Frank Ramsay

I started my woodwork in a school program when I was 11 years old, making traditional things like an egg rack for mother, a pencil box, a small stool and a table. (The table top was a single piece of 3/4in thick, 24in. square English Chestnut - amazing the wood we were given for school projects). After leaving school I became an indentured apprentice in a large engineering company where I moved away from wood and spent the first year in their training school where I was taught to file round metal square and square metal round etc. After this I spent most of the next 40+ years in the world of high technology semiconductors. My woodworking was limited to restoring old houses in England where I had fun making sash windows frames, along with endless sets of very basic kitchen cabinets. I re-started my fine woodworking about 10 years ago and now make custom pieces of furniture. Most of my work is one-of-a-kind pieces. I do Chinese and Japanese designs along with more traditional English work. I am fascinated by Chinese joinery and enjoy working on projects that push my capabilities. Much of my work involves curves and angles that are always challenging to create.

Frank Ramsay frankramsay8@aol.com

Padauk, Maple, Cherry and Ebony.

It was my first project using Padauk. I had seen the wood in the store and naively decided it was the color and figuring I wanted to work with. Not knowing that when working Padauk you do not get sawdust -- only dust! Fine red dust that gets everywhere and stays for ever. It is also a very brittle wood so chips very easily when trying to fit tight joints together. But a fun project.

Size: 73 in. wide, 20 in. deep and 52 in. high

Padauk, Maple and Ebony.

It was designed to complement the sideboard above. I changed the handle from the sideboard design to a more solid design.

Walnut, Mahogany, and 2 types of Curly Maple.

The requirement was for an elegant, light, clean looking set of cupboards and drawers to fit against a bedroom wall. This simple requirement was complicated by the fact that the cupboards had to have substantial drawers for storing a large collection of heavy books. The unit was designed with a very strong under-frame to prevent the structure sagging while at the same keeping a fairly delicate, suspended look.

Tallboy with doors open

Top of Tallboy detail

This table shows of the beauty of the strongly Figured Maple used for the table sides. Adding interest to the top is the incorporation of a Thai Rosewood strip.

Constructed of Cherry, Birds Eye Maple and Thai Rosewood. Size: 42 in. wide, 18 in. deep and 34 in. high

Stained Honduras Mahogany with painted inlays.

This pair of stands was an experimental work. My aim was to make a pair of traditional looking Chinese stands but to use a sharp square cut fret rather than the traditional curved cuts used in China. I emphasized the inside edges of the frets with a red paint.

Size: 35 in. high with 7.5 in. across top edges.