Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking

21st Century Card Table

2008-07-24T11:40:00.003+01:00

Here are a few pictures of cherry card table I made for the Interiors 2008 show in May. The piece was inspired by 18th and 19th century card tables but in a contemporary form. The legs were made as thin and elegant as possible and are attached to a central pod. The back legs use a wooden hinge to pivot out so as to support the unfolded table leaf. Maybe it is just me but I always like to see how he underneath of a table is finished; I think it can serve as good indicator of how well a piece is made. To tis end and to lighten the appearance of the table top, I sculpted the two leaves of the top to be thinner on the outside edge and added a hand carved surface to give the table some tactile interest. This piece is the first that I have used all natural hide glue on. The finish is oil and west cork bees wax.

Venusian Whorl Chair

2008-06-09T10:03:00.000+01:00

I thought that a little more explanation of this chair was needed. The inspiration for it came from wanting to incorporate a marine theme into my work combined with a sculptural organic form. I achieved this by using a boat building technique called glued clinker to create the shell of the chair. This produced a exceptionally rigid shell structure. The shape of the chair is trying to emulate flowers or tulip leaves as they grow. I was designing this in the early spring hence the tulips. The name is a little bit of whimsy although whorl defines exactly what the chair is. (see here) This piece would look great in an entrance hall or even better in a plant filled conservatory. Or how about as cosy fireside chair to relax in with your favourite book. When sitting in the chair the warm wood wraps around you like a cocoon or shell. It's made from over a hundred separate pieces. The planks of the shell had to be individually steamed and fitted to each other. A lot of work; each chair took over a month to complete. The woods used were carefully chosen prime quarter sawn ash and Irish oak. These chairs were the first project that I have used natural hide glue on which has been used for centuries and should last for centuries to come. The finish was oil and west cork bee's wax. I will be offering an outdoor garden version of this chair with cover if required.

Tiernan Roe Featured in Sunday Times

2008-05-26T17:52:00.004+01:00

My ogham chair was featured in the Sunday Times recently. It was selected from over 100 exhibitors at the recent Interiors 2008 in the RDS Dublin. Ireland's top interiors companies and bespoke furniture makers were in attendance. Thank you to all who visited my stand over the four days; it was great to here so many positive comments about my work.

Interiors 2008 RDS, Dublin 16th to 18th of May

2008-05-12T09:44:00.004+01:00

Here is a sneak preview of one of the pieces I'll be showing at the upcoming Interiors 2008 show in the Royal Dublin Society next weekend. I'm calling it a clinker chair; well because it's made like a clinker planked boat and is a chair. Perhaps Venetian Whorl might be a little more imaginative. Anyway it is made from approximately a hundred pieces of quarter sawn ash and oak which were then steam bent into shape. Needless to say this was a lot of work and the chair took the best part of a month just to fabricate the outer shell. The finish is hand rubbed oil and bees wax.

Contacting Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking

2008-05-12T09:29:00.007+01:00

Here is how to contact Tiernan Roe

By Post the Address is

Tiernan Roe,
Corravoley,
Ballydehob,
Co. Cork,

By phone

+353 (0)28 38973

or mobile

+353 (0)86 158 6937

and lastly by e-mail

Just click on the word comments at the bottom of the posting and I'll receive your e-mail. It won't be published before I read it.

Or you can e-mail me by removing the spaces at

tiernan roe @ yahoo. co. uk

Hope to here from you soon.

Dresser finishes Kitchen

2007-12-03T12:51:00.000Z

This Dresser style unit matches the other cabinets in this kitchen. It provides extra counter space for baking etc.; but at the same time doesn't make the kitchen seem cramped. The drawers below house things like table linen, food processor and bulky items like lunch boxes etc. The long doors on each side are pull out larder units. The client was very happy with the dresser remarking that it was exactly what she had wanted. Since this photo was taken I've added a plate rail at the back of the counter to display the clients collection of large decorative plates.

Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking featured in West Cork People

2007-05-04T16:00:00.000+01:00

I have been profiled in this months West Cork People, which is a newspaper obviously enough for and about the people and places of West Cork. I'm going to post the full text in a separate post which you can find under the Press label on the right.

Profile of Tiernan Roe in the West Cork People

2007-05-04T15:45:00.000+01:00

Tiernan Roe comes from three generations of professional woodworkers, a tradition he continually draws on and hopes to continue. He started woodworking with his father building and repairing wooden dinghies in his spare time. Since graduating from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Tiernan has spent some time as a special effects model maker and sculptor both here in Ireland and in Berlin, Germany. It was in Berlin that Tiernan learnt the importance and application of precision. Having started out building boats and being a keen sailor, (he finds it hard to stay in the workshop during good sailing weather), Tiernan decided to move to Ballydehob, West Cork in 1999, where he now operates from his custom-built workshop.
It was while working on the restoration of Kilcoe Castle that Tiernan began to make bespoke furniture full time. Every large piece of furniture or the castle had to be built on site and assembled in each room. This presented many technical challenges regarding firstly how pieces could be made to pass along narrow passages and then be assembled in extremely confined spaces. Furthermore, the castle was still under reconstruction and as much of the wood was freshly felled or “green”, it was liable to some and on occasion spectacular warping which had to be minimised. The most impressive piece of this time would have to be the 14-foot elm and oak banqueting table and benches that had 96 feet of hand carved moulding and traditional drawn peg mortices.
Tiernan is one of the few professional woodworkers using a blog as his web presence “I started using the blog primarily because I could update it easily myself and it also allowed me to explain the design and manufacture process in a more informal way than a traditional web-site would” Tiernan explains “ another thing that I was attracted to with a blog is that viewers are able to post comments on what they see, unfortunately I have been slow to promote this aspect of the blog but I’m hoping it will take off soon. So i f any readers would like to comment on my work I would be more than happy to recieve feedback”
Another way that Tiernan wants to exploit his blog is by creating private blogs for clients where they can be kept up to date on the progress of their project on line from anywhere in the world. “My practice is practically paperless. All drawings are completed in 3D on the computer and usually sent by e-mail or disc to clients. The ability to change the drawings easily allows me and the client the freedom to try a number of different designs and to view them from all angles. As well as that, many of my projects are site specific and it makes it much easier for me to explain and the client to understand how a piece will look in a space using the 3D rendering.” Although Tiernan spent five years making medieval and traditional furniture, he is also at his ease designing and creating modern furniture. “Essentially my furniture is design-led. For example, one of my clients came to me looking for shaker style furniture but when we were going through the concept stage we began breaking down their reasons for liking shaker furniture. What we found was surprising to us all; they didn’t really like shaker furniture but admired it for its functionality and lightness. This led through various concepts to the creation of the Ogham chair”. While you’ve been reading this Tiernan has probably being agonising over which way to orient the grain and figure in a particular board so that it will match the tone of the boards around or sharpening up his chisels to finish that last bit of carving on a piece. If you would like to check up on what Tiernan has been up to go to www.tiernanroe.blogspot.com

Design Process Step by Step: Part 2

2007-04-02T12:09:00.001+01:00

Well I finally finished that table I was designing before Christmas. I steamed the oak legs to produce the curves and then the parts were joined quite simply with half joints.

It took a bit of fitting and a couple of try outs to get the legs in the right position and then level the table top. But it all came together in the end. I added the extra mahogany webbing pieces, as the arched oak legs were a bit too springy on their own. The next time I make a table like this, I will laminate the legs, which will make them stiffer. I would probably also make them a bit bigger, if I were to do it again.
All in all, I think the table was a success from a functional perspective, in that the legs don't interfere with a person sitting at the table or with moving chairs in under the table. From a design viewpoint, it is a fine showcase piece to have in any kitchen, guaranteed to be the room's "wow" feature for many years to come.

Bespoke Kitchen from Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking

2007-02-26T15:41:00.000Z

I did this kitchen during the summer; but only got the pictures recently. The counter tops are maple and the doors are painted red deal. I cut a stopped chamfer on the frames to lighten the appearance and to highlight the hand made aspect of the work. The larder unit between the two doors fits into an alcove that had previously housed a forced air heating unit. The drawers feature full extension drawer runners and the handles are brushed stainless steel. The previous post featured the living room of this house.

Contemporary Built-in Shelves

2007-02-09T14:06:00.001Z

Here's a built-in unit I did before I started the blog. The client wanted deep shelves that were irregular and appeared to be part of the wall. I made up the shelf boxes first and attached them to the wall; plumbed up all the faces and then laid sheets of MDF on top. I cut out the openings afterwards. The unit was then painted the same colour as the walls to blend it in. The drawers underneath have storage for approximately 150 CDs.

If you would like plans or how to instructions for this unit please e-mail me at tiernanroe @ yahoo. co. uk remove spaces before sending

Cherry Storage Cabinets and T.V. stand by Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking

2007-01-30T20:21:00.000Z

I just finished these cabinets on Friday. They're made from cherry and feature handmade handles. The two large cabinets were designed for alcoves either side of a chimney breast. One was to hold files and glassware, the other bottles and in the drawers underneath CDs.

The door panels are made from some highly figured pieces that I have resawn and bookmatched to produce a simulation of classic crotch grained veneer. The drawers are on wooden slides and have southern yellow pine carcases. The small unit is to take a DVD player and LCD screen.

I made the handles for these cabinets because I was unable to source wooden D handles that suited. Those that were available were all too large. The front piece is made from steam bent cherry which is glued to some maple blocks.
The pieces were finished with a hand rubbed Danish oil finish which gives good protection with a deep satin finish.

Sliding Doors by Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking 16/12/2006

2006-12-12T18:23:00.000Z

Here's some photos of a set of sliding doors I did a few months ago. They are made of cedar to keep the weight down and slide on a brass rail on the floor. I fitted some bearings on the bottom to make them easier to slide but not so easy that they coud pick up momentum and smash into the stops. The glass is really quite heavy as it was only available as 6mm laminated which is required for building regulations.

Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking featured on Ireland360.com

2006-12-08T19:45:00.000Z

At last the public get to see inside Tiernan Roe's workshop. I've been featured on a panorama photography site. Unfortunately I should have tidied a bit more before the photo was taken rest assured that I've done so since. You can check out the photo at www.ireland360.com The crisscrossed pieces to my left are the legs for the table that was in the design stage in a recent post; I'll have photos of the finished piece soon. Our dog Bainne is in there as well.

Mahogany Display Shelves

2006-11-14T18:38:00.000Z

Here's a picture of a set of shelves I finished recently. They're made of mahogany and are 200cm x 140cm x 40cm, so they're pretty big, they just about squeezed into the van. I made them for clients who needed somewhere to display some ceramic craft pieces they had collected and that's why they are double the depth of normal shelves. I was lucky to be able to get the mahogany in 40cm wide planks which look better than glued up panels. The shelves are jointed to the posts with sliding dovetails and there is bracing at the back to stop the shelves racking. The posts were made up as box sections to try and cut down on the weight. The unit was finished with Danish oil.

Design Process Step by Step

2006-11-07T09:46:00.000Z

I thought it might be interesting to show how I bring my projects from concept to reality. Below is a page from my sketchbook.
I find that by sketching quickly and not getting hung up on details I generate more and hopefully better concepts. Sometimes even a mistake or scribble can inspire another concept. These sketches were for the table shown below.

Normally the client doesn't see my sketches, they are usually presented with a maquette or 3D rendering of the piece. The 3D rendering below is for the office suite featured in a previous post. The rendering made it possible for the client to see how the suite of furniture would look in situ.

I use the maquettes to model up pieces that are visually or technically quite complex. As you can see the maquette shown is a fairly quickly made model but it really helps in visualising and fine tuning the design. This design will more than likely not get to the full mock up stage. What will probably happen is that the design for the table will evolve during construction. This can be a little risky, as any problems encountered e.g. in the jointing of the legs will have to be resolved carefully and quickly.
This project will be going ahead in the coming days and weeks and I will be posting images and comments on the production process in part two of the series. The legs are going to be steam bent white oak and the top is chestnut and elm. I'm off now to build a steamer.

Japanese Style Shoji Wardrobe

2006-09-27T17:03:00.001+01:00

Wow I didn't realise that it has been so long since I last updated. The main reason for this is not only that is was the summer; but that recently I have been busy with a number of projects, all at various stages. Anyway here is a photo of a built-in wardrobe I made recently. It's made from Southern Yellow Pine and the screens are basic curtain lining material. This was chosen because the traditional rice paper wouldn't have been strong enough. The drawers in the centre go all the way up to the turn of the eaves to maximise the amount of storage. Cut-outs were used as handles for the drawers because surface mounted handles would have got in the way of the doors. All of the half joints in the screens were cut by hand in the traditional way and the mortice and tenon joints in the frame are pegged for extra strength.

It has also been brought to my atteniton tht their are a lot of typos in my blog so I'll be more careful in future and I will be correcting previous errors.

Stairs by Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking

2006-07-27T20:51:00.000+01:00

It's been awhile since I updated but unlike before where I was too busy working to post anything, I'm now spending as much of my free time as possible out sailing. The weather has been especially good lately and when I can see the sea from my workshop it's very hard to resist the temptation to knock off early and go sailing.
Enough excuses and I'll give you a run down of the stairs illustrated below. The strings are made from 9" by 2" Ash and each step was cut out and the "waste" piece was glued and screwed to the step below to extend the string to an effective width of 12". The treads are 10" by 2" Honduras Pitch Pine to match the flooring.

The handrail is Ash again and came from a site clearance. The bark was stripped off with a drawknife and the hand rail was then mortised into the newel posts. I used 10mm stainless steel bar for the spindles to make the appearance as light as possible and still maintain strength. The spindles had to be individually plumbed up from the tread to the bottom of the hand rail so they wouldn't look crooked, which was a very time consuming operation. Next time I'll use a laser plumb bob.

Custom Kitchen by Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking 22-06-06

2006-06-22T19:56:00.000+01:00

Hi there it's been a while since the last post but I've been very busy lately trying to finish off building my own house. But here's a picture of the kitchen I recently finished. The counter tops are native Irish Elm and the doors and drawer fronts are painted red deal. The under counter spaces were filled with drawers as cupboards that are 600mm deep can make it very frustrating trying to find anything. I used full extension soft close drawer runners to maximise the amount of useful space in the drawers and reduce the slamming that could occur with such large drawers. The refuse bins are in a drawer under the sink; this had to be custom made to fit around the the plumbing that was there e.g. water filter.

The overhead cupboards were brought all the way to ceiling to try and maximise storage space and eliminate the inevitable clutter and dust that can gather on top of normal kitchen cupboards. A ladder chair will be used to access these high cupboards where infrequently used items such as christmas cake tins are stored. The table in the foreground is a work in progress the top is made from chestnut and Elm. Hopefully I will get round to finishing it soon.

Chairs from Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking 23/05/2006

2006-05-24T03:21:00.000+01:00

Here are a few photos of some chairs that I designed and made recently. The client wanted a chair that was comfortable, simple, light, robust and unique to them. Everything that a chair should be really. They came to me first looking for some shaker inspired chairs but after a lengthy design process I came up with these chairs. The strong vertical elements in the back were something that the clients liked. All of their current chairs had this element. We choose to make the chairs from cherry as they wanted a light coloured wood that had some figure but wasn't over powering. Also each chair has the name of one member of the family carved on it. I used an ancient irish script called "ogham" which consists of horizontal lines on a vertical line. Apparently this script was based on the names of trees e.g oak in irish is daoire and represents D.

In the photo to the right it shows that although the back is made from two flat pieces that are sawn to a curve when joined at an angle they create an almost perfect curve for a chair back. To enhance the comfort of the chair the seat slopes back at a 3º angle. The triangular shape of the seat gives ample support to the buttocks as the body is supported on only two points of the pelvis that are remarkably close together. In fact there is a traditional type of chair in Ireland known as a Sligo chair that has a triangular seat which provided some of the inspiration for these chairs.

You can see in this photo that the back legs of the chair are joined to the seat using relatively massive through mortise and tenon joints that are fastened with wedges. This jointing arrangement was used as this joint on the chair experiences quite amount of racking and as they were designed for a family with four young children it is inevitable that at some time some one will tip them back onto their two back legs. All the other joints are pegged with hand made Holly pegs. The finish is hand rubbed Danish oil.

Bespoke office furniture made by Tiernan Roe 9-05-2006

2006-05-09T20:44:00.001+01:00

Here are some photos of an bespoke executive office suite that I completed at the end of last month. Only just got round to downloading the photos this evening. The client wanted his office to be comfortable, functional, look greatand to last. All of the furniture is hand crafted from American White Oak and has an natural hand rubbed Danish oil finish. I even fitted a secret drawer but of course I won't be telling you where it is. There was a lot of work in this project as the drawers feature dovetailed joinery and all of the frame and panel sections are morticed and tenoned with solid oak panels. I used Southern Yellow Pine for the drawers boxes for stability and to provide a contrast with the oak.

The file cabinet above is the heaviest of the three pieces of furniture and we were just able to squeeze it up the stairs. The drawers are all on full extension runners so no problems getting at stuff at the back. The file cabinet is low and narrow but can still hold a lot of files.

The desk is V shaped to allow the user have a computer on their left and writing space on the right. The V shape also created an overhang which the customer wanted, so that clients could use the desk as well, to sign or review documents. Here is another view.

Finally the client needed somewhere for a printer and stationary supplies which are housed in this dresser unit. (They're called hutches in America) The cabling for the computer equipment in the desk runs underneath this unit to the power point and internet access.

Traditional wooden furniture

2006-05-03T06:05:00.001+01:00

Just got back from a Trad music festival in Louisburgh Co. Mayo, beautiful place and great weekend was had by all. I was at probably one of the best traditional irish music concerts this year an all American ensemble of Billy McComiskey, Brendan Dolan, Joannie Madden and Brian Conway were amazing. Anyway here some more pictures of fine furniture I did a few years ago for a luxury restoration project here in West Cork.

This plate rack was made to store a 60 piece hand crafted dinner set so it had to be quite strong. The wood used was ash with pine dowels. The rails are all through tenoned and wedged for the upmost in strength. The whole piece when finished, then had to be cut to fit in against the undulating wall. The plate rack was then finished with hand rubbed danish oil.

The dresser to the left is a multi purpose piece in that not only does it provide storage it incorporates a table and settle; but also with the use of the two stools and some bracing it can become a temporary bed. It was also made for a luxury medieval restoration project and had to assemble din the room beacause the access points to the room were too small. When finished it was painted to look old by two fine art decorative painters.

More Furniture from Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking 25/04/2006

2006-04-25T18:33:00.001+01:00

Here are a few more pictures of pieces of fine furniture that I have made over the last five or six years. This coffee table was made from an end of an native Irish oak plank that couldn't be used because of the hole and the legs are Hawthorn that I got from a site clearance. The legs were shaped with an axe and were tenoned to the top. The finish is hand rubbed boiled linseed oil.

This box is made from oak and features hand cut dovetails and a celtic knotwork carved lid. It was just a small project to practice both dovetail cutting and celtic knot work carving. It worked out fairly well but I still don't know what to put in it. Perhaps in the future I will pad the inside and make some ring holders for it to be used as a jewellery box. More recent work will be posted soon but I still have to get photos ready for publication.

Tiernan Roe Fine Woodworking Starts Blog 24/04/2006

2006-04-24T19:52:00.001+01:00

This blog is to inform customers and new and old of how current projects are progressing. If your looking for someone to design and make fine wooden furniture then look no further. Woodworking has been a family tradition for over three generations. In the last year I have started my own business making and designing fine art furniture for clients both here in West Cork and through out Ireland. Hopefully I will be updating this blog regularly as the idea of using a Blog instead of a website was that pictures of furniture are all well and good but I hope to be able to impart some of the experiences and processes involved in producing a fine piece of furniture. Also, for the first while I will be including previous projects. So to kick off I'm posting some images of work that I did in Berlin 10 years ago this month. I know its a long time ago but it's pretty cool, a 9 metre (30 foot) high Statue of Liberty on top of the watchtower at the famous Checkpoint Charlie. Yes I did have to go right up the head 25 metres ( 80 feet) up to put on the crown after the statue was craned into place. Ahh reckless youth.