Dear All,
The first 2026 meeting of the SF Bay Area chapter took place Saturday May 16. Nine of us gathered at Rob Kutner’s shop in San Francisco to exchange stories, tips, and show recent projects.
Six of us started off early with a great lunch at a nearby Mexican cafe. Afterwards, we continued chatting and getting reacquainted with everyone in Rob’s shop. Rob has a small, but very well organized and productive shop. We were able to see and hear about several of his in-process projects prior to touring his house to see some of his completed amazing projects.
Rob is currently working on a pair of elaborately veneered and inlaid Federal period pedestal side tables. In addition, he just attended a carving class with Alexander Grabovetskiy at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking and so was continuing to carve on his lesson.
We wandered upstairs and were able to see the many beautiful pieces Rob made for his house. These included an Inlaid federal candlestand, c 1810, an inlaid pedestal side table, a Reproduction Federal Period Ny Card Table, C. 1790, and a William Whitehead D Shaped Federal Card Table. In addition, he had lots of chairs around the dining table and rooms including Reproduction Nicholas Bernard side chair, c1760 and a Reproduction Jonathan Shoemaker armchair, c1760. On the walls in the formal living room were a few of his carvings.
We headed back downstairs for some snacks and show-and-tell. First up was Rene with a few old woodworking machines he’s looking to “rehome”. (they are posted on the SAPFM site).
Jeff Thompson showed us a beautiful Tea Caddy. He said his executor and his bride are coming to visit this weekend so he thought he would make them a gift. The box utilizes a billet of intensely variegated curly Maple he had laying around. The black is Ebony, and the marquetry of the shell is set in dyed green veneer and made of sand shaded Holly. The stringing is dyed black and white veneer and that's it.
Jim Shapiro brought a “practice” veneered table apron that he wanted some thoughts from the chapter on how to inlay an oval with stringing into a mitered crossbanded background, without pattern routing. We settled on building it on a thin veneer backer and knifing around it like a shell inlay. He’ll report back on how that works.
Next up was our own Cartouche winner, Tim Killen, with his Dressing Glass based on
one at Colonial Williamsburg (Tim mentioned that he wished he’d seen the one there
before he finished his). It’s mahogany with veneers, marquetry, stringing, banding, and
turned Tagua nuts. He made it in preparation for teaching his class so his students
could make one. He highly recommended the #2 Olsen spiral tooth blade that he used
on his Scroll Saw to cut out the complex inlays (4 layers at once). The Mirror Frame is
laminated with multiple thin strips of mahogany (as was done in the original piece). Lots of
angles and shapes create a challenge in making the carcass and drawers.
Finally, with a different period, but still American Furniture Joe shared his Nakashima inspired bench that was made to fit an alcove in his front hall. It is made of Claro Walnut and Ash and finished with Sutherland Welles botanical polymerized tung oil and buffalo wax.
Thanks again Rob for being such a great host and sharing your shop and work with us.
Link to meeting photo album. You can see some of Rob’s work
here.
