The Studio is a Work in Progress

We are working around the clock to make sure that the Studio is up and running by the end of May. We hired Mr. Bill to help with construction. It feels like equipment is being delivered daily and therefore, there is a lot of work to do.  We put in temporary stairs to access the roof more easily, aesthetically lined the inside of the skylights with cedar to match the ceiling in the Studio, and made a home for the storage baskets. Check out the photos to see how far we are coming along.

Ken and Mr. Bill adding rails to the racks

Now the baskets have a home and are sturdy

Temporary stairs to the roof

The new and improved skylights from the inside

Got Forklift?

Today, we got the new forklift! It is a Raymond Stand-up. It drives ever so smoothly. It was worth blocking off the whole street so that the 18-wheeler flat bed was able to take away the old ones and give us the new one. It was quite impressive. Check it out.

Tight squeeze...

The planning process...

Ken and his new forklift

Laguna Has Arrived

With the long anticipated wait for the Laguna equipment, this was a very exciting week. The equipment came in and we are very pleased with all of it. It was a bit nerve racking to watch Ken and Billy unpack and handle all this equipment by themselves. This shipment of equipment included a band saw, edge sander, wide belt sander, a jointer, and a dust collector. There is more to come.

43 inch Wide Belt Sander

Our temporary Jointer (16 inch to arrive soon....)

24 inch Band Saw (some assembly required)

Chelsea's favorite warning sticker... she's not allowed near this equipment.

First truck is headed this way!

Just got word from Steve at Laguna that the first shipment of equipment is headed this way!  Steve was nice enough to shoot some pics of the equipment while it was being loaded on the truck.  Need to line up a couple of forklifts and some white gloves on Wednesday of next week… stay tuned.

Light My Fuse…

Today the welders got delivered by Hardworking Harold from Welders Warehouse. The Studio is now equipped with both a TIG and MIG welder. Look at the photos of the welders in all of their glory.

Equipment on The Move!

Well things are starting to come together. With the roof being completed, the alarm system installed, and the bay doors replaced; we were able to start bringing some of the equipment into the studio. Mind you, most of the equipment has been stored in a neighbors warehouse a few blocks away. The challenge here was getting the new equipment to the studio safely using a forklift and a lot of patience.

The Power Hammer en route to the Studio

The power hammer was probably the most difficult piece of equipment to move. This is due to its tall top-heavy 1,600 lb design. I had to be able to stabilize it on the forklift, carefully navigate thru the streets of the design district, and then get it up into the warehouse. No big deal.

In addition to the power hammer, I had to move our new compressor, the brake press, a dozen of our new huge storage baskets, and a pallet of antique pieces. Check out the photos of the madness.

Getting Out of the Studio

I know that we have not posted much about the pieces of furniture or the amazing things we have found lately. The Studio and its construction is all consuming. However, we have found balance by taking a trip to Marburger Antique Festival this week in Round Top, Texas. We were very pleased and happy to find a few good finds in the chaos of the 43 acre flea market. Take a look at some of the new pieces and check back to see how we transform them into beautiful pieces of furniture.

These are jacks dating back to the 1800’s from St Louis

These are reel jacks from a railroad. Aren’t they amazing?

New Orleans commissioned artists during the great depression to design these. They are now collector’s items and we have our hands on two of them. Aren’t they stunning?

This is part of a bridge that set in water and snow for nearly a decade before being resalvaged. Oh, and they are incredibly heavy!

An evening spent up top!

Well the roof is on and the skylights are beaming! It could not be more exciting. The roof turned out great (thanks again Skylight Solutions) and we completely under estimated the view from the roof. It is breath taking. It is especially stunning at night. I recruited one of my photographer friends, Erik Carr of Zenfotoz.com, to help me capture just how beautiful the view is. The other night, we crawled up to the roof right before sunset, drank a few beers and posted up with our cameras to capture it. Check out these pictures to understand just how amazing it is.

behind the scenes....