New Bench for the Crucible!

We love our chances to collaborate with other artists at just fine, and our latest collaboration is complete. Danny Garcia, a longtime volunteer at The Crucible who also runs the awesome estate sales business called old hat did the metalworking for this bench and I (Matt) did the woodworking. It is made from square tube steel with a 'presto black' patina, and reclaimed Doug Fir that was from Crucible founder Michael Sturtz' cellar of his house in Alameda. The boards are in the same plane as the metal to try and highlight the metal frame, which too often gets covered by the wood.

The bench rotates on a single caster so the lift gate that is behind the bench is still usable - pretty clever we think.

Butterfly Roof Chicken Coop is done and loaded and headed to Maker Faire

Good vibes today at the Crucible as Matt and I put the finishing touches on our latest chicken coop design!  It miraculously fit in the Just Finemobile without having to take it apart...I feel like I just won the lottery.  Diggin' the periwinkle and mustard yellow color combo.

It's really more like a stylish chicken condo with its butterfly roof, oversized door, chicken ramp, custom enclosed egg laying stations, roosting poles, and recycled copper pipe water catchment system.

This is our work bench, featuring: impact driver, drill, drill bits, tape measure, chips & salsa, epoxy, hammer, copper tubing, ear muffs, 1-5/8" wood screws, 2-1/2" wood screws, coffee, clear coat, mango with lime juice and pepper flakes, leather gloves, pen, door handles to be installed, level, sketch book, pliers, water bottle, staple gun, copper flashing, combo square, sharpie, box cutter, latex gloves....It takes a lot of goodies to make such a nice coop!

Last pitch for Maker Faire, Matt and I are installing the coop there tomorrow and we hope to see you there this weekend!

Updates from the Lads at Just Fine

Hello out there!  Matt and I have been busy with a couple fun projects.  Our chicken coop is nearly complete, it just needs finishing touches like fancy door closures and the copper pipe water catchment system.  The butterfly roof is magnificent and the whole package has some really nice flourishes.  As if you need another reason to go, come check out our coop at Maker Faire this weekend in San Mateo.  We will be there with my hens Amelia and Frank Lloyd.  Matt also made a fantastic wood sign and our friend Libi Wood has been preparing some propaganda.  Sweet!  No new pictures of the coop yet but maybe tomorrow.

We have also been busy building and installing some massive three dimensional frames for our friend Aliza Rand.  Her MFA show opens this Friday night at the Berkeley Art Museum on Bancroft.  Her pictures are massive--up to 11 feet tall!  Aliza's cyanotypes elegantly capture shadows from around San Francisco on light-sensitive fabric.  We are really excited to be a part of a show at BAM which is a beautiful concrete gallery built with no right angles.  The frames turned out "perfect" says Aliza and the install was difficult but a learning experience (all our jobs are!). 

Finally, a little Just Fine press and more links than you can shake a stick at.  In case you missed the interview with the folks at Maker Faire you can find it here.  And our friend and collaborator Liz Dunning gave us a shout on her blog.  She was recently interviewed on a great new blog I just found called Handful of Salt.  Check out Liz Dunning, she makes beautiful furniture in Alameda on the old Naval Base and she has a sweet blog of her own!  We found Liz when we were researching how to make the Rump Stumplings (which recently sold at Zonal!) with a mini chainsaw----she had done something similar for a set of benches.  I was with Liz on Sunday for her birthday ferry ride to Angel Island and it was a beautiful day in the sun.  Check out this nearly secluded beach we found with a view of San Francisco!

That's it for this installment.  Check back soon and we really hope to see you at Maker Faire.  Matt and I have been working long days and a few short nights to get the new coop ready and we are so proud to show it off to the world!

new coop on it's way!

We here at Just Fine are in the midst of another chicken coop design/build, and will be showing our new baby at Maker Faire next weekend.
The 'chick-in-a-box' will have a butterfly roof with a water catchment system, a sliding door to get the eggs, and will come apart easily into four separate wall sections. Check out our process shot of the redwood (and fir) framing.
Will be finished soon!

Alameda Backyard Chicken Coop Bicycle Tour: May 16

Hey friends of Just Fine--
Join us for a bicycle tour of backyard chicken coops on the beautiful, sunny island of Alameda, California next Sunday May 16th.

Click here for details. It starts at 1pm and it is a self-guided tour (receive a map at the starting point). This is a FREE event and refreshments will be served along the way. We are currently designing and building 2 new coops to bring to Maker Faire May 22-23, so we are curious to see where other backyard farmers keep their chickens and how they have built their coops.

Rump Stumplings now featured at 'Zonal'

We're happy to announce that the 'Rump Stumplings' now have a temporary home at the retail store 'Zonal' in Hayes Valley. We're excited about this local collaboration, and encourage people to go into the store to check out their stuff. Russell, the owner collects really beautiful farm furniture from the late 1800's and the store mostly reflects his specific and refined taste - though he does work with a few local contemporary designers and we're happy to be a new addition to the shop.

go to:
568 Hayes st.
www.zonalhome.com