Countertop Food Scrap Bins
Countertop bins work great for disposing of all those food scraps that go to the compost. I make them out of 3/4 inch high-quality baltic birch and other hard woods. The inserts are 24 gauge stainless steel, 6 inches deep, 6 inches wide, and 13 inches long. They are finished with Danish oil and I use mortise and tenon joinery. Please email me for more information. michael@michaelpeterrichard.com
Custom Furniture
Since getting involved in design and general contracting a building I fell under the spell of building with wood. When looking at cabinet choices I was really drawn to birch veneers. Very clean, with a light finish, nice grain and few defects. When I started making furniture I was looking for some thing that looked authentic, simple, and moved away from more traditional designs. I really am drawn to a more modern, contemporary look.
Contact me for more information on how I might build something for you. I’m in Midcoast, Maine
My Process
When looking a modern minimalist designs the work of artist Donald Judd, caught my eye and particularly his colorful simple Chair 84 designs. They are beguilingly simple. They almost looks like a child’s chair and very well could be. I found these series of chairs to be eye catchiing, playful, and cleverly artistic. As a matter of fact, we now have several in our home.
We also were looking for custom-built bookcases and has difficulty finding them custom made locally found nothing that appealed to us of the manufactured variety or better examples not our price range. It turns out Baltic Birch plywood is perfect for constructing bookcases, night tables, and end tables.It’s strong, heavy has a nice light grain perfect for paint or a clear finish.
I work with ¾ inch (18mm) Baltic Birch and join with mortise and tenon and glue-ups. No screws are used. I finish by using paint, and stains.