>DJ Booth by Norfolk Furniture Maker Mark Rhodes.
Oak DJ Booth by Norfolk Furniture Maker Mark Rhodes.
Got this finished today, and it took about 2hrs to fit. Heres some finished pictures…
I’ve enjoyed making this one, and can see me making more curved work in the future. The Client was very happy, and wrote the following testimonial…
Quality workmanship and Amazing carpentry
When I first contacted Mark, I was unsure if he would be able to help me? I was after a DJ booth to be made and installed in to my new home. However, the words ‘if you can think it, I can make it’ caught my eye and I gave him a call. He arranged to come and have a chat with me and take measurements. When Mark arrived we discussed my needs and what I would like, he then set up a contract, computer image, payment schedule and date for installation. And that was it!! Next thing I know, he has somehow taken an image from my mind and made it a reality in my living room! All on time with no problems or hassle. I cannot stress how much I recommend Mark Rhodes!! Thanks Mark very very much!
Kevin Read.
Thanks for looking.
>Oak DJ Booth by Norfolk furniture Maker Mark Rhodes.
Oak DJ Booth made by Norfolk Furniture Maker Mark Rhodes.
This piece is all finished in the workshop now, I’m fitting it tomorrow and will update with finished pictures then. But for now I have filled in the middle section, made the two end returns, and polished it with several coats of Hard Wax Oil.
Here are few pictures of the finished DJ Booth in the white, right hand end return.
Left hand small return with side cap fixed.
Right side and centre.
Front elevation
Believe it or not the hardest components to make and fit were the front and side returns.
Thats it I will update tomorrow when fitted, thanks for looking.
>It’s Not Always About Woodwork.
> Where my workshop is on our farm, we always get a lot of the scrap metal lads turning up asking if we have any scrap metal. Well, on Saturday they turned up asking if we had any, we didn’t, but I noticed a cast iron fireplace on the back of their truck and asked if they would like to sell it rather than melting it down for scrap. We agreed on a price, and they unloaded it for me.
As you can see it’s quite rusty, but I think it has some nice details and has a very Art-Deco feel.
So I set about cleaning it up and removing all the rust prior to painting. After about two hours it was looking rust free and ready for the heat resistant paint I had cadged off my friend Richard the wood-burner installer.
With the rust cleaned off, I then washed the whole thing down with thinners and then flashed the thinners off. It was time for paint…
I’m pleased with the result and think it will look nice in my front room. Now I did say it’s not always about woodwork, but as you can see there is something missing and I will need to make a timber fire surround to frame it, nothing fancy because I don’t want to detract from the cast insert. My wife Katie has suggested painting the flowers for a bit of colour, but I’m not sure yet so will think about it for a bit.
Thanks for looking
>DJ Booth II.
>I’ve been making progress with the Oak DJ Booth, I think I had got as far as making the former, so it was time to form the curved corners.
I think the last time I did this kind of work was about 15yrs ago when I was working in the Netherlands fitting out luxury motor yachts, I was going to take some pictures of this process but needed to get a move on as the glue was setting up to fast. So I jumped right to the three layers of 8-3-8 mms of bendy ply seen here in my vac-bag.
With that in the former it was time to turn my attention to the area where the decks and mixer are going, my client wanted to have the decks flush with the top and the mixer on a raised and sloped pedestal. The back of this area needs to follow the curved corner, so I need to rout a top and a bottom shelf at the same time. I have left these both over width so I can use my radius jig, and then just rip the screw hole off.
I then made another jig for the router so the deck holes could be cut out, here you can see them cut out and edged. I have also cut some bearers in at 63mm plus the 19mm for the top, this makes 82mm, so the decks will come flush with the top.
You can see the mixer pedestal below.
This all needs to sit on a shelving unit for an amp, and record storage below. This needs a back in of course, but I have left that out until I have drilled all the holes I need for cables.
With the deck stand at the correct height I can now try the curved ends for a fit, its about 0.7mm out at the moment but with the layer of veneer it will be spot on.
And with both curved corners on.
Deck area.
Now because there is a chamfer detail on all intersections, I need to lip both edges on these corner forms before veneering.
With that done and trimmed off I need to get on with the veneering, which means I get to use my festool veneer trimmer. Hmm could do with a new blade me thinks, but worked a treat and I did all twenty pieces in one cut.
So it was time to get it back in the bag.
Out of the bag and a quick check over for faults…none found I’m pleased to report.
2hrs later and a bit of scraping and sanding gets me to here.
Thats it for for now have a good weekend and thanks for looking.
>DJ Booth by Norfolk Furniture Maker Mark Rhodes.
DJ Booth by Norfolk Furniture Maker Mark Rhodes.
I had an enquiry about a month ago for a curved DJ Booth, so I’m in the process of making it now and thought I would document the build. Here is the overall design..
As you can see the corners are curved, and the front and returns are made from solid oak with a chamfer detail at all the intersections.
First job was to make the former for the curved corners, and that starts with a piece of 9 mm mdf and a hole.
I then need to use my radius jig for the router, its a piece of timber with a couple of spare guide bars from an old router, housed in for my router to attach too.
Just a matter of putting a screw in the marked centre-line.
And placing that on my pattern board.
Attach the router to the radius jig and line up to the required radius.
Then cut.
I then ripped a load of what will become my ribs for the former, they are made from scraps which is why they are from different materials, I have numbered and and used the cabinet makers triangle to ensure they are in order.
Then its just a matter of rough cutting the ribs, screwing the template that I cut earlier to the rough rib and routing.
I’m using a pattern cutting bit in my router for this.
Which gets me to here, the board under the ribs will become the base to my former.
Its then a case of gluing and screwing the ribs to the base board.
Then I need to transfer the rib spacings to a piece of 8 mm bendy ply, and mark the centre.
Run glue over the ribs, pin the centre line and work my way to the edge
One former, about 5hrs work.
I then got on with machining the oak for the front and returns.
Thats as far as I’ve got today. Thanks for looking.
Makers Marks.
Makers Marks
For a while now I have been asked by quite a few of my clients if I would sign my work, If the work is a free standing piece I normally write or carve my name somewhere discreet. But I gave some thought to a brass Make’s Mark about a month ago, with a view to having someone make me some to my own design. Well today they were delivered, and I’m very happy with the work.
They are made of a brass 2-mm disc and kind of have a distressed feel to them, the font is Hill House and is the distinctive handwriting of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. They were made for me by Makers Marks and I will recommend them to you, if you are a patient person.
Thanks for looking.
Bathroom Cabinets and other recent Furniture.
Bathroom cabinets.
Its been a while, I seem to be writing again…But here are a few recently finished pieces.
A small bathroom cabinet in Sycamore and Golden Madrone, with a dovetailed case. The Golden Madrone really is a nice contrast to the Sycamore, and the simple turned knobs that are made from spalted Sycamore compliment the Madrone nicely.
Another bathroom cabinet in European white ash, and figured walnut. This is actually for myself, and I found the figured walnut Veneer in between two pieces of plywood in my grandfathers store. It looked like it had been there for at least forty years, and was so buckled that I didn’t think I would ever get it flat. A solution of glycerin and water followed by an overnight stay in the press soon tamed it to be more supple, and suitable for gluing to a substrate in the morning.
A large painted bookcase, made for a client in the village of Aldborough where my workshop is based. This was a nice one for me, it was made for a friend of a friend through a recommendation. They needed cupboards below for toy storage, and adjustable bookshelves above this. This will become one of a pair at a later date, when the client purchases a new TV, so this can be incorporated.
Lastly an Oak shaker sideboard, with Bocote knobs. Made for an existing client from Cley in North Norfolk, I like the proportions of this piece, the clients were very happy, and I’m pleased with this piece too.
No work in progress pictures I’m afraid, but I’m making a curved Oak DJ Booth next which I will be doing a full write up on. Thanks for looking.
>Oak and Ebony Handrail.
> This is one of the jobs I’ve been promising my wife I would do since before Christmas, now katie (thats my wife) is a bit more pregnant, she was having a bit of trouble getting up and down the stairs. I thought it high time I did something about it. I had time today to make and fit it, so thought I would start early this morning to get it done.
I needed four metres but only had two pieces measuring two metres, so a bit of lateral thinking was required. I decided that I would make a feature of the join with some ebony that I’ve had laying round for a year or five. I also needed to graduate the joins and the ends to be able to utilise the ebony’s size.
I started with a couple of pieces measuring 2 m x 100 mm x 50 mm and shaved the corners off at 12°, then bisected the corners with a rip saw and planed to the line.
I’ve skipped a few steps, like the turning (it wasn’t pretty and I normally ask Johnny Taylor to do this but I needed it today), anyway I’ve turned a spigot on the end and then drilled a hole in the end of the rail and glued the ebony ball turnings in.
This is how the ends look finished and fitted, sorry about the child gates in the pictures but our two year old is quite nuts and would think nothing of jumping down the stairs, let alone falling down.
The join.
I like the intersection now, I wasn’t sure at first but Katie gave it the thumbs up so good enough for me.
The whole run, with the statin steel brackets.
Hope that was of interest, I wasn’t going to post, hence the lack of work in progress pictures.
Thanks for looking.
>Alcove Bookcases by Norfolk furniture Maker Mark Rhodes.
>Alcove Bookcases by Norfolk Furniture Maker Mark Rhodes.
I just got these fitted bookcases finished yesterday, no fitting pictures because I forgot….
But these were quite straightforward, with the openings level and straight with minimal scribing to do. They are predominantly made from moisture resistant MDF, with the shelves, doors, and bottom face frames made from Beech. The house is Edwardian, the mouldings on the doors and the edge treatment for the tops reflect this period.
These were painted with Farrow & Ball estate eggshell, to match the clients existing woodwork.
Thanks for looking
Oak Front Door Finished.
Oak Front Door, by Norfolk Cabinet maker Mark Rhodes.
As promised, some finished pictures….
The clients were over the moon, and have recommended me to their friends
From the inside, here you can see the large sliding dovetailed bearers that will hold the door flat with seasonal changes.
A closer view.
This was relatively easy to fit, but the bricks were very soft and made getting the old frame out a long process. All in all it took about 1 1/2 hrs to get the frame out, it had to come out in pieces of about 6″ long, because I didn’t know where the owlets were, and just had to take it steady. The thought of losing one of the face bricks didn’t bare thinking about. I needed to trim the curved head very slightly, about 2 mm to be precise, in order for the frame to slide in nicely. I took the door off when fitting the frame, in order just to lift the frame in which is heavy in itself, but the door weighs about 60 kgs. I got the hinge side of the frame fixed first then cramped the lock side of the frame to the wall, then hung the door. I then swing the door to the lock side, and make adjustments to the frame, then fix. This ensures that the door closes to a nice even fit, and the shadow gap is even.
I have a couple of Edwardian inspired alcove units to fit on Monday/Tuesday, so will update with some fitting pics, and some finished shots then. Thanks for looking.
| Mark Rhodes, Thwaite Hill Farm, Middle Hill Road, Aldborough, Norfolk, NR11 7NU Telephone: 01263 761809 Mobile: 07765 861219 |  |