merry christmas

happy first day of winter ..
merry christmas .. happy holidays .. happy new year .. whatever .. have a good one .. dan

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Chair Progress A 6 Pack

After returning from the great Thanksgiving trip, and back to my day job, I was able to hit the shop hard and finish all six chairs up to the point of upholstery. I finished the chairs with 2 coats of General Finishes Lamp Black Milk Paint. I had not used that product before and I was pleased with the coverage and performance straight from the can. Top coat is General Finishes Hi-Perfomance semi-gloss. Well deliver the chairs next week and will apply the 2" foam and the fabric my daughter-in-law picks out.If you dont like mortise and tenon, dont build these chairs :) The are 22 of them per chairs so I cut a total of 132, not counting the ones I screwed up. I think overall the chairs came out well and I will post some photos of the upholstered chairs after we return from the Christmas trip.

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banjo 6 a remake

will shipped his latest banjo project yesterday afternoon. it was a re-necking of an antique instrument made by W.A.Cole, of boston mass. the client had the original nickled brass pot, head, and tension hardware, but the original 8 string banjo mandolin neck was missing. click the photos to enlarge them...
the client is a banjo collector and w a cole was mostly known for his banjos so she wanted a five string, short neck to go with the diminutive 8.75" pot. will was able to find pictures of w a coles original inlays online and was able to replicate some of them in the new neck ...
heres a close up of the original makers mark on the dowel stick which is now back home in the original pot, which, as you can see below, polished up nicely.
it has a surprisingly loud and robust sound and im sure at some point soon there will be a video online on wills website, seeders instruments, so you can hear it ... great sound ! 12/18/2011 ... the video is up now ... heres a link to it.
this photo shows the 8 string end from its original banjo mandolin configuration which will was able to adapt to the new five string mode.
he had to fabricate a missing, tricky, dovetailed brass piece that tightens the neck to the pot. he had it chromed to match the original by a local electroplating service, vermont plating, in rutland.
in the new case, and ready to ship ... should arrive at its destination tomorrow ...

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Sewing Center

Here is a sewing center I made for my wife for her craft room. It is constructed from solid cherry and cherry plywood. When closed, the cabinet measures 48" wide by 18" deep x 28" high. To open, the longer section of the top flips back to the left and is supported by the left door,  the shorter section flips forward and is supported by the door for the surger . The machine lift is supplied by Rockler. 

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