Walnut Headphone Stand and Audio Case

A past client reached out and asked if I could commission and build a headphone stand and case for some desk top audio equipment.

She sent over some pictures for inspiration and gave some basic direction for the scope of work.

“ I don't really have anything exact in mind. The only thing I really need is for the stand to hold the headphones in a way so the ear pads don't get crushed. So preferably they'll hang by the headband. Besides that, I'll leave everything else up to you.”

” feel free to make this as simple or complex as you'd like, or whatever is easiest/best for you or whatever you feel inspired to do.”

Anybody who knows me personally, knows this creative freedom is like opening Pandora’s box.

When a client gives free creative freedom, these are the projects that really energize me and keep me up at night. For me this is the crossover from maker to artist. This is truly the biggest compliment, the client trusts me enough to design, create, and build them a completely custom project.

My initial design with this headphone stand was to go the complicated route and incorporate a couple types of joinery. I sketched out a design and found some thicker pieces of cherry. I was going to use bridal joints for the “arms” and a bigger sliding dovetail to connect the “arms” to the base. After cutting some of the joints, something was just out of joint (yes, pun intended ;) ). I could see where the idea was going but it was just off. The pieces were going to end up in the burn pile, instead they went to the spare parts bin.

As much as complex and complicated seemed like the direction I wanted to go. Simple and clean was the destination. To me there was more with having less going on.

After seeing a lamp online now with another working idea, I went to the local hardwood store and picked out some pieces of walnut. I am no woodworking purist and I believe there is room for both technology and hand tools in the shop. Using Fusion 360 to design the vertical piece I was able to visualize and change my design without making firewood. After coming up with a design that felt right, I took the design to my shop helper C+C Creative Factory (my CNC machine for those that don’t get the reference).

What came out was beautiful. A little bit of hand tool work, and my vision was coming to live. The base and the “arm” both were designed with some scraps in the wood till their shape was refined then I could transfer that image to the walnut.

Finally the finished product was coming together. I have been experimenting with finishing and I ended up sanding to 800 grit using tung oil, shellac, and a wax finish. The result was a finish that begged to be touched.

The next item on the list was a desk top audio case that was to hold a small headphone amp and in-ear monitors. The design process started again.

To match the headphone stand, I used more walnut. The case was constructed with box joints, and the interior divider was fitted with the smallest mortises I have made to date.

I asked the client for some favorite quotes and “Music in the soul can be heard by the universe (Lao Tzu)” was engraved on the lid. The lid is secured with magnets to hold the lid on tight.

The desktop audio box was finished using the same technique I used on the headphone stand with the same silky smooth result.

As the project progressed I kept in contact with the client to get feedback and to let her know how the progress was progressing. I really this is important to make sure my design is heading in the right direction, and to let the client see the project come together.

When it was all finished I staged the items for some glamour shots and then it was time to head to the shipping department. Each piece was wrapped in bubble wrap and wrapped in some special wrapping paper for some built in anticipation when the package arrived.

In the end the client loved the headphone stand and desktop audio equipment. I really do try to take into account every detail from the design, communication, pictures, and packaging because my clients aren’t just buying a product but I hope they have a great experience. To me that is what makes custom work so special.

Young Maker

How many times have you heard the phrase “They don’t make it like they used to.”

Unfortunately we live in a disposable world. Furniture, computers, phones, just about everything is meant to be thrown away. Take a look around your house. Most of what fills our space is probably cheap disposable junk. But take a closer look and I bet there are some timeless, priceless, pieces of furniture that have been handed down from generations. And I bet these pieces of furniture or other goods would not end up in the “pitch it” pile during spring cleaning.

Why?

I have one guess, and it is because whatever it is wasn’t made like we are used to. There was a time when people were craftsmen. A blacksmith forged metal in a blistering hot blacksmiths shop. A carpenter used old growth, true dimensional lumber to frame walls. The cobbler fashioned shoes. And the list can go on and on, but one thing all of these craftsmen share is they were master’s at their craft.

Before machinery started taking over jobs and furniture was mass produced the craftsmen spent hundreds of hours learning and honing their craft. There was a passion and a sense of pride to create something of high quality that would last.

I’m sure craftsmen of centuries past couldn’t imagine that we would rummage through antique and vintage shops seeking out their work. As a growing craftsmen myself, I know the sense of pride that comes from creating something with your own hands and learning versatile skills. I am learning something that isn’t being taught any more. What I build isn’t mass produced and can’t be found in a big box store. Even if I build the same thing it is slightly different because it is built with hands and not robots. I hope one day the lamps I build or the furniture I build will be sought after as people rummage through antique and vintage stores.

With the Young Makers Guild, I hope to inspire young craftsmen and women to learn a skill and learn how to work with their hands and minds. Technology can grow but we will still need creatives to imagine and build things, learn a craft or trade. Instead of building mass produced junk we can learn about sustainability and build quality, timeless pieces of art. Making, whether it is blacksmithing, woodworking, or sewing all requires the mind to build problem solving creative thinking skills.

I hope I can create what I have envisioned in my head for the Young Makers Guild. There are a ton of big ideas, and I would love to hear any of your ideas or see what you have built. For more updates as the Young Makers Guild gets built out sign up for our newsletter here.

Wooden Beam Table Lamp

Wood and metal. Two strong materials that cities are built with. Two materials I enjoy working with.

I received some large pieces of wood from a friend. They were remnants from a house they were working on (timber frame house at that, my favorite). The chunks of wood sat in the shop, as most pieces do, until the inspiration bug struck.

Some random day the inspiration bug struck and I had a lightbulb moment (pun intended) of what to make with that piece of wood. As with most things when I get an idea everything else will stop, until I can start working on the idea (I don’t want to miss out on the momentum).

I wanted to build a lamp by segmenting the pieces of wood. I had some rebar laying around and the two pieces just went together. Challenge was the piece of wood was thicker than my table saw blade was high, so with creative thinking I rotated the beam around to cut most of the way through and finished the cut with my handy Japanese hand saw. Next came drilling some holes for the rebar to fit. The holes were drilled so the rebar would fit snuggly.

As the pieces were fit together the vision I had in my head was coming to life. I love thinking of an idea and being able to creatively express that idea into the physical world. I also love when somebody approaches me with an idea for something they want built and trusts me to create it for them.

With the last coat of finished applied and dried the light bulb was tightened into the socket. The lamp was plugged in and came to life. I love the sweet glow from the Edison bulb and really think this lamp would look make a great addition to a boutique hotel or a home office.

If you are interested in this lamp or would like me to design a lamp for your space I would love to hear from you.


Wooden American Flags

My sister in law is a realtor in Columbia, TN (@house2hometn). The fire dept just built a new station close to their house and she wanted to bring them a housewarming gift. She asked if I could make a wooden American flag. I said “of course”.

While I was working on the fire dept flag she asked if I could make one as a gift for a police officer and I said “definitely”.

Each flag represents the thin red line and thin blue line to show respect for the firefighters and police officers injured or killed in the line of duty.

As a career firefighter/paramedic and former reserve police officer this project was meaningful.

If you are interested in a wooden American flag fill out our contact form.

Cedar Bird House

For the past couple of years I have been playing around with the idea to create a progressive woodworking for kids and young adults. (To learn the full back story of the Young Maker’s Guild click on the About section of that page). I have been struggling with trying to come up with a “first project” to launch in the guild and just couldn’t find any clarity.

When not at work at my full time job, my wife and I have been at home socially distancing ourselves from the world. Instead of laying around and watching Netflix I wanted to use this time to devote to something creative and productive. One morning at shift change, (I’m a fireman) I heard a couple of the guys talking about how their kids are starting to run out of things to do, and they started resorting to Netflix to keep the kids occupied. That same morning I read an email from Ramit Sethi that really inspired me to go forward with my idea of the Young Maker’s Guild.

Due to the state of emergency the world was in I wanted something I could come up with fast to put out into the world. It is spring time and there are the birds are coming out in full force. I remembered when I was in Boy Scouts we built a bird house.

That was it. It was something simple enough to build for kids of all ages, and a project that may stimulate some creativity. I could start cutting the cedar to put into kits and it was a project available to the world a couple of days later.

I made this bird house out of cedar so it would be insect and rot resistant. I did some quick research and created a house that would suit a house wren or chickadee, common birds in our area. I think I am going to leave this a natural cedar color and not seal it so it can weather naturally.

I look forward to hours of sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee in our house watching the trees come to life and the birds moving into their house.

Interested in your own cedar birdhouse kit? Click the button below.

Wooden American Flag

My brother-in law approached me last fall to build some flags for their organization to auction off at dinners they hold throughout the year. How could I turn away an opportunity to make something so of course I said yes. Taking some notes I had an idea of what they were looking for me to build and I got to work. The flag is made from pine with some colored stain. The flag was lightly burned with a torch to give a bit of a rustic feeling. Working with my shop partner C+C Creative Factory we engraved their company logo in the corner and the stars.

Did you know Maker and Finder can build a custom wooden flag for you complete with your own company logo. These flags would also make a great gift idea. Contact us today!

Wooden Serving Tray

A while back a co-worker of mine asked me if I wanted some “scrap” wood from a family members house. I of course said yes. (I’ll admit I sort of have a problem and may be referred to as a wood hoarder, email me for more but otherwise a topic for another day). What he brought me was a pile of scrap hardwood flooring something I wasn’t expecting but none the less it was free wood. After looking at this pile of wood in the shop the idea came. The wood floor pieces would fit nicely together to form a panel. My wife (girlfriend at the time) had been asking for a tray so she could carry odds and ends upstairs to her office. So with a little creativity I came up with these serving trays. There is a maple bottom and an oak. I was able to make three in total and my friend who gave me the wood I ended up making them a serving tray as a wedding gift.

Fun, practical, and functional project taking scrap wood that was going to be thrown in the garbage and making it into a wedding gift and a staple household item in our house.