Here at Chris Karlson Design we hand build everything from chairs, beds, dressers, picture frames, kitchen cabinets, to boats and wood frameworks for classic cars. Over the years we have collected all kinds of wood from all over the world.
This is the lumber rack where we keep boards of a certain size, that may be stored for a period of time. There’s oak, cedar, and black walnut from North America. Mahogany, and rosewood come from South and Central America. We have boards of wenge , ribbon stripe mahogany, and Macassar ebony from the rainforests in Africa. I have a large slab that came from Bali, which no one that I know can identify. It looks like a cross between teak and mahogany. I have some big chunks of koa from Hawaii, and the prize of the collection is a heavy little block of lignum vitea which is used to make mallets. It won’t crack and it won’t float.
Here are some little vignettes of cherished little corners of our facility. There’s a rack with clamps that I inherited from Otto Schroeder. You cannot have too many clamps. These have been hand tightened hundreds of times and some are quite a bit bent. We have little 8 inch ones and some that are over 8 feet long. Some are delicate and some could crush the piece if you’re not careful.
There’s a little case with drawers we keep screws in. This also is from Otto’s shop. It’s gotta be 40 years old. I keep old screws in it. We use them when we refurbish antiques. 
The drawer that holds router bits is like a jewelry collection. We have shaped bits to cut different molding shapes. We keep these in holders so they don’t bang around and get damaged. 
I was once given a bunch of old cigar boxes and these are part of our weird filing system. Some hold Japanese chisels, and some hold hinges or knobs. Everything gets so dusty that it’s nice that they can close.
One shelf holds our guns.
Some of our tools are stored together, not because they get used at the same time, but because they’re the same size.
Where would you keep a bunch of air pressure hoses, water hoses, extension cords and band saw blades?
All paint is kept in an old gym locker that I’ve had so long I can’t remember where I got it…This beast also houses brushes, glue, stains, rollers and any kind of nasty stuff that doesn’t wash out…
When you come to Chris Karlson Design to order your new bed or desk , just walk right in. It’s always a little dusty and noisy but we’re glad to show you what we’re doing…
Made in LA 
Reblogged this on D. E. Karlson and commented:
Great blog post from my brother in LA