Walnut Handles Style B-2

I received another order from Texas, this time from the Idle Rich Pub in Dallas. They wanted 16 handles made out of walnut with the B-2 style, which is 4 inches tall and about 1.5 inches wide. Walnut is another beautiful wood and each one has it's own unique grain. Here are the pics from this order.

This is the raw piece of Walnut. While this piece was larger than I needed I can't wait to use the rest on some more handles. You can't see it but on the opposite side there is a knot that will make a beautiful feature in a handle. This entire board is about 3 feet long.

The rough blanks, 6 inches long and a little over 1.5 inches square. You can see the color and grain variation in each. The remainder of the board is in the background, about 14 inches or so left.

Rough turning is complete. Some trimming, sanding, and drilling for hardware.

Sanding is complete. I love the light in this photo. The late afternoon sun was coming in through the open garage door, giving great shadow and softening the light.

All finished and ready for finish. These have gloss finish and have a little more shine to them. The saw in the background makes it look like the handles are on a conveyor belt of doom, waiting their impending demise at a few thousand rpm.

A different view of the finished handles. The one in the foreground has this dark streak running right through it. That one might be my favorite.

All finished and ready to package and ship. For comparison, the unused portion of the walnut board is underneath the handles, giving you an idea of the color difference between finished and unfinished.

David, from Idle Rich, sent me a couple pics of the handles when they arrivied. All 16 mounted and ready to pour.

Opposite view of the Idle Rich Bar. The next time I'm in Dallas, I'll stop in for a pint.

66 Cocobolo Handles - Part 2

Here's the rest of the pics from the Cocobolo order

The blanks are turned to round. The wood, once exposed to the air turns an orange color.

The rough turning is complete. Here I still have to cut the lines and burn them in, and finish sanding.

Here the lines are burned in and ready to finish sand and install hardware.

All done with sanding and hardware installed and time for the finish. Several coats of lacquer for a durable finish.

A closer shot where you can see the beautiful wood grain patterns. The grain on each is unique and the colors of the wood are really striking.

A real close up shot

All completed and ready to ship out. Finish is done and the ferrules are on. Ready to go on the taps

Cocobolo is one of my favorite woods to work with. It has beautiful grain and colors, it is relatively easy to turn and the wood has a unique, slightly tobacco smell. The only problem is that it stained my hands orange or a couple weeks! Oh well, I'll remember to wear gloves next time.

Bryan

66 Cocobolo Handles - Part 1

The Moon Tower Inn in Houston, Texas contacted me about making them some handles out of Cocobolo for their new bar. I was a little surprised when they wanted 66! That must be some bar setup they have. I guess everything is bigger in Texas. While that many handles at once was my largest single order to date, I didn't let that stop me. I geared up for full scale assembly line, Henry Ford style, except instead of a workforce, I had just me. And instead of an assembly line, I had the workbench. Repeating every step in the process 66 times can be monotonous, but I got really good at every one of those steps by the end of the order. Here's some pics from the order.
Here's the raw pieces of Cocobolo.

They are 4'' square and a little over a foot long. It was most of what I could find in the LA area, and not cheap.

I cut the blocks into slabs just over 1'' thickness. You can already see the beautiful grain of the wood. It is everything from yellow and pink to orange and brown.

A close-up of the wood grain and color.

The slabs get ripped down to square blanks and cut to 6'' lengths. Here they are ready to start turning. I'll post the rest next.

Beer Engine Mount

A recent project was actually suggested by a customer, Darren, that I met at a local brewery, Monkish in Torrance, CA. Darren told me that he had a beer engine and needed some frame to mount it to, as well as a cradle for his cask. It needed to fit the beer engine, but be able to be portable and table-top accessible to use at beer events. Here's what I came up with:

The frame is made out of oak, with most of it being solid, from 1'' lumber that was planed down. The photo shows the top and bottom pieces with some of the raw lumber underneath.

The sides are more solid oak with 1/4'' oak ply paneling on the left and right. The front cutout is for the beer engine to fit with enough room for the drip tray at the bottom. The back is removable to get tho the beer line.

I gave the piece a light stain and some polyurethane to protect it.

The cradle for the cask, made out of the same oak as the mount. It slots together and can be quickly assembled and disassembled with no tools. The back is slightly higher than the front so that the cask drains to the front gradually without having to tip it drastically.

The finished piece with the beer engine attached in Darren's kitchen. The barrel in the photo is his kitchen furniture and has nothing to do with the beer engine!

The beer engine mounted with the cask, all ready to pour the perfect pint.

While I do plan on keeping handles the main part of the business, if anyone is interested in a mount for a beer engine, contact me and I'll give you a quote.

Bryan

I haven't posted in a while - Updates Coming!

It has been several months since I've posted on the blog and I've had a few orders come through that I'd like to share. I've just been too busy lately with everything else going on to get much done. In the next few weeks I get everything updated and get pictures posted on what has been happening at Smith & Co.

Bryan Smith

Just finished an order for Monk's Kettle

I just finished an order for the Monk's Kettle in San Francisco. They are opening up a new restaurant called the Abbot's Table and they wanted 25 handles for the new place. I made them out of walnut. They are scheduled to open in a couple weeks so if you happen to be in the San Francisco area, stop by for some great food, terrific beer, and admire the woodwork behind the bar. Check out their site at Monk's Kettle.

Here's the piece of walnut at the beginning of the project. The split made the board cheaper!

Here's the handles rough turned and sanded. From here they get trimmed, sanded by hand, and have the holes drilled and bolts installed.

Done with sanding, ready for bolts and finish

Finished handles with five coats of lacquer, ready to go out