Blog
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Mar 05, 2010
30 Years and Counting
→This year Sandy and I are celebrating thirty years of
marriage as well as thirty years of making a living together as
Bradford Woodworking. We’ve come a long way since starting
in six hundred unheated square feet above the cows in my dad’s
barn. In those early days, we made a line of kitchen utensils.
We’re still making some of those items thirty years later.Our growth into furniture has been challenging and
exciting. What started out as a design for a single stool grew into an
entire line of chairs, stools, benches,... -
Mar 02, 2010
Hand Drawn
→I often work with client to design a piece of furniture specific to their needs. It usually begins with a piece from my portfolio that catches their eye. The next step is to determine what dimensions they need and what functionality they require. Once those specifics are figured out, we will discuss the types of “Bradford” details that they like. When I have all of that information I can work up a drawing. Below is an example of a recent drawing for an armoire. Once approved by the client, the fun part begins!
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Mar 01, 2010
Honored
→Much to my surprise, I turned around in my booth at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore on Friday afternoon to find a large group of people listening to Josephine Shea and Jane Milosch speaking about my furniture and presenting me with an Award of Excellence.
Six recipients receive the award based on the overall quality of their work and two for “Best Booth Design.” The Jurors of the 2010 American Craft Council Show in Baltimore were Josephine Shea, curator of the Edsle and Eleanor Ford House, a historic museum outside of Detroit, and Jane Milosch, curator of contemporary...
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Feb 12, 2010
The Standard Stool
→The Standard Stool is my new stool design. I’ve been wanting to make a stool that has simple, clean lines with the same quality and craftsmanship as my Ax Handle Stools.
My Standard Stool has tapered ash legs with a subtle texture. The texture is from being made on one of my century-old lathes as the lathe cuts a continuous spiral down the length of the wood blank. These legs are then sanded by hand and cut to length. They are then attached to the solid cherry seat by a through tenon fastened with a solid walnut wedge. The seat...
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Jan 19, 2010
The Big Contest
→Win your very own Bradford Woodworking stool! We’re holding a little contest to find the name of our newly designed stool.
Entries have been closed
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Jan 15, 2010
FifTEE
→Over New Years we pulled a little prank on our friend. Most of our friends that have turned fifty have gotten something planted in their yard. My friend Ray Bortz builds houses. He was the recipient of 50 2×4 studs and a sign reading “Ray’s 50, but he’s still a STUD”. Scott (the mastermind behind many of these events) runs the dairy farm up the street. His birthday was celebrated with 50 cardboard cow utters and a sign “Scott Owes All His Success to Utters”. These photos are for our friend Matt. Matt and his family run a local...
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Dec 08, 2009
Arched Rafters
→A few years ago some friends of Brad’s had taken down an old arched barn on their property. The barn was a classic Gothic arch shaped barn, similar this picture of the Goodrich-Ramus Barn in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Wikipedia has a nice article about the Goodrich-Ramus Barn. I suspect that history of the barn here in Pennsylvania is very similar. "The barn was built in 1942 from materials made by Rilco (Rock Island Lumber Company), a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser located in Albert Lea, Minnesota. The company had a number of premanufactured barn...
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Nov 30, 2009
Many Thanks
→Exhaustion and quiet has taken over on this rainy Monday after the three day Studio Open House. Friday, Saturday and Sunday all had very strong attendance.
It was great to see some old friends and meet many new ones.
We need to thank several people that made this year’s show possible. It was great to have Michael O’Neill and Carol Lee Heisler join us as our guest artists and of course our partner in this show, Royce Yoder.
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Nov 25, 2009
Open House Weekend!
→Our annual Studio Open House kicks off this Friday at 10am!
Royce Yoder, Carol Heisler and Michael O’Neill will be joining us in the studio. We’re also very happy to have coffee provided by Tru-Brew Coffee. Tru-Brew Coffee Service is a family-owned, local coffee company which has faithfully served the Delaware Valley since 1972 with quality products, professional service and reliable equipment.
The Open House is located at 3120 Fisher Road, Worcester, PA 19490
DirectionsWe hope you can come by and join us!
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Nov 25, 2009
We're on FaceBook
→In case you did not know, we’re on Facebook. We post updates daily along with some pics of the shop and what is going on. We will even posted some Facebook only specials from time to time.
Why not become a fan?