Mike asked me to post a few photos I sent out to a few friends last Friday of just what my shop looks like on a given day.

The first is Harry and I drinking coffee
after he got a my new light table (glowing in the backgnd) up and running.
It's for chipping glass and will give it a test early next week.

The rest are of some millwork and a sketch, and a pile or two of a
couple of different woods (mahogany and basswood) being readied for the
coming months labour......am out of breath just thinking about it!!

Doug,
Did you photoshop out all the aged wood chips and blankets of saw dust in your shop?
Heck, I can hardly find a loose spot to set down a razor blade in my rat hole. And I mean even on edge!!
Crowded in,
Pat

Hey Doug,
Thanks for posting these on the forum. Our shop was seldom that clean!

I always like to see shots like these. It is a clue about where the "magic" comes from.

At the Bloomington meeting, Raymond Chapman, Darla, and I managed to get the keys to Gary Anderson's shop and walk around in it with no one else around. Besides seeing all the great work and samples on the walls, we got another experience. It was spooky in a way, as though there was a ghost of greatness hovering around the place. I am sure Gary just thinks of it as the place he goes to when he has to work, but for us it was a nice, quiet moment to see where he made his magic happen. Of course, for Gary, the magic happens between his two ears and we only get to see the results.

Be sure and click off a few shots of that project as it goes through the shop, too! More magic, please!

Mike Jackson

Great looking shop there, Old Man. Like Mike said, it's always interesting to see the work place of the folks you really admire.

It seems like only yesterday that we opened the door to the magic kingdom of Gary's studio. We all walked around quietly, almost in reverence, with our jaws hitting the floor. I can still hear Mike saying very low, "So, this is where the magic happens."

I go back there every summer and spend a night with Gary and Linda and I still get that same feeling. It is the same feeling that I got when I walked into Mike and Darla's shop.

You just stand and look and try to soak it all up. Even though the shops are outstanding, you still know that the real stuff is in the head of the designer. That's where you would really like to go. Noel Weber, Mark Yearwood, and many others produce those fantastic pieces of work and if you are fortunate enough to visit their shops you feel a little electricity in the air and the hair begins to stand up on the back of your neck.

You almost feel like you are on holy ground.

Doug.
You have a well set up work area with good light and lots of bench area. I have seen some incredible work come out of this shop.
Will hopefully get over your way one day soon.
Dave

Doug

Thanks for sharing...I understand your scope of work better...very cool...

It is great when clients are not afraid of paying for good craftsmanship...

but the cost of wood before it get's down here has gone pretty wild...since the largest mills were out of Southern Mississippi - Katrina effected.

4/4 walnut fas or better is just under 4/bf and that is rough..then they want another .75 to surface and straight line...

well....that made me go up to Missouri, find a mill, then I built a kiln at a friends house up there to get a a good 9% moisture then load it up and run it down. I pay 1.00/bf and another .60 for kiln and transportation costs. That just goes to show what they are marking up.

Anyway...lot's more that I could throw out there but enough for now.

Ah...here is one fact that dates my carving...I have a 24,18,12oz carving mallets....and there are all lignum vitae....Sure can't get those anymore...maybe a head, but not an entire handle/head.

I love that wood!...I will slip in more wood projects down the road.

Robert

Gosh.....I wish my shop were as clean as it looks there. Here's a couple more photos from the same project just at different stages. Will likely finish it off tomorrow. It's worth noting that there isn't a scrap of space left over and those 2 black 55gal bags at the door are sawdust. There'll be a few more of those before I'm done.

Wow Doug that just looks great!

Somehow this sonbg pops up when I see your work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60Ek7Af3ucE

Erik

Dang, Doug, that's some slick work, keep the pictures coming!

The only words you post is concern about the look of the shop. Your work requires no words to extoll it's worth, the pictures say it all!

I'd like to know one thing: If your shop is 100 years behind the times, what are the nail guns doing on the bench??

100 years ago it was all pegged mortise and tenons!

Danny

Yeo Danno.....Yea, the nailers are pretty slick huh? The little one there is actually a pin nailer and is pretty terrific as you don't need to fill holes etc. The client dropped in the other day and asked for some more carving (on my suggestion?) as they had more to spend on it. It's part of a much larger job thats keeping me close to home the next couple of months. Will post a few more once it gets along. The square at the top accommodates a clock and the whole in the centre is for a glass piece yet to be started. Got the light table set up for this purpose as I got tired of waiting for mother nature to do her thing and at her own pace. Still haven't tried it out yet as a pile of other things have kept me from a test.

Doug, thats just pure class...love your mill work. It great to see , thanks for posting the pic.

It's the strangest thing to find myself doing all this woodworking when in truth I didn't know which was the right end of a hammer just a few years ago. Until 'pooters showed up in the sign business all I was doing and wanted to do were showcards. The 6" of sawdust Pat 1 referred to will hopefully be tamed by this
http://www.oneida-air.com/v3000.php which I'll buy in a few weeks. All I have to do is find space for it as well as the smaller feller I use already.

Pretty large machine to make a milkshake Doug.

Man Doug that looks like quit the vaccum system, with that much air movement, will you need a make-up air unit ? I'm sure it will make a big difference in the airborn dust that plagues a guy when doing the finish work.

It'll make for a better enviro for sure.....and a good milkshake would be a complete bonus!! Will post a foto or three once the thing is installed although right now am only worried about taking/getting the time to go get if necessary.

Lots of eyecandy in Doug's shop. A fine collection of power tools too. When Rene asked me if I wanted to pay a visit to Doug Bernhardt's "temporary" shop, I couldn't believe. Well ya... are you kidding me?
It was a real treat to see the shop and even better to meet Doug. What a nice man.

Amen to what Duncan said - Doug is just a great guy and a tremendous talent. He's kinda old but that just means he has a lot of experience.

Gosh.......I must be a pretty swell fella..... thanx "euze" guys. By the way Duncan....we're still on the $4 per complimentary post rate right?

You couldn't have said it better yourself "Other Guy".

Seriously Doug, as I said to you once before, I am amazed at your wood working skills. You are a real craftsman in serval areas. Keep posting those progess shots.