On Saturday, October 3, 2015, 10 AWA members spent the day visiting shops and homes on the South Shore. It was a great day and it is too bad that more members were not able to make the trip. What a time we had!
Our first stop was a post and beam constructed ‘boat shed’ belonging to member Phil Carter’s daughter in Mahone Bay. That is, it started as a boat house but grew to be much more, now including a beautiful inlaw suite with a full kitchen, luxurious bath and open living area on the second floor. Built by Ian MacDonald and his team at Blue Rocks Timber Framers, it was full of beautiful details. The building was cut in the shop and carefully designed. Everything was so effectively designed and cut that the building could be erected in two days. Phil recorded the progress of the building going up and will share that with us with a slide show at the meeting on Oct. 20, 2015.
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- Standing outside the post-and-beam building
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- Phil orienting us on the map
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- The bedroom view
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- Ian describing the process
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- First time that I had seen one of these fridge/freezers that looks like cupboard and drawers
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- Wide view of the kitchen
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- Boat house
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- Pointing out some timber features
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- Close up of joint
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- View of the patio and home
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- Contained electrical
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- Open concept upstairs
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- Stone chimney connects with main floor chimney
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- Looking at stones like those on the stove
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- Loved the relaxing bathroom
Our second stop was in Lunenburg where we had a chance to visit the Blue Rocks shop, which is pretty small given the amazing work that they are doing. Owner Ian showed us around and we were impressed with the efficient use of the small space. And everyone was pretty excited to see some of the unique tools that Ian uses in the construction of their timber elements.
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- Gary and Glenn at Blue Rocks
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- Ian MacDonald showing some of the cuts
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- Admiring cut posts
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- Demonstrating a speciality mortise cutter
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- A variety of sizes of circular saws
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- Masts are another area of speciatly
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- examining mortise jig
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- Very cool portable bandsaw that had everyone drooling
Almost across the street from Blue Rocks is the Luneburg Furniture Company where we we spent some time with Tony Chaplik. Tony makes lovely custom furniture using traditional joinery and he shared some tips and tricks with us as well as some of his jigs and templates. A visit to his Montague Street storefront is well worth the trip to Lunenburg. visit.
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- Storefront
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- Tony demonstrating a box joint jig
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- Another jig, this one for cabinet work
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- Sample of some labels printed on wood for inventory products
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- Asking questions
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- More questions from AWA members
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- Discussing some works in progress
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- One-of-a-kind designs.
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- Including this fun table foot
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- View to the street
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- Some smaller items available for sale.
Tony suggested that before leaving Lunenburg, we should walk down to the dock to see construction of a wooden schooner. That was not on our original itinerary but we weren’t about to miss the opportunity to see traditional boat building in action. We don’t have any info on the builder but the boat is being built in the same place as the original Bluenose and Bluenose II. Awesome work and very cool to see.
From Lunenburg, we headed to Phil’s home in Petite Riviere (after a quick stop at LeHave Bakery, of course). Phil gave us a tour of his beautiful home, which his family has been lovingly restoring for 30+ years. It is spectacular inside and out – and what a view! Somehow, they have managed to create a home that is like a museum while being incredibly warm and welcoming.
We finished our day with a tasty BBQ hosted by Phil and Lynn. Thanks to them both for hosting and Phil for coordinating the details of a wonderful, full, day on ‘the Shore’.
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