Custom TV Cabinet with Lift - My Lastest Furniture Building Project

When it comes to building furniture, the first thing you need is a blueprint for your project. It will save you a lot of time and frustration and you will enjoy your wood working project a whole heck of a lot more than if you didn't have any wood plans for your project.




On this furniture project, I disassembled the original TV Cabinet with the lifter inside because it was solid oak and weighed a ton! We were about to move and I just couldn't see moving such a huge cabinet. So after we moved, I built a new, smaller and lighter TV cabinet around the $2000 TV lift and put wheels on it for easy moving next time! All in all, a fun wood project.

Must-Have Equipment Used In Wood Working

If you want to make any furniture in your house or you want to start your own wood products factory then wood working equipment is a must. Wood working equipment is used to mould a piece of wood into the desired shape. Some of the common wood working equipment include biscuit joiner, chainsaw, drill, nail gun and wood router. They are used to join 2 pieces of wood. Some of the hand held power tools are as follows:

Wood working machine: This machine is mainly used to process wood. These machines are extensively used in woodworking and are powered with the help of electric motors.

I do all of my woodworking projects with a Carvewright. I can't live without it.




Biscuit joiner: A biscuit joiner also referred as plate joiner is commonly used for joining 2 pieces of wood. It has a 100mm diameter circular saw blade that is used for cutting a semi-circular shaped hole in wood composite panels.




Chainsaw: This wood working tool is a portable, motorized, mechanical saw. It is very useful in logging activities that include felling, bucking and limbing. Felling of trees becomes a easier job using this chainsaw. It is commonly used in removing branches and foliage that are causing obstruction. Chainsaws are often used to harvest firewood and to fell snags. So if you want to cut wood for building structures then you should use chainsaws.




Drill: If you want to make holes in wooden pieces then you can take the help of a driller. Drillers are frequently used in metal working, wood working and construction sites. Types of drill include cordless drills, and rotary hammer drills.



Jigsaw: It is a working tool that is extremely useful to cut arbitrary curves that include stenciled designs into a small piece of wood. Tool kit of most carpenters contains a jigsaw. If you require fine cutting then you must use a jigsaw.




Nail gun: If you want to insert nails into wood then the best way to do it is by using a nail gun. The nails are driven by electromagnetism, highly flammable gases that include propane or butane, and by compressed air. Previously hammers were used to insert nails into wood. By using hammers you may injure your fingers. That is why instead of hammers many carpenters are using nail guns. It has become a popular tool amongst carpenters and builders

Wood Router: It is used to hollow out (route out) an area from a large piece of wood. This working tool is now replaced by modern spindle tool. This is an electric hand router that performs the same job and is commonly used for moulding of timber. It is also used to cut grooves, for edge moulding and to cut some joints.

Sander: It is a powerful working tool that is used to give a smooth finish to the wood. These sanders are often powered by electric motors.

Rotary tool: This tool is extremely useful as it is a multipurpose power tool. It has many rotating accessory bits that can be effectively used to cut, carve, polish etc. Rotary tool has low torque; hence it is safe for freehand use.

All these wood working equipment will help in giving an attractive look to your furniture.

Second Video of my Newest Wood Carving Projects

Latest video of my wood carved chessboards, boxes and 3D plaques:

All About Power Saws for the Woodworker

Power saws are used for small and large projects. Some of them are light weight and other projects involve heavy objects. Power saws are available in a variety of sizes and different volumes of power to ensure you can always find the right power saw for any need you have. The newer power saws often come with an infrared light that you follow as you cut. This is a perfect way to ensure your cuts are as straight as possible.

The most common type of power saw is the chainsaw, used to cut down timber. They work well if you need to trim your trees or cut them down for firewood. On draw back of chainsaws is that the cut is often ragged so there is a great deal of splintering.

Circular saws are used for a variety of home improvement projects. They are very versatile, so it is a great choice if you don't want to have to purchase several saws that you only use occasionally. Circular saws are powerful enough to cut through very thick wood. Make sure you choose one that has a high level of power and comes with the on/off location in an easy to reach location in the event you need to turn it off in a hurry.

A mitre saw is a type of circular saw that works well for crosscutting. It is used to cut at exact angles, dimensions, and lengths. For very detailed work, a scroll saw works great. These are both very common tools used in woodworking.

A saber saw works well to cut paneling and other thin, flexible materials. It is commonly referred to as a jigsaw. You want one that is sturdy and fits well in your hand. The quality of the saber saw isn't that important, but the quality of the blades you use in one is a very important issue that will impact your cuts.

A table saw is used for bigger jobs or long pieces of material. It consists of a table with the saw blade located in the center of the table. This is a great way to have a surface to hold the other end of the material.

A band saw is the best option when you need to cut something in the middle or away from the edge of a piece of material. The band saw has a small table with a very thin blade that comes down from the top. Clamp your material in place to line up with the bland and pull the top part of the band saw down. This is great for cutting out wall plugs and door knobs.

There are several very small power saws as well. The crosscut saw is used when it is necessary to cut across the grain. A rip saw operates similar to a circular saw but it is smaller. A keyhole saw is used to make curved cuts or to put round holes in paneling and dry wall.

Most saws are long lasting and durable. It is very important that you store them where the blade won't be a safety hazard. Make sure you unplug them after every use if you don't have a cordless saw. Since the last so long, it is important that you protect the blade. They can become rusty if you don't clean them after use. Never operate a saw with a rusty or bend blade. It is a potential safety hazard.

Saws are very powerful tools. You should always were safety glasses while operating any type of saw. You also need to use any guards that come with the saw for your own protection. Make sure you fully understand how to operate the particular saw you are using. Take some time to investigate the right saw to use for your particular project. Some saws are very versatile and can be used for many different things.

Is copying furniture legal?

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October 6th, 2010 in blogs         2 users recommend

Intellectual property counsel to CustomMade, Michelle Rosenberg.

How do intellectual property protections apply to furniture designs and other custom made items?

CustomMade Ventures (which owns CustomMade.com) has created a cyber-marketplace that connects customers seeking (you guessed it) custom made furniture and other custom items to the artisans who make these creations.  Their target audience is a growing population of people who have discovered that custom built furniture, cabinetry, home décor, and other custom items are often less expensive and as good as – if not better than – the more mass-produced items.  (The Wall Street Journal recently published an online article entitled, “Business Plans that Rest on Imitation”.)  Because CustomMade enables consumers to adapt mass-market furniture and other items to their own tastes, the small furniture maker and the artisan more generally might be making a comeback.

The obvious implication is that artisans might be asked to create adaptations of – or, more likely, imitations of – some major manufacturers’ designs.  The question becomes whether artisans can fill these requests without violating another manufacturer’s intellectual property rights.  A second question is whether the artisans on CustomMade.com retain any such rights in their own works that would prevent others from making copies.

As intellectual property counsel to CustomMade, Michelle Rosenberg of Patent GC LLC advises on these issues.  The short response is to say that, with some exceptions, artisans and customers may play in the CustomMade.com marketplace without fear of legal liabilities.  Intellectual property law simply does not give furniture designers much of a leg to stand on.

Ironically, copyrights, which protect most manifestations of artistic design and expression, are available to protect sketches of furniture designs, and photographs contained in a furniture catalog, but do not provide much, if, any intellectual property protection to the physical furniture built based on the designs in those photographs.  [Habersham Plantation Corporation v.  Country Concepts et al, 209 U.S.P.Q.  711 (Ga.  1980)] Thus, an artisan is prohibited under copyright law from making a copy of a manufacturer’s own photo, but is not necessarily prohibited from recreating the piece of furniture shown in the photo, unless that furniture design incorporates some kind of sculpture work or graphic print embellishment that is in itself a design separate from the piece of furniture.  This is what the law calls “conceptual separability.”  Absent a plausible argument that the overall design of a piece of furniture can, in effect, exist by itself as a work of art apart from its functionality as a piece of furniture, copyright law is unavailable to guard against wholesale copying of the article.  For example, an artisan cannot obtain copyright protection for a fabric-covered chair per se, but may copyright the design of the fabric that covers that chair or the elaborate sculpture work that adorns the back or leg of the chair.

[Stevens Linens Association v.  Mastercraft Corp., 208 U.S.P.Q.  669, aff’d 628 F.2d 1346 (1980); Collezione Europa U.S.A., Inc.  v.  Hillsdale House, Ltd., 243 F.Supp.2d 444 (M.D.N.C., 2003)]

All that being said, copyright protection for furniture is relatively easy to perfect if the legal standards are satisfied.  Of all the different types of intellectual property protection, copyright is the easiest to claim – all the furniture artisan need do is build the piece of furniture.  Federal registration of copyright – which confers upon the copyright holder the right to bring an infringement action – is also very easy and inexpensive.  Online registration of a basic claim is only $35 and does not generally require an attorney’s assistance.

Utility Patents, Design Patents

Patents can protect what copyrights cannot – the functional aspects of furniture, or else the ornamental design of furniture, so long as both are new and nonobvious.  Nonetheless, the furniture industry has historically been reluctant to pursue patent protection, in part because of the cost and time investment that patents require.  Utility patents – which protect functional inventions – can cost many thousands of dollars in attorney fees plus additional fees to the U.S.  Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  In addition, a typical utility patent takes several years from the initial application date to grant.  The time investment, which might be shortened if certain petitions are filed with the USPTO, is most relevant as compared to the life cycle of a particular piece of furniture or furniture design.  (Although, the functional aspects of designs are less prone to be overwhelmed by trends than are the ornamental aspects).  In general, utility patents remain enforceable for 20 years from the date an application is filed.

Design patents cover (you guessed it again) the ornamental design of a piece of furniture.  The scope of protection is based on drawings of whatever piece of furniture the artisan seeks to protect and extends to any piece of furniture that adopts the image of the protected drawing – whereas copyright protection would generally extend not to the article but only to the drawings themselves.  However, design patents present a much narrower scope of protection than utility patents.  In general, the test for design patent infringement is whether an ordinary observer, familiar with the prior art, would be deceived into thinking that the accused design was the same as the patented design.  Thus, a potential infringer may avoid infringing the patent by making by making small variations to the design.

Design patents also cost less than utility patents.  Attorney fees run around $1500, plus about another $700 in fees to the USPTO.  However, due to the limited scope of protection, furniture makers may have to file many design patents in order to prevent imitations.  Furniture makers also have to decide which pieces in their lines to protect.  While an individual design application costs much less than a utility patent, the fees start to add up quickly if a furniture maker has many different pieces in a line and multiple lines to protect.  The period of enforcement for a design patent is 14 years from the date of issue.

Trade Dress/Trademark

A third form of IP protection potentially applicable to  furniture is trade dress.  Trade dress is an overall look that functions like a traditional trademark – once the overall visual impression of something becomes so powerful and distinctive as to create an association between that image and the manufacturer it becomes protectable.  (See section 43(a) of the Lanham Act 15 U.S.C. §§1051-1127).  (A trademark, on the other hand, is a word, name, symbol, color, sound, smell, device, or a combination of them that indicates the source of goods or services and helps to distinguish the products or services of one business from those of others in the same field.)  Any plaintiff attempting to prove that another artisan has misappropriated its protected trade dress must prove that its product’s design is so inherently distinctive as to identify the plaintiff-artisan, and that consumers are likely to confuse the alleged infringer’s products for those of the plaintiff.

Few furniture designs are so distinctive as to actually identify the manufacturer.  Generally, those seeking to buy a certain sort of furniture cannot determine the manufacturer of a piece or set of furniture simply by looking at it.  For example, many manufactures produce Victorian or Shaker-style pieces.  Most furniture manufacturers do not carve or emboss their names or trademarks on the exterior of their furniture; instead they rely on tags and emblems inside drawers to identify their goods.  Often, retailers do not identify the manufacturer or the name of the design to the consumer; advertisements to the consumer might include pictures furniture they offer in flyers, but again these advertisements may not include any reference to the manufacturer.  This is all to say that trade dress is not easily cultivated in the furniture context.

However, it does happen.  For example, in Imagineering, Inc.  v.  Van Klassens, Inc.  53 F.3d 1260 (Fed.  Cir.  1995), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that Imagineering’s Weatherend outdoor furniture was inherently distinctive, as required for trade dress protection, after witnesses testified that the furniture possessed coherent “total image,” comprising wide slats, scooped seatboards and arms, rounded edges, notched and curved legs, and angled backrests.  Design magazines and trade journals had published editorials which commented on the line’s “novel” features, and witnesses testified that line was unlike any other furniture yet produced.  Furthermore, the record showed that design magazines and trade journals had published many editorials commenting on the Weatherend line, using photographs of the Weatherend furniture and hailing that furniture as “novel,” “exclusive,” and “outdoor classics.” Finally, the Weatherend line was recognized in an interior design competition and was featured in the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.

That’s distinctive design.  But even so, the section of the Lanham Act creating the cause of action for trade dress infringement doesn’t prohibit copying the distinctive furniture design per se; rather, the statute only prohibits a copy that will be passed off as the product of the originator.  (Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.  v.  SanGiacomo N.A.  Ltd., 187 F.3d 363 (4th Cir.  1999))

Conclusion

In summary, while an initial reaction may be that furniture designs must be well protected from imitation by intellectual property, in fact, the scope of protection is quite limited, and may not be available at all for many designs.

© 2010 Michelle Rosenberg, Patent GC LLC and Siri Nilsson, Candidate for Juris Doctor 2011, Boston College Law School

posted in: blogs, Trademarks, legal, patents

Thinking about going pro and selling your woodwork? Or just want some advice on how to market your business and make it stand out in the marketplace? Well this blog’s for you.

A joint venture between Fine Woodworking and CustomMade, The Pro Shop will give you tips on selling custom furniture or just getting started in the business.

Questions for our bloggers? Post a comment here and we’ll try to address it in an upcoming post.

About Fine Woodworking: Your source for expert advice on woodworking and furniture making since 1975.

About CustomMade: An online marketplace designed to help serious craftspeople sell their wares and help customers locate a custom maker.

View the original article here

Elements of a good trade Show Booth

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Trade fairs is between hotels, plane tickets, shipping and the holder fees, one of the most expensive ways træarbejdere may market itself.While there are differing views on the effectiveness of this avenue, are many træarbejdere exhibit in order to meet future clients. so if you want to put in time, effort and money to exhibit at a trade show, there are a couple of detail that is important not to overlook.

Keep things neat. With so many people coming in and out of the exhibition space, it is easy to get frazzled and let the water bottles, boxes, and business card stack, where they don't belong. keep your area tidy creates a more inviting spaces, makes you look more professional and prevents interference from your goal of showcasing your work.

Collects contact information. Shows are a great place to build a customer email list, which you can later use to send newsletters, updates and special offers.You can have a sheet for people to fill in the request for additional information, or you can even hold a raffle where people fill out their details for a chance to win something you away.

Give something away.Most people love free stuff. think about what you want, when attending these events. If people are giving away lots of WIN, consider a branded reusable bag for them to carry out things in. If it is a family oriented event will stickers or yo-yos would be a hit with the children, and open the door for an interview with the parents. These days you can feel pretty much anything, so seeing something fun or useful to fit your budget.

Get your name out.Talk about branded items, there should be no shortage of space exhibition branding. make it easy for people to remember your name with multiple characters, and accompany them with leaflets and maps.

Has something interactive.Woodworker Geoffrey Warner lent us his Owl stool to take to the Maker Faire, a couple of weeks ago.We placed the stool at the entrance to our booth and literally hundreds of people plopped on it, and lo, moved around, and spoke about how incredibly comfortable it was. it was a great conversation piece, it got people involved in the booth, and made their experience easier to remember.

We would love to hear some of your experiences as a holder or a participant on the show. share your success (or not so successful) stories below!

Posted blogs:, Messe, exhibiting

Thinking about going Pro, and sell your woodwork? or just want some advice about how to market your business and make it stand out on the market? well this blog's for you.

A joint venture between fine woodworking and wood processing operations CustomMade, The Pro Shop gives you tips on selling custom furniture or just getting started in the company.

Questions to our bloggers? Post a comment here, and we must try to deal with it in a future post.

On Fine træbearbejdning:Your source for expert advice on woodworking and wood processing operations furniture makes since 1975.

About CustomMade:An online marketplace designed to help serious artisans sell their wares and help customers find a custom maker.

View the original article here

Reflections on my visit to 2010, Maker Faire

28Th september 2010 blogs in no recommendations

Last week I wrote about the resurgence of the custom market.Just a few days later, I was on the 2010 Maker Faire in Queens, NY, a collection of people are doing things, and thousands of people who want to see it. CustomMade exhibited at the faire, and after only two days I have never been more convinced of the custom market viability.

We displayed a handful CustomMades craftsmen fine work at our booth, and so the throngs of people lodging in our booth to gawk. We expected people to see, but when so many of them approached us to learn more about who made these and custom process is like, I was pleasantly surprised by the answer.They were not just amazed at the quality of work, but freely opined on how useful custom process would be for them, many of them are frustrated by not being able to find what they need to present their home, and some take even a strong philosophical position against chain stores one humorous and noteworthy quotes was "I think IKEA is the downfall of our society". For many of our booth visitors it looked like a light just turned on in their minds, say things like "this is such a good idea, I do not know why I never thought of it before!"

The fact is, the idea of getting something custom made often overlooked as an option, but when presented as an alternative to convetional shopping methods, all trøde, it is so very sensibly. speak with this sample of people made me feel like, we can be relieved that so many are receptive to the idea of few elements custom made, but that we should constantly remind them custom as an option. We must increase our efforts in staying visible in the middle of the throngs of retail stores, and stay safe on the viability of hand-made, customized elements.

Posted blogs:, custom, Messe

Thinking about going Pro, and sell your woodwork? or just want some advice about how to market your business and make it stand out on the market?Well this blog's for you.

A joint venture between fine woodworking and wood processing operations CustomMade, The Pro Shop gives you tips on selling custom furniture or just getting started in the company.

Questions to our bloggers? Post a comment here, and we must try to deal with it in a future post.

On Fine træbearbejdning:Your source for expert advice on woodworking and wood processing operations furniture makes since 1975.

About CustomMade:An online marketplace designed to help serious artisans sell their wares and help customers find a custom maker.

View the original article here

Jonesing for a hand tool fix? We have you covered.

I understand why the power tools are popular. They help you to efficiently and accurately. But sometimes the hand tool is a smarter choice. Nothing preps a surface for finishing, as well as the smoothing constant planet and no common is so beautiful as a hand-cut dovetail. In short, to do your best work should hand tools have a place in your shop.

I was lucky. I was exposed to early hand tools. I learned how to sharpen them correctly, and that is why I was able to use them to full effect.And my learning curve was shorter, because companies like Lie-Nielsen was turning out first tools that works right out of the box., it is probably why has a lot of you also caught hand tools error.

I am pleased to announce that starting in this issue you will find Handwork, a new section of fine træbearbejdning devoted to hand tool use.Calm, we'll cover Web site still operated elsewhere in the magazine, but the Handwork gives us a chance to cover the techniques and tools that can do it in otherwise.In line with our overall take on træbearbejdning, we will keep the Handwork practical. we focus on helping you make better furniture by showing you tools and techniques that make sense in a modern shop. and there is very little to cover, even though we are passing pit saws, adzes and other favorites of collectors and historical re-enactors.

Be sure to search for my new blog, also called the Handwork (FineWoodworking. com/extras), where I will bring an even broader approach — look at the new tools, hand tools interview users and decision makers, delivering quick tips and answer questions.

Michael Pekovich calls upon his years of experience in this issue (p. 22), makes the furniture to put together an overview of the tools 12 hand, he considers necessary for the fine Future issues træbearbejdning. Alf Sharp will use a few molding aircraft in order to make custom moldings and Garrett Hack to turn an ordinary bench chisel for an indispensable skew chisel. and it is just some of what we have in the shop!

View the original article here

My Main Wood Working Tool

If it weren't for the "Carvewright N01", I'd be up a creek. This is the best woodworking machine out there.  I highly recommend it for any serious woodworker.

Wood Working Plans - A Woodworker's Best Friend

I love making wood working plans.  I made my own headboard last year -  I made a quick video of the building timeline.