I designed this dining chair in 1998. The legs and frame are made from yakal. The back splat is in Dao, is steam bent and goes through the seat. The seat and arm rests are in ipil while the braces are all in ironwood (dungon) The crown is done in Ipil and represents giving, support and growth.
“Silya ni Flory” was named after a woman who spoils me too much…... My mother in law. I hope you guys are blessed with one.. Have a fantastic day!
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted something guys….This three seater’s seat is carved top and bottom from a 4 inch slab of iron wood ” Magkuno”. The bottom stretchers to support the seat are left out from the slab to connect to the legs. The legs are of “Malabayabas” Back splats are steam bent ebony “kamagong” Stretchers and crown are fashioned from “Saplungan” All woods used are reclaimed as with all my designs and woodworks.
A lot of work but worth the time and effort! Have a fantastic weekend!!
In 2009, a couple who’ve collected a lot of my works asked me to design and build a “simple” bench for their walk in closet/ bathroom. Needless to say… I got carried away. They loved the bench and eventually ended up in their living room. I still have to build them their bathroom bench… :) The slats for the seat is made from ipil and dowelled through and through with Molave. The legs are molave and also doweled through and through with Iron wood and locked in place with ebony dowels.
Have a great weekend guys!
An offshoot of my “Adan at Eba” http://lumberjocks.com/projects/50312 The splayed legs are made from Iron wood. the slatted seats are of Ipil and doweled through and through with ironwood. This design was developed for a smaller room….. thus the, simpler legs to make it look lighter.
This console table is part of my “Tinuhog collection” http://lumberjocks.com/projects/51539 (“Tinuhog” is skewered in our tagalog language) The combination of the ipil top with its splayed yakal legs and the slated shelves which are pierced through and through with molave wooden rods give the whole piece a light floating effect. This has been used by clients for console tables and TV, entertainment stands.
Welcoming the New Year with a new design, “Silya ni Fely”, named after my mom who is turning 81 this year and who is still as sharp as can be and full of energy. The chair features a backrest that flexes, similar to my previous chair designs such as “Rajah” http://lumberjocks.com/projects/26514, “Silya ni Eena” http://lumberjocks.com/projects/28754 and “Silya ni Noel” http://lumberjocks.com/projects/27305 . The Back splats are of steam bent ebony, crown in Molave with ebony inlay. The seat and arm rests are ipil wood while the front and back legs are in yakal. All woods used are salvaged wood from old houses as with all my other projects. My daughters just posted this on my FB fan page for orders….https://www.facebook.com/benjireyes
Plant a tree for a healthier earth.
Hello fellow lumberjocks! I was supposed to post this last valentine’s day. “Kasintahan” Means lovers in Filipino. The seat is hand carved top and bottom from a 5” narra slab The legs are of Yakal. The base and arm rests are balayong. The back splats are laminated and steam bent dao while the crown is in molave. All woods used are reclaimed as with all of my works. This is one of my favorite benches. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.
Hi Guys, I designed this simple Piano bench for a good friend. The seat is made from ipil while the casing and legs are of Saplungan. The stretchers are kamagong (ebony).
My apologies….I haven’t been posting much lately since I’ve been working on some major pieces for my November exhibit in Manila celebrating my 30th year in the designing/woodworking art industry. In as much as I love sharing my latest works with you guys, I will be posting my new creations one by one after I’ve unveiled it to the public. I pray you all have a fine weekend. God bless!
I did this chair 3 years ago as part of my thanksgiving retrospect exhibit. I am presently busy working on new pieces for an exhibit in November celebrating my 30th year in designing and crafting “functional sculptures”. I wish I could share with you photos of my new works but it could preempt the unveiling in November. So frustrating!!! I look forward to The day when I can share my new works with my family here at Lumberjocks. Many thanks for the wonderful comments I get on works that I’ve posted. It inspired me to step into a different level in design and craftsmanship for my up coming show. Mabuhay!!
Hi guys, I’ve been busy working on a new collection for a show in November marking my 30th year and It’s been a while since I last posted a project. Just finished one of my signature doors and this so far is the biggest one I’ve taken on yet! This door measures 9’ 10” inches tall by 66” wide. The whole process is explained on this project I posted almost 3 years ago. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/28012.
It took 15 men to remove the old door and hang this monster on industrial grade pivot hinges. I sculpted the handles out of 7×7 saplungan posts. I had a welder fashion brackets to install and make the frame more rigid. The panels were band sawn and spoke shaved from different species of recycled wood by my assistants. The sculpting took a lot of work and sidelined me about a week from pieces I’m working on for my November exhibit. I will be posting photos of the new collection by mid November. It feels good to be able to post a project again and share with you guys after so long!
Greetings fellow wood lovers,
It’s been a while since i posted a project. I just recently opened my exhibit and used this piece as the cover for my posters and invite. You may see the photos of the opening night on my face book like page: https://www.facebook.com/benjireyes
The doors are doweled through and through slats of manggachapui ( very pale wood). I placed spacers between them before sculpting them. The handles and frame are part of one piece of balayong blank and are hand carved to form a fluid continuing line up to the drawer bottoms. The two drawer faces are carved from balayong. The cabinet’s top is also balayong with molave breadboards pegged in place with kamagong (Ebony) square pegs. The legs are a shaped from kamagong. Drawer sides, bottoms, shelvings and backing are all crafted from Ipil.
Nice to be back guys.. I hope you like the first project I’m posting from my show.
Best regards to all,
Benji
This is another piece from my recently concluded KOLEKTOR SERIES 2012 exhibit. “Kaha-pehan” is a coffee table with 12 drawers designed and computed to fit on its 4 sides… sort of a puzzle where you can actually loose your keys by forgetting which drawer on which side you placed it. The carcass with the drawers were first built before sculpting around it. Sanding was part of the sculpting process to accentuate the ridges and lines. The face drawers are 2.5” thick molave ( philippine teak) to be able to gouge out the drawer pulls as part of the sweeping lines around the chest. four 3” high by 2” diameter Amboyna burl pegs were positioned onto the balayong top to hold the 3/8” thick glass. The face drawers are carved from Molave, the drawer sides, and rails are ipil.
“Kaha-pehan” has found it’s new home after the exhibit. You can see more photos of “Kaha-pehan” On my like page https://www.facebook.com/benjireyes.
Have a great weekend guys!
Sharing with you guys a chess set I made for my recently concluded exhibit.
All chess pieces are whittled from kamagong (Ebony) and Molave (Philippine teak for the white pieces) Each piece is weighted. All The board’s outer frame is made from balayong with amboyna burl inlays. The white border is Manggachapuy while the black squares are malabayabas and the yellow squares are of Langka (jack fruit)
The leg is hand carved Saplungan and its base is dungon (iron wood) All woods used are reclaimed as with all my other projects.
Any wood buddies from Adelaide?
Have a great weekend!
Benji
Hi guys,
I’m sharing with you another piece from my Kolektor Series 2012 exhibit.
This seat is carved from an 8” x 24” x 48” solid block of dungon (Iron wood). This was the very first piece I did in preparation for my show. I thought that starting with the toughest wood would make all the rest of the projects work like butter. I was wrong! The more I knew I could handle the work the more the proceeding designs became complex. And the more the pieces became difficult the more I felt the mind knew what to do but the body was getting a bit too tired. At the end, seeing all the pieces laid out at the show was all well worth the work put into it.
I gouged the seat first and marked where the legs should go. I had the block of wood sent to a machinist that bore truck engine blocks. I had them punch 5” diameter holes into the bottom of the iron wood block. The sides were carved carefully to expose the top of the legs on some parts. The legs were then pulled off and I started carving the bottom of the seat. All in all this took 1-1/2 months to finish.
Materials:
Seat: dungon (iron wood)
Legs: molave (Philippine teak)
Soles for legs: balayong
Dimensions:
Ht 20”
W 24”
L 48”
This piece weighs around 160- 180 lbs.
All woods used are reclaimed from old houses as with all my other projects.
Have a nice day!
Happy Holidays!
I’m hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. It’s been a long productive year for me and am finally with my daughters in sunny Adelaide for the holidays.
This is my last project for 2012. My friends Jun and Rosie who commissioned this piece sent some of these photos and are having a wonderful holiday season with their new door. This is the third door I’ve posted on Lumberjocks. This particular one was part of my recent exhibit and has a more intricate sculpted door handle. I am attaching the link on the first door I posted for construction details. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/28012 I provided two locks for this door instead of one at the center so as not to disturb the flow of the handles at the center.
Woods used:
Handles: Ipil
top, mid, bottom rails: dungon (iron wood)
panels: molave, yakal, ipil, saplungan & tindalo.
door jamb: yakal
All woods used are reclaimed from old houses as with all my other projects.
May the coming New Year bring you and your families, love, happiness, health and good fortune!
Benji
Hi guys,
This 90” X90” Bed was part of my 2012 exhibit. There is nothing like coming home from a hard days work (woodworking or biking) to a bed with a good mattress and that is graceful to look at. The headboard is a medley of Narra, molave, ipil, dungon, yakal and tindalo woods mimicking the dance of seagrass. The frame is from 3”x 12” yakal beams salvaged from an old bridge and is inlayed with Kamgong ( ebony) and Amboyna burl medallions. The 11” diameter Molave posts were also salvaged from the same bridge. The horizontal braces underneath are made from balayong.
I’m more than happy it went to the right couple and that they are enjoying it until they pass on the experience to the next generation.
Have a great weekend guys!
Good day to all,
We are always gravitated towards beauty that we see on the outside and sometimes miss out on discovering the true beauty that lies within..
Alupihan’s concept is a 7 drawer chest that found its way out of its mundane existence by walking out of its shell to expose its internal beauty- its mechanics. The drawers are hung on its rails and has a tolerance of 1/8” between them. The legs are sculpted to twist at the bottom.
This piece took 2months to build and sculpt and was part of my Nov. exhibit.
Materials:
top balayong
frame: (legs) saplungan
drawer guides: balayong
drawer sides: ipil
front drawers: molave
stretchers: dungon
All woods used are reclaimed as with all of my projects.
Have a great weekend guys!
This cabinet took a while to sculpt. The doors are similarly built as my “Diwata” http://lumberjocks.com/projects/74538 while the drawers are carved to flow as one collective piece similar to my “Alupihan” http://lumberjocks.com/projects/78945.
Your comments on my projects are greatly appreciated…. Your comments inspire me….THANK YOU ALL!!
The doors slats are molave and are dowelled through and through with ironwood. The frames are balayong. The handles and frame are one piece. The cabinet frame/legs are tindalo while the drawers are of molave. The crown is also made from balayong while the inlays are amboyna burl. The cabinet stands 7’ and is 42 inches wide. The whole thing weighs around 250 lbs. I am presently working on a smaller version of this and will be posting it by next month.
Have a great weekend guys!
A retrospect of my “Sulok Sultan” which I posted a couple of years back. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/31850 I twisted the legs and stretchers for the client who got this piece. He always dreamt of having a sexy secretary. lol
The top is narra with curly molave breadboards. The legs are sculpted Ironwood (dungon) drawers are dao with balayong drawer pulls. The stretchers are narra and molave.
Have a great weekend guys!
I Never posted any of the bowls I sculpt and this will be a first. The wood is spalted narra. I came across several pieces of these years back and thought they were just fantastic. This is probably the most beautiful wood I’ll ever get to work with. Over here in the Philipines, they’re much rarer than amboyna burl. I get to extract a huge portion of this valuable wood from the center of the bowl and sculpt them into personalized gun grips.
The bowl measures:
L 28” D 9” W 15”
Have a nice day guys!!!