Its hard to tell in the pictures but this is alder and is supposed to be distressed. Distressing isn’t as good as I’d like to see but the HO’ers are happy with it and they only wanted to spend so much for that part of the job. It was our painters first attempt at distressing and not bad for a first time but not the greatest either!
As typical of these anymore, a big flat screen TV will be installed and the unit has a lift(remote controled) for the door to come down and hide the TV when not in use.
This job was about 100 miles away so we (boss and us two installers) stayed overnight and finished up early on the second day.
We installed these faux beams about two months ago, I helped build them in the shop and again we (just two of us) stayed for the night and finished up early on the second day. The beams were light enough for two of us to carry, kinda awkward but not terribly heavy. We lifted them into place with a couple crank lifts.
The beams consist of alder MDF and some solid wood, most of the parts were cut out on the CNC so putting them together was a breeze, no irregular parts to contend with.
Doug
Edited 9/29/2007 11:09 am ET by DougU
Replies
Nice, Doug. I like how the arched top repeats the same curve as is seen in the hammerbeam truss thingies.
Your painter needs to get into a little SDM, all the whips and chains stuff, to learn proper distressing. Don't tell him I said that!
Re the beamwork, which you noted is a mix of MDF and wood, and all CNC cut. Must be purely decorative, right?
What software is used by the shop that did the cutting?
We see a lot of big flatscreen TVs get placed over fireplaces nowadays, don't we? I am not really in favor of putting one up that high. Makes me feel like I am in an airport gate area, watching Wolf Blitzer while I am bending my neck back.
Gene
Yes the beams are purly decorative.
As far as the software that does the CNC stuff, I know that we use two kinds, one for cab parts and another for all of the stuff like this, however I'm not sure of either! I'll have to take a look and see.
I dont know that I'm a big fan of the tv above the fireplace either, seams to be to much of a fad and I dont like fads.
I did a more simple entertainment center about 1 month ago, not my style of woodwork but I prefer the placement of the TV a little more.
Shot, my blockers have gone back on so I'll have to start a new post to show you that one.
Doug
Gene
This ent center, although a bit more understated, has a tv placed nicely.
We had to match existing woodwork and color, neither of which I care for but it's not going in my house so.......
Doug
Great work Doug, what type of wood is that on the top panel of the lower doors.
The orginal post is beautiful, shame it has a Heat&Glo instead of a real fireplace though
Neil
The wood in the upper panels is Pomelle Sapele. Last fall I did some work in this same house and they have some wainscoting panels in the old part of the house that we had to match.
Here is a link to some of the Sapele on e-bay, its pretty neat stuff and really not all that expensive.
http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Way-Bookmatch-Veneer-Exotic-Figured-Quilted-Sapele_W0QQitemZ280155950708QQihZ018QQcategoryZ146404QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Regarding the Heat glo, yea I guess people want a fireplace but they dont want to bother with the wood!
This is an older couple, Ford dealership owner, nicest car salesman that I ever met. If I was in the market to buy a Ford I'd drive down to his place and buy from him, unfortunatly for him I drive Chevys!
Thanks
Doug
Edited 9/29/2007 9:00 pm ET by DougU
Here is a pic of the wainscoting in the older part of the house with the same Sapele wood for upper panels.
Doug
That's sharp.
I never thought about buying wood from e-bay before
Schweeeet.
You like Alder? Seems friendly as far as I've used it.
Oh, sorry, but the upper left panel in the third pic, is upside down. (G)
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
but the upper left panel in the third pic, is upside down.
I had to stare at it for a while but your right! Flames up, oh well, win some/loose some.
Alder is easy to work with, maybe to easy. We have built several sets of kitchen cabs out of the stuff and I wouldn't have them as mine. To damn soft. Not going to take any punishment at all. For something like this its fine but not for kit cabs.
The last job that I did before moving back here from TX was a pretty big kitchen job out of Alder and try as I could I wasn't going to talk the HO'ers out of using it.
Hell the damn stuff was the great northwest/west coasts poplar before it caught on and now the stuff is being used as a primary stain grade wood all over. Fads, go figure!
Doug
Very nice craftsmanship on both jobs Doug
Was this the job you were talking about in DSM?
Barry
Thanks and No to DM - Oskalosa.
I don't know how the deal in DM is going, no mention of it lately?
On this job there are a couple woman faux painters from DM who do some pretty good work, don't recall their Co. name but they do mention some pretty nice places that they have worked on in and around DM.
Doug
Looks good, Doug.
jt8
"Those who wish to sing always find a song." -- Swedish Proverb
Wow! Absolutely awesome! This is exactly what Bambam wants to do in our livingroom! It was hard for me to picture the design, but that is clear as a bell now! You need to come to Firefest! :)
My brain + his brawn = a perfect team
You need to come to Firefest! :)
I'm already giving that some serious consideration. I miss eating at Herberts in San Marcos and my good buddy Orbelene so a trip down there would accomplish more then just meeting a bunch of BT'ers.
Haven't had the opportunity to mention this to any Pats fan (they aren't allowed around here)yet but seeings how you are one I just have one thing to say, I guess we'll never know who really won those three super bowls now will we! :)
Doug
I like it.Got a question for you - on the curved chords for the hammer trusses - are they cut with bandsaw from a larger straight timber????I saw earlier comment about CNC cutting pieces, but for something like that, I'd want carefully chosen grain orientation and not just a machine cut however it lands.
Trouble with that kind of piece and cutting is that as it dries, the shape of the curve can change according to how the grain runs. if 6-8 years from now, one side curve is different from the other, it really can be a distraction to the eye at best.not critical, just curious what you guys do to try and avoid that.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Find a CNC cutter in your area, and you will learn all about how grain match, orientation, alignment for bookmatch, etc., are all done.
Those beams are all faux. Nothing solid about them.
I shrunk down the pic size for you, so you probably cannot see it, but all the cherry parts in this fireplace surround were CNC cut, and with the exception of the few parts that go cross-top, everything R is chosen to match the mirror part on the L, as closely as possible, with grain type and color.
View Image
Piffin
Gene sorta covered it!
I dont know if you saw my comment but two of us carried these beams, I dont think that'd be possible if they were solid wood.
Everything about those beams is fake. Purely for show.
The sides of the beam are all 3/4" MDF. The only part that is solid wood is the bottoms, the part that if you were laying on your back looking strait up you would see, and that is only 1/2" alder, not that if it was 3/4" it would make it that much heavier but for bending purposes 1/2" is easier.
There shouldnt be a whole lotta shrinking going on with these beams.
Doug
I see. I thought I saw a shadow line of some checking in it. Must be those painters did a good job of faux surfacing.Gene - Nice piece! Where from?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Not mine, Pif. Clipped from an image gallery where CNC woodwizards hang out.
I emailed files Friday to have all the parts machined for a cab project. The shop will open the files, transform them to the machine, do a short setup sequence, then begin whacking. It'll all be just parts to the operators . . . they'll never know or need to know what the finished assemblies look like.
From the file, stick-on labels are produced, and the nesting diagrams are used to position the labels, which communicate things such as orientation, which edge is front, etc. Parts come to me all labeled, and the labels guide the assembly process.
The work is all in the design, using the software. My CAD software can be used with the CNC software to make exotic part editing more rapid.
From the file, stick-on labels are produced, and the nesting diagrams are used to position the labels, which communicate things such as orientation, which edge is front, etc. Parts come to me all labeled, and the labels guide the assembly process.
Gene
We dont have anything that fancy, hell when the guy takes the parts off the CNC table he has to mark each one individually. I visited a shop in Texas that built dorm room and office furniture that had the operation that you speak of but we arnt that far along!
Everything we do is custom so the CNC does enable us to do cutouts at a much more rapid rate and with great accuracy but because we do so many differrnt things we probably dont get to utilize it to its fullest potential.
We're building a house right now and one thing I like about the CNC is that we can cut our stair stringers on it and then come back and cut our decorative stringer parts and everything fits like a glove. Now thats probably not a good reason to own a CNC but it is one example of where it is so damn nice to have.
Doug
I thought I saw a shadow line of some checking in it
Yea, good thing he (the painter) started on the beams instead of the cabinetry!
I came in the shop one day and saw these gouges going perpendicular to the grain and asked Jim(painter) what the hell was that, he told me that they were the checks in the wood! I explained to him what a check in wood is and just like a light bulb going off he realized what he needed to do to make it more authentic!
Like I said in my original post, the distressing isnt all that good but for the customers that we had on this job it is more then adequate, the're really happy with it and good distressing can be time consuming and that time cost $$$ so ..........
Doug
Ok, I've looked 5 times now, and I still have not seen one single ent !!
False advertising. That's what it is.
(Great job.) =0)
Look 5 more times and then get back to me!
Doug
Great work, Doug. Very stately. Good lines.
Very cool! You can come do mine!
:^)
Dave
That is really beautiful work, but if I had that kind of money, I think I would have the tv in a seperate area and keep that room as a library or such. just can't imagine the fire going and a tv above.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.