Road Trip Update

Jay Lock

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Hi everyone

We spent the day roaming around Berea KY today, visited a bunch of very talented woodworkers. Sorry, no pics but IT DID HAPPEN :rofl::rofl:

So, I'll put in some web links

We started out the day visiting Kelly Mehler, you may have seen his demos at some of the woodworking shows or read his book. He has a school here, a wonderful place nestled in the woods. Even though he was "off" he said come on by when I called. He was very welcoming, the school shop is very well set up with a lot of Euro machines on the ground floor (can you say Felder and Festool) and a light airy bench room on the second floor. In addition to his own classes, he brings in other "big guns" for classes.

http://www.kellymehler.com/

Then we visited Brian Boggs chairmaker, he was planing down a tabletop glueup when we arrived but decided that he would take a break and give us a tour. Oh, I wish we had the camera with us, the number of special made tools/jigs he had was all too interesting, especially a rube goldberg looking thing that turns bark into the thin strips used to make chair seats. Lots of "old iron" in the shop as well, sorry didn't get the names.

He was very generous with his time, showing us the whole work flow from wood storage to finished product. He is working on a new gateleg table design where the legs will rotate around a central hub and don't have to be out 90 degrees to remain stable. We saw the prototype in the shop and the hinges he machined out of brass bar stock.

http://www.brianboggschairs.com/

We also visited Warren May's shop

http://www.warrenamay.com/

This is a great place, except the town is DRY so if you enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner, plan on staying someplace else.

Tomorrow we are off to Pleasant Hill to immerse ourselves in Shaker stuff

Jay
 
Great post Jay! Berea is on my short list of places to visit this fall. It's about a 3-4 hour drive from where I live and is a great place for a family style outting!
 
Hey Jay,

Bring me back ten of those Brian Boogs sculped fan-back ebonized chairs. Let me see---- 10 x $9,500 equals $95,000 plus tax. On second thought let me think about it for a day or two.

Sounds like that you are having a great trip.

Allen
 
Kelly runs a fantastic school, I have been there many times.

Brian Boggs is ALWAYS generous with his time. That man is a mechanical genious! His dry chair joints "pop" when pulled apart, the tolerances are so tight.

When you go to Pleasant Hill, make sure you tour the top floors of the meeting house. They are not open except for tours. Well worth your time.

Sounds like you are having a nice road trip.
 
pictures man! some of us will likely never get much more than an hour or two from the shop (me) and need to live vicariously. glad you`re having fun!
 
Further down the road

Hi everyone

Spent a day at Pleasant Hill, the restored Shaker Village about 40 miles SW of Lexington KY. Stayed in the inn for the evening, our room was in a restored building, lots of historic charm, good food (but still a DRY county so no wine with dinner) yes this is a WHINE :rofl::rofl:, but lots of candles.

Got to a place where we actually have a good internet connection so I thought I"d put in some pics

Most of these were taken in the Meeting House, the truss work is in the attic, it supports the second floor so the big room on the ground floor is wide open, no posts in a room that I think is at least 60' wide. All the truss work is hardwood, the guide said that there wasn't any pine in KY when these buildings were erected!

Jay
 
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On to West Va and Pa

Well, we visited some friends in West Va near Beckley -- there is a place called Tamarack on the interstate, great craft gallery

Here is some of the stuff that was on display

And then we went to Falling Water, the Frank Lloyd Wright House near Pittsburgh. Sorry, no pictures allowed in the house or posted on a website so here is a link to their website
http://www.paconserve.org/index-fw1.asp

We are off to Maine tomorrow after a stop in a quilt shop in Intercourse PA (no this is not a violation of the COC :rofl:) for "The Navigator"
Might have time to check out the Rockler shop in Portland Maine before moving on to Nova Scotia!

Jay
 
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Met Travis Johnson

After several rainy days in Maine, LOML and I were able to have a quick get together with Travis! He was kind enought to take some time off of work at the premier yacht yard in Maine to give us a tour of their latest project, a $15 million powerboat.

Pics to follow but suffice it to say that Travis is a great guy, we were sorry that we didn't have more time to hang around. The metal work he did on the yacht was absolutely fantastic -- now I understand how he manages to produce all those goodies he posts here!

Jay
 
Jay, if you were in Intercourse, you were only about an hour from me, and I suspect that you passed even closer as you traveled north. In fact, if you came up Rt 222, you would have passed within two miles of my place! If you are coming back through PA and will be near the Allentown area, you are welcome to stop by and say hello.

Bill
 
Bill

Thanks so much for the invitation, don't think it will happen this trip, but it seems that we are always roaming around the NE once a year or so, can I take a raincheck?

Jay
 
Thanks for stopping in Jay, of the four years I have been online, you are only the second woodworker I have ever met. Come to think of it, maybe that says something about me...:)

It was great to meet you and your lovely wife in any case. I know you were pressed for time, just as I am most of the time. But I was glad you got to see the boat, as its really floating jewelry. I've put a lot of work into this yacht and so have the other 199 co-workers that have toiled away on this thing for the last 3 years.

One more comment should be made for my employer Lyman-Morse too. In this day of liability and lawyers, I think its down-right great that they open their shop up and are willing to show off their stuff to so many people. Its a great place to work because they want their employees to be proud of their work. When you have pride in your work, you tend to do a better job and I think they know that.

I can't wait to see the pictures your wife took.
 
I am interested too.

One detail that I have been working on since January was putting some ½ inch by 1/8 trim around the galley (kitchen) of the boat. They routed a groove into some walnut trim and the polished stainless trim went into that. It is also around the granite countertop, the circular staircase, the dining room table, the chairs and in all 300 feet of the stuff.

Its kind of funny Tod because a lot of the details are things you can't see. Like welds. As Jay pointed out to his wife, this one piece I was working on (a bracket for an awning) had 3 pieces of steel to it, yet the welds are blended so well, it looks like one piece. That is what we pride ourselves in doing. It may take only a few days to make a part, but will take a week to clean it up and give it a mirror like shine.

Unfortunately I am not sure how much details anyone will see in the pictures. The yacht was pretty well covered up with cardboard and tape to protect all the finishes. This yacht is nearly completed, but was not floating, but in a building and being worked on so a lot of stuff was covered up to protect it from damages. Still its pretty easy to see its a very nice boat.
 
those of us who`ve been beating our fingers for a while will notice the details travis! wood or metal doesn`t curve and conform flawlessly without lots of convincing.....when things are done they`re supposed to look effortless and simple...signs of quality work.
 
Hi everyone

Here are a few pics of "the boat" and Travis with some of his work (the stair case railing)

Time was too short, next trip we'll have to plan better so we can at least have a cup of coffee! Travis is right about his employer, Linda and I discussed the fact that we were welcomed with open arms, and no one was worrying about insurance issues (and there were plenty of opportunities to trip over cables and fall into open hatches)
 
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Resisted temptation

I forgot to mention that L-N is just around the corner from where Travis works, we visited the day before when it was raining and blowing like stink and there wasn't anything to do except go to galleries, coffee houses, bookstores, etc.

I walked in, played with a few toys -- can you say smoothing plane -- took a deep breath, smiled at the guy who runs the show room, said, "thanks" and walked out the door empty handed!

Jay
 
Looks like a great trip, Jay. Cool that you and Travis got to meet, too. That's quite a boat. I'm real impressed with the way Travis made the foam pipe insulation flow around that handrail. And the yellow tape really accents it nicely. :rofl: (Seriously, the whole thing looks like an awesome project, Travis.)
 
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