom.

oh ........ by the way ...... the same attention to detail goes into each interior door, garden gate, or driveway entry gate.

There is this reminder on my shop wall,
                                 “if you don’t do it right the first time, when will you have time to do it over”

Please visit Our Site and my Door Gallery to view the actual construction of over a hundred doors.  I build a web site for each client to view the construction of their individual door(s), and it offers you a chance, to see for yourself, the craftsmanship and care that goes into each door.

CLICK HERE to return to my site.

What Is Happening In The Shop ?

Many folks visit my “work in progress” page to see what I working on and what it takes to make a custom made door ............ so I thought I’d share some pictures of the current “traffic jamb” in the shop right now.  I have some doors completed and ready to ship out or to be picked up.  There are also some doors in progress along with some “self-commissioned” doors.  The “self commissioned” doors are doors that I’ve designed and to make available to folks who don’t have the time or inclination to wait for a custom door to be made.

Click on any image to Enlarge

Some of these doors are complete, some doors are curing between the 4 coats of varnish oil, while some are waiting for glass and panels.  One door is waiting for me to install the dentil shelf and eyebrow.  I guess it is safe to say, we have some work in progress.  I forgot to take a picture of a door on the bench to be glued up tomorrow, before the weekend comes.

I build a separate web site for each client to watch the steps it takes to create their door ........ and in the end ...... the final results of their dreams for a custom made door.

All of the panels, dentil shelf, and an "eyebrow" are oiled with 3-4 coats of our varnish oil.  We do this before they are installed in or on the doors.  That way the door is truly sealed from the inside out.  That is the right way ........ the only way.

Thought I’d add a picture of 2 sets (doors worth) of panels being pressed in my vacuum press.  I keep the process proprietary, but I thought I’d include a cool shot

to see more please visit our web site at MendocinoDoors.com 

and make sure to check out our Current Projects

and thanks for taking the time to investigate my world.