The Boggs Collective http://boggscollective.com Fine Handmade Furniture Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:32:09 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 The Destination Guide features The Boggs Collective as Best Artisan of Asheville, NC. http://boggscollective.com/2012/02/the-destination-guide-features-the-boggs-collective-as-best-artisan-of-asheville-nc/ http://boggscollective.com/2012/02/the-destination-guide-features-the-boggs-collective-as-best-artisan-of-asheville-nc/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:13:30 +0000 melanie http://boggscollective.com/?p=2050 The Destination Guide asked its fans to recommend the best places to visit in Asheville, NC, narrowed our favorites down based on highly secretive criteria, then traveled — camera in hand — to go behind the scenes. Below are our Best of Asheville winners. Each is a unique business with a devoted following, encouraging story and stellar reputation among its peers.

Click here to watch the video

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2012/02/the-destination-guide-features-the-boggs-collective-as-best-artisan-of-asheville-nc/feed/ 0 Our new instructor http://boggscollective.com/2012/01/our-new-instructor/ http://boggscollective.com/2012/01/our-new-instructor/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:55:14 +0000 melanie http://boggscollective.com/?p=2001    We welcome a new instructor!

I have been teaching traditional greenwood chairmaking and my hybrid approach to ladderback chair production internationally for decades now.  Recently I decided to focus my attention on teaching in our shop here in Asheville.  I like staying home, but the demand for my classes is greater than I have time to cover on my own.  To help meet this growing interest in learning ladderback chairmaking, I have been working with Jeff Lefkowitz.  Jeff has taken all of my classes at least once and has made chairs for years in his own shop. For the past two years he has been a great asset as an assistant instructor to my classes here.  His single largest contribution to teaching chair classes has been the fantastic manuals he put together.  Each class now has a complete guide to the process, how to make the jigs, and carefully rendered drawings illustrating every step of the way.  These 60 -70 page booklets have made teaching more fluid for me and learning easier for the students.  These manuals have added a great value to the classes in capturing all the critical information the students take home.

In addition to the written contribution Jeff has brought to my classes, he has helped me translate my approach to be more suited to the home shops and skill levels of the students.  While I have been working on doing this all along, working with Jeff’s input has helped refine the process further. As a result, the students are doing better work during the class and going home with a clearer sense of how this all works.

This year Jeff began teaching classes in his own shop in Virginia.  Working with just one or two students at a time has allowed Jeff to take a pace more precisely suited to the individual student.  His style has also been welcoming to students as he presents information in a language well suited to someone new to the craft.

My own approach has been well received and has garnered great reviews from students, and the depth of information I draw on adds an element unique to my classes.  Jeff’s classes, on the other hand, allow for a great intro into the process and techniques which prepare a student well for the Rocker classes I will continue to teach. The nuances of tool use and the fine points of design and efficient production I like to focus on are easier to digest following the background of one of Jeff’s classes.  The reviews we have received from students Jeff has taught are a clear validation of this approach.  Here is one of them…

Brian & Melanie,
I just finished the rocker class with Jeff Lefkowitz.  I wanted to build a rocker as a retirement gift for a retiring Naval Officer whom I have known and worked with for a number of years.  I wanted to attend one of your rocker classes in Asheville, but since I just took a new job I didn’t have the vacation time to do so.  Jeff and I were able to work out a class schedule that fit with my work schedule.  It ended up working out great, I was able to build the rocker over about a 6 week time frame.  The class ran across three 3 day weekends.  This allowed me to get the instruction and take work home and hone my skills.  It also allowed a bit more time to accomplish finishing some of the pieces before they went together as well adjust for any issues that occurred.

With the class being just me, the student to instructor ratio was great.  Jeff is a very good instructor.  He walked through all  that I needed to know and more.  I got some great advice on the lathe, bandsaw and with some hand tools that  made the rest of the class much better.  We went into great detail on all the steps, and since there was no one else there if I was running amok he caught well before I had made a critical error.  Jeff also provided some great guides to assist in carving the legs after they had been slotted, or the pins when they had to be carved.  His approach to getting to an octagon on the legs generated the best carved legs that I have done to date.  I have produced 7 side chairs besides the one I did for your class and these two legs were heads and shoulders better than those.  He certainly has an understanding for the skill levels of the hobbyist and that really helped me get the most out of the effort.  Great approaches, explanations and knowledge.

Besides walking away with a chair and a gift, I walked away with the knowledge of how to build the chair, the interrelationships in the chair and a much better skill level.  I also got some help with jigs which will help going forward.  In the side chair class you talked about building a manual so we had a repeatable process, the manual that Jeff provided is a great start for the rocking chair and helped immensely as we went forward.  All said and done, it was a great 6 weeks and I really enjoyed Jeff’s instruction and friendship.  He is certainly a great credit to the Boggs Collective and I really like the idea of expanding the offerings.

The manual will help when a weekend woodworker like me goes home and tries to reproduce all that he learned.  I don’t have the time to reinforce all that I learned so the hints, keys and suggestions help the memory recall all those important steps.
Great class, great concept on the offering and a great learning experience.

Semper Fi,
Bob Leavitt
Our chairmaking classes for 2012 are booked full, but there is still room for several more in the hand tool class March 3rd and 4th.  If you would like to schedule a class with Jeff you can work out dates with him directly by calling (540) 409-7680.
I am not sure when I will schedule my next rocking chair class, but will announce it as soon as I have that worked out.

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2012/01/our-new-instructor/feed/ 0 Asheville’s Boggs and Moeller, crafters on a collective mission http://boggscollective.com/2012/01/ashevilles-boggs-and-moeller-crafters-on-a-collective-mission/ http://boggscollective.com/2012/01/ashevilles-boggs-and-moeller-crafters-on-a-collective-mission/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:37:12 +0000 melanie http://boggscollective.com/?p=1994   Asheville craftsman Brian Boggs is a man on a mission.
After 30 years of working in wood, Boggs is recognized as a premier designer and crafter of custom-built tables and chairs. Now he has his eyes on a bigger prize. He has set out to create a new kind of business structure that not only makes his own business better, but also provides a sturdier business umbrella for other independent woodworkers. He calls it the Boggs Collective.
A couple of years ago, Boggs found a perfect partner for this venture. Melanie Moeller is an organizational consultant whose practice centers around organizational design and culture change. Though they started with a mutual romantic interest, they soon discovered their very different skill sets also converged perfectly around a common vision for the collective. They have been together and at it ever since. (For those who love serendipity stories, they met on Match.com.)
An industry challenge
The challenge for the woodworking industry, as Boggs sees it, is a problem of scale. “It’s hard for a woodcrafter to make a living and build a business as a solo practitioner. The economics simply don’t work for most people,” he said.
“The real satisfaction for artists and crafts people comes from being able to design and create original work. But, even though hand-crafted furniture can seem expensive, the price for custom pieces barely supports the necessary design effort and production work. For most solo woodworkers, there is little time or money left over for outreach, marketing, improving their craft, or upgrading their facilities. And, while doing reproductions of their pieces hones their skills and is better for them economically, many woodworkers would prefer the joy and creative challenge of designing something new instead.”
This is not unlike the scale problem that single parents face. With only one parent available, it is hard to find the time to meet all of the needs of the family. So some things always go undone. The same is true of most craftspeople and their businesses. The obvious solution, both Moeller and Boggs say, is to create a shared environment that increases the scale, spreads overhead costs, and builds business and production efficiencies.
A four-pillar approach
Moeller explains how it works: “The collective has what we call the Four Pillars. The first is the procurement of logs and bark, the raw materials of the collective. The other side of this is that we can guarantee a steady market for loggers and wood harvesters, and support them in sustainable wood practices.
“The second is the Co-op Shop, where woodworkers rent shared space, and get access to top-notch equipment and facilities, and ready access to wood.
“The third pillar is the collective as a school. Brian has a deep commitment to passing on the wisdom he has gleaned from working with wood. Students at the collective range from weekend hobbyists to those who are considering woodworking as a career. The school also helps us build our base of followers, discover new talent, and diversify our income stream.
“And finally, the last pillar is marketing. It is much more efficient from a marketing standpoint to have each of the designers contribute to a shared body of work. Instead of each designer having only a small budget of time and money to promote their work, we can have a much larger budget and focus on the promotion and marketing of an entire gallery of work.”
It’s not hard to see the power of their collective model, or the extent to which the whole is going to be significantly greater than its parts. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and it prompts Boggs to sum up the meaning of what they are trying to do: “The collective model supports multiple levels of craftsmanship, and more efficient use of the best materials and finishes. It allows us to raise our bar around sustainability. And it supports everyone’s desire to spend more time being creative.”
Challenges ahead
When asked about the challenges ahead of them, Moeller is quick to jump in: “There’s only two big ones left. Cash to build out our infrastructure, and building the dream team.”
The “dream team” translates to finding and enlisting superb craftspeople who “fit the culture, hit the efficiencies, hold the tolerances.” With regard to funding, they face the same dilemma as most start-ups. The big expenses are up front, and the income to pay for them comes later. But with Brian’s three decades of experience and success behind them, they believe that they know this business and this market. That’s why their business plan includes efficiencies and profit drivers that most craft businesses can’t begin to approach. They feel confident that funding will emerge — perhaps drawn as much by the elegance of their vision as by its real promise of business success.
In some other era, a couple with this level of imagination and entrepreneurial flair would have been out there building a business empire, with one eye on being the biggest and the best, and the other on a growing pile of personal wealth.
But there is a different value system that is starting to drift in from the edges of the business community. Boggs and Moeller are very aware that this is a particularly propitious moment to launch a new model that is grounded in those values. So it is not surprising that their conversation about the collective is dotted with talk of sharing, stewardship, sustainability, collaboration, community, and the power of collective wisdom.
For all that, they are as driven to succeed as any other entrepreneurs you will meet. It’s just that their definition of success includes not just themselves but a whole community of woodworkers, some of whom already call the collective home, and others who will do so in the future.

Terry O’Keef is a contributing columnist to the Asheville Citizens Times

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2012/01/ashevilles-boggs-and-moeller-crafters-on-a-collective-mission/feed/ 0 New Outdoor Chair http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/new-outdoor-chair/ http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/new-outdoor-chair/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:09:01 +0000 melanie http://boggscollective.com/?p=1693

Hello everyone, we hope this newsletter finds you full of fond memories of the summer and gearing up for the fall. Our summer has flown by with fun times with family, friends and the opportunity to meet and make new ones.

Teaching has always been a part of Brian’s work and this year was no exception. Our summer classes this year were likely the best yet. The beautifully illustrated manuals by Jeff Lewfkowitz have made the material is much easier to present. Outside of his amazing graphics work, Jeff also assisted each class and brought in a perspective closer to the reality of my student’s abilities. Thanks Jeff! Ed Eudy shared some thoughts below that echo much of what we were hearing from all of the students.

One of the big inspirations this summer was Brian’s new outdoor chair. It has gone through a number of iterations finally arriving at the intersection of outdoor hardiness and indoor elegance. People that have seen it at the shows or in our showroom are drawn to it immediately even from a distance. The waxy feel of the cypress is soothing to the touch while you sit and contemplate the perfect space for this new beauty.

Our first order is providing the opportunity to work out all of the systems and processes needed to produce these. Of course with any new design we need to build new jigs to support it. This new outdoor chair has the addition of stainless steel across the back, our first implementation of this material.

By the end of the month there will be one for you to try out in our gallery. Please stop by the next time you are in the Biltmore Village area. We would love to see you and show you around.

Also new in the gallery is our Lily table, a design conceived to accompany our new Lily chair. Working out the details of this piece has been an interesting engineering challenge resolving itself in a corner joint that is significantly stronger than traditional four-leg table construction. More on this project below.

It has been great to have Andy Rae on board this year. For those of you who don’t know Andy he has been building furniture for 30 years, has written many articles and award winning books on the subject for fine woodworking. He brings a great deal of skill to our production and his support with getting these new designs off the ground has been critical.

All in all an interesting summer of creative discoveries and new encounters.

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/new-outdoor-chair/feed/ 0 The Myth of Original Design http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/the-myth-of-original-design/ http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/the-myth-of-original-design/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:00:41 +0000 admin http://boggscollective.com/?p=1685 By Brian Boggs

I have taught a number of classes on designing chairs and it’s always interesting to watch students’ creative process. I like to keep my classes as fresh as I can for my own benefit if not for the students’ so I plan each class a bit differently. Still, every design class seems to run into the same wall. This wall appears in the form of the question
“How do we come up with good design ideas?”

While there are guidelines for evaluating a design, the process for generating a new design idea seems more evasive. What is a new idea anyway? How do you make it appear?

As I watch students struggle to give birth to original forms for beautiful and comfortable chairs, I often see the struggle to create something original getting in the way of great ideas. While chair design does take a lot of effort, there is a conflict between thinking hard to solve a problem and being genuinely creative. It is this creativity element that seems difficult to “put to work” when faced with a challenge of designing something new or “original”.

With chairs there are challenges to making something light, strong and still comfortable that test even fairly advanced furniture makers. For me, answers to these challenges seem to emerge in the process of sketching, not so much as a result of the lines I lay down on paper but from creating the space to allow them to emerge, not “think of them”. I initially get a little activity or tingle that takes shape after thinking about what “need” I want to meet with a new piece.

As my vocabulary of joinery advances, my range of creativity and breadth of designs expand with it. Increasingly I am getting ideas for designs constructed unlike any traditional furniture. The guitar and Lily chairs are examples as are the Lily table and our new outdoor chair.

While these designs did take their form on my bench, I see my role more as a midwife assisting a birth than as an architect “designing” a structure. The creative process flows best when my thoughts retreat to give space and allow me to facilitate its arrival without deforming it with ego. Like in the birthing process, the baby is not the achievement of the midwife, it’s just a baby arriving. The more I learn about how to shape, join, and finish wood, the greater my ability to facilitate these design arrivals without having to deform them to fit my limited repertoire of options. Good design development is an amazing process to experience when it is genuine and the results are enjoyed by everyone who encounters them. My signature on the bottom, just means I facilitated its arrival.

The term original does have a place. For me original design refers to a craftsman tapping into the original source of creativity, not taking credit for being the source of the creativity. What is important in this distinction is the recognition that good ideas and creativity come through us, not from us. We are not going to “think up” something brilliant. At best we let it happen by being present and available to it. It’s a much lighter experience and a whole lot of fun.

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/the-myth-of-original-design/feed/ 0 Biltmore Village Craft Fair http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/biltmore-village-craft-fair/ http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/biltmore-village-craft-fair/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:48:45 +0000 melanie http://boggscollective.com/?p=1623

Come visit us this weekend at the Biltmore Village Craft Fair this weekend. This is the area’s premier outdoor art and craft fair. It hosts more that 120 exhibitors representing all media. The fair draws thousands of eager shoppers from the Southeast to the beautiful tree covered grounds of the Catherdral of All Souls in charming Historic Bilmore Village. Our gallery only 3 blocks away on London Road will also be open during the show.

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2011/08/biltmore-village-craft-fair/feed/ 0 Brian Boggs on Becoming a Master Chairmaker http://boggscollective.com/2011/07/brian-boggs-on-becoming-a-master-chairmaker/ http://boggscollective.com/2011/07/brian-boggs-on-becoming-a-master-chairmaker/#comments Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:00:39 +0000 melanie http://boggscollective.com/?p=1612

I found this 5 minute video at the bottom of a drawer while cleaning out the office the other day. It was shot back in 2006 but the information hasn’t changed at all. Brian moved to Asheville, NC 3 years ago and he and I have created The Boggs Collective, but his process and passion remain the same.
Click to see the video

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2011/07/brian-boggs-on-becoming-a-master-chairmaker/feed/ 0 NEW FINE STUDIO FURNITURE GALLERY http://boggscollective.com/2011/07/new-fine-studio-furniture-gallery/ http://boggscollective.com/2011/07/new-fine-studio-furniture-gallery/#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:24:16 +0000 Steven Dembroski http://boggscollective.com/?p=1529 On May 21st, The Boggs Collectively officially opened its new Fine Furniture Gallery and working studio. Located at 8 London Road, Asheville, NC, the new gallery is in the heart of our 4000 square foot workshop. If you’ve been following our blog you will remember that this dynamic new space was constructed by Russell Gale, Any Gale, Charley Harvey and Michael Waldeck.

In addition to showcasing Brian’s extraordinary designs, the artwork of Constance Williams was on display, along with the pottery of Akira Satake and the fine textiles of Barbara Zaretsky. This collaboration created an environment of beauty, and paid tribute to the artistic spirit that runs through Asheville.  As the evening progressed, a demonstration of our one-of-a-kind bark machine was given by Robert Carran and Brian — showing how we transform hickory bark into top notch seating material.

Guests were also treated to a wine and cheese tasting, and the music of Brad Earnhardt.
The Wine Studio of Asheville provided 4 perfect wines for the event that complemented the locally made cheese from Looking Glass Creamery.

If you would like information about upcoming gallery events, or if you have questions about our Fine Studio Furniture, please contact us at info@boggscollective.com, or call (828) 398-9701.

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2011/07/new-fine-studio-furniture-gallery/feed/ 0 MA: THE SPACE BETWEEN http://boggscollective.com/2011/05/ma-the-space-between-2/ http://boggscollective.com/2011/05/ma-the-space-between-2/#comments Mon, 16 May 2011 17:30:36 +0000 Steven Dembroski http://boggscollective.com/?p=1510 In the Uses of Not, Taoist philosopher Lao-Tzu wrote about the concept of Ma.

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

– Lao-Tzu

In Japanese, the word “ma” expresses a principal that’s rarely articulated in Western art: an awareness of form and non-form as equally significant. In music, it may be the space between notes, in drama, a pause between lines. Three Asheville, North Carolina artists explore the visual expression of the concept through a collaboration called The Ma Group, launching this spring with a collaborative blog and group show at the Asheville Area Arts Council, June 3-30.

]]> http://boggscollective.com/2011/05/ma-the-space-between-2/feed/ 0 THE GREENWOOD BAR STOOL http://boggscollective.com/2011/05/the-greenwood-bar-stool/ http://boggscollective.com/2011/05/the-greenwood-bar-stool/#comments Thu, 12 May 2011 20:56:29 +0000 Steven Dembroski http://boggscollective.com/?p=1439 At the request of a very special client, the Boggs Collective has created the newest addition to our gallery — The Greenwood Bar Stool. Starting with our very popular Greenwood chair, craftsmen Michael Waldeck and Russell Gale eagerly approached this project and created a stunning bar stool version of the classic Brian Boggs original.

Some readers may be unfamiliar with the many stages of chair construction, so we thought this was a perfect time to show the major steps of the build process.

It all starts with wood selection. This is a photo of a small portion of the Boggs Woodshed. We're looking for straight grain that is capable of sustaining the forces of steam bending -- and looking for matches in both rear and front legs.

Steaming the legs for bending.

Aligning the steamed legs in the jig.

Russell Gale pushing the jig closed, bending a leg to proper shape.

Cutting the rungs to length, ensuring straight grain in the hickory.

These rungs are then heated to an extremely low moisture content, so that they create a locking joint when joined with green maple legs.

Shaping the rungs after turning.

After the first stage of leg shaping.

Shaping and detailing front legs, adding facets using draw knives...

... and spoke shaves.

Creating mortices in the rear legs for the back support slats.

Pairing a back slat in length with a carving knife.

Dry fitting the slat in the mortice.

Michael Waldeck (left) and Russell Gale in pre-assembly discussion.

Assembling the seat rung in the front panel.

Assembling the footrest in the front panel.

Joining the two front legs.

Using the pressure of a bench vice to bring the front rungs home (full depth) , completing the front panel.

The craftsmen inspect their work.

Following the same process for the second bar stool.

Russell Gale continues assembly.

Two complete front panels on the bench.

Checking the width of the rear rungs with a dial caliper.

Rear legs and slats ready for boring.

Aligning the rear legs for boring of the rear rungs. The slat is used as reference to ensure square drilling of the holes.

Close-up of mortice.

Detail of assembled slats.

Marking center.

Boring holes in the rear legs.

First assembled Greenwood Bar Stool.

The first pair -- waiting for black milk paint finish!

Post finish seat assembly.

Waldeck and Gale discussing the hickory seat weaving.

An overhead view of the hickory seat.

Thanks to Cindy Clarke for inspiring this fun and challenging project.

High quality photographs of these fine stools will be available in the weeks to come…so stay tuned!

If you’d like more information on Greenwood furniture, please contact us at (828) 398-9701 or info@boggscollective.com

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