MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
This is a project that in one form or another has taken 20 years. When I first moved into this house I didn't like the fireplace and how it had a useless pass through on one side. Years ago I started by adding the soffit/bulkhead/ceiling section as I was going to build cabinets in the space. The original idea had the mantle but was going to have a cabinet below in the space. The opposite side is the dining room and I was going to mirror the cabinets.
This was started at time I didn't have a lot of resources and it was easier to nickle and dime this than the Barracuda. Shortly after getting the soffit up my job changed and I was able to restore the Barracuda, that led directly into the CHP Polara. With the Polara done I was able to get back on this project. In that time I kept designing and came up with this new idea.
Keep in mind this is work-in-progress.
The shelf section is split in two equally, 12" on each side. The concrete blocks are from a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the pictures on the wall are of that house from that trip where my father acquired them. The pottery on the upper two shelves is my fathers.
The two toolboxes are my Great Grandfathers and are full of woodworking tools. The hearth is a wood mockup.
The chair is my next restoration, it is an Arne Jacobsen Swan chair, one of four my parents got as a result of the Watts Riots, lets just say it was a fire sale. I priced having them done and at $1800 a piece I figured I could figure it out myself.
I originally had rubber balls holding the glass but the straight end would want to roll, pipe insulation seams to work. I'm thinking of getting a sheet of glass to crate a lower shelf.
The finish on the fireplace started as 35 8' lengths of Select pine 1x4 (34"x3-1/2") that was run through the table saw 8 times. Those pieces were then run through a planer multiple times. The 350ish pieces were then stained with a clear satin stain and nailed up. I made a jig that kept the pieces straight and flat along with having holes to nail through keeping all the nails lined up. Probably $400 in material alone in the wood treatment, pre-made molding would have cost $1200+ and would have had rounded edges.
I still have baseboards and door casings to do in the living room and dining as well as install cabinets in the dining room.
Alan
This was started at time I didn't have a lot of resources and it was easier to nickle and dime this than the Barracuda. Shortly after getting the soffit up my job changed and I was able to restore the Barracuda, that led directly into the CHP Polara. With the Polara done I was able to get back on this project. In that time I kept designing and came up with this new idea.
Keep in mind this is work-in-progress.
The shelf section is split in two equally, 12" on each side. The concrete blocks are from a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the pictures on the wall are of that house from that trip where my father acquired them. The pottery on the upper two shelves is my fathers.
The two toolboxes are my Great Grandfathers and are full of woodworking tools. The hearth is a wood mockup.
The chair is my next restoration, it is an Arne Jacobsen Swan chair, one of four my parents got as a result of the Watts Riots, lets just say it was a fire sale. I priced having them done and at $1800 a piece I figured I could figure it out myself.
I originally had rubber balls holding the glass but the straight end would want to roll, pipe insulation seams to work. I'm thinking of getting a sheet of glass to crate a lower shelf.
The finish on the fireplace started as 35 8' lengths of Select pine 1x4 (34"x3-1/2") that was run through the table saw 8 times. Those pieces were then run through a planer multiple times. The 350ish pieces were then stained with a clear satin stain and nailed up. I made a jig that kept the pieces straight and flat along with having holes to nail through keeping all the nails lined up. Probably $400 in material alone in the wood treatment, pre-made molding would have cost $1200+ and would have had rounded edges.
I still have baseboards and door casings to do in the living room and dining as well as install cabinets in the dining room.
Alan
Last edited:
