Yo ! Turkeys ! and other images of spring

We had these daffodils on the kitchen island a week ago and they gave me the feeling that the weather was about to break ... And it did. We still have snow on the ground but this weekend was 100% sunny and warm. I think I saw 50 degrees on my car thermometer for a minute .. Anychoice, it was beautiful and I was lucky to catch some turkeys prowling through the woods a few minutes before I found my first pussywillows ...
Click the pictures to enlarge them
Mr. Turkey above, and his ladies below ... He had a nice beard but hes turned just enough that you cant see it in this picture ...
I think there were 3 or 4 more ladies I cropped out ..
Pussywillows on the porch and Cactus Man Goes to the Pyramids by Jim Parsons, the guy Jim you see working in the shop photos ...
Sunset yesterday ... two months to leaves ...

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 ok, at least were starting to think about spring here ... the ducks came back to the pond on thursday, but after a cold but sunny friday, it snowed again last night, and its in the 20s again today.  the ducks are frozen out of the pond until it warms up again.  its pleasant today, but not like wednesday, when it hit almost 50 and the sky was that incredible blue.  springtime in vermont is something of a tease.  back and forth, forth and back, and on and on for a few weeks.  we should have crocuses in a week or two, but youd never know it today.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

 

weve had daffodils from the store on the counter for a couple weeks and they are alchoices welcome.

 but the back yard and the mountains are looking like winter still

 and then youve got the black and white days like this one last week, where the only color in the picture is the stop sign ...

no color at all here

 but the barred owls are calling ... nesting time for them soon , and even though the pheobes wont be back for a few weeks,we cleared their  nest off the cornice return this week ... 

 yeah, its as soft as it looks ... a work of natural art weaving for sure

theres wood to stack.  im outta here ...

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Hide The Wires

Were building a curly maple kitchen island table for a local client ... It will have a really nice orangy,brownish, granite top ... One of the challenges was to hide the wires that will come out of the floor and up to the outlets and switch on the side apron of the table ... The legs are 3.75" square, which gave us plenty of room. The eureka moment was to cut the mitered filler piece out while the solid curly maple legs were still oversize at 4" square. Click the photo below to enlarge it and youll understand that once it is glued back in, it will match almost invisibly ... Worked slick ...
Legsm aprons, face frame, drawer framing members
Close up of the corner detail and the channel down through the leg
Here were starting the finish .. Below with a temporary top for the photo ...

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What We Can Do With Metal

Sams been working with metal now for about 5 years, full time for the last two. Hes a great welder and fabricator and his artistic and problem solving sense is evolving everyday. As we get more and more requests for pieces both entirely of metal and as furniture, in combination with wood, often questions of finishes, materials, and capabilities arise ... Rather than answer the same or almost the same questions over and over, this post will serve as a general outline for potential clients who want to know more about what we can and cant do ... Click the photos to enlarge them ....
We have a fairly well equipped metal shop. We could use a little more space, a milling machine and maybe a more professional drill press but mostly, were pretty well set. We also have a company we work with for custom CNC waterjet cutting and custom CNC plasma cutting, as well as chrome plating and powder coating ... Right here in Vermont ....

Sooooo, what are the options as far as materials, finishes, fabrication? For a quick overview, visit the Sam Mosheim category off to the right there or any of the links directly below....

We work in steel, both hot and cold rolled, stainless steel, brass, copper, and punched tin.

Possible finishes are:
Natural oiled mill finish .... The Williams Store RailingsBlackened steel, done with a cold patina chemical called ready brown ... works great on brass and copper too .... It can be nicely highlighted with steel wool, then oiled ....
Polished natural steel finish. Essentially a process of grinding off the mill scale and polishing with finer and finer grades of abrasives ... While we have not as yet done any pieces in polished stainless, our satin finish stainless is typically looking a lot like the project above .... Perhaps just a bit brighter .... A Custom Contemporary Railing
For antique or Art Deco style pieces, golf leafed, natural or antiqued, might be a good choice ...
For outdoors, we recommend two coats of primer, two of paint with refreshing when necessary ... any color ... A Fine Outdoor Railing
For indoors, primed and painted, any color also; here with a nice gold paint from Fine Paints of Europe which will be glazed and antiqued later ...
A mix of finishes and materials .. blackened, natural,polished, brass and copper ... Were currently working on designs for a bed with inlays in a variety of metals and finishes ...
A Door For a Pizza Oven Thermometer
Products and Services .....
Custom Outdoor Chairs and Table Parts
Lighting, railings, sculpture, belt buckles, custom tools, fireplace accessories, furniture parts, metal repairs and custom welding ....
Whatever else you can dream up that you think we might be able to do ....
dan@com
sam@com