Bald Mountain Rustics
Life in the Adirondacks.
On my most recent co-ops, I had the incredible opportunity to apprentice under Steve Bowers of Bald Mountain Rustics. For a total of 8 months, I lived in the middle of the woods and spent my days building custom rustic furniture, true to the style of the Adirondacks.
Below is a selection of the work I completed.
Highlighted Work
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First step: leveling the root
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Plot it out
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Prepping white cedar for sanding by removing bark
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Cross beams get tenons and copes to fit onto legs
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Let’s make sure everything is lining up
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Now for somewhere to sit…
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Coming along nicely
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Blocking out the back
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Gotta test her out before I leave to go back to school
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Came back to a completed chair!
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Details matter
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It’s not a chair, it’s a throne
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Seat is coped over leg supports
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Any good chair needs a footrest, so I whipped one up
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Final touches completed to display at industry show
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Chair and stool on display at the Rustic Furniture Fair
Highlighted Work
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Material selection and pairing
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Base plate routed to fit root
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Oh yeah that’s crispy…
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Everything is coming together
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Let’s spice it up
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Freeform routed bowtie on bottom side of split
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Template bowties made for top side of split
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One down, two to go
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Details routed into sublayer and stained
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Ready to go off to the store!
Highlighted Work
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Root selection
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Root prep
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Sanding out saw marks on sublayer
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Lining up sublayer on root
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Drilling out pocket for root
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Applying epoxy and watching glue dry to check for level
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*Chef’s kiss*
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Woohoo more sanding!
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Making plugs for tabletop
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Begin twigging details
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Twigging progress
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Bringing out the beauty
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Color tests to get it juuuuuust right
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Applying the Secret Sauce to finish her off
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Off to the store
