Thought I would post a few pictures of what I’m involved with now that I’m basically retired from the design/build arena. My current work is helping to manage a small shop that builds the architectural woodwork in these pictures. Really, it is still design/build; all of the woodwork is designed and built by us. Proper credit has to go to the guys in the shop for the construction of the parts, and also a great deal of credit to the talented carpenters who are installing it in the field. It’s been fun being a part of some very cool projects.
Replies
You lucky dog.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
NPitz: Someone mentioned you having "luck"
Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
I am absolutely positive there was no luck involved here....but lots of hard lifelong preparation that exploded upon opportunity.
Dang....I am still just in awe....
Stan
Man that's some great stuff. Please load us up.
Would you guys mind finishing my house for me when you get a moment?
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
need a good carp??
I'd pay to work on stuff like that!!!
Mr. T. MOTOL
"I think natural selection must have greatly rewarded the ability to reassure oneself in a crisis with complete bull$hit."
I'm Swiss!
Those ceilings are inspiring.
Nice...
Really incredible stuff. That's what I call fine (home) building. Thanks for sharing.
Wow. Can you get any exterior pix?
awesome!!!!!!!
You got any more???????
Post away!
WOW
Very cool!
But lets not stop with just three little pictures, ya gotta have more.
Doug
No money there, eh? :)
Great work.....
Very nice work. I'd love to work on those projects. Definately need more pics. Also, tell us more about your shop and more about the scope of your work. C'mon, at your young age you can't be really "retired" from this stuff?!I get paid to do carpentry. That makes me a professional.
If I work on my own house does that make me a DIY?
Man I need a drool bucket. Fantistic craftsmanship! I'd pay you to let me work on those projects.
Well I was having a good day.
Now I feel strangely , hmm. Pedestrian.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
Holy Sheit! "what's in a name?" d'oh!
I'm not even feelin' pedestrian...more of a crawl ; {
Thanks to everyone for their compliments; I'm sure that the guys who built this stuff and the guys that installed it would thank you as well. I would love to post a ton of pictures, but I suspect that the clients who own these projects might not want the insides of their houses plastered all over the internet. I will try to post a few pictures as work progresses that capture the gist of the work.
A little background: we are a small shop (about 6-7 guys), and all the work we do is designed in house by the head honcho, a very talented designer and woodworker. Lately we have been doing a lot of these architectural interior jobs for a couple of really over the top projects. We build and finish everything in the largest components possible, and then send it out to be installed. For instance, in that cherry ceiling, we built the dormer interiors in one big unit that "slid" into the dormer, and then built the ceiling panels in six pieces, one for each facet of the ceiling.
I thought I would share a little here, since I have enjoyed seeing some the exceptional work that people have posted pictures of here and in the magazine.
N, my husband used to work for a small architectural design firm.....He and his compadres designed and built some fantastic woodworking units......Their work was enjoyed in the Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland State University.....The work still stands today as I am sure your work will stand......Good work always does.....Off to Tucson, got my groove on, in the shadow of the Rincon...
NPitz: That is the most incredible display of meticulous craftsmanship both in detail and the enormousy of it.
I feel o-n-e i-n-c-h tall right now.
I hardly feel qualified to even comment on that.
Thanks for sharing.
Stan
I think you summed up exactly how I felt when looking at those photographs, Im not sure If you are a carpenter? I am, and have felt very pride in many projects. But looking at craftsmanship like that makes me feel like an ape with a rock!
ph882: Before I viewed this thread...I thought I was a carpenter.....now I know I am .......NOT.
This will motivate the heck out of me...cause I know how I am wired...
Stan
Yeah, I hear you It is hard not to feel a little inept, but Im still young and from what I understand this man is retired which means I have my whole career to achieve results like that. or at least that is what Im going to tell myself.
Stan - I've seen your work. You've probably forgotten more about curved work than any of us will ever know. I appreciate the praise, but let's not go overboard. That ceiling is a challenging project, designed by a very bright guy, and built by some talented woodworkers. But it is basically a series of operations, some simple, some hard, over time.
One of the main ingredients in that project is simply having a customer willing to pay for the amount of time it takes to build it.
It's a luxury to be able to work in an environment where we can build pretty wild stuff, but we don't have any fancy equipment any other equivalent shop doesn't have. A lot of the process is fumbling around trying to find an efficient way to build something that can't be stamped out of a machine or run on a CNC router (which we don't have anyway). We're just lucky to be in position where we have customers with a lot of money to spend, and we're happy to help them spend it on whatever piece of woodwork they want.
Nick
I too am in awe of the work you posted.
We're just lucky to be in position where we have customers with a lot of money to spend, and we're happy to help them spend it on whatever piece of woodwork they want.
This comment caught my attention. I was working on a house that was way overboard, I made a comment to an ironworker who was installing some elaborate handrail on a boat house about the work that he/we were doing. He responded, "its their job to make the money and our job to see how much of it we can get them to spend"
Nice work
Doug
NPitz: You are very modest..and there is nothing wrong with that at all. But...sure...that beautiful work is just one cut at a time....but the grand scale of it....and I cant detect any flaws at all. It just looks perfect.......outstanding and I dont think I am going overboard one bit.
Stan
"One of the main ingredients in that project is simply having a customer willing to pay for the amount of time it takes to build it.
It's a luxury to be able to work in an environment where we can build pretty wild stuff, but we don't have any fancy equipment any other equivalent shop doesn't have."You've hit the nail on the head. I am sure a lot of people here could do that work, not to belittle your skill which is excellent, finding someone who can or will pay up is another thing. Its a lot of work and no one should give away their skill.We have bid on work like that, but the customers aren't willing to pay. I haven't had one yet that will, but I keep my fingers crossed...a job like that is a creme de la creme....Bravo to you!
Anybody want to come help us build this stuff?Here's the situation - we have more work than we can handle, and we have a facility and equipment big enough to do it. What we lack is enough qualified people. Our ideal candidate is a talented woodworker with experience in veneering, curved work, hand joinery, etc. We've been recruiting for a year through the usual channels, and we've hired several truly talented people. We've decided to expand our search into the category of people who may not be in the furniture or millwork business, but still could help us. This person is experienced with tools and building things and probably has a broad range of experiences in working with their hands. They are very bright and have an aptitude for things mechanical. They are the type of person who learn very quickly and intuitively understand how things work. They also are a self-starter, have a "can do" attitude and get things done even when not supervised. They would be able to come into our shop and already be familiar with many of the tools, and be able to learn quickly things they don't already know. They also must be capable of working with others and playing nice.Are we asking too much? I know there are a lot of people here on this site that fit this description, and maybe some of them want to move to PA and build challenging projects.We offer good pay (obviously based on experience and skill), health insurance, paid sick days, paid holidays, and paid vacation.Anyone interested can contact me (Nick Pitz) at [email protected] or by phone at 610-825-4485. Serious inquiries only, please.
OK... here are some more pictures... in progress of installing the library paneling and bookcases. I've actually managed to get out from behind my desk to do this installation myself. These aren't the greatest pictures.
Thanks for the fix.
Excuse me while I go roll in some planer shavings.
If it wasn’t for the Bank Payments,
Interest, Taxes, Wages, and Fuel Costs,
I wouldn’t have to charge you!!
Nice!
Whats with the gap in the panels? and what wood?
Doug
The gap between the two panel sections will be covered by a two part 5 1/4" chair rail that goes around the entire room and becomes the counter edge for the bookcases that are not installed yet. The paneling is all solid cherry; the raised panels are from some matched cherry boards that averaged about 20" wide. You can't see it from the pictures, but the panels are all laid out to be matched from the same board in whatever direction the grain runs.I saw in another post that you had been looking for 12/4 tiger maple. I know of two places here in PA that carry it; e-mail me if you need their information.
OK... here are some pictures of the nearly completed library.
Hey, now that does look nice !!!!!
NPitz
Man that's beautiful!!!
Doug
Nick,
Looks great, and nice to see you around, how you been? Vince Carbone
I'm good, Vince, thanks for asking. I've been lurking around, but also very busy with the current business. I'm hoping to make it to TipiFest this year. I haven't plumbed the depths of that thread, but from what I gather, Andy is hosting it on Long Island, correct?
Nick,
the fest is in fact at Andy's this year. A real short trip ,it will be nice seeing you again. Vince Carbone
The work is gorgeous. Will this also have a paneled ceiling?
And please , please tell me the things that look like white outlet covers in the base will get replaced with something less intrusive. ;-)
The ceiling actually stays as is. The house is an early Pennsylvania German farmhouse, and is pretty rustic, which is what the owners seem to like. And yes, the white outlet covers are only temporary.
Gorgeous! Were all those details and molding profiles part of the original blueprints, or do you guys specify design elements?
We (and by we, I mean Jim, the owner) do all the design work in-house, so we are responsible for the whole thing, from molding profiles to the carved keystone above the door. Of course, it is all based on historical work found in this area, and it does get input and ultimate approval from the architect and the homeowner, but Jim pretty much creates the design for all this stuff on his own.
Beautiful...you even made a place to put your tools.
Forgot......I love those barrel vault ceilings........
yeah ... if ya like that sorta thing.
I'm kinda partial to drywall ... U got no drywall in there ...
and we all know I'm kidding right!
Wow Again ... looks fantastic.
I worked with a cab maker that'd recreate all the walls back in his warehouse/shop. All the crooked and outta plumb walls were rebuilt ... then all his cab's were built to those ... drilled and assembled ... then just put the right screw in the right spot out in the field ... with very little scribing. Really cool stuff to work on.
I was wondering before I read your second post ... did they prebuild that ceiling?
How'd that work? Something that big ...
prebuild ... or just really ... really accurate measuring and really ... really good framing? I got the part about the 6 big pieces ... but how'd ya get those 6 to fit?
on site or in the shop?
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
JeffThanks for the compliment.The ceiling was framed and straightened with lath strapping pretty thoroughly by the site carpenters before we started. We obviously tokk careful measurements (you should see the drawings for this room that we did) before we started building anything. The first thing built was a full size replica dormer as a form for the dormer interiors. The four dormer interiors were then built in the form, which took about a month and a half. After the dormers were built, they were taken to the site and installed. We then constructed full size templates of each side of the ceiling around every dormer and any other features (lights and sprinklers). The dormers then came back out, and we built the six ceiling panels in the shop to the templates. The six panels were installed, the dormers re-installed, and then the final pieces of trim installed to cover the joints. Of course, it was a lot more complicated than that, but that's the basic story.
Nick, I would hope a guy passing by Philly could maybe with advance notice set up a time to stop in for the grand tour of the operation?
You weren't kidding on this career change being exciting. Way to go!Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
The pix w/the barrel vault musthave $100,000 in labor and materials.Is that anywhere close?
Wow!Thanks for posting the pics and info.Please post more..of everything,inter/exter. how it gets done in the shop etc. When you get the time of course!
george c.
Wow!
WOW!
Holy WOW!
Thats some great stuff!
I understand the process, and I am a huge believer in process, but the joints between the six sides...you say that part was done in the field? Wow again!
I know it's impolite to ask, but how long did this project take your crew? I have to imagine the rough dollar figures are stout. Thanks for sharing.
Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
just curious, how long do these beautify detailed projects take to compleat? amazing!
Once again, thanks to all for their compliments...It would be tough to give a close estimate of how long these things take, but I can give you an example: it took 2-3 guys about 6 weeks to build the interiors of the four dormers in that ceiling. That includes the time spent building a full size replica of one of the dormers in the shop to use as a form for all the bending and glue-ups. A lot of cursing and general bad attitude came along with it.I will post some more pictures when I have some more worth posting.
<I will post some more pictures when I have some more worth posting.>I have a feeling "ANY" pictures you have would be "worth" postingSo don't be shy, PLEASE post some more.
OK, here's another picture from a project we are still working on.These are two separate 27" Sub-zeros, one a freezer, one a refrigerator, built into a piece of furniture. The material is cherry.
Great piece, would like to see more of the project.
VERY NICE!!!
Hell get more pictures, were a small quit group, no one will tell.
Doug
bumpanxiously waiting.......edited to add that I'm not going to let you get away that easy <G>What you have posted is what "break time" lives for......
Edited 11/20/2005 6:53 am ET by butch
Nick, if there's a fest in the east next summer I'm hoping to be able to take an extra day and drop in. I'd like to see this shop-LIVE.
Regards to Stacey.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Calvin - You should know that you're welcome anytime. You know where to find me.I will continue to post a few pictures whenever I have some that I think are noteworthy.
Thank you and expect the visit. Matter of fact, you can ride over to the fest with us. You're bound to go this year.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
This might sound funny but, I wouldn't mind spending some time on my back in that room.