Axes for the Wall

 

  Following the hipster return to the tried and true FilliQuist took some time to remake some axes that is had procured. After cleaning up the heads and handles, replacing as needed some paint was carefully applied in individual patterns to allow the axes to be kept out in the open instead of being hidden away with the other tools. I really like these and will have a hard time letting them sell at the Filliquist store!

Not Germany but close...

I think I had socks like this in the 80's...

I might keep this one so go buy it before I remove it from our store!

Mid Century Barn Find Has Surgery and Makes a Comeback

   When collecting windows for a greenhouse project to be completed next summer I found these cabinets neglected in a barn. They had 15+ years of dirt and dust on them and, unfortunately, their little legs and feet were beginning to melt into the mud and needed to be amputated.
   After a thorough cleaning and a little surgery, the two mid century style boxes were fitted with a shared prosthetic...

The Magnus

   A little something out of the shop. It comes from a design that a friend found, apparently it had already been purchased and he wanted it. So a replication was in order.
 The frame is made of solid steel 3/4 inch (19mm) square rod. The top is butcher block oak that has been fumed and then finished with an antique recipe that I have been dying to try for years. It came out amazing! The middle shelf is zinc coated sheet metal that has been given a nice black patina. All of the metal is waxed to seal it from any corrosion and protect the steel for many years.
  There are more detailed pictures (click on to magnify) after the jump:

Restoration of Swedish Woodstove

   How is this for instant gratification? We bought this Handöl wood stove in bad condition and I spent some time (quite a bit actually) cleaning, polishing, welding, resealing, and reassembling this little classic. It is made of a cast iron frame that holds together many pieces of soapstone and cast iron ports (ash clean out, stoking door, and exhaust port out the back of the stove).

The Norrsylta Bookcase (Painted)

     We left our tall bookcases back in the US which means we are still sort of "moving in". Well we have now finally put our books away. This bookcase is just over 3 feet tall or for us folks in the metric part of the world an even meter. And they are also about 8 feet long or 2.5 meter. Now- I keep saying "they" since I made two thinking that we had all these books and stuff to organize. Well turns out that these cases hold much more than I could imagine since just one case absorbed all of our stuff with room to spare! Now what to do with the extra one?....Hmmmm? Ideas? anyone? Bueller? (movie reference there)

Up Against a Wall

   Our walls have been blank too long. Taking what we already have I hung our Greenland paddles that I made a couple of years ago with our canoe paddles and a spare (who doesn't have one of these?) propeller.  I love the idea that we have everything we need to decorate and make our house our own we just need to take the time to figure out the best way to present it.

Enjoy!

It Always Pays to Recycle!!

  In the middle of the seach for parts and supplies for a dining table lamp I came across this gem.... a Flos Model 2097-30 chandelier! Very excited to find the lamp unassembled in its original box I asked the attendant at the recycling center (yes a recycling center!!) how much for this light here, he looks at it shugs and says 150 SEK or about $25! The Flos 2097 retails for around 12,000 SEK which is about $1800 USD. Recycling centers, flea markets and thrift stores are always a great resource. Just remember it pays to recycle!

Well Well Well.....

  Things are changing have changed! I won't soften the blow so here it is -the tearing off of the Band-Aid from a really hairy arm- FilliQuist is now in Sweden!
How about that!
  Once FilliQuist found out that it was moving I stopped posting (since work more or less stopped in the shop) and we began preparing for our move. With much work and a significant amount of streamlining we readied for the move. Pretty much all tools that ran on 120V electricity found new "forever homes" and the rest are on a boat in the Baltic headed to port as I type. Yea! Can't wait to get all of our goodies!!
   Since it has been about three months since the last post I figure that it is time to get back to work on the blog and in the shop.
  Since being here I have already made/put together a table, scrounged up some old school chairs, and am working on some benches for the time being....

  Oh and taking wallpaper off of our bedroom walls, patching holes, stacking firewood, clearing saplings and dead trees in the yard, meeting the neighbors.....well keeping busy, anyway.
  I will keep you informed of all the new changes...I promise. And there will be some great new content as FilliQuist gets used to a new country and continent.
  So for now... Hej då!!

The French Farm Table

Here is a story of "localvoreism".
  A couple comes to me and says, "Hey we'd like to get a table, at a good price, and maybe learn something in the process."
Me- "Ok, sure."
Well, here's the table.

More picts and details after the leap.....

The Rancho Yolo Lodge Table- Built From a Ranch for A Ranch

   This is a big table with a bit of a tale.

  More pictures and tale after the jump.

A Complete DIY Farmhouse Table

  Tis the season all 'round the (Northern) world that we begin to think about the harvest season, the holiday season and most of all- just being indoors. Spending more time indoors working and entertaining requires a good size table.
    I myself am not interested in shelling out a few hundred to a couple thousand bucks for a good size table. So I decided to make one ! AND share the process with you! The cost of materials?  Wood, glue and screws-$60 Tops. That's it.
    If you need to buy the tools then plan on about another $150 to $200 for a low end table saw or a hand held circular saw, a cordless drill and some drill bits. Or borrow one from a neighbor or friend or work with them on the project!
  Surprisingly there are many steps that can be skipped and I will note them with an *. Not doing the steps will result in a less finished looking table but a table just the same.  So, shall we get started?

Then & Now Lamp

No springs. No tension. No problems.

Click the jump for the rest!!

Matching Side Table for Winery Bench

Here it is! Using the two ends of the White Oak Wine Barrel yields two 22" diameter side tables. The base is a single piece of bent smoothed and waxed. The top is oiled and then waxed.

Retail $119

The Dry Wine Bench, or just, The Winery Bench

   I would like to introduce a new little (not really, see dimensions at bottom) addition to the FilliQuist family, The Dry Wine Bench.

A wine barrel in it's previous life, the back of the bench is an unfolded white oak red wine barrel still stained by its former nectar and each screw hole plugged with fresh oak bungs.

The seat is a solid piece of white oak that is fit carefully into a notch made in each stave.

The top rail is finished with white oak as well which has been steamed into place.

Because of the solid seat surface, the bench should be turned over regularly to prevent warping. A task which shouldn't be much of a problem since after a rain or morning dew the bench can be flipped over to offer a dry seat and back. You see, the bench seat is exactly in the middle making the top the bottom and vice versa.

   Even though white oak is naturally rot resistant the whole bench is oiled and waxed for added protection. The bench pictured is approximately 7'6"L x 37" H x 20"D with a seat depth of 16" good for two shy people and 3-4 good friends. Retail for the standard two person 5' bench is $1150. Production and different sizes are available.

A New Tea Light Candle Chandelier

Fresh out of the Studio is as mentioned a tea light candle chandelier. Fairly simple description. The glass votives are hanging from a lightweight chain and attached to an assembly of branches that, using more chain, is hung virtually anywhere, as with any candle not near combustibles!    Hang it from an awning, a trellis, over a dining table or a under tree. Drifting and twisting about in the evening breeze these lights will move and flicker on the canopy of branches or ceiling above. The dancing shadows will enliven those late night conversations and softly light smiling faces melding them into the warm memory that is summer.

Enjoy!

Elevated Dog Feeder with Bowls and Food Storage

How many times, or for how long, has Duke, Fluffy, Spot, or Fido's food and water "area" been a little lack luster? To sad bowls sitting on the floor looking as if a deranged person placed them there. Not knowing where they truly belong, these dishes get banged around with their food bits and water logged egg whites, really- they need to go! But then where does Poochies nourishment come from? Surely not my hand, one kibble at a time...and NOT from some dark corner of the yard, ich.....


So, how about a nice box that holds around 20lbs.of dog food, one food dish, and one water dish? Yes? Good! Then here it is! Oh yes, and no more trips out into the laundry room, garage, or some side room to fetch food. Ah efficiency.

The Dog Box $80

Crooked Walls and Kitchen Storage

The walls in our rental house were nice with the original bead work and all; but.....

So I took some old wood boxes (read: before plastic and cardboard) and painted the insides a light denim blue and the outside white to match the cabinets a very simple and cheap DIY. and Wa LA!

Better Than Restoration Hardware

When I was young my mother had me playing all kinds of instruments-the violin @ 4 years old, then the cello @ 8 or so, then the piano in the early teens. If there is one thing I HATE to hear it's, "why don't you go practice now..." UHG!

Well here I am a grown man and I am happily, and unknowingly, practicing all on my own. OK, it isn't an instrument per se but I am using instuments. Welders, saws, drills, grinders and so on. I guess the definition of making music has just changed. What is this leading up to? Well have a look:

Does it look familier? It should....

see page here

So if practice makes perfect I hope that this shows I am getting better. It was nice to have this coffee table as a little bit of inspiration and to be able to show that things can be made locally for much, MUCH LESS. This may become a frequent saying -GO LOCAL!

The instigator for this table came when I first asked myself, "WHY does this table cost so much??" Huh why? RH's table is approx. 4.5 feet by 3.5 feet and costs $1360. The one I did sold for $650. OK ok, mine's not an antique, it also weighs in at around 60 lbs. instead of RH's approximate of 200 lbs. I'm going to guess that theirs is solid steel frame then; whereas, mine is square tubing 1/8" wall. Never mind after closer inspection you can actually see the joints on the leg for flatpack-ability, there is no way that table weighs 200 lbs. Other than age, a steel end cap, some patina paint job, and -of course- price what's the diff? Would you go local?

Zen

What is Zen?

Well....it Is.

While you ponder that here are some more Japanese modern pieces fresh off the lathe.

These are done out of American Walnut that has been collected and gathered locally.

Who likes Sake?

Again, Walnut but this time sleaved and anointed with some chome.