New and Exciting

It is always so satisfying when we get to see products that others have created using our wood.  

A few months ago, the Fender Musical Instrument Corp. contacted is about some reclaimed wood for a guitar project they had in mind.  They purchased yellow pine from the Bliss Building (see website for historical info) and got o work.

Last Saturday, Street Sounds, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, debuted two Greatch Guitars made with Bliss Building yellow pine. 

Blacklumberjack, Steve Stern, master guitar maker and Rocky Schiano, owner of Street Sounds, the coolest guitar shop around! 

Blacklumberjack, Steve Stern, master guitar maker and Rocky Schiano, owner of Street Sounds, the coolest guitar shop around! 

A great time was had by all and we look forward to working with Fender again. 

We're baaaaack!

We know, we know, it's been ages since we've posted anything.  It's been such a hectic and busy time but we're making a concerted effort to keep you abreast of all things NYCS and blacklumberjack.

We've settled into our new workshop at 180B Buena Vista Avenue, and rhe shop is a abuzz with the rhythm of woodworking and metal machinery.

Originally this building housed a ship building company and its location was purposely chosen for its proximity to the Hudson River.  It has also been the home of the Mutual Suspender & Belt Company and Aaron Ashley, Inc., a printing company. 

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Talk About Recycling

We're all for re-using, re-claiming, re-purposing and recycling.  We have a great client who has been renovating her 19th century Brooklyn home for over a year now.  She first came to us for a live edge Walnut slab headboard with built-in side tables.  While working on her headboard, she asked us about flooring. Her idea was to use salvaged white pine sub-flooring from the house as main flooring and supplement with other white pine boards where needed.  Sounded great to us and we had just the white pine to mill for her, our old growth white pine from Second Avenue (see reclaimed wood page for background info).  The white pine, like so many Manhattanites, was about to make the exodus to Brooklyn.

Sometimes good ideas need a little tweaking, a bit of creativity.  Turns out that the usable amount of sub flooring was less than originally thought and it was too thin.  Not too thin for sub flooring but too thin for main flooring that would see a lot of foot traffic.  We offered to mill as much of our Second Avenue pine as needed and we'd take the sub flooring.  A workable idea for all of us. 

The sub flooring sat in our workshop for weeks, all 101 boards. They sat on dollies in a corner of the shop looking a little worse for wear until we ran them through the planer, but we knew we'd have an opportunity to use them.

Enter one slick, fast-talking midtown Manhattan gym owner with a short lead-time, and budget- challenging reno project. One of the things he wanted was reclaimed wood wall paneling.  And we had just the right stuff.  So we cleaned those boards up, white and gray washed some and left others unstained and got to work.  If we do say so ourselves, the subflooring which turned into wall paneling looks pretty great.

Meanwhile, we were able to provide our Brooklyn homeowner with beautiful period flooring that just needed some TLC.  In our book, the results are beautiful all around.

 

So whether you need custom paneling or flooring, give us call.  We may even feature your project on our blog.

We're Back!

Not that we ever left, but after almost two months of incredible challenges, it finally feels like we're back to what we do best.  Life has been busy, and it's getting busier, but it beats the alternative!

First Post-Fire Delivery of Pre-Fire Commissioned Work

This beautiful table top had already been finished when the fire at 222 Lake Ave. struck. It survived the ordeal and only needed some refinishing and it's legs.  All this was done in the pop-up workshop and without our usual array of tools and equipment.  We've never stopped working during this time.  We've just needed resourcefulness and ingenuity. While we've had to adjust completion schedules, we've not had to stop work on existing projects, nor have we turned away new ones.

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