A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.
- from "Endymion" by John Keats

The collection of new and gleaming tools in our store is impressive. Hold a brand-new Lie-Nielsen block plane in your hand, and you see it both as a tool with great potential and as a thing of man-made beauty. But a tool is meant to be used, and many of the tools purchased at Shelter are in the hands of talented woodworkers who produce a variety of heirloom-quality work.

David Margonelli began making furniture on his farm in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine in 1971, and he now operates Margonelli Fine Furniture, a three-person shop in Edgecomb, Maine.

The Margonelli website describes the serpentine bench (pictured at right):

The flexure furniture idea was conceived in 1994 when commissioned to build a bench on which to sit and hold a drink. Out of this need to combine seat and surface came two small curved tables that would fit together as one; one with a cushion, one with a glass top. Over the years, while working with this concept other pieces were designed; a dining table that could seat as few as two or as many as ten, chairs designed to serve as individual seating or when combined can become a bench. Three years ago these ideas formalized into a line of furniture that would be extremely functional and accommodate open format and smaller spaces with fluid lines and figured woods.

Take a look at the beautiful pieces David and his team have conceived on the flexure theme. Contact them, or, even better, visit their showroom in Edgecomb, Maine, Monday through Saturday, 10-5.

From time to time, we'll feature more Friends of Shelter Tools here on the blog. It's our small way of saying thanks for sharing with us your quality work and being a patron of Shelter.