another post and beam pool table

this is what a set of pool table supplies looks like when it arrives here at our shop ... well, its actually not alchoices quite this beat up, but we have had a couple sets of slate arrive in more than one piece ... better luck this time.  no lost pieces; no broken slate.  click the photos to enlarge them, though youll have to bear with me as i learn adobe lightroom.  my ancient photoshop 7 program stopped working with the last windows upgrade .. i am NOT happy about that.  image/adjust/autolevels .. i am really missing that one.

roughed out rails and cushion wood and cushions above

 

 miracle of miracles .. it is to be exactly like the one above that we made and 

installed about this time last year.

were even using the same drawing, materials, and cutlist.

 here we go .. the new guy chris, finished the slate support frame last thursday ..

 

 and here he is beginning the assembly of the base

 all together last friday ..

 and today we added the slate frame and the slates below

 as of the end of the day today, we had the rubber cushions glued on to the poplar, and 

tomorrow well get them bolted to the slate and add the curly maple rails ...

i love a pool table project ..

and just sos you know were not loafing, weve got some other stuff going on in the shop too .. 

a 12 cherry chest of drawers above, with bookcases and ebony and quartered cherry details

and this 9 curly maple trestle dining table with an inlay.  trevors got that one in the finish room now.

more on those projects later ..
for more pool table posts, click on this link

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open studio another year goes by

one more time .... every year, as im lugging stuff around the shop, i threaten to swear this event off, (its almost 20 of those threats now), and every year, once were all cleaned up and set up, im looking forward to it getting under choice again ... its a chance to catch up with the friends and neighbors who might not stop by if they know were working, and a chance for the thousands of folks who come to vermont for the event to maybe stumble across our studio and buy or order something from one of us. lots of woodworkers come by, and sometimes, even mr. lucky stops by, and, well, thats alchoices fun too. click the photos to enlarge them ...
look for the yellow signs ...
see the amazingly clean office
and the (almost) sawdust free workspace ...
this year we got some lucky free publicity in one of the local shoppers ...
and we have a few new versions of old pieces
and kit and penny get to hang out in the finish room for the weekend
with her colorings and kits jewelry ... (rush photos here; much better in person ... )
gold wire and lots of precious stone beads
banjos 4, 2, and 1
and an expanding recycled chestnut table ready for finish next week
you can admire the freshly mowed the lawn and the freshly smoooothed drivechoice ... sams steel lily in the foreground ...
and check out the mountain pinks (wild azaleas) down by the pond ...
and this year, due to our superior organization (hah) and early start, we even had time left at the end of the day for a beer .... just woke up from my nap ... bedtime now ... see you this weekend. if youre in town, come on by ... dan

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another claro walnut slab table

up next, another claro walnut slab table.  this one will be about 52" wide by 102" long after i make the final cuts tomorrow. the base will be welded steel, similar to the one on the desk we made in july  and the dining table we sent to aspen in august.  click the photos to enlarge them.

sam is ready to weld the base pieces tomorrow, and the jig is ready to go too.

the process of moving these tables from the rough slab to the final dimensions is one that we approach very slowly, a bit at a time.  once you cut something off, theres no sticking it back on again.  and, a lot of the time, we disagree amongst ourselves what is the best cut to make.  we try to involve the client as much as possible, but its often hard to portray in photos what exactly it is that we see in front of us. 

 in this case, we started by trimming off the legs, and obvious choice.  we did leave a little bit of the crotch showing on the face side, and we may go back and trim that a bit more before we finish.

 we then cut some of the cracked portion off the far end as the table wants to be around 102" long when we finish it.

we then did some rough planing and splashed a little alcohol on it to check the figure .. looks good.

we then made a 2x4 mockup of the base and checked the proportions ... now, as you can see from the top photo in this post, weve moved the slab down to the shop now that the pool table and the oak table are gone.  itll move right along now ... updates as we go ..

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Jumat, 21 Oktober 2016

another oval walnut pedestal table

while were on the subject and we only have a couple more outs to go in the world series, here are some photos of the other walnut pedestal table that trevors working on.  final sanding and staining start tomorrow ...
update 11/10

good to go .. its headed to the islands via miami .. wouldnt mind delivering it myself ...

loyal readers might recognize the larger version below from a blog post back in 2010.

that one was quite a bit larger at 60 x 86, but the concept and the execution is pretty much the same.

make the base and top and top of the base ..

determine the height of the pedestal parts and make the patterns.  use the scale model to determine if the patterns are correct.  note that to make the miters meet, we had to add a small straight section to the curve as the top is a different proportionat 40 x 60 .. 2/3, rather than 3/4

trevor made the scale model base parts from 13/16ths poplar and painted them and once they were fitted up, enlarged the design on the cnc and made the full size patterns ...

were going with the dark finish ..

 TWO OUTS IN THE 9TH!  looking good for the sox ... tables looking good too, ready for final sanding and the first coats of stain tomorrow.

seats six good friends .. paper is 11 x 17 .. saw blades are 10"

2 and 2 with two outs.  i think the red sox are gonna win it ... and they just did ... i think ill go jump up and down a  bit ..

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Rabu, 28 September 2016

a really old friend

now this piece is what you would call a REALLY old friend.  i actually made this cherry and ash piece, according to the client, in 1980, my first full year in the custom furniture business.  the client was a friend who started and owned a successful art gallery and custom framing business at the time.  the design of the doors is actually taken from one of his most successful frame designs.  originally, there were two shelves above it, but the second one was crowded out in the bars most recent home by what i believe is a striking gunter korus oil.  click the photos to enlarge them.

i dont remember the origin of the carved drawer pull detail, but i remember it being a challenge to cut those faces out of the top frame board to make the grain continuos.

this view shows more clearly the finger jointed slate frame for the well cared for black slate, and the hand carved backsplash detail

drawer detail with funky dovetails ...

a view of the interior of the cabinet.  i actually remember making the jig to create the box corner detail on the v shaped pieces.  i think the ends of the vs slid into angled slots in the sides of the wine rack.

this piece is actually for sale.  the client is now in his late 70s and intends to downsize to a new home in the spring and hes editing his extensive holdings.  he told me last week he hasn;t had a drink in 27 years and his daughters house is too small so it is on the block at a VERY reasonable price.  choice less than i would build it for again now.  if you are at all interested, please contact me at 802-867-5541 for details.

thanks! its a great piece.  if i had a place for it, i would consider buying it myself !

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