Matt Downer Designs - Updates

2012-03-07T22:40:00.002-08:00

My favorite model clutching a muffin beneath the bubinga floor lamp that bears her name.

2012-03-07T22:33:00.002-08:00

With LED lights inset beneath the horizontal arm, brushed steel and sculpted bubinga, the Arc lamp makes it hard to focus on the boring paperwork that it serves to illuminate.

2012-03-07T22:19:00.003-08:00

Finally getting around to posting a shot of one of four benches for the Weigels. I felled the Englemann Spruces and slabbed the logs by hand. They now serve as great rest spots throughout the property. An exhausting, but fun project.

2011-09-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

A diagonal shelf system for mid-sized ceramics done in ash, purpleheart and highly figured walnut.

2011-09-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to correcting the image for this version of the Koshou bench in Mahogany and curly maple

2011-09-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

The... dynamic creative interplay... between Craig and Betsy resulted in this "Shameless Symmetry" wall shelf for small, precious pots. Walnut, ash, purpleheart. 17" wide, 26" tall, 3.5" deep

2011-07-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Rolling bench built for and designed by J. Goldberg. Ash, stained cherry, and steel. 34"x16"x18". Taken for its first test ride by my new favorite model - the Paigikins.

2011-06-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

"Tana" cabinet. (Named after the Japanese word for "shelf") 55" tall, 21" wide and 8" deep. Cherry throughout with ash interior shelves and purpleheart pegs and wedges. Glass and japanese rice paper door panel.

2011-05-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

The "Crane" lamp. 8',6" tall and 10' long. Adjustable in all directions. LED lights last for 50,000 hours. Perfect for dining or group seating areas. Functional kinetic sculpture.

2011-05-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

Desk lamp and Crane lamp details

2011-03-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Cherry dresser for Rob Kalin. Paigikins not included.

2011-02-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

Asian inspired queen bed for the Poseys. Black walnut with an attractive slab of figured myrtle for the headboard.

2010-09-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Work station with set of five walnut and ash drawers on purpleheart runners. Curved half-blind dovetails.

2010-05-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

This floor lamp is 50" tall and long. Made of Shedua, and steel with many different counterbalance options. The light source is high efficiency LEDs.

2010-03-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

This writing desk made of black walnut and ash was commissioned as a companion piece to a xylo-bench (scroll down or click on the slideshow for images of that piece).

2009-11-08T00:19:00.000-08:00

The Katz bench made of black walnut and bookmatched curly maple. 17" tall, 13" deep, and 60" long.

2009-11-08T00:13:00.000-08:00

A walnut slab dining table with bloodwood and steel accents for the Cain family. 30" tall, 38" wide, 95" long.

2009-11-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

A clean table for the offices of Enlighten lighting designers made of steel and eastern maple. 20" tall, 36" wide, 60" long.

2009-11-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

This stout patio dining table for the Nelson family is made of FSC certified teak. 30" tall, 64" square.

2009-11-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

Headboard for Ron and Michelle Brown made of walnut and a wonderful slab of figured myrtle. 48" tall, 3.5" deep, 90.5" long

2009-11-06T23:02:00.000-08:00

Cherry, ebonized maple and steel coffee table for Jill Gruenberg and Eric Vozick. 18" tall, 28" deep, and 48" long.

2009-11-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

Curly / wormy maple and steel coffee table for James King. 19" tall, 19" deep, 40" long.

2009-06-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

A spiffy new design in ash and walnut for the Ah Haa School

2009-06-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

A recent commission in walnut and very curly maple

2009-06-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

A detail shot of a wall mounted guitar hanger made of maple, jatoba and ebony

2009-01-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hefty walnut coffee table w/ breadboard ends (42" x 64")

2009-01-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Walnut and steel mirror (47" x 29")

2008-10-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

This bench made of poplar and steel can double as a stylish cocktail table.

2008-10-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Steel- apron sofa table with ebonized maple legs and spalted maple top

2008-10-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

2008-10-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

...A sliding drawer for the small stuff.

2008-10-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

Matching writing desk and chair. Walnut and ash with purpleheart accents.

2008-10-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

At 20.5" tall, 14" deep, and 50.5" this Asian influenced bench made of mahogany and walnut is both contemporary and traditional.

2008-10-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

Walnut tops with mahogany bases, as well as matching joinery make these tow pieces a natural pair.

2008-10-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

Mahogany legs are rock-solid using no glues or fasteners - mechanical forces alone.

2008-06-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

At last! With handles made from scrap rosewood smuggled back from a Costa Rican surf trip, the mirror box is easily mounted and ready to use. Its dimensions are: 43" wide, 42" tall, and 11" deep.
To see the progress of this project from the beginning, scroll back a mere 28 posts.

2008-06-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

With the finishing complete, it's time for final assembly. Here I'm attaching the box frame within the notches of the runners. Later, the curvy supports that go below the box frame will attach to the frame and runners. The hook bar will then attach to the supports. Finally the mirror is attached to the runners as well.

2008-06-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

A first coat of linseed oil for the mirror frames.

2008-06-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

With all of the elements built, fitted, and sanded, it's down to finishing and assembly. Here the boxes get a coat.

2008-06-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

With the notches complete, the outer edges of the runners get a small bevel or "chamfer" with the spokeshave.

2008-06-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

All cherry elements attach to the wall via two maple vertical runners. Here they receive notches with the dado blade that the box frame will sit within.

2008-06-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

With the mirror frames fitted and glued, the mirrors and backing boards need notches within which to rest. A great job for the router.

2008-06-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

Transferring the joints from the vertical members of the mirror frames to the horizontal with a drafting pencil. Cuts are then made with table and bandsaws.

2008-06-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

Giving the dovetails that hold the mirror frame together a bit of style.

2008-06-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

The box frame sits on supports that will attach to the wall-mounted runners. With the bandsaw, giving them a bit of curve is easy.

2008-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

Once the glue has dried, all surfaces must be sanded smooth before finishing.

2008-06-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

After many hours cutting, shaping, sanding, and fitting forty vertical supports from walnut, the shelf/ box frame gets glued. A total of sixty small surfaces are being glued at once. Speed and accuracy are critical.

2008-06-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Using dado blades (multiple table saw blades sandwiched together to bake a wider cut) the notches are cut in the top and bottom of the box frames. These cuts are made to accept the vertical walnut parts that give the box frame structure. Look for the already notched boards behind me.

2008-06-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

No turning back now! With all mating surfaces covered in a thin coat of glue, I have to work fast before everything sets up permanently.

2008-06-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

With all edges snug and correct, all that remains are the box bottoms as well as cutting the notches to accept them.

2008-05-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

Finally, the moment of swears or satisfaction. Dry fitting (without glue) tells the tale of how accurate I have or haven't been. So far so good!

2008-05-17T23:28:00.000-07:00

Just as with the tails, the pins require a very sharp chisel to clean the cuts and bring the edges right up to the lines from two pictures ago.

2008-05-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

Cutting the shoulders for the pins calls for the Japanese pull saw. (It cuts on the pull and not the push.)

2008-05-17T23:13:00.000-07:00

Transferring the cut lines from tails to pins is just a matter of drawing a thin line around the perimeter. This simple step requires focus: any imperfection here will be glaringly obvious when the piece comes together.

2008-05-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

Some things are best done by hand: cleaning up the tails with chisels.

2008-05-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

If you already know how to cut dovetails by hand does that mean you have to? The table saw makes quick and accurate work of the tail shoulders.

2008-05-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

While leaving the glued and clamped cherry boards to dry over night, I've begun laying out my cut lines for the half-blind dovetails of the sliding box.

2008-05-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

Portions of the piece that call for wide boards require careful glue-ups of thinner boards.

2008-05-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

The last cut eliminates the blond sapwood.

2008-05-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

After the boards are allowed to tweak out, they're brought back to square and milled down to their final dimensions. This is a shot of the loud planer that's been banished to the basement. You can see the yellow dust collector as well as lumber storage in the background.

2008-05-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Once rough-milled, the pieces are left overnight to release any internal tension as well as absorb/expel moisture from all surfaces evenly.

2008-05-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

After labeling each piece and cutting it to an approximate length, the stock is rough-milled to obtain flat, clean and square edges. The first milling gets the wood close to its final dimensions while still allowing the internal tensions of each board to be released and, thus, stable after the finish mill.

2008-05-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

Once I'm happy with the look and feel of my scale drawing (on the cork-board in the upper right) I make a list of each puzzle piece with exact dimensions. Then it's to the basement to select the rough stock. Each piece is selected with a careful eye for how the dusty plank will present as part of the finished piece.

New Project: Mirror-Box

2008-05-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

Day one of a new project! I'm calling this thing a mirror box. This is the rendition drawn to scale with each element assigned a letter. The drawing shows both front and side views. I'm building four of them at once which may take a bit of time. Let's see how long...

2008-01-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

Wormy maple coffee table with red willow detail awaits its glass insert

2007-10-31T17:59:00.001-07:00

Leopardwood wall shelf

2007-10-31T17:56:00.001-07:00

Black walnut sliding dovetails in quilted maple shelf

2007-10-31T17:44:00.001-07:00

13" tall redwood burl vessel

2007-10-31T17:38:00.001-07:00

Three hook entryway shelf

2007-10-31T15:01:00.001-07:00

Levy Dressers
Click for full size image

2007-10-31T14:58:00.001-07:00

Figured cherry drawer faces with purpleheart pulls

2007-10-31T14:37:00.001-07:00

Fancy-pants TP roll holder in cherry

2007-10-31T13:39:00.001-07:00

Cherry and spalted maple king bed

2007-10-31T13:35:00.001-07:00

2007-10-31T13:30:00.001-07:00

Through-tennon wedges

2007-10-31T13:14:00.001-07:00

Stools puzzle pieces ready for assembly

2007-10-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

Cherry stools with alder legs
Click for full size image

2007-10-12T00:20:00.001-07:00

Fine tuning runners on Levy dressers.

2007-10-12T00:08:00.001-07:00

72" diameter walnut poker table with copper inlay

2007-10-12T00:03:00.001-07:00

Copper inlay details

2007-10-11T23:58:00.001-07:00

Ahh, the days of yore. A less wrinkled (and over exposed) Matt attempts to visually explain how the top and base lock.

2007-10-11T23:42:00.001-07:00

A long gone (way pre-digital photos) side table made of spalted maple and some wildly figured claro walnut. The turnings are mahogany, pine and quilted maple (from the left)

2007-10-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

Side table detail

2007-10-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

Counter-balanced maple door conceals kitchen tools

2007-10-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

A unique side table made of stained alder intended to make the most of an awkward corner in the private tasting cellar of the Cosmopolitan restaurant in Telluride

2007-10-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Close up of cherry wedge

Gallery of previous work 1

2007-10-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

This simple shelf is about three feet tall made of dark poplar and spalted maple. The shelves nest into dados (fitted notches) and are held in place with removable wedges. No adhesives or hardware other than two screws to tie it to a wall stud.