CFIP Trade Fair

Hi everyone,

I'm off to join the trade fair organized by the Chamber of Funiture Inustries of the Philipines starting November 24-30, 2009 at the Megatrade Hall 1, 5th Floor Megamall Bldg. B, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Wish me luck and hope to see some of you there!!

Wood Collection

check out some of my wood collections.

this lump of spiny wood is actually a very rare piece of amboyna burl, which i purchase by the kilo. even in its natural state, i find beauty in this piece of wood. you may not agree, but frankly, i don't care . . .

please note that the shiny part of the amboyna burl was sprayed with one coat of sanding sealer but that's just to highlight the grain. the duller part is it's natural appearance, totally unaltered except for some planing and sanding.

here's also some of my wood samples which i will use in an upcoming furniture trade fair. the dark wood is kamagong (philippine ebony). i'm pretty sure everyone will agree that this kamagong wood is very pretty.

New Showroom

i was lucky to be invited by the Microfinance and Entrepreneurial Development Center (MEDC) to display some of my furnitures in their display center for a very small fee. I was even thinking, the fee might not be enough to cover the expenses of displaying my products!
you see, the display center is located within the Landco Business Center (popularly known as Gaisano Mall) in Legazpi City. the display center is beside the activity center of the mall and yes, there's lots of foot traffic, which is great for us.

as far as i know, MEDC's purpose is not to make a profit but to help the bicolanos by lending a hand to small entrepreneurs. in the words of Ms. Jo Macandog, they want to incubate budding entrepreneurs and help them to achieve an initial growth, thus making them more stable. this is a perfect example of a charitable institution that does not give fish to the community but rather teaches and helps the community how to fish.

as far as i'm concerned, i would flatly refuse if i'm given a dole even without strings attached. but since i am being taught how to market my furnitures, then i accepted the invitation with much gratefulness. bicolanos are a proud people, you know.

why help the entrepreneurs? because the entrepreneurs are the engine of growth in any economy! take ME for example, if i can sell one piece of furniture, i'll plow back 40% of that money to my employees because i'll give them new projects, 25% of the money to suppliers of raw materials, 5% to transportation providers and 10% to the hardware stores. the remaining 10%? some will get saved for future expansion, the rest will be spent for the well being of three hyperactive kids. for every sale i make, a lot of families are directly benefited.

MEDC helps other entrepreneurs as well other than furniture makers. there's lots of people displaying abaca handicrafts, processed foods, and a lot more!

p.s.: MEDC is a program of Bicol Consortium for Development Initiatives, Inc. (BCDI) with partners Agencia Espanola de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo and Manos Unidas in this endeavor.

A Simple Cabinet

when it comes to furniture, i believe in simplicity. but then again, narra wood gives us lots of different grains, lots of colors and lots of complexity that making a simple cabinet is just plain impossible. take for example the cabinet that my wife designed (see photo on the right).

she said that she need a cabinet that will fit in between the gas range and another cabinet. all she want is space for her condiments, spoons and forks and some pots and pans. because of the space constraints, she want it slim and tall, with four compartments.

so she drew up four boxes, put them on top of each other, and voila! that's her cabinet. when i looked for the wood to build it, i saw a really nice piece of board and i decided to use it without any second thoughts. to give some contrast in between the cabinet doors, i chose light colored boards for the shelves and the side panels. i also used dark colored boards for the crown and the foot. and that's it.

when the cabinet was finished, i can't believe that somehing so simple can be so beautiful !!!

Cutting to Size

in my last post, i uploaded a picture of my really gorgeous rocking chair. the problem with it is that it is not as comfortable as i expected it to be. as a furniture maker, i strongly believe that a rocking chair is not worth a dime if i am not comfortable on it. hence, after a couple of measurements and a little prayer, i started cutting up my gorgeous rocking chair.

i removed 3 inches out of the front legs and 3.5 inches out of the back legs to give me a more reclined position and to lower the profile of the chair so that my feet can reach the floor. i spend almost all of my tv time sitting on this rocking chair so i know that as the minutes pass sitting on the chair, it becomes uncomfortable if my legs hang in the air. nevertheless, as i was cutting up the chair, all i can think of is "please God, don't let me make a mistake".

i'm thinking of michael jackson who does not seem to know when to stop, but what the heck, i can make a new one if i mess this up, mj can't get a new face even if he messed it up. i don't know yet if my modification destroyed my gorgeous chair. i'll find out tomorrow when i sit on it to watch santino.

see also this photo of my helper removing the rocker. this picture definitely proves that what we are cutting up is the gorgeous chair posted in the last post.

i also cut up the back brace to lower it a bit to adjust it precisely so it will cradle my neck but i did not take a picture anymore. all i was thinking was that if it's a mistake to lower the back brace, i don't want any evidence of my foolishness. hehe.

p.s. = the chair did not look as good as before but it sure felt a lot more comfortable for me. but with the shortening of the legs, the center of gravity was lowered while the arc of the rocker remained the same thus making for a shorter pendulum action resulting in a faster rocking motion (in other words, less gentle). i might discard the rocker and build a new one in pursuit of perfection.

My Sam Maloof Inspired Rocking Chair

check out my sam maloof inspired rocking chair, ain't it gorgeous?

i joined a trade fair last October 22-25, 2009 at the Mega Mall where i displayed this very chair as a prototype. lo and behold, everyone's asking for the price. i was joking when i said i would sell it for 100,000 Philippine Pesos but then, i got too much flak defending the price. after spending two days explaining why the price is just right, i got so frustrated that i placed a note that it is not for sale. but people still want to know the price and they don't care even if it's not for sale. so i spent the better part of the four-day trade fair explaining and explaining the merits of the chair and the correctness of my price.

after four days of doing that, i can no longer entertain the idea of selling the chair for less than 100,000 pesos. come to think of it, i may not even sell it for 100,000 pesos hehe.

Torn Between Two Lover Boards

i'm building a bed for a dear friend, the problem with the commission is that the design is very simple. in fact, the head board for the bed is just that: a board. no carvings, no in-lays, no frames, no nothing. it's just a board attached to a post. that's it. i would have loved to put some amboyna burl in-lays or even some simple carvings, but no, it's got to be simple. according to my client, a simple design makes for less clutter and less clutter greatly improves her peace of mind.

the good thing with this insistence on simplicity is that i can use my hand picked and extremely beautiful narra boards that have been drying in my bodega for several years just waiting for their time to shine and be the star of the show. check out the pictures on the right. what complicates matters for me is that i have two very beautiful boards, as you can see. i'm at a loss which one to choose. after several hours of zen like meditation, i chose the board on the right. i'm just hoping i made the right choice.

Woodworkers and Wood Enthusiasts, This Blog's For You

To all woodworkers and wood enthusiasts out there, this blog's for you.