Executive Desk
Crotch Figured Claro Walnut
Figured Maple

A big part of my focus, when I am designing and crafting my furniture is showcasing the beautiful materials I am working with. Early in my career, I worked mainly with domestic hardwoods - Walnut, Cherry, Maple, etc. One day I received a call from one of my suppliers. He had a stack of a wood called Koa, if I took the whole stack, he would make me a great deal. The rest, as they say, is history.

Most of the exotic woods I work with come from equatorial areas. Koa grows in the Hawaiian Islands. With today's global market there are literally hundreds of species of woods available. They run the full spectrum of the rainbow. Many are stunningly beautiful. When I built my studio I devoted the whole bottom floor to lumber storage. Five years later I added a new wing to the studio - my lumber racks were already full. I also added facilities and machinery to do my own milling and drying.

Door Stop Mechanism
Brass weight
Sterling Silver chain
Ebony stop

I am a very selective buyer. I only buy exceptional stock. At this point I have more than 30 different species in my collection. I have multiple stacks of many of these - different figure patterns, milling processes, etc. Through my suppliers, I have access to much more. I also have a collection of close to 100 samples of different woods. All are finished with the same process I use on my furniture.

I make most of my own hardware, carving some parts and fabricating others from metals like brass, aluminum, and sterling silver. Often I combine metal parts with special woods to create unique pulls, latches, and stops.

I do all my own sanding and finish work. Prior to assembly, all parts are sanded by hand - no machines. I feel that you get flatter, truer surfaces with hand sanding. Powered sanders can introduce slight undulations to surfaces. The rotary action of most powered sanders also scores the wood across the grain. With hand sanding, you work with the grain. The result is a finer surface. I have developed a very labor intensive rubbed oil and wax finish. It is not unusual for me to spend 10% of the time I put into a piece doing finish work. I believe you will find that the soft, deep glow that my oil finish imparts is much more refined than the harder shine of finishes like lacquer, varnish, or shellac.