weve been working on these boookmatched ash benches since, oh, 2010 sometime.  well, actually, weve been wondering what to do with these planks for that long ... benches was alchoices a possibility, but so too was a wall mounted or outdoor sculpture ... its settled ... benches they are now ... and pretty cool ones too, if i do say so myself ...click the photos to enlarge them.

 lots of different choices to use them, but they seem to like to be face to face like in the top photo, though the long version above is pretty cool too ...

 

 they are currently looking for a home, along with a few other items featured in ourinventory reduction sale in the next post.

 seriously, for more information and pricing, give me a call at 802 867 5541, or send me an email at 

dan@com ..

rolls royce and planks, from the open studio 2010 blog post .. open studio coming up again this year on memorial day weekend ... be there ..

 this is more what they look like when they are not in the bright spring sunshine .. 

it really was spring here today.

the choir or bleachers position ..

 the legs started out as 12/4 ash, and jim tapered them with a jig he made for the planer, planing one tapered  side off a little bit at a time, on all of them, and then changing his shim thickness to do the other side ... the he rounded them off with a handplaned and addded the little left arch at the base.

 for the finish, we burned them with the big torch, wipe on some ben moore carnival red oil paint, burned the ma gain and wiped them red again.  the tops were just treated with bitterroot Penofin.  good to go, inside or out ... fun project ...

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a burst of activity

hmmmm .. busy time here in the designing and pricing and proposing department.  plus its spring, which alchoices cuts into the free time i usually have available for blogging.  this post will be more or less a continuation of one from the end of last month, where again, i didnt take the time to write in depth about specific projects.  i think, maybe too, the writing is taking sort of a backseat to the enjoyment of living, for the moment at least.  getting out for five rounds of golf in april is pretty good for me. 

heres a quick april projects in the works lineup, and some hints of whats to come in may ... click the photos to enlarge them ..

a claro walnut coffee table from the offcut of a previous dining table ... we keep em, and sometimes we get lucky, and someone needs one exactly the right size ...

this ones heading to chicago this week.  industrial look welded steel base by sam.

speaking of sam, the metal shop is humming, and hes cranking it out.  these are parts for some large turnbuckles that will hold a building together, where the second floor floor was removed.  there are four of them total ..

 thats 1" solid round stock bent into those graceful hooks .. turnbuckles from peak supply ...

and he fabricated and installed some new custom railing projects ...

i think this one was installed a couple of weeks ago ...

and these unusual objects will support wooden poles which a local message artist will hold on to while she walks on your back ... sounds interesting, but i havent tried it yet ... a niche market for sure.

and next up we have the new design department.  thisll be a new kitchen, hopefully by this time next month ...

i finished the shop drawings using some uninterrupted time this weekend ... during the week, i often work from one interruption to the next, and drawings like these just dont flow for me unless i can concentrate.

and after a few sketches and cad iterations of this wall, we have a confirmed design for a long bedroom wall ... coming up in june sometime ...

another claro walnut coffee table ... waiting for its base that will hopefully happen this week.  the ant attack area is fascinating ..

and the pine sideboard is finished and gone, and now in its new home in stowe, vt ...

here we have another upcoming project that took some time to design and figure out.  it will be a credenza in a north carolina law office, along with the ant attack table above.

 using claro slab cutoffs, well cut the short cut offs into veneers, and lay up the door and drawer face panels like a puzzle.  it will have a welded and polished steel base by sam.  i am looking forward to seeing this one get umderchoice.  it should be a fun one.

and this one, will whipped up week before last.  its finished now, and i hope we can deliver and set it up in the clients home early this week.  shaker influenced design, simple detailing,

and will is currently, along with a couple of new banjos, working on this slightly smaller version of a lutyens style desk he built back in 2009.  luckily, in a couple of blog posts, we documented the process as we figured out the first time so hes got a little leg up on this one.  also, four additional years of practice doesnt hurt either ...

 

march, 2009 .. +/- 26 x 72

the new onw was starting to take shape by last friday ... still a long choice to go though .. lots of detail.

and trevor whipped up this little rustic coffee table last week.  it may not look so rustic in this photo, but now the base is distressed and pickled, the top has its breadboards, and the culry maple top will be distressed, stained and finished later this week.

and jim and sam made a couple of reclaimed oak tables in the bethlehem steel style .. burned, and lightly distressed reclaimed white oak from west virginia ...

and, actually one of the larger projects we wrapped up this month has been ongoing since last september.  it will start to take shape, hopefully, by early july ... we have one more approval to go, and sams new metal shop will start happening.  its been a long slog, with lots of challenging permit related details, but i think we have cleared almost the final hurdle. we have received the loan commitment, and the last detail, which i will not mention for fear of jinxing it, will be approved by the 15th of may ... and then, my free time will be gone.   life is uncertain, golf now.

ok, work on your pottery too

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Rabu, 24 Agustus 2016

a big ash table

we are coming down the home stretch on an ash table that is based on the design below that we completed about a year ago ... the base is welded 3 x 3" steel tubing and it has a clear, natural finish ... the top started out as 12/4 (3" thick) which we flattened and planed to 2 and 3/8 ths" thick. it has breadboard ends, secured with splines and 4" timberlock screws, which are covered with end grain white oak 3/4" plugs ... fairly straightforward, except for the size and weight, with a clean contemporary look. in the photo above, you are actually seeing the bottom of the table top which will be flipped and final coated tomorrow ... ready to ship to marthas vineyard later this week ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
we made the base for this recycled spruce slab top last december ...
this table is 54" wide and 9 long ... the finished slab top weighs about 250 - 300 lbs ...
above you can see the breadboards before trimming ... we mortise and fit the plugs while the breadboard end is off the table, flush up the pegs, knock them out from the other side, trim the ends and reinstall with the bolts and the plugs ...
since the top is so thick, we installed the splines above center and the bolts pass through the breadboard and into the solid wood. typically, in a thinner table, the bolts or screws have to be long enough to go through the breadboard and half the 1" spline in the table top .
the spline slot is stopped in both the table end and the breadboard, making it invisible when the table is finished. the splines are about 3" wide and are glued only into the table top with the grain of the spline wood oriented in the same direction as the grain of the table top to eliminate any problems with cross grain expansion and contraction ...
the bit used to cut the splines ... 1/4" x 1/2" deep slot
the base tubing has caps welded on the bottoms of the verticals and the aprons are 3" x 3 X 3/16ths angle iron ... plenty stiff enough to support the top ...
a couple close ups of the finish on the steel ....
one more photo coming when its finished ...

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Rabu, 29 Juni 2016

tick tock an aaron willard clock

4/12/2011vvi spent parts of the last couple of days reconstructing the base of a clients aaron willard tall case clock ... aaron died in 1844 so its been around for a while ... i love a good repair. they are challenging and engage the creative process in powerful choices ... like a good puzzle, you can, and often have to, work on them over time, allowing your concentration to wonder off to other more pressing things ... perfect for the ay dee dee mind ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
my client emailed to tell me that one of the the 20 pound weights that drives the mechanism had snapped its string (or, as it looks by the red arrow in the photo above) or the weights hook broke. regardless, it crashed to and through the floor of the case and smashed the base of the clock ... it was easy to see upon disassembling the base that it had been poorly repaired several times in the past ... just cleaning the clots of glue off the pieces was a real challenge ...
everyone else in the shop was doing their thing and as this was an unexpected project, i squeezed it into my work week, working a couple minutes here and a couple hours there until today, it was back on its feet ... ha ha ... above i started with the biggest piece and did some small glue ups to the obvious pieces monday ...
tuesday i puzzled out the side pieces and added back a few missing pieces
planned my strategy ...
until it was ready to go below at the end of the day .
wednesday i added the sides
and clamped the front feet to the rest at the end of the day
this morning i added the back foot supports and the missing glue blocks
and it was ready to go .... somehow, and it is still a mystery to me why, i needed to add a 5/16ths shim to the front right foot and an 1/16th " shim to the front left to get the case to sit level and plumb ... i measured all four feet; all were 3" tall ... but i knew it wasnt a new thing because in the container of broken pieces there were two newish shims with my handwriting on them that i added to level the case when the clock originally arrived several years ago ... now they are officially attached to the feet ... the last thing i have to finish tomorrow is to fit up a new brass piece that was missing in action ... fortunately we had some 3/16ths x 1/2" stock on hand and with a little patience tomorrow, it will be fitted up and in place ...
well deliver it next week and meet with the british clockmaker, ray bates and/or his son sometime soon to fix the weight and set the works and bonnet properly ...
in closing, i can say that a good repair to a worthy piece is a fine thing to take on ... theres the challenge to execute it properly, to get it to look right and function correctly, and to change what you are working on from not so good to good for another 100 years ... most rewarding ... and, highly recommended as a study of classical construction methods ...
all done ...
4/20/2011 ...
the clock is home now, in this beautiful room ... we made two pairs of the fancy old glass doors for this same room a few years ago. i started a blog post about them but the process was soooo complicated, it was, in the end, undescribable. at least for my writing ability ....
the worksthe dial

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