those dam beavers!

 i had forgotten about this blog post until i stumbled across it while 

looking for some fishing pictures this morning ...

You’ll probably enjoy this, especially if you are from  Pennsylvania.

This is an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan DeVries regarding a pond on his property. It was sent by the PennsylvaniaDepartment of Environmental Quality, State of Pennsylvania . This guy's response is hilarious, but read the State's letter before you get to the response letter, you won't stop once you start.  This guy is good! SUBJECT: DEQ ... File No.97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec 20; Lycoming County Dear Mr. DeVries: It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity: Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond. A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department's files shows that no permits have been issued Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Pennsylvania Compiled Laws, annotated. The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations.. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2010. Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action.. We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter. Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions. Sincerely,  David L. Price District Representative and Water Management Division.  Here is the actual response sent back by Mr. DeVries:  Re: DEQ File No.. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Lycoming County Dear Mr. Price, Your certified letter dated 11/17/09has been handed to me. I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget Lane , Trout Run, Pennsylvania . A couple of beavers are in the process of constructing and maintaining two wood 'debris' dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials 'debris.' I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic. These are the beavers/contractors you are seeking. As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity. My first dam question to you is: (1) Are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers, or (2) Do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request? If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, through the Freedom of Information Act, I request completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued. (Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Pennsylvania Compiled Laws, annotated.) I have several dam concerns. My first dam concern is, aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation -- so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer. The Department's dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event, causing flooding, is proof that this is a natural occurrence, which the Department is required to protect. In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling them dam names. If you want the damed stream 'restored' to a dam free-flow condition please contact the beavers -- but if you are going to arrest them, they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter, they being unable to read English. In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam rights than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond. If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up to its name, it should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment (Beavers' Dams). So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until 1/31/2010? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice by then and there will be no way for you or your dam staff to contact/harass them. In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention to a real environmental quality, health, problem in the area It is the bears! Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the beavers alone. If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your dam step! The bears are not careful where they dump! Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response to your dam office. THANK YOU, RYAN DEVRIES & THE DAM BEAVERS

all claro wlanut, all the time

ok, claro wlanut, i love this wood ... fancy, warm, vibrantly figured most of the time, stable, flat; it's all good ... and we have made a lot of stuff with it. lately, as we get more requests for custom pieces, i have come to feel the need to have some photos of our different items in one place ... a sort of, 'here, this about sums it up' link, so i don't have to get a picture here, get another picture there, find a picture of that specific table base .... etc, etc. if you make custom stuff for other people, and have been doing it for a while, you'll know what i mean ... anyway; here goes ... please click the photos to enlarge them ...
first up, cause i like the warm and fuzzy photo at the top, is this coffee table we made for a client in the boston area, who actually had the luxury of keeping it on her covered porch along with a collection of our outdoor lounge chairs ... for more info on this project, check out this blog post ...
sometimes, at the end of a project we even get letters like the one above .. 'my home has been trumped by the table' ... hmmmm, i doubt it, cause i've seen photos of the house, but it's a nice compliment, regardless. it goes with the table on the crossbuck base below, and the original blog post from 2008 is here. i think that one may be the one that started it all for us ... but here's another early one, and the first table we did with the solid steel base, what we refer to as our 'shaker style' legs ... learning process on that one ... but, we got 'er done, and have done many others with that style legs in both bright and blackened steel the original blog post is here ...
we made a little model first on the cnc and sprayed it with the krylon metalllic paint. looks like the real thing, only a tenth as big ...
the finished table, cut from its backgroundbirds eye view of the grain in the top ...
sometimes we have to assist mother nature in getting the shape exactly right
but all's well that ends well .... this was a big one ... about 4' wide and 11' long ... original blog post here ...
and above is another letter from a happy desk client ... some drawers and secret compartments made for a really special desk ... this was a recent one from late last year ... more info here


we start with slabs like this one; in fact we bought four from goodhope, from the same log and used them for the desk above, the table below, the table we have in our current show at the southern vermont arts center, and we still have one more available on out wall that you can see a couple photos down ...
this was a fantastic piece of wood when it was all polished up, and it's now happy in its new home in the hamptons ... california to goodhope hardwoods in pennsylvania to vermont, to east hampton .... lots of miles on most of these. we have two to montana, about a 6000 mile trip !!

 above are thee versions of our 'trapezoid' bases, a desk, a dining table and a coffee table.  these bases are all also available in 'natural', rainbow, and blackened finishes.

several tables have our ladderback chairs in one form or another ... these above sport nice 'bomber jacket leather' seats.
the raw material ... often, not perfect, though with lots and lots of potential ...
this one heads off to england next week in a pair of crates via ocean freight. even more miles on that one ... this has a new base design based on our designer client's input ... again, a model was helpful in determining the final proportions ... more info here ...
the leg assemblies are drilled tapped and bolted together and can be easily shipped flat, in pieces.and we often add butterflies to both decorate and stabilize the cracks.
this one is in our current show at the southern vermont arts center in nearby manchester.great figure and grain character in this one ... and this is the last slab from the spectacular log you have seen in some of the previous pictures. it's from closest to the center of the log and probably has, actually, the best figure yet. it was completely cracked into two pieces when it arrived, and we intend, in the end, to probably use it as two pieces, connected by butterflies, but separated as above by a 1/4 inch or so. even without finish the color is amazing ... call now to discuss your options ...
sometimes a client will select a slab from the goodhope 'specials' or 'coffee table slab' page and we add just simple wooden or polished steel pipe bases. keep it simple stupid ... and now we're at the sawbuck base table that goes with the letter at the top ... solid, twist and reverse twisted 1.25" steel crosspiece by sam in the metal shop ...
or we can weld other steel base designs from structural stock ... these pieces were fabricated by sam in the metal shop from 3/4" stock and some round, 1.5" solid bar stock

more info on this project here ... again with the models ... love 'em ...
some polished or black pipe legs .. instant coffee table
this bed and side table assembly went to florida and is made from a pair of american, not claro walnut, but spectacular nonetheless. i post it with the claro pieces because the design could easily be made using a claro slab as well ...
and sometimes we get to make a little bench for a new york city apartment entrance hall ... this one is 36" x 15". small, but i love the form and it opens up the possibility for others like it as well as new dining table base designs.
specs and shapes of our available leg designs, all of which can be customized and made heavier, lighter, wider, or shorter, as you wish. our most popular is the one above, in 1.5" thick steel.

and pretty much any welded shape you can come up with can be fabricated by sam in our in house custom metal shop
and here, i'll talk VERY GENERALLY AND UNSPECIFICALLY about prices ...these prices of these tables are directly related to what we have to pay for the wood slab, delivered to our shop. a rule of thumb seems to be, or could be about $1000. to $1400. per lineal foot of table ... anyway, that's a place to start, but the final price could be more or less than that, if, for example, you select an extra wide, extra long, or figured slab, or one with some extra character from the specials page. each project is priced individually with the cost of the wood being the main factor ...

we sell the leg assemblies separately. the solid, waterjetted, 1.5" thick sets start at $3500. as drawn and pictured in the natural finish.  for the black or rainbow patina, add $400. there is a separate upcharge for custom shapes and 1.75" thick stock.  for each design that upcharge is different. custom shape and thickness quotes on request.  shipping for the bases in the northeast would be +/- 250-350.  nationwide quotes are available with your shipping address.

so, 'here, this about sums it up' for claro walnut for now ... but i also feel like we have just scratched the surface ...

other walnut blogs posts at the links below:
a dozen big ones
how much does a claro walnut slab table cost?
one for sale right now

the wood that you have ...

we finished this unusual coffee table last week. i never would have come up with this design on my own without having an unusual shaped piece of wood to start with. you work with the wood that you have ... it's actually a very cool piece in person, and everyone who has seen it so far has had some kind of positive comment to make about it. of course, it's hard not to like wood like this ....
it's vaguely nakashima influenced with its simple, square legs, but the box originated with the project that involved the other half of the original claro walnut slab.
that project involved one of the 3 original claro walnut slabs that i purchased from goodhope, oh, back in about 2006. in 2010, one of my clients purchased the last of those slabs to use for an interesting console that had to be notched around a carving from bali that hung over a wall hung heater. the design was driven by many factors, and i can't find a photo of the finished piece, but when we were finished, we were left with the half slab you see below with a piece missing on each end. click the photos to enlarge them. more photos of claro walnut can be seen by clicking on the 'claro walnut slab tables' category below the archive
the cut for the console table marked out in tape ...
the leftover has been standing in my office closet since and the project has been on again, off again for a couple of years ... i am glad it's finally finished.
above is the cad drawing from the console project and you can see the shape of the coffee table slab in the negative space of the plan view ...
no date on the sketch, but i'm betting it's from 2009 sometime ..
and here's what i did with the left over, though i now see i somehow got the notch for the box in the wrong place from the sketch ... we somehow got past that though, and the table will be delivered soon ... it will be a cool story if it ends up in the same room as the console ...
not much to detail on the process ... the box is mitered play with a ply top with 1/8" thick veneer, rabbeted and dropped into the open end so only the veneer was left and then flushed off and beveled. looks like solid wood, though you know it can't be ... fun project ...