I had the distinct pleasure to meet stained glass artist Lawrence Frey (pronounced Fry) and readily accepted his invitation to tour his company, the Appalachian Stained Glass Studio, In Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. It is here that he designs and builds custom stained glass works for everything from apartments to multimillion-dollar homes. He creates stained glass panels ranging from smaller leaded glass for transoms and doors to very large-scale multi-panel installations for vast spans of windows. Using light as his canvas, Frey’s designs blend his fresh and unique style with glass techniques eons old to create works of art.

The studio is located just off the beaten path surrounded by thick forests of hemlock, native rhododendron and fern providing a peaceful setting where he creates his works.

Frey was recently commissioned to design and install two large 6’ arching glass-works high in the gable of a log home. After careful study of the house and property and listening to the homeowners he began. His concept was that the window needed to be not a window but rather a transition that pulls together and reflects on the natural elements of the home, its surroundings and the owner’s lifestyle while providing an airy feeling of light and color.

read more about Lawrence's stained glass works

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While scraping the bark off of logs in preparing to build the log arbor there was one log of birch which really couldn’t be used as birch just doesn’t hold up well. It was while stripping the bark off this fine piece of wood that I was hit with that unmistakable aroma.

After quietly gathering up much of the bark and scrapings I stuffed them into a large pot and brewed it on the stove for a bit then after letting it cool - I left the mixture to steep for quite sometime and added a bit of sugar. (this is not the exact process I followed but its my grandpa’s recipe and that’s a family secret).

It sat hidden in the basement for the past few weeks slowly brewing sending little bubbles through a tube into a small glass jar near by.

read more about home made birch beer

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Fairly recently I had built an arbor for the garden using branches cut from the surrounding property. Within less than one season the hastily made and rickety structure came crashing down into a heap of debris during a thunderstorm. Lesson learned.

I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. This time I would build it to withstand such storms by using logs.

A neighbor who had been clearing some additional land for pasture had the perfect timbers. The four to five inch diameters would provide a bit more heft and if properly fastened together, prepared and preserved the arbor should stand for quite some time. I hope.

Last time I built the arbor I had left the bark intact. Not this time. Leaving the bark on, although aesthetically pleasing, provides the perfect environment for insects and moisture to collect and deteriorate the wood. I had violated log building 101 - remove the bark.

read more about building this rustic arbor

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Around the middle of May - I had experienced a major computer meltdown.

My PC based system went into a catastrophic meltdown and I couldn’t even access my back up files. For a few weeks I had tried to recover. My computer went in for service - Hard drives wiped and XP reinstalled - however my back up disks could still not be accessed. A nightmare.

With the help of a couple of very close friends that design MAC based systems for companies and came to my rescue, we began the process of not only recovering information but also building a new system. Through their efforts the decision was made to move to MAC, thereby avoiding the further nightmare of VISTA and the loss of my peripherals. The switch from PC to MAC began. They took it as a personal challenge and wanted to build a state of the art system for me.

I turned over all of my equipment to them. They had spent many hours working in the wee hours of the night rescuing information off of damaged hard drives we were finally able to recover all of my information and files. They both are talented indeed and have worked with many companies in the recovery of information from computer disks damaged by everything from worm attacks to fire.

Read more about the new system

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After seeing the unique copper faucets for the sink and shower from Sonoma Forge in the last post and taking cues from the exposed copper plumbing throughout the Lodge I thought that I had zeroed in on what I would use for the new bath. The Sonoma Forge faucets were indeed beautiful for this application but the cost was prohibitive. I didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t make my own.

Granted mine would not be as refined nor finished but that was OK with me. Mine would probably end up looking a bit more raw but that was part of the fun. After all I did want something a bit fun, whimsical and rustic.

read more about the new sink faucet

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In the last installment I had beat the crap out of a copper sink to customize it for the new bathroom. Now that I had sufficiently distorted the sink to my liking it was time to turn my attention to custom faucets.

I wanted something completely different. Throughout the lodge - being that this is a log home a great deal of the plumbing is exposed as there are few inner wall spaces to hide supply lines. The copper piping adds a bit of rustic and rather raw interest to the overall picture. With that in mind I wanted both the faucets at the bath sink and the shower system to be exposed. I didn’t want it to be too refined like that of manufactured fixtures on the market.

I searched numerous manufacturers to find just the right look — however everything to me seemed too provincial or too finished until I came across the rustic and raw plumbing fixtures of Sonoma Forge.

This is what I had been seeking. They had two different lines that I liked however, one called Waterbridge which capitalized on the look of exposed copper plumbing seemed to really fit in with the feel of the new bath.

read more about designing my own faucets

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Since I had finished up on hanging the lights. I could turn my attention to preparing the custom copper sink. I had looked around for an appropriate sink for the main part of the bathroom and had considered using a boulder that had been honed out however I didn’t find that which I sought.

The boulders, although handsome were either not deep enough or were of a diameter that was too wide for the space. I did however make note of them as I would like to possibly use them on the next bathroom project.

I turned my attention to a collection of copper and bronze sinks that were hand hammered in appearance. I found the sinks attractive and they would certainly fit in with the rest of the bathroom however they too had a diameter greater than what I could use or they were too manufactured.

read more about customizing the copper sink

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With the custom copper bathtub installed I was free to take on a more simple task. Now it was time to hang the antique elk antler lights that I had rewired in an earlier post.

The lighting had been discovered as an architectural salvage place and needed to be completely rewired which only took a couple of hours to manage.

read more about installing the elk antler lighting

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Having completed soldering all the seams of my custom copper bathtub, I was now faced with the most dreaded part of the project: fitting the newly made copper bathtub into place.

I had build both portions separately - independently of each other relying solely on the figures and calculations that I had scribbled across numerous sheets of paper and committed to memory.

Now however, was the time of truth. I paced around the copper bathtub several times trying to envision how I was going to lift this heavy behemoth by myself and gingerly maneuver it into place so that I could work it down into the awaiting form.

After a few cups of coffee I was ready.

read more on setting the custom copper tub into position

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After completing making all the tabs, bends and seams for my custom copper bathtub in the last installment, now came time to solder all the seams together making it water-tight. If all of my calculations are correct, when finished I should be able to drop the copper down snugly into the bathtub base.

I had prepared each seam and tab with a wire brush and carefully applied my flux to all surfaces.

Lighting the torch, I began to roll over in my head every calculation I had made, checking and double-checking every figure, every millimeter. There was no delaying it further.

read more about making the custom copper bathtub

Technorati Tags: custom copper, custom Copper bathtub, Log Home, Small Bathroom Remodeling