Syzygy Woodworks

Syzygy Woodworks Custom cabinetry, woodworking and woodturning by Keith Larrett I'm often asked about the name of my business as it is a name most people are not familiar with.

"Syzygy" describes the alignment of the planets. Specifically, the sun, the moon, and the earth. So every full moon and new moon is a time of syzygy. It is also a word that my wife used in a letter to me describing our first date. I had never heard the word before that, but it quickly took on special meaning to me. It's a terrible word from a marketing point. Very people have heard of it or know how to spell it and it's difficult to pronounce. But, I do get to tell my little story.

This bedroom built-in filled an open niche providing a space for a TV along with a display area and extra storage space....
08/24/2023

This bedroom built-in filled an open niche providing a space for a TV along with a display area and extra storage space. The TV back panel, as well as the toekick, are made from white oak which complements the white cabinetry nicely. The LED lighting is inset vertically in the display cabinets allowing for the use of adjustable shelving while still illuminating the area. It is dimmable and controlled by a small touch switch inset in the bookcase stile.

I was pleased with how this built-in came together and, more importantly, so were my clients whom I've built a couple of projects for over the years.

This project involved building and installing some additional bathroom and kitchen cabinets as well as modifications to ...
08/14/2023

This project involved building and installing some additional bathroom and kitchen cabinets as well as modifications to some of the existing kitchen cabinets.

In the bathroom, I added a wall-mounted tower with glass doors and shelves.

In the kitchen, I built a cabinet at the end of the island. The cabinet has a birch butcher block countertop, slide-outs on the left-hand side, and drawers with full-extension under-mount glides on the right side.

The modifications were to the cabinets on the back of the island. New doors were made to replace some glass doors and all the cabinets were painted white. Slide-outs were added to some of the cabinets and a new drawer box with docking drawer was added to one of the cabinets.

One of the challenges of this project was matching the profile of the existing cabinet doors. I ordered a custom knife for my molding machine to create the shape and the doors were made with miter joints instead of the customary cope and stick joint. My first time making miter joint cabinet doors and I was surprised with the extra work required. It was worth the effort as using a miter joint allows for some unique door profiles that are not achievable with the regular method of door construction.

Following on from my previous post. Among my friend's lumber collection were half a dozen gorgeous old-growth cherry bo...
07/26/2023

Following on from my previous post. Among my friend's lumber collection were half a dozen gorgeous old-growth cherry boards. His wife asked if I could use those to make a countertop for her fireside cabinets. The problem was the countertop was really big. Just over 18 feet long, 21" deep, and 2 1/4" thick, there was not enough of the cherry to make the countertop without getting creative.

The solution was to resaw the cherry down to 1/8" thick and the resulting shop-made veneer yielded enough surface area for the entire countertop. Just enough! There was very little that was not used.

Cherry is such a beautiful wood and these boards were even more special than normal. One of the nice things about cherry is that it gets better looking over time, darkening and developing a rich patina over the years.

A friend of mine, a fellow woodworker, passed away and left behind a stack of lumber that he'd collected over the years....
07/25/2023

A friend of mine, a fellow woodworker, passed away and left behind a stack of lumber that he'd collected over the years. His wife asked if I could make her a desk using some of the lumber. She did the design for the desk and together we went through the stack of lumber determining what we could use and how best to arrange all the different species of wood. We managed to incorporate most of the lumber in the desk and combine it in a way that the various woods worked together.

The desk is made up of maple, lacewood, zebrawood, padauk, purple heart, South American mahogany, Spanish cedar and butternut. As most of the wood was around 1" thick it would have been too thin for the span of the desk. So it was resawn to 1/4" thick and the shopmade veneer was laminated on both sides of a 1" thick core of plywood.

Working on the desk and seeing the final result brought back memories of a good man.

These floating vanities were built and installed for some long-time clients. My client has a great sense of design and ...
07/10/2023

These floating vanities were built and installed for some long-time clients. My client has a great sense of design and did the majority of the work there with input from me about what was possible, although that limit was pushed to its maximum on occasion.

There are two sets of cabinets, his and hers, one on either side of the room as well as a laundry hamper and shelving. The laundry hamper is reminiscent of R2D2, but I don't think that was part of the design intent.

The cabinets are veneered with dyed ambrosia maple and the drawer boxes are quilted maple. The veneer was laid out so that the grain ran continuously across the entire width.

A lot of care and attention to detail was required for this project and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

These bowls were turned while I demonstrated at the Florida Woodturning Symposium earlier this year. I finally got arou...
06/12/2023

These bowls were turned while I demonstrated at the Florida Woodturning Symposium earlier this year. I finally got around to sanding and applying a finish to them.

They were turned two at a time using a paper glue joint and a sacrificial piece of wood between the bowls. Before turning, I veneered the blanks and carved out the interior on my CNC.

The woods and veneer are maple, walnut, and makore.

I call these oval-fluted bowls although they're like little boat bowls.

Two demonstrations and two bowls per demo. Needless to say, I have a boatload of them now.

Many years ago, while I was still installing factory cabinets in new construction, I often looked across the living room...
06/05/2023

Many years ago, while I was still installing factory cabinets in new construction, I often looked across the living room from the kitchen I was working in and saw a niche or, as I referred to them, "a hole in the wall". I'd think, "I bet someone could make a living filling those holes with custom-designed cabinetry".

Well. Here we are.

Both my client and I were pleased with how this project came out. A simple but elegant design provides a backdrop to the TV and some cabinet space below. The cabinets feature inset doors and "push to open" hinges allowing them to blend in as wall paneling. The shiplap added some interest to the area behind the TV and the stained alder mantle and floating shelf contrast beautifully against the white shiplap.

Thanks to my friend Emerson at Black Thumb Woodworks for his help with the installation.

My clients had replaced the TV built into one of their kitchen cabinets. The different aspect ratio of the new TV meant...
05/15/2023

My clients had replaced the TV built into one of their kitchen cabinets. The different aspect ratio of the new TV meant the frame around needed to be modified to fit. The frame was covering the TV on the sides and there were large gaps above and below the TV.

I cut the sides of the frame and trimmed it with molding and a speaker mesh panel to conceal the gaps. The TV mount also had to be raised slightly within the cabinet.

The TV fit perfectly within the new opening and the modified frame with moldings and speaker mesh worked well with the existing cabinetry.

A window bench with filing drawers and a bookcase built from Makore and curly maple. This should go a long way toward or...
05/08/2023

A window bench with filing drawers and a bookcase built from Makore and curly maple.

This should go a long way toward organizing paperwork in my client's home study.

A previous client's father's home was flooded and my client reached out to me for help with the renovations. The cabine...
05/01/2023

A previous client's father's home was flooded and my client reached out to me for help with the renovations. The cabinets were ordered from my friend Mike at Quality Cabinet Services and I installed them. I built and installed the butcher block countertops.

Not work-related, but a highlight from last year, our trip to Zimbabwe. A wonderful vacation with my family. We spent ...
04/24/2023

Not work-related, but a highlight from last year, our trip to Zimbabwe. A wonderful vacation with my family. We spent time at both Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba.

So many memories, but I'll share one with you. Early one morning as we were leaving the town of Kariba, traffic slowed to a crawl coming down the hill. The road was partially blocked by a small herd of elephants walking down the road.

For those of you who had to trudge to school through the snow, uphill both ways, I can assure you that elephants blocking the road is way cooler.

Anyway, as we maneuvered past the elephants it was pretty obvious that the traffic was agitating them and one of the elephants trumpeted loudly. I've heard that often on TV and in movies, but there is very little that compares to hearing it up close in real life. So amazing.

The call of an African fish eagle, very similar to that of the American bald eagle, has always, to my mind, been the cry of Africa. To that l can now add the trumpeting of an elephant.

Two projects, including some in-progress shots, for my best client. My lovely wife. A console table and a quilt rack.H...
04/17/2023

Two projects, including some in-progress shots, for my best client. My lovely wife. A console table and a quilt rack.

Her projects often take a back seat to others so it's really nice to be able to build something for her.

Address

15 Hargrove Lane, Unit 5J
Palm Coast, FL
32137

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+13865270230

Website

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