That cloud of sawdust seen rising above the San Francisco skyline can probably be traced to a third-floor workshop in the Potrero Hill district. Dylan, with the help of engineering/programming/all-around technical-wizard partner, Troy, has been pushing up against a few deadlines in his quest to become King of Furniture Design (or, at least, a member of the royal court).
We drove to SF on Sunday to lend him the Subaru in order that he can take one of his twisty-cube shelving units to a design show in Phoenix, where it will be on display and in competition with other finalists. On Thursday morning. Of course, it's not quite finished, yet.
He's also, simultaneously building an unusual coffee table for a design showcase in town before he leaves. And there's one more shelving piece he's trying to complete to take with him, if he can swing it (and if Jose, at Earl Scheib, has time to put a car-type finish on it). I didn't want to ask him if the website and the business cards are done. When he returns, there's the mid-May New York show to prepare for. 
We're very excited for him. We think his stuff is great and know that others will love it, as well! But he's one of three members of our immediate family who tend to be schedule-challenged (you might be able to guess which one of us doesn't conform to the pattern) . So we usually, seriously, think life is all under control, until we realize it's not, and we kick in to warp-speed, sleep-deprived super-productivity mode.
That's where Dylan is, right now. We hung around and learned about the CNC machine and made sure he and Troy got at least one decent meal, yesterday. It was fun for us. The machine is fun to watch. That's pretty much what we did all afternoon. It's computer-driven, and if he can get some folks interested in buying the shelves (or any of the other designs), the machine can be programmed to cut them all by itself, and all he has to do is assemble them. Troy is the Master of the Machine, and he's helping Dylan to learn how to program it. There are lots of moving parts, as they say. 
So, I snapped over 50 photos in the shop. These few give an idea of how the CNC router works. The first is Dylan and Troy having just positioned the walnut-stained bamboo sheet on the bed. #2 is a shot of Dylan working the computer that controls the machine (with Tom and Troy looking on). #3 is a close-up of the bamboo being cut (routed, actually). #4 shows Tom and Dylan looking at the cuts after the machine is finished, and then there are the stacks of pieces, ready to be assembled into the sort of shelving unit I posted on March 10.
That little black cloud seen rising over Grass Valley could be Tom worrying about Dylan's getting everything and his taxes done on time. But it probably means we'll just be getting a bit of rain :o)
