Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Handmade Figured Maple and Cherry Dresser



dresser from wood on a street

This chest of drawers is made from a figured Maple that reminds me of fudge swirl ice cream, add to that the cherry accents on top and that it is joined together with biscuits (yes that is what they are actually called.)  and it sound more like an ice cream Sunday.  Even the handles and the attached hand plane where made from the same wood.


planer on a top of the wood table

A closer view of the hand plane made from Maple and Cherry.  I left the final edge detail stop under the hand plane, as if the work was still just a few passes away from being finished.  I have made historic hand planes in different styles, but wanted this one to be a bit cute, with curved lines and more childlike proportions.  In the older styles of planes, the adjustments were from either tapping the wedge to lower the blade or the heel of the plane to raise the blade. 

closer look at the planer

If you look closely to the figured Maple on the plane, you can see two tiny worm holes.  Acid from the worms eating the wood cause the color staining to travel with the grain, producing the wild patterns in the wood. 

side of the dresser

To join the top and side boards, I used a curving river of black cherry that runs up from one side, across the top and down the other side. 

wooden dresser on a middle of a village street

To jazz up the bottom, I went with an asymmetrical twist of a standard double S curve that I have used countless times even in the background timberwork on the Fenton Inn Bakery.   This new twist is either a wave or a bird with wings out.  The sides curves stem from the off centered cherry that flairs like a tree trunk as it touched the ground.  I wanted to do something interesting with such nice figured maple that complimented the natural organic shapes.

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Hiking the Appalachian Trail near the Fenton Inn



views of ski slopes in summer

A short hike along the Appalachian Trail starting from the Humpback Rock Picnic Area, leads to a rocky cliff overlook facing the Wintergreen Ski Resort.  From this point on the AT you can see the entire ski area, the serpentine row of condos on Blue Ridge Drive and the new water tank that is used in the winter for making snow.  Just beyond Wintergreen Mountain is the familiar slopes of Three Ridges (the mountain we view from the Fenton Inn).  Beyond this in the distance is the Priest, which has Crabtree Falls at its base.  Each of the three mountain tops are about 4000ft in elevation. 

sign for humpback picnic area

Here is the sign on the Blue Ridge Parkway showing where to park for the start of the trail. Drive into the picnic area and go all the way to the very back.  There you will find the Blue trail which connects into the AT in a short distance through the woods.  Turning left (North) on the AT takes you to the cliffs in about 40 minutes of fairly easy hiking.


entrance to the park

The gates on the picnic area are closed in Winter, however the AT can still be accessed at Dripping Rocks rest area, just around the corner from the Picnic area.

bear warning sign

While there are bear warning all around the Blue Ridge Parkway and Wintergreen, this picnic area is frequented by bear looking for left overs and picnic baskets.  As always, don't feed the bears or they can become troublesome.  We did not see any bears, but did see a number of large stones flipped over along the trail as they searched for ants.  About half their diet is plants, acorns and berries, the other half is insects, grubs and scavenging.  This is altered in areas where garbage and hand outs give them a taste for junk food.


beginning of the trail

The Blue Trail from the picnic area leads off through the woods.  The area is heavily wooded today, but is covered in stone walls of an old farm.  During the time of the Blue Ridge Parkway's construction in the 1930s, much of the land was still open fields.

marks for the trail

A closer look at the trail head leading to the AT.

people hiking the trail

The AT, some 850 miles from the start in Georgia and 1200 miles from the end in Maine.  About 2000 people complete the trail each year reaching our area in June.

trail posts

The AT trail marker at the intersection of the Blue trail with the AT.

signs for the trail

The sign show distances to nearby landmarks.  A walk back to the Fenton Inn, which is 0.5 miles from the AT at Reeds gap, would be around 6.6 miles.

person enjoying the mountain views
Another look at the view of Wintergreen.