Quality Control

As wood is a natural material it is often viewed as imperfect, this perception is magnified by todays slick plastic world where slick man made surfaces invade our lives. The result is we are left out of touch with the natural world around us. When it comes to wood there are nicks, cracks, knots, holes, dents and other blemishes that often cover the surface, some can be controlled to a degree and some simply can not. While minor imperfections should be not only be accepted, they should be thought of as something inherent to both material and process, these things give added character and originality to the final piece. In other words its the imperfection of wood as a material that makes it perfect. After all this is "art" we are talking about here, nothing here pops out of a mold and rolls off an assembly line in some foreign land. With all that said there are pieces that for one reason or another that do not meet the high standards we set. Sometimes it is a real problem with the wood and sometimes a piece gets screwed up beyond repair. So what do we do with the rejects? We light 'em up bust out the marshmallows...

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Chester for sale Tuesday at noon

Chester goes on sale tomorrow Tuesday October 29th at 12 noon Texas time (Central time, thats 10am for all you in California)
 •$99.00
 •Limited edition of only 30 pieces world wide
 •Stands 5.25 inches high. Made from premium cuts of hardwood including Walnut, Cherry, Maple and a dash of Padauk.  
 •Hand rubbed in 100% pure Tung Oil ( mmmmm - love that smell ) and coated with our own special formula natural Bees Wax finish.
 •Cherry engraved edition number inlaid on the back
 •Designed and Handcrafted in Flower Mound Texas.
 •One per person/household please. (multiple orders on the release day will be cancelled)

 

Chester Assembly

I thought I'd post a few photos of the assembly process. The eyes are glued into the slots. See the way they stick out and make a big gluey mess? Then they are sanded down flush to the face.

The bow tie is then glued into the slots as 3 separate pieces. This was a tough one to figure out in order to make them fit properly.  The pieces are sanded to be level.

Each antler is fitted to each individual slot so that it fits properly. All antlers are paired by grain pattern and then glued in. Oak dowel is glued into the drilled out hole on the side of the body.

The arms are then glued on into place. I would like to figure out how to do arms that articulate properly however with the way wood expands and contacts with humidity I'm not sure that its possible to do really well, plus as the wood wears down it becomes loose.  I'm going to experiment to see if I can come up with a viable solution for future pieces.

The teeth and tongue are glued into place on the face pieces. The face pieces are then glued into the body.

The engraved cherry number plate is glued into the slot on the back side and sanded flush.

The assembly process is complete. The pieces are ready to be oiled and waxed. Here are before and after shots. The color really gets deep and rich, and the gain pops with the application of oil.