Ears. Ears. And more ears.
If memory serves correctly, it was Pop who first named these pieces “ears” – slices of rail that are just thick enough to hold a bunch of different things.
Things like
These are a key component in our wine racks, coat racks, bike racks and in our upcoming gun racks and guitar racks.
Looks like we are going to be busy – very busy.
5-Bottle Wine Rack in Split Oak Timber
We all loved this timber, but it needed some special attention in order to successfully pull it off as a wine rack. We’ve started adding in some butterfly joints in some of the pieces with the more pronounced splits to help them along. The results speak for themselves.
This wine rack will be one of the pieces featured this weekend in chicago at the American Craft Exposition. Come check us out if you are in Chi-town!
As a side note, we just had to keep a little Tennessee flavor in this one. The top wine bottle is from Arrington Vineyards located just south of Nashville and owned by Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn fame.
3 Bottle Wine Rack
It has been hot in the studio, so we’ve not had the courage to go in and shoot photos and there is so much to show. Here’s one we did grab though of our new 3-bottle wine rack. Made to mount on the way, this one is a slice of white oak with a red mahogany finish on it.
Enjoy!
Wine Racks
A sample of some of the different styles of wine racks that we have made. These three are far and away our most popular with the slivers of century old rail to cradle your favorite vintages.
Left to right, we have our 8-Bottle Rail Yard model (Sycamore timber), the 5-Bottle Rail Yard model (White Oak) and the 4-bottle Wedge (Elm). The split on the top of the 5-bottle in the bottom photo has a butterfly to hold the split and provide a little more to the conversation around this one.
Threw some Barry White lighting on a couple of the wine racks and let’s just say the effect was a special moment to remember. Thanks to Nick McIntyre and Amy Mac who took it upon themselves to give this a shot at the suggestion of Drew Flowers.
Nice work everyone!
Just found out we got featured in the LuxeTrends 2011 Holiday Gift Guide. Very flattered for the recognition by a great publication. The homes on their main web site are simply amazing!
Thanks!
Elm and Beech Timbers
Some absolutely stunning timbers destined to become part of the new wedge wine rack series. The single piece is a piece of elm. The double shot is beech and elm from the front and back.
The grain pattern in the elm just takes my breath away! The beech has a more even coloring and grain and is hard as a rock!
Adding to the interest of the elm in the middle pic - the incisor marks and the bruising caused by the process are visible on the edges. Those marks are made by 3/4” teeth on a drum that are used to penetrate the outer skin of the timber to improve absorption during the treatment process - and we should point out that because our timbers are culls - none of them ever get treated so they are creosote-free.
1 of 5 New Designs Headed for Chattanooga
Headed for Chattanooga today to the Association of Railway Museums National Annual Conference. Been heads down busy getting ready for it and not showing off what we’ve been up to lately.
So here’s a sneak peek. No time to get these to the photog for pretty studio shots, so here’s some informal ones.
This one is a new smaller wine rack design. Cut from a cross-grained piece of walnut (yes, walnut) crosstie and with space for 4 bottles cradled on slices of century-old rail. Beautiful piece for a countertop where it can be seen from all sides.
“RYS 11” Brand
We finally got our own brand just like the big boys use! And we couldn’t wait to try it out, so it started here on the end of a cherry wine rack we’re finishing up today. Yes, they even make cross ties out of cherry timbers. If it’s a hardwood, they’ll make it into a crosstie.
As we’ve mentioned in the past, ties get branded on the end at the tie plant to note when and where they were manufactured, the size of the tie and/or for whom the tie was manufactured. All CSX-destined ties carry the CSX brand on them. Most of our ties come in branded GU 11 to identify the plant and year they were made and BL to identify them as Branch Line size ties (6”x8”x102”).
So we went out and got the RYS 11 brand to show we made a piece in 2011. Next year we will shift to the RYS 12 brand and so on as the years go by.
See finished pieces on our web site and keep up with what we are doing via Facebook.
With a demand for authenticity, we insist that only railroad materials be integrated into a design. Furthermore, all of our products are completely “Made in the USA” and are crafted in large part by the same hands that work the railroad on a daily basis – honest, hard-working blue-collar laborers.
About the Designers
Robert Hendrick, Rail Yard Studios founder and designer, learned about wordworking and carpentry on the weekends from his father Jim. Together they are the father and son team responsible for the creations that come out of the studio.
Robert was inspired to create Rail Yard Studios after seeing century-old materials being scrapped by his railroad maintenance and construction company.
He received his undergraduate degree in Industrial Design from Auburn University in 1990 and his Masters of Art in Industrial Design from The Ohio State University.
