Held this weekend, The Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show is one of the longest running craft furniture show in the US.
"The PIFS features a great range of work reflective of the diverse creative directions present in the field of artisan-made furniture. There will be shaker and arts and crafts influenced wooden furniture, historically based Grandfather clocks as well as contemporary timepieces, modern functional-sculptural pieces in metal and wood, table top accessories, wall art and much more. The price points also span from the affordable impulse purchase to works suitable for long-term investments as future heirlooms."
FWA artists Tom Lederer and Michael Brown will be at the show, be sure to stop by and see their beautiful work in person.
More of Toms work can be found in his gallery- www.finewoodartists.com/gallery/lederer/tom_lederer.htm
More of Michaels work can be seen in his gallery- www.finewoodartists.com/gallery/brown/michael_brown.htm
The Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show Saturday, March 27, 11am-7pm Sunday, March 28, 11am-5pm The Philadelphia Cruise Terminal at Pier 1 Philadelphia Naval Business Center (PNBC) 5100 South Broad Street (South) Philadelphia, PA 19112 215-387-8590 215-387-8591 fax info@pffshow.com http://www.philaifs.com/
Andrew Pitts is a self taught furniture maker, working out of his shop in Heathsville, Virginia. With over 35 years experience, he kindly answered some of our questions.
What is my favorite wood and why?
I can say Cherry is clearly my favorite wood, seconded by Red Oak. Both these woods grow locally in Virginia, and I use a lot of windfall wood I mill with a Woodmizer sawmill and dry in a solar kiln, so it is somewhat plentiful. Cherry looks great, works well, and the combination of cherry and red oak in the same piece, well, I just really like it!
Do I have a favorite tree?
Hmmmm ... I live and work in an eastern Virginia hardwood forest and I really like just being among the trees here. For milling and making lumber, I like the tall straight trees that grow in the forest. Tulip Poplar comes to mind, not a true poplar but a member of the magnolia family, I believe. These grow like an arrow and are the tallest trees in our forests, and they mill and dry great! For peace and quiet I love the tall pines, but I am not a softwood artisan (except for the occasional cedar) so I just like to see and smell the pines and keep it at that. Although I love the grain of small pieces of American Beech, the trees themselves are too full of sucker branches that mar the wood with knots and cause drying defects, so beech is not my favorite milling tree, but as gnarly as beech can be, I have never seen one fall in a hurricane so they are good protection. The oaks in the forest are majestic, although the mighty oaks are real targets for wind storms as the roots dont go too deep. I guess Im giving a bad answer to the question, because I really like all the trees - like people, they each have their own personalities!
What pieces that you have crafted from wood are you most proud of and why?
Another tough question to answer. Dont we love all our pieces? They are our "children", after all. Lately, I have moved from doing mainly rectilinear work to using a lot of curves - using bent laminations and such. So, I am partial to the really graceful pieces such as my Shadows of Night cabinet, where the ebonized legs sweep the bent laminated upper cabinet away. I also like that I could do some carving in the doors, making a Chesapeake Bay wetlands scene. The same can be said of Chest of Drawers sans sides, which also uses a curved leg structure but as the name suggests has no sides, but simply drawers with all the joinery exposed. But some of my more "square" work is also nice, as the beauty is in the details. Take, for instance, the Roll Top Desk with walnut as the main wood but cherry trimming it out and a red oak tambour (there is that cherry and red oak combo I like so much). The desk has few curves, but is still delicate and nice and I am very happy that I was commissioned to make it.
Chest of Drawers Sans Sides
What is the hardest piece you ever made from wood and why?
I would have to say that Chest of Drawers Sans Sides was the most technically difficult piece to build, because just does not have any square corners! All the joinery had to be figured out at weird angles ... ditto with the drawer dovetails. I think the second most difficult piece may have been my jewel chest, of which I made two. These use drawers that are pie shaped and pivot on a steel rod. The drawer sides are curved bent laminations of holly, and the dovetails had to be cut on the curve - a first for me - and then the swing of the drawers had to be made smooth. And above all, the piece had to be made so when the humidity changed the parts would not all lock up or come out of alignment. Both cases have been through several summers and winters, and all is still well!
More of Andrews work can be seen in his gallery here- http://www.finewoodartists.com/gallery/pitts/andrew_pitts.htm
Total volume of lumber: 2907 inches3 (= 1 11/16 feet3);
Units: Inches - fractions
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The functional component - the build step guide - Table of Contents: Concept design Building foundations Building Post Building Frame Building Floor Building Interior wall Building Nest Boxes
Building Perches Building Chicken Run Building Roof, Fiberglass insulation for roof Building Fiberglass Insulation for Wall Building Exterior Wall Building Door, Window, Vents, Clean Out-Lid
Building Litter Tray Building Chicken Ramp Building Chicken Run
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It can comfortably hold 15 chickens Overall size: 6 2" x 4 7 1/2" = 28.5208 ft² for Chicken House 6 2" x 1 6 1/2" = 9.5069 ft² for Nesting Boxes for 4 Hens 12 1 1/2" x 6 3 1/2" = 76.2865 ft² for Chicken run Construction area: 113.5417 ft² (Area for Foundation) Maximum height: 9 10" Total volume of lumber: 93116 inches3 (= 54 feet3) Total area of plywood: 394 feet2 (= 12 1/2 plywoods with 4x8)
Lily Cabinet by Tom Lederer
