Kimberly’s original plan, when she went to college, was to become a graphic designer, but “one of my professors kept talking about how it was a dog eat dog world,” so Kimberly started looking for a different outlet for her art. “I took one woods class, and was hooked after that.”

She spent a few years working for Karges Furniture after her graduation, while also making some things for herself. “I would come home and look through my art history books to find things I wanted to hang on my walls.” At one point, she made a reproduction of a West Coast Tlingit rattle, and, as it lay in two hollowed-out pieces on her table, ready for her to put the rattle in, “I noticed what a cool purse it would be. It was small enough I would even carry it,” Kimberly said.

At the time, she didn’t actually carry a purse. (She didn’t wear rings, either; her first husband, now deceased bought her a Craftsman band saw for a wedding present in lieu of a wedding ring because “that’s what I really wanted,” while her parents, who were not woodworkers, delighted her at Christmastime with additional tools.)

Kimberly’s purses have since become her business. For a while, she was taking them on the art show circuit, but a flood in her home last year which brought five feet of water into her basement workshop – where all of her purses and tools were stored –has led, through assistance from CERF  (Craft Emergency Relief Fund) to an opportunity for a new direction.

At 54 years old, Kimberly said, being on the road all the time left little time for new designs – when she got home, all she had time to do was make more inventory before heading back out on the road.

Of course, she did get some design ideas from customers at shows. One woman’s comment that, while she liked the wooden handbags, she “kind of wanted something soft on ‘em, too,” led to Kimberly’s line that incorporates leather along with the wood.  And many people saw lips in her purses that utilized a design based on two leaf forms. “When they saw lips, it just made ‘em smile,” Kimberly said. “I thought ‘That’s kind of cool. I could have a design with lips and smiles,” which led to her “Gabby” series.

Many of Kimberly’s designs are based on nature, “leaf, flower and critter,” as she put it. “I just walk around my yard and look at the flowers and the critters. There’s skinks all around my yard, and beautiful brown-eyed Susans.”

Many of her purses now also reflect the types of designs she did back in college, when she was making a lot of large sculptures, yet functional pieces, using the human form as inspiration.

The purses, she said, have “soft, flowing curves, just like in my larger sculptures. They open up with hidden hinges, so it looks all natural. I didn’t want any metals or anything.”

When she goes to the lumberyard, Kimberly said, “I might spend two hours looking around, looking at the grain of different wood. If I don’t have to worry about weight,” any wood can work – but, for her all-wooden handbags, weight is a consideration.

“I have used maple on some smaller handbags,” she said. “Some smaller ones can use padauk.” She also uses a lot of walnut, and mahogany, and has used African black limba on a purse inspired by her brown-eyed Susan flowers.

The interior walls of the wooden handbags are quite thin, Kimberly said. She carves them out with a mallet and chisel; trying to get the right depth so the bag is not too heavy. She alternates her carving between the inside and the outside of a piece.

“For the Christine clutch, you’ve got to be able to clutch the bag when you carry it. I would hold onto it, then carve a little more. If I felt like it wasn’t comfortable in a certain spot, I would carve a little more there, while still paying attention to the design features on top of it. I didn’t want to lose the soft, flowing curve, where you easily grabbed onto it.”

For other bags, the handle is also a consideration: is it a short handle for a shoulder bag? Or a longer one? Often, Kimberly said, she’ll make a miniature clay model of a piece before doing the actual carving in wood.

The bags fashioned from both wood and leather don’t take quite as long to make as the all-wooden ones. Some of the inspiration for those, such as the clip-on bag line, came from Kimberly’s mother, who wanted something to hold her phone and her keys in when she takes walks.

(Kimberly’s mother also helps cut the leather and cut out patterns for Kimberly’s work; Kimberly taught herself to sew the leather when she began incorporating it into her work.)

Kimberly’s production process for her wooden purses also has an element which is likely familiar to many woodworkers: “Once I’ve finished one, I’ll think ‘I should have done it this way’ or ‘I should have done it that way.’ So I’ll make another one.”

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– Bill Smith
Columbia Cross Roads, Pennsylvania

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– Jim Moorehead
Barrigada, Guam

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Tim Inman: Do yourself a favor and strip that old crummy finish off. Start over with a fresh clean surface. Otherwise, you’re building a house on a foundation of sand. It won’t work to just put new over the old, and you’ll have an even bigger, nastier job to do when you decide to give up later on and strip it anyway. Pennywise, pound-foolish; never time to do it right, always time to do it over; marry in haste, repent at leisure … I could go on, but the point here is this: these old adages are common and they exist because of experience by generations before you. Do it right the first time, and you’ll be a much happier man in the long run.

Chris Marshall: And to that end of stripping and starting over, I would use one of the heavy-duty, gel-type liquid strippers you can find at home centers. The smelly stuff containing methylene chloride works quickly and effectively. But make sure to wear chemical-resistant gloves and apply it with plenty of fresh ventilation, because the fumes aren’t healthy to breathe. Or wear a respirator with vapor cartridges. The old finish should strip off pretty quickly. Then, I’ll make a suggestion for the next topcoat: General Finishes Enduro-Var. I say that because I’ve used it extensively for projects in the magazine lately – our Greene & Greene Bedstead and Nightstand projects in the February and August print issues both were finished with Enduro-Var.

Here’s why I like it: it’s a “next generation” waterbased poly that crosslinks with the air as it cures for a tough finish. It brushes on smoothly, levels out well when wet and dries quickly. I also appreciate that the finish has a slightly amber tint, which warms up the color of the wood. It will remind you of the color cast you get with oil-based poly. On a pale-colored ash table, it could look great to give the table a vintage heirloom look. And, of course, cleanup is easy with soap and water. I’ve also noticed that the clarity of the cured varnish is very pleasing. If there’s any figure to the wood, Enduro-Var will enhance it.

If you don’t like the amber tone and want to keep your table as blonde as possible, I’ve also had good luck with Rust-Oleum’s water-based Ultimate Polyurethane. It dries clear with very little color cast on blonde woods like ash and maple. Same benefits too: good leveling, fast drying, low odor and easy cleanup. I buy mine right off the shelf at Lowe’s.

With either product, I’d stick with a satin sheen as you’ve done already with your table’s current finish. Personally, satin just looks best to me on a handmade “utilitarian” project like a kitchen table. Good luck with the project!

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CNC Piranha FX features computer-controlled stepper motors that maneuver the machining process. XYZ travel of the machine is 12″ x 13″ x 3″ for routing and 12″ x 12″ x 3″ for 3-D printing and laser engraving. T-track slots that run the entire length of the aluminum work table allow clamping at any position.

At last summer’s Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers Fair (AWFS), Next Wave received a much industry-coveted Visionary Award for the new Piranha FX. Up until this month, Piranha FX had not yet been released to the general public. But, if you’ve been anticipating its arrival, the time has come. It is now available through select woodworking retailers, including Rockler (see below), as of Oct. 1.

In case you aren’t familiar with the individual module capabilities, they are as follows:

Carving/CNC routing Module: Using a DeWALT, Bosch, Porter-Cable or similar palm router as the cutting tool (not included), Piranha FX will generate relief carvings or cut out parts in wood, aluminum or other soft metals such as copper or brass, and plastic. You can make carvings, signs, plaques, ornamental boxes and templates for other woodworking projects, all with exact repeatability.

Laser Engraving Module: By attaching a laser to the chuck of the machine’s palm router, Piranha FX will engrave flat sheet materials such as wood, paper, plastic or fabric. Here’s a way to transfer photos or other drawings to durable substrates with shaded realism. The laser is not intended to be a through-cutting tool.

3D Printing Module: Design your own small 3D object, then use the printing module and spooled plastic “thread” filament to replicate parts, create figures and design or fabricate just about anything. Users can accomplish 3D printing with the Vectric VCarve Desktop 8.0 software that’s included with Piranha FX and their own PC or laptop. An optional digitizer will also available separately to copy three-dimensional objects by “learning” their shape through a touch probe.

The Piranha FX will be sold in various bundled configurations. Rockler now sells the Piranha FX 3D and Laser Bundle (item 59224), which includes the base machine and both 3D printer and laser modules, for $3,199.99. Next Wave also is advertising two other bundles: the  Piranha FX 3D Printer Package, which includes the machine and the 3D printer only, for $2449; and the Piranha FX Laser Package, which includes the machine and the laser engraver for $2349.99. Contact Next Wave Automation for details about these two packages and other options.

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This past summer, Rob asked for ideas regarding router bit storage in one of his editorials. It’s a question that some seem to still be pondering. – Editor

“I know it has been a while since you asked for suggestions about router bit storage but I finally found my ‘round tuit.’ I, too, had a dilemma as to how to store bits so I could have some portability. I purchased some storage boxes and added drilled PVC. It works great!” – Mike Wolff

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– Clint Mann
Helena, OR

See the Slideshow Below:

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