The Butler's Desk - Build Thread

[Brian Holcombe]

Good morning! I've begun working on a cabinet in my spare time, this one features a fold down desktop to serve as a workspace when needed and to remain out of the way when it's no longer needed.

Check out the work shown here
https://brianholcombewoodworker.com/2016/05/07/the-butlers-desk/

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/C6066010-064D-4BD7-8633-37F7FE48FDED_zpslumg5a7t.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/C807B51D-F668-486C-8C58-C32605F29C53_zpszu9tbqzi.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/BD01BA89-CC8C-485E-A202-23CA364E8D58_zpspbw8qq1y.jpg

[george wilson]

Mighty fancyfied joinery!:)

[Jebediah Eckert]

Before this gets bogged down, and we get scolded for not "holding the applause til the end," I really enjoy these threads. They are fantastic, pictures, instruction, tools, design, everything..........even studying what's in the background of the pictures is enjoyable as well :D

[Rollie Kelly]

Brian, I like your work. However, I'm more interested in your wood chip anti gravity system. :rolleyes:

[Mike Cherry]

Oooh nice. That gennou is sexy!

[Christopher Charles]

Excellent! Am very curious to watch this design develop. Brian, if I recall, you generate full sized plans before proceeding?

[Kirby Krieger]

Before this gets bogged down, and we get scolded for not "holding the applause til the end," I really enjoy these threads. They are fantastic, pictures, instruction, tools, design, everything..........even studying what's in the background of the pictures is enjoyable as well :D

+1. Across the board. Wish there were a simple "like this" button — a way to say "Thanks" without adding confetti to the thread.

[Pat Barry]

Mighty fancyfied joinery!:)
I agree, and very neatly done also!

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks gents! I appreciate the comments.

Christopher, I work out scaled plans most of the time, the only one so far that I've done full scale plans for is the cabinet for mom. My father wanted a full scale drawing, he made one then we detailed it.

Once I work out the design I do find it helpful for reference and for working out the joinery. In this case I worked out the leg joinery on the fly.

[Brian Holcombe]

I'm working on a base panel for the cabinet currently and took a video of the planing process, it was about an hour but I cut it down to 6 minutes. From roughing on through finish planing. I went overboard on the finish planing since it will not be seen but I figured it might be interesting for the video.

http://youtu.be/dtACbdWWgl4

Let me know if this is helpful or super boring or whatnot. If it's worthwhile I may get a tripod and narrate a bit through them just to detail the process a bit more.

[James Pallas]

Well done on the video. Stayed on the task at hand and did not go off on types of tools and sharpening and all the other stuff.
Jim

[Tom Vanzant]

Brian, very nicely done video. It gave insight into the "how-to", as well as tool choice, a peek into your shop and a chance to connect a face to the name.
Were you working to "In the Hall...." or was it dubbed in later? Either way, it provides a great cadence for your work. Back in the day, I found myself humming "valdari/valdara" as I hiked in Colorado...sort of a whistle while you work.
By all means, more videos!

[Kees Heiden]

I was hoping for some insight how you keep your shop so clean. One little clue I saw, you have a secret compartment in the front of your foreplane to catch the shavings! Shaking them out from time to time in a designated spot on the bench!

But in the end you got a little sloppy, throwing the smoother shavings on the floor....

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks for the feedback! I think I will work on a way to hold the camera so that you can see what each plane shaving accomplishes.

Tom, 'in the hall' was dubbed in after. I was listening to cello music but you can't really hear it. I listen to mostly contemporary music but I run out of new songs and so I search for classical music that suits my mood.

[Brian Holcombe]

Hah, Kees just saw your reply. I do that then always regret it later when I'm vacuuming them up. I generally make a huge pile of shavings then trash them all at once. The only really aweful ones are cross grain, they are tough to get out of the rug.

[Christopher Charles]

Brian, thanks for the reply on the plans. The video is indeed helpful, would enjoy more.

C

[Kees Heiden]

I just watched your blog post. Man that's some incredible work!

I'm going to hide all my contraptions in some dark corner....

[Stanley Covington]

Brian

Beautiful work. Please help us understand the "fancified" joinery.

Also, a front and side view pic of that beautiful gennou handle would be much appreciated. I'm pretty sure I have seen that head before.

Stan

[Phil Mueller]

Enjoyed the video, Brian, thank you. A bit of an expensive experience though. I think it may cost me one of those smoothing planes! I'll have to check the name of it from one of your other posts.

While I understood the process, some may find a bit of narration helpful. I also think you could add a lot of credibility if you wore the planing robe ;)

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks fellas, you are too kind.

Stan has spoiled me! Acquiring two Hasegawa Kosaburo gennou for me and provided detailed instructions on how to plan out and make the handles to suit my purposes very specifically and also how to test their accuracy. Doing so has changed my perception dramatically, realizing now that smaller gennou heads are all that is required when their forces are applied very accurately.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/1F74F832-49BE-49AF-92B1-9774200012FE_zpsipgot4pl.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/1B8899DA-0194-4802-90BB-93D8A767FF2B_zpsrb4qpdgm.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/6599AEA3-AFE9-4109-86BE-4133F78B3628_zpsqnzrfyq1.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/F24E7446-C4E1-47AE-A584-7DBC11FB9DC4_zpsotfnopjd.jpg

To provide some insight into the logic behind my joinery on the front desk legs; I started with Roubo's bench leg joinery and made some modifications to it to suit my purpose. I wanted a leg joint that would self tighten, self lock and provide full engagement to utilize the entirety of the adjoining skirt.

I have built a desk using a similar base in the past (I'm actually sitting at it currently) and while I enjoy my desk I thought I'd like to improve on it's ability to resist racking forces while reducing the height of the skirt from 4" tall to 3.5" tall to provide more leg room at the same height. My desk is built with plain joinery (not fancified).

I decided that in order to resist racking as much as the joint would possibly allow, I would need to provide full engagement between the face of the mortised leg and the seat of the tenoned skirt, I did so by providing a full haunch in addition to a staggered shoulder. This provided interlocking grooves between the two surfaces. For the joint to remain secure over its lifetime I decided that I would like it to tighten as it came together, so I took the plain dovetail and tapered it. To provide the joint the ability to secure itself without reliance upon glue, I took the tenon and cut it for wedges. So if you look at this joint from the side you'll see it's wedging in both directions which will hopefully prevent it from loosening, ever.

This leg does not have the advantage of having a skirt in both directions because the skirt is replaced by a drawer. So to account for replacing the skirt I used a crossmember to tie in the joint at it's lowest point, and I will cut a stub tenon at the top of the leg.

I haven't posted it yet, but there is another crossmember completed under the desk that helps provide additional support.

The purpose for doing all of this is that a lower stretcher could be eliminated. The desk being only 18" deep means a low stretcher will of course become a shin basher.

[Brian Holcombe]

Phil,

Just saw your post, thanks for the comments! Those smoothing planes are dangerous, hehe. Yokohama Kunio is the maker of both. I'll warn you as I've come to find out about Japanese planes (kanna) you can't buy just one....in fact not even close to just one.

I think I will narrate through the next video and try to find a way to provide a better viewing angle.

Cheers

[Mike Brady]

Your shop looks very nice. Am I seeing carpeting throughout? I have that same carpet style in my basement, but I have to say I kept it out of the workshop portion. With all of the grungy stuff I do in my shop I can't imagine berber carpeting there! You appear to be a tidy person, but what else would you expect from the Prince of Wales.;)

[Stanley Covington]

Brian:

Thanks for the insight into the purty joints. Nicely done.

You make a nice handle. Beautiful wood.

I too miss the planing robe, and most of all, the embroidered planing slippers in the video.

I see I will need to send some jikatabi your way. What's your foot size in cm measured diagonally across the foot from tip of big toe to heel?

It appears to be carpet on your workshop floor, but judging from how immaculate your shop is, clearly it must be a cleanroom grate. What class of cleanroom is it?

Are you left handed? You use the Western foreplane right handed, but the Japanese finish plane left handed... Switch hitter maybe?

Stan

[Rich Greinert]

Wow, loved that video!

[Pat Barry]

I too miss the planing robe, and most of all, the embroidered planing slippers in the video.
I agree with Stanley, however, I'm not sure that the fellow in the video was actually you Brian. I have had this mental image of you, a rather shall we say, elderly gentleman, clad in your slippers and smoking jacket, or robe, the pipe in your mouth, the servant carefully gathering up the shavings, etc and this completely ruins that. Now all I can hope for is Sean Connery accent in your upcoming 'talkie' video.

[John Roth]

Looking forward to seeing the completion of this, Brian. Contemplating a transition from (mostly) power tools to (mostly) hand tools, so your posts are quite helpful. Loved the video.

[Brian Holcombe]

Your shop looks very nice. Am I seeing carpeting throughout? I have that same carpet style in my basement, but I have to say I kept it out of the workshop portion. With all of the grungy stuff I do in my shop I can't imagine berber carpeting there! You appear to be a tidy person, but what else would you expect from the Prince of Wales.;)

Hah! Thanks Mike. Takes a special bit of insanity to have carpet in the workshop, but it does come in handy. I hate to admit it (incase my wife is reading) but I like it for when I'm assembling case goods, you can flip them around without worry of scratching. If you keep plenty of cardboard sheets around thats a non-issue, but I dont.


Brian:

Thanks for the insight into the purty joints. Nicely done.

You make a nice handle. Beautiful wood.

I too miss the planing robe, and most of all, the embroidered planing slippers in the video.

I see I will need to send some jikatabi your way. What's your foot size in cm measured diagonally across the foot from tip of big toe to heel?

It appears to be carpet on your workshop floor, but judging from how immaculate your shop is, clearly it must be a cleanroom grate. What class of cleanroom is it?

Are you left handed? You use the Western foreplane right handed, but the Japanese finish plane left handed... Switch hitter maybe?

Stan

My pleasure and thank you for the gracious offer! I'm 27cm, and from what I've gathered in a bit of research that seems to correspond correctly to my us shoe size (9) so I'm pretty confident I've measured correctly.

Adding the cleanroom effect I'm going to be drywalling a few areas of the shop (tired of looking at boxes) and painting them white.

It's odd, as much as I've studied how to grip the Kanna, I always find that left hand grip to be more comfortable. It's quite strange as everything else is predominantly right hand.

I'm going to break out the robe and slippers for one of these videos, with my luck it will go viral on youtube....which could be interesting.


Wow, loved that video!

Thank you!


I agree with Stanley, however, I'm not sure that the fellow in the video was actually you Brian. I have had this mental image of you, a rather shall we say, elderly gentleman, clad in your slippers and smoking jacket, or robe, the pipe in your mouth, the servant carefully gathering up the shavings, etc and this completely ruins that. Now all I can hope for is Sean Connery accent in your upcoming 'talkie' video.

LOL, you may very disappointed! My wife says I have the personality of an 'older gentleman', so it seems that everything adds up except my actual image.

You may have missed it, but for gags I posted a video a while back sawing while wearing a pair of house shoes. I dont think anyone really noticed.


Looking forward to seeing the completion of this, Brian. Contemplating a transition from (mostly) power tools to (mostly) hand tools, so your posts are quite helpful. Loved the video.

Thanks John!

[Brian Holcombe]

hopefully this doesn't spoiler too much;

http://youtu.be/IuHyjkdfx_o

Still working my way up to narration, but you do get a nice glimpse at how important the espresso is to my operation.

[Charles Bjorgen]

Surely your inspiration must have come from wearing the plaid shirt and did I also detect bare feet in the sawing segment?

[Patrick McCarthy]

Brian, your videos, like everything else you post, is most appreciated. Patrick

[Christopher Charles]

Also enjoying the videos. Brian, what size is your paring chisel? Looks to be ~50 mm?

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks fellas. Are there any specific comments you'd like me to talk about in the videos?

The chisel is 36mm wide, its a huge slick. Eventually I'll have up to 48mm IIRC, I ordered them about 6 months ago. I honestly dont need up to that size for anything except very rare items, but I wanted to complete the 10 set.

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks Brian,

Am working toward being able to add some japanese steel to my collection and a couple of parers are on the list, so am curious about the 2-3 most used size(s). The 36 mm looks great for paring shoulders, etc. I'm guessing a ~6mm would next...

C

[Brian Holcombe]

I don't use the 36 that often but fairly often. All depends on the work you do but a 6mm, 12mm and 24mm would be too on my list.

I may make some comments on chisel sizing on the videos.

[Brian Holcombe]

I've got a blog post ready this weekend, but I've had a moment to put together the start of this series on the case, starting with dovetails...

http://youtu.be/SgpU1GKesZg

[Jebediah Eckert]

Brian, now that you have started talking on the videos you may just "break the Internet". By the time everyone wakes up on SMC in various time zones you will be trending for sure.

Thanks for doing them!

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Jebediah! I think you may be slightly over estimating however....lol. :D

[Prashun Patel]

There's a calmness,cleanness, and ease with which you work that I aspire to.

[Jebediah Eckert]

There's a calmness,cleanness, and ease with which you work that I aspire to.

+1, very well put

if I could get 1/4 of the way before this journey ends I would be happy. My process looks more like a Frank Zappa song, but trying to move towards Warren Zevon..........

[Phil Stone]

I really enjoyed this. Your commentary is concise and to the point, and I'm learning a great deal from your technique.

One minor criticism: the focus seems a bit fuzzy right at the work area.

[James Pallas]

Good video Brian. There must be a good bit of sound deadening having the carpet, an added bonus. Keep it up.
Jim

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks for the comments gents! The fuzziness is something I'm working on, the cell phone as a video camera has it's oddities. It takes really pretty good photos but the video seems to leave a bit to be desired.

I have a dark spot in my shop and so I'm working to fix that with the hopes that it will improve the video quality if the lighting is more consistent.

I read Mark Grable's experience working with Yataiki, master blacksmith;

" In the time I worked with Yataiki, I began to learn the importance of rhythm, of making music while you work; of working with an open, attentive, no-thought mind; of beginning work with recognition (satori); and the importance of working with the attitude of shin ken (facing an opponent with sword); working with ki in your hands and working it into the saw; and simply being friends with your tools."

I don't study buddhism, but this makes intuitive sense to me. Working with rhythm in my interpretation is working with a good work-flow, making sure that you can move from task to task with ease and perform continuously rather than in bursts. Being cognitive of the work without it consuming your thought (which may cause failure), I do this by breaking larger tasks into smaller easy tasks. Patience and understanding of your tools, treating them with respect and preparing them as you would a sword for battle.

I used to work in a machine shop and the owner was also the master machinist. He never wore himself out, so to speak, really just moving diligently from task to task. There would be younger fellows who would stop in occasionally and work a few hours, they would leave looking like they lost a fight. He would walk out without so much as a scuff having completed 10 hours of good work. He was always enjoying himself, constantly pursuant of perfection only known to himself (the customers just knew he was good, but only a few really knew how good). He had the most incredible patience, I really never saw him get seriously upset about anything.

[James Pallas]

That is a great statement about masters. I have had the great pleasure of working with a few. Never seem to be in a hurry, never stand back and scratch their head or admire their own work and you can run your butt off all day and at the end they will have buried you. Then they change to their go home hat say goodbye to everyone and walk out the door return the next day and do the same. Very difficult for a young go getter to see the picture. I think I did finally made it at the end of my career, when someone was struggling with something the statement was to "go ask google" I took it as a compliment. Good clean work Brian. Keep going you will figure out the video stuff shortly.
Jim

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks James, I think that's an important takeaway about those guys, it's not just the skill level but their approach in it's entirety. I remember him saying things to me whenever I was nervous about doing a project like; 'there is nothing you can screw up that I can't fix'. Now I'm sure he didn't want to actually follow through on that, but it was enough reassurance that I would do the job with confidence. From a younger person that would be consider a flip comment, but from him you just knew it to be accurate, hah.

Back to the project; I've finished up the base frame for the butler's desk in this blog post.

I Hope that you'll check it out and comment.


https://brianholcombewoodworker.com/2016/05/14/the-bulters-desk-base-frame-continued/


http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/CC406E5B-C5CC-44F5-85EB-98C517039D08_zps9jfk0tmf.jpg


http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/FEC706DD-D0A4-4D44-A276-4FA8305F6BE8_zps3l2g0oco.jpg

[John Kananis]

Awesome build so far, Brian. Enjoyed the last video very much also - thank you for contributing your time.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks John! My pleasure!

[Brian Holcombe]

Onto the casework! Now that the foundation is set, it's time to begin framing.

https://brianholcombewoodworker.com/2016/05/21/the-butlers-desk-casework/

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/857796A9-CE94-4932-98F4-6C2A49EDC509_zpsicta8m5d.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/A62448D0-FBFD-467A-85C1-67521AC09637_zpspeh4jjeb.jpg

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks for the post, Brian. Looking good. What do you do with all those walnut shavings?

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Christopher!

I have a trash bin, that gets emptied.....a lot. I should start marketing the shavings to artisanal wine shops or similar.

[Christopher Charles]

I can compost shavings, but haven't found a good fate for walnut yet as it doesn't play nice with the garden....

[Brian Holcombe]

That's a good use of them, I've heard walnut shavings won't bother anything but I've yet to want to experiment with that.

[Scott DelPorte]

Just saw this thread. Thats impressive joinery Brian.

[Pat Barry]

Its very interesting to watch this and other projects of your progress towards completion Brian. I saw this comment of yours on another thread

George I tend to agree. Steve's thread on gouge marks was Definetly one of the more interesting as of late. I've been considering starting my threads with the design posted first to have that become a topic in and of itself before kicking off the technical aspect of doing.
I think it would be great to see your design or concept as a preface to your actual work. I think that would really be a good thing

[Brian Holcombe]

Thank you both!

Pat, thanks for the comment on my post in the other thread. I think it may allow people to better follow along, I didn't think of this initially because previously I would sketch out my projects by hand. My hand sketches were not really worth showing, but now I'm doing them in Sketch-up so they are much more understandable.

[Mike Holbrook]

I am disillusioned! Apparently Brian's avatar picture is not Brian. Brian is younger. I had this older English gentleman all dressed in tweeds pictured in my mind! I guess I will get over it, eventually...Interesting to see videos of actual SMC members working, very illuminating. The joinery is beyond me for the moment. Guess I will go work on my glue ups for shutter panels and my shave horse, maybe one day.

[Mel Fulks]

Mike, I think that is the guy that was supposed to be king of England but stepped out of line .....like the school cafeterias the rules are really strict. So present queen's dad had to do it.

[Mike Holbrook]

Sorry to run off topic but..
Edward VIII? Interesting, we have a rare coronation cup for Edward VIII, actually it is my wife's handed down from her mother, native New Zealander. The fact that Edward was never actually crowned makes the cup kind of special. Good to know Mel. I did not recognize him from the picture on the cup, but now that I have studied it, I think I see the resemblance.

[george wilson]

Brian: be sure to not let your walnut be used as horse bedding. It is poisonous to horses.

I am curious about that NICE narrow dark wood and brass plane being used in a narrow dado in post #47. Can you post some pictures of it? Is it a dovetail plane?(I don't think so,but would like to see more of it.)

Great work. Keep the pictures coming.

[Brian Holcombe]

I am disillusioned! Apparently Brian's avatar picture is not Brian. Brian is younger. I had this older English gentleman all dressed in tweeds pictured in my mind! I guess I will get over it, eventually...Interesting to see videos of actual SMC members working, very illuminating. The joinery is beyond me for the moment. Guess I will go work on my glue ups for shutter panels and my shave horse, maybe one day.

And I dont have nearly as many tweeds as Edward VIII, but I have time to catch up. :D


Mike, I think that is the guy that was supposed to be king of England but stepped out of line .....like the school cafeterias the rules are really strict. So present queen's dad had to do it.


Sorry to run off topic but..
Edward VIII? Interesting, we have a rare coronation cup for Edward VIII, actually it is my wife's handed down from her mother, native New Zealander. The fact that Edward was never actually crowned makes the cup kind of special. Good to know Mel. I did not recognize him from the picture on the cup, but now that I have studied it, I think I see the resemblance.

He was an odd one, and while I don't think much of his politics I do like his sartorial splendor. He's held by many as the golden standard for how to dress in practically every occasion. I suppose once getting the whole 'becoming a king' mess out of the way he could focus on his hobbies.


Brian: be sure to not let your walnut be used as horse bedding. It is poisonous to horses.

I am curious about that NICE narrow dark wood and brass plane being used in a narrow dado in post #47. Can you post some pictures of it? Is it a dovetail plane?(I don't think so,but would like to see more of it.)

Great work. Keep the pictures coming.

Thanks George!

I'll keep that in mind about the horses as well and continue destroying these shavings. They seem pretty well worthless, bad for plants and horses.

That plane is a dovetail plane from Terry Gordon (HNT Gordon), it's in gidgee which is a dark australian wood. I also took pictures of it's companion plane which is a 1/4" dado plane.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/665BDF2E-C5DE-463B-9DD5-AC87E705E466_zpsatsshfa1.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/06E729FD-65E8-4E40-A5BF-251BB0A2EAAE_zpsvm4mzotu.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/06E729FD-65E8-4E40-A5BF-251BB0A2EAAE_zpsvm4mzotu.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/C73B417E-15ED-4BCA-951B-8D7C9A626A6E_zpsadtodd6g.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/22E8F6E7-A4A6-44CB-974D-8610D91BEA04_zps29rmhpif.jpg

[Brian Holcombe]

Part two of the casework is ready. I put s two part series on cutting the case dovetails up on the blog in addition to the usual round of photos and description.

https://brianholcombewoodworker.com/2016/05/28/the-butlers-desk-casework-part-2/

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/20701BCE-88D5-4E7E-955B-E4EE623162B9_zpsk3bxtxsm.jpg


http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/6CDC44DE-0E74-4344-86D4-074EB272A6A0_zps5dausdjy.jpg

[Patrick Walsh]

WOW!

This is wonderful!

[James Waldron]

Impeccable work as always, Brian. The mitered half-tails are outstanding. I wait for the next installment to see how you can top this!

[Brian Holcombe]

Thank you both!

[Prashun Patel]

Mike, i was similarly shocked the first time i met brian. His skills and demeanor are beyond his years. Looking forward to class, brian.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Prashun! See you soon!

[Brian Holcombe]

Moving forward with the Butler's Desk interior casework;

https://brianholcombewoodworker.com/2016/06/04/the-butlers-desk-casework-part-3/

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/723341B7-9D60-4DBF-B54E-F5E29FC0D069_zpsr1gg7r52.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/4DAE4B4E-B950-403C-9A7E-108598E9B819_zps6qbr4jh9.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/SpeedyGoomba/0DBBEA14-8D09-40B6-8C9C-2CB06C444928_zpswheotvmb.jpg

[Jerry Olexa]

Brian, love your joinery....excellent work !!!

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Jerry!

[Patrick Walsh]

Where did you get those shoes. I want some of those for gardening.

i gotta post you some pictures of my garden some time. I actaully have two large mature tree going into my garden Monday. One a Acer Triflorum and the other a Wheeping White spruce. Both 16' plus and nearly 5000lbs a piece. A crane will be planting them.

I only mention as prior you mentioned loving bonsai and Japanese Gardening.

Build looks awesome!

[Brian Holcombe]

Stanley Covington sent me those shoes. They're great, I feel like I could use those for timber framing (if I did timber framing, lol) and stick to the frame.

Post up some pics of the garden, would love to see it. Those trees are awesome, my 'garden' is just a strip of planting allocation I'm aloud in my townhouse, but I've planted a Japanese black pine, it's young so I can train it and keep it fairly small (I'll probably top it at 10-12' max), A false cypress, a dwarf maple and two shimpaku junipers. I also have some fairly young black pine Bonsai that I have been training for two years now, so they're about 5-6 yrs old, along with a Korean hornbeam, brush cherry, natal plum, a shimpaku juniper and a procumbens juniper.

The black pines are crazy expensive so my best option was to buy pre-bonsai and train them myself, so they look ridiculous with 2' tall sacrifice branches on them but it will eventually pay off. I've seen people let the sacrifice branch get to be 6'~ tall. I'll probably turn my sacrifices into more pine trees pretty soon.

Thank you!