Free Form Custom Furniture Design

There’s another sizable home library on the drawing board. Before that starts it seemed like a good time to do a small project with one of the number of beautiful offcuts I’ve saved. It’s the proverbial rainy day.

Staring at the quartersawn white oak chunk with a live edge I struggled with what to do. As a surgeon I was always planning and executing according to plan (hopefully). Building cabinetry is similar in detail and execution. I was hung up on planning something for this white oak.

After making many rounds of thought I finally kicked myself out of it and started to free form design. A cookbook/iPad stand would be the thing. Deciding on a very rough outline of structure, with a flat base, single pedestal and fixed angle, I finally just started building on the fly. Exact measurements didn’t matter, as I knew it would fit the intended device. Curves were free handed, not cut on a CNC. I don’t have a CNC, so I wouldn’t do that anyway. Edge profiles were made up. The piece is now together, ready for surfacing, finishing and assembly. It will probably be a gift, or maybe a spec piece. It’s certainly one of a kind.

It’s been a fun day. I’m learning to not stress about design. They say that you can learn it, that it’s not just innate. I’m starting to think that’s true. Sometimes you follow the GPS, sometimes you wander to your destination. Enjoy the wandering.