Benham Design Concepts Blog

Two Cold Frames I Built in my Garden for Under $40

Brian Benham — Sat, 05 May 2012 08:29:11 +0000

I know this post is off the topic of building and designing furniture and other types of art stuff. But every year on the first sunny day we have here in Portland I start itching to get out in my vegetable garden and start planting. Then after that first sunny day, of course comes the weeks of clouds and rain to ruin my excitement. With the short growing season in Portland and my love for gardening I decided to extend the growing season by investing in a couple of cold frames.

After shopping around a bit I found that cold frames are expensive to buy and are limited in sizes, so I decided to build my own. I was able to build two 3’ x 10’ cold frames for under $40 and so far, I am extremely happy with them.

I decided on a dome shape for a few reasons. The shape is easy to build, maintain, and can be easily folded up and stored away during the peak of summer. The dome shape is also strong, during the winter months when it snows; the snow can easily slide off the sides. My favorite feature of this style is it is a portable cold frame. I can drive the steaks in the ground any place in the garden I want to set it up.

Another benefit to this shape is that it will conserve water by reducing the amount of times I need to water inside the cold frame. The vegetable beds are mounded kind of like raised beds without the wood sides. By not using any sides and just mounding the soil, I was able to create irrigation ditches between the beds. When the rain runs down the sides of the dome and into the irrigation ditches, the water is then absorbed into the sides of the vegetable beds. This deep watering should promote deeper root growth and a stronger plant in the end.

With the cold frame plastic attached as a curtain, I can easily open them up on hot sunny days so the plants are not burned and then close them up at night to help protect the plants from the cold. In the late spring and early summer when it comes time to harden off the plants and take the cold frames off. I can open them up ½ way for a few nights to help acclimate them to the cooler nights air.

There is also no transplant shock to worry about. There has been several times in the past when I have moved my seedlings from indoors to outside for transplant. However, during transplanting, the roots got disturbed too much, or the temperature change was to extreme and as a result, the plant took days to recover. With this setup, I can put the cold frame up, seed right into the beds eliminating transplant shock, and not lose vital days of growth in Portland’s short growing season.

How to Build a Cheap Cold Frame

The cold frame construction was pretty easy. To make the dome shape I found that ½” PVC electrical conduit was flexible enough to bend to the desired shape. To attach them to the ground and hold the dome shape, I drove ¾” PVC pipe into the ground. Then the electrical conduit is able to slide inside for a friction fit and bent into shape by sliding the other end into a pipe on the other side of the bed. To make the PVC stakes I cut the pipe in 2’ lengths and drove them into the ground about 18” deep. I have seen some people do a similar setup with rebar, but I have kids and do not want anybody to fall on the rebar steaks and be impaled. PVC is much safer. I found you have to use the 200 PSI type, if you use schedule 40 the extra wall thickness makes the inside of the pipe too small to slide the electrical conduit inside of it.

The electrical conduit has a flange on one end so you will need to cut it off so the conduit slides inside of the PVC pipe. A basic pipe cutter works great, but if you don’t have one a hack saw will work just as well.

I then used a roll of 4 mil clear plastic that was 10’x25’ and cut it in half. If you want to spend a little more money, I would suggest using a 6 mil instead of the 4 mil plastic. The thicker plastic will last longer and probably give you a bit more insulation value.

To attach the plastic to my electrical conduits I used ¾” EMT pipe straps screwed to a small block of cedar on the other side of the plastic. I spaced them out evenly across the sheeting and used the folds in the plastic to help keep a straight line. The ¾” size pipe straps slipped perfectly over my ½” electrical conduit much like a curtain rod giving me an easy way to open and close the cold frame.

Now I just need to add the vegetables starts.

I’m a huge fan of organic gardening so before I plant anything, I’m mixing in some steer manure and will be adding in some compost mulch as the season goes on.

I am also trying companion planting techniques this year as well, and I have seeded in some carrots around my bell peppers.
It is a good thing it is raining today to get me back into the shop and get some real work done, or I would stay out here all week as I have construction plans to build more cold frames for the rest of the rows in my garden.

Old World Headboard by Re-purposing a Door

Brian Benham — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 05:32:55 +0000

I built this Old World Headboard by re-purposing a door.

I started out with a 6 panel door and a couple of 4×4 fir posts.

Cut post to length and chamfered the tops.

To attach the door to the posts I needed to cut a large mortise on each post. I started out drilling 1-1/8” wide 2” deep holes, 72 of them.

To square the top of the holes and cut to the width of the door, I used my router equipped with a pattern cutting bit against my straight edge.

Out of all my router bits I did not have one that would cut deep enough so I hand chiseled out the bottoms and square cut the corners.

A standard door is too long to be used as a headboard so I had to cut the bottom off. Sadly it was a hollow core door and once I cut the bottom off it was no longer stable, so I glued in some support blocks.

Support blocks glued in and I’m ready for assembly.

All assembled and ready for paint; Final painting will be done by my customer.

Finished Bed

You Can Now Find My Products at NW Creations and Collectables

Brian Benham — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:35:47 +0000

Late last year I came across a small store called NW Creations and Collectables that sells handcrafted items from artist living in the northwest. I was excited to see this type of store in Gresham, with today’s economic hardships it is great to see a store that is focused on selling products made in America and even better yet, a store that is supporting people that live in their community. I thought this would be a great place for me to sell some of my creations. I started talking to them in December about selling some of my stuff there and I spent most of January developing a product line that I thought would sell well in their shop. By February we had made a deal and I set up a display to feature my new product line.
This product line is all handcrafted and features a collection of Jewelry boxes made from reclaimed hickory flooring that is finished with a zero VOC hand rubbed oil finish, and a collection of wood pens from all sorts of different species of wood. The pens are all finished with a zero VOC finish as well. I have a few old favorites for sale such as some of the clocks I have designed. But I think one of my favorite new items I have recently made is a collection of bowls I turned on the lathe. They are a lot of fun to make as well as a beautiful piece of art; each bowl is unique in its shape, size, and grain pattern.

Now it is the end of February and my first full month of being involved with NW Creations and Collectables has been a successful month.

If you are interested in art, handcrafted products, and want to support local business and artists, please stop by and check out NW Creations and Collectables. Located at 364 Northwest Eastman Parkway, Gresham, OR 97030

Designing Furniture with the Future in Mind

Brian Benham — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 05:33:39 +0000

I have been thinking about building a new entertainment center for my living room for some time now. I am glad I waited. My original design incorporated several drawers for CD’s, DVD’s, and even some VHS tapes, but after a car ride home with my seven year old daughter I realized I needed to incorporate the future into my furniture design.

On the car ride home we had a discussion about what defines someone as old. In that conversation I asked her if she knew what a vinyl record was. She said “of course dad that is something Sponge Bob listens to on his cartoon.” Her response was typical of a seven year old. I also asked her about cassette tapes, VHS tapes, and threw in a curve ball and even asked her if she knew what an eight track tape was. She had no idea of what any of these where except a VHS tape, because grandma has some.

We had quite the conversation about how things have changed. When I was a kid people use to tease my generation about not knowing what eight track tapes and vinyl records were, now the teasing continues with our kids, but now we have added cassette tapes, which my daughter admits to not having a clue what a tape cassette is. Long has gone the days of the walkman and getoblasters, we are skipping right over the days of CD’s and here are the days of MP3 players and Ipods.

As DVD’s give way to on demand live streaming video, technology pushes forward and our grand kids and great grand kids will soon be the butt of the joke. “Hey kid, a CD is that round thing that plays music.”

Looking back at my old furniture design I now realize it was too specific to the technology of the time. I need to simplify my design and instead of creating custom spaces to fit CD’s, I instead need to make those spaces into simple shelves that will accommodate anything the future holds as well as things from the past. Hey who knows the pet rock may come back. By keeping in mind the fact that technology is moving faster than it has ever before, I need to design this project as more of a piece of furniture that will be around for years to come and less as an entertainment center.

Custom Matting and Framing for your Paintings and Photography

Brian Benham — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:31:43 +0000

Here are some examples of my custom framing jobs. I do a wide variety of projects from framing artist’s works for art shows, posters for restaurants, and even some sports memorabilia.

This is one of Oskkar Walkers paintings I matted for his art show at the Three Cups Coffee House. It is double matted in a black 2” wood frame .

Another one of Oskkar Walkers paintings I matted for his art show, this one is in a weathered cedar frame.

Sports memorabilia is another fun project. I selected matting colors to match the team colors and matted and framed their entire collection.

One of the largest projects I have done is matting and framing a bunch of posters and other art work for “Jay’s Mexican Bar & Grill” on Broadway St. here in Portland. We filled all their walls with beautiful art work.

These are some of the largest frames I have made. They are for canvas paintings that measured 3 feet by 5 feet. The artist Matt Josef gold leafed the frames prior to his art show. I was not able to attend the art show that night to get some final pictures but I’m sure after Matt gold leafed them they looked great.

If you would like me to do any custom matting or framing for you, or would like any of the art you are purchasing of this website matted and framed please e-mail me at brianb@benhamdesignconcepts.com

Abstract Photography – Travis Call

Brian Benham — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:11:26 +0000

Travis took this slot canyon photograph in Antelope Canyon outside of Page Arizona. Slot canyons can be a great place to photograph abstract photography. However it can be a challenging place to shoot. After hiking to the bottom Travis had to use the shirt off his back to cover his camera because the wind was blowing sand down from the top of the canyon like a waterfall.

Slot canyons are created by rain filling the cracks on the desert floor and eroding a slot in the soft sandstone or limestone creating the narrow canyons. Slot canyons are much deeper than they are wide; some are only 3ft wide but 80ft deep.

If you are going to photograph or hike into a slot canyon you need to be careful, just the smallest amount of rain can cause a flash flood through these narrow canyons. Some canyons may go for miles before there is a suitable place for a rescue attempt. In September 2008 a couple drowned in a Utah slot canyon do to a distant storm that sent water rushing down the canyon for miles.

See more of our abstract photography or check out our other photography collections you can also buy this art print and have it framed.

Keepsake Box For my Grandma

Brian Benham — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 06:18:18 +0000

My Grandmother passed away last December who I was very close to. I hold dear those memories of growing up having such a great grandmother. One of my favorite memories was all those summer weekends sitting with her in the back of grandpa’s boat as he rowed us around the lake so we could fish. Grandma used to joke with me that the stinky hand lotion she used would attract the fish. She would tell me that I should rub some on the hook and I would catch more fish. I thought she was full of it, but somehow she always caught more fish than me.

After the memorial service my grandfather approached me and asked me if I would build a memory box for some keepsakes of grandmas. With so many great memories of my grandma I told him I would be honored and I went to work on my design.

Like many kids, when I was growing up I made things for my grandparents, from bird feeders to a miniature grandfather clock. My grandmother kept everyone of them. Her collection showed my growth as a carpenter and demonstrated my increasing skill level over the years. After thinking back to all the things I had built her, I wanted this design to rival anything I had built up to this point.

The geometry of my design seemed overwhelming at first. I wanted to incorporate Dove tails into the box. I wanted it to be the featured piece so it needed to be more than just dovetailing the corners together. The design I came up with used walnut post as the corners and I then dovetailed the figured maple into them. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever built.

Spending several hrs in the shop building this project gave me time to reflect. It turned out to be very therapeutic way to mourn. I believe my grandmother would think that this makes a great final piece for her collection of the things I have built for her.

Pride – Abstract Paintings

Frankie Olivo — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:08:42 +0000

Pride - Abstract Painting

I was walking through a department store one day during a time when they were setting up a new display. They were changing the clothes on some manikins, and of course the manikins had perfect fake bodies, with perfect fake heads and perfectly sized matching breasts. They stood their pompously in their shiny new cloths saying out of their fake mouths. “Buy these clothes and you will be perfect like us.” So I got back to my studio and started work on this abstract painting I call pride. My manikin in this painting is proud to be herself and proud of her body even if one breast is slightly smaller.

Purchase this Abstrtact painting or see more of my paintings

Oskkar’s Paintings at Three Cups Coffee Art exhibit in Astoria

Brian Benham — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:46:02 +0000

Three cups coffee house

When traveling through Astoria Oregon, art enthusiasts will be drawn to the Three Cups Coffee House. They have been in business since 1992 striving to bring the Northwest the best hand roasted Coffee. After 5 years in business they decided to expand their operation from just manufacturing coffee to something more. They decided to open a retail shop and add art to their cups of coffee. They became known as “The Coffee that floats the Arts”. Their twist of using creamer to paint/float a design or a face on your coffee has become famous in the Northwest.

Three Cups continues to decorate their coffee with floating art, as well as invites artists to shares their art work and add to the artistic atmosphere of the coffee house. Each month Three Cups selects a new artist for an exclusive art exhibit, the next artist to be featured in November’s art exhibit will be Oskkar Walker. Oskkar is a contributing artist to the studios of Benham Design Concepts, a Portland Oregon art studio featuring paintings, photography and custom handcrafted furniture.

Oskkar finds inspiration for his paintings in everything he sees, which results in a large variety of styles in his works. Some of the featured paintings in the art exhibit where inspired by Oskkars admiration of Japanese art, the Oregon Coast itself, and a little frog taking care of business.

If you are in need for some great art on the walls and floating art in your cup, stop by Three Cups Coffee House this November and get your fill. You can also view Oskkar’s complete collection of works at http://www.benhamdesignconcepts.com/OskkarWalker.

Finished Hickory Dresser

Brian Benham — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 22:07:56 +0000

Well here is the finished product. A 9 drawer hickory dresser with a hand brushed lacquer finish. The drawer faces, top and frame work is made from solid hickory. The drawer sides are made using polar which gave a nice contrast to the hickory drawer fronts once they were finished with lacquer. I used a sliding dove tail for the drawer glides and dust frames between each bank of drawers.

This project tuned out really great and the client loves her new hickory dresser. Upon completion of this project she moved to Scotland so I am proud to say that my craftsmanship spans the globe.

If you would like me to build you a piece of furniture please visit my Furniture Design Studio for more information