Uncommon Craftsmen

12/10/2024

We're about to wrap a special project in the shop. It has all the elements of a good challenge for us. The client had Maple filing cabinets she built a long time ago that her kids helped finish, and wanted to salvage the wood from them in a new buildout of three modular units to coordinate with a piece she already has in her living room. We're pretty proud of this stain match, and loved the reference photos (shared with permission) of her kiddos helping out a few decades ago.

10/18/2024

When we're not working directly in clients' homes, we're cranking out projects at our shop in Hazelwood, which we share with several talented woodworkers. Over the past few weeks, we've been highlighting some of the folks we work with and around. Today, meet Andy.

Andy took to woodworking when he was just a kid, but has gotten more serious in the last 8 years or so. He went to Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine, to expand his knowledge and hone his skills.

What he's working on: A Danish Cord Bench

His favorite finish: No favorites, but currently a fan of OSMO PolyxRaw and their woodwax finish. Also a fan of classic boiled linseed oil.

A fun fact: Andy used to be a competition cyclist (but now just does it for fun) 🚴

Andy is knowledgeable and a big help when we need to throw around ideas for how to attack a tough moment on a project, and we're lucky to share a shop with him.

10/01/2024

Today in our series of highlighting the talented woodworkers around the shop, meet Teresa.

Teresa started woodworking in 2010. In addition to keeping things moving in her business, which has been open for 12 years, she teaches. (She’s currently leading an 8-week class through Fall on Spoon Carving.) You can pore over a variety of wonderful wooden objects she’s made on her Instagram

What she’s working on: Just finished a chair, and now it’s on to jewelry and bandsaw boxes.

Her favorite finish: Old Fashioned Milk Paint (in Bohemian and Providence colors), and Tried and True’s Varnish Oil

A fun fact: Until just recently, we were lucky to get to hang with Teresa at the shop in Hazelwood, but she’s now moving into her own studio in Wilkinsburg, and we’ll miss hearing about her national travels and watching her prep for big events.

09/12/2024

When we're not working directly in clients' homes, we're cranking out projects at our shop in Hazelwood, which we share with several talented woodworkers. We're going to highlight some of the folks we work with and around over the next few weeks (while also showing you our finished projects, of course). Today, meet Dylan.

Dylan's been in business for about a year as . His dad and granddad had woodshops growing up, so he's following in family footsteps. He's got 5 years of experience at an architecture firm and is taking his licensing test soon.

What he's working on: Kitchen cabinets!
His favorite finish: OSMO Poly X and Woodwax, plus Rubio Monocoat for dark woods
A fun fact: He played collegiate volleyball at Pitt and Cincinatti 🏐

We love sharing a shop with Dylan so we can tap him for his thoughts on projects, technical drawings, and great energy.

08/15/2024

We’re woodworkers at the core, of course, but sometimes when we’re helping a client, the best solution just isn’t wood. Our client was looking to replace deteriorating exterior stairs up to their back door from their yard. After many years of use, they were growing moss and breaking down due in part to no solution for water and weather. Though the white oak they were built from is generally good for exterior, we’re hesitant to recommend it for a stair tread unless it includes some sort of regularly-applied weatherizing coat. To help reduce maintenance on the client’s part and to ensure her investment would be lasting, we opted for galvanized steel supplied by McNICHOLS CO. The overall result is a project we wouldn’t ordinarily take on, but resulted in a happy customer with a fixed headache - and that’s what we care about most.👍

08/05/2024

Thanks for following us, everyone. We love being able to share what's going on in the shop, even if we can only post once in a while.

Posting to social media is a whole job in itself sometimes. And if you already have a job, it can be hard to find the time to tell everyone what you're up to on social media while you're doing it.

Our advice? Don't let the pressure of "not posting enough" turn into "not posting at all."

Take a page from Uncommon Craftsmen's book. These extremely talented* woodworkers are busy building custom pieces for their clients, so they only post once weekly or biweekly and focus on quality over quantity. Their posts are:

👀 Eye-catching: They understand the effect of a great before/after series.

ℹ️ Informative: How DO they do that?!

🎨 Varied: Each post in a peek into a new kind of project, displaying their vast capabilities.

Even if you don't make cool furniture or hidden doorways, check out how they're making it work!

*Ok, so we might be a little biased (Emily helped brand and launch the company and Jackie is married to the founder 🫣😆)

[ID: A compilation of process photos leading up to the creation of a beautiful craftsman style light fixture. It features up close pictures of impressive joinery with detailed, delicate cuts of wood. The largest photo features a Dave, a white man with dark hair pulled back, a full beard, glasses, and a colorful bandana around his neck. He stands next to the finished light in his workshop.]

08/01/2024

Ever wonder how we get old doors stripped to be restored and refinished? We take them to Dip 'n Strip. Every door we've taken them has come back looking nearly good as new. It can be hard to find folks who will do a great job and stand and look at a thing with you when they're finished to make sure you're happy, but these are just those kinda folks. Probably why they've been in business for almost 50 years!

07/25/2024

This client came to us with old garage doors that needed to be replaced. The old ones were deteriorating, uninsulated, and were challenging to lift up from the bottom. So we designed, built, and installed a set that were more modern, insulated, and easier to open.

Wood type: Pine and Poplar
Joinery: Mortise and Tenon
Finish: Benjamin Moore Peale Green

06/28/2024

This one was special; a custom light fixture for an old friend (Dave's former acting professor - did you know Dave has a theater degree alongside his union carpentry training?).

Wood type: Cherry, from Dave's family's property
Joinery: Mortise and tenon, lap joints, domino, spline
Finish: OSMO PolyX3054 - Clear Satin

Designed to allow for lower panels to be removed for easy light replacement.

06/14/2024

Shaker Style Side Table
Wood: Cherry and Maple
Joinery: drawer-dovetail, rabbet, groove and dado; table legs and apron- mortise and tenon; Top- edge glued
Finish: Osmo poly-x oil 3054 Clear
Drawer pull from House of Antique Hardware

05/30/2024

When you open a woodworking business, you hope that someday someone will call and ask you to make a wine rack that's actually a secret door. We really liked doing this one. 😏

Pre-fab door from Murphy Door. We modified the shelves with solid Oak to hold wine bottles and finished with Osmo's mahogany wood wax finish.

05/24/2024

This one's been in the shop so long, we're going to miss it. 6' x 5'7" Custom game table made with oak and walnut, featuring 8 fold-out player desks and drink caddies with lids that can turn over to be miniature dice or game piece trays. The table's top has a center medallion that lifts to reveal a gaming pit with a removable red velvet insert. Legs are joined with mortise and tenon with a nod to a medieval tavern look, per the client's request. They are held together with a removable wedge tusk on either side, making them collapsible. We had a great time doing this one; happy gaming!