road trip pool table installation

 will and i took a nice road trip today to sugarbush ski area in warren, to install the reclaimed post and beam pool table we finished last week.  it was a beautiful, sunny two hour drive, over brandon gap in the national forest, and up route 100 to warren, vermont. 

 the house had an easy, back door access and the installation went off without a hitch.  heres a link to a video of the table in action, with me missing some easy shots so you can see how the cushions work.  ha ha ... im liking the video thing as you can now see a little bit how the table plays and sounds.  i think i will try to do some other videos on a couple of the local tables we have built over the years.

we installed this table on a polished concrete floor that was absolutely, 100 %, perfectly level.  never saw anything like it before.  it was a welcome change from the last table we installed, where the floor was about 1/2" out of level from one end to the other. 

 

 it was a very nice, lower level room with great light, easy access and the tv was already installed.

 

 after truing up the edges of the slates with very thin index card shims, will bondoed the cracks before we stretched the felt.

 a little pocket trimming and some leather liners ...

 and it was time to rack em up.    

we had a couple of job site labs to help us out and keep us company ... good dogs...

the cue rack installation was easy ..

the house was beautiful and almost finished

 there was no snow, but the mountain looked steep and challenging, and they were trying ... all the guns were blowing snow, but it still looked pretty thin.  one of the carpenters said theyre grooming the same four inches for the last two weeks.

 on both legs of the trip, we passed the very scenic moss glen falls, around granville, on route 100.

 

sunset coming down brandon gap the other choice ... home by 5:00 ...

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21 years later

its not often that you get to see a table you made 21 years ago that lives 300 miles achoice. just after christmas though, one of my long time clients emailed to say that their table had sustained some damage over the holidays and needed some help. coincidentally, my shipper was in the area and was able to pick it up and return it to me for refinishing. i regret not taking a photo when it arrived, but i do have one below from early in the refinishing process. the scratch was not small, but neither was it deep, so it sanded right out. this table is one of my early studio style pieces and loyal readers will recognize the style from a recent post on a dining room we completed early last fall. its a comfort to me that we are still making pieces in a style i originally started working on choice back in 1986. nice to know that an idea you came up with has some legs and staying power. click the photos to enlarge them ...
this is a close up of the red abalone inlay squares in the central element of the table design. the black is milk paint from the old fashioned milk paint company and looks as good as it did (minus the dog chews) 21 years ago. it polished up like new.
i had actually forgotten about the square detail, and now that im reminded, will maybe do a new piece or two using the square rather than our regular angled look.
regular angled look above from the dining room post last fall ...
early in the refinishing process. the oil finish we used in the early 90s has since been replaced by more durable brush on poly finishes and this client was good about refreshing his finish a couple times a year. theat did create quite an oil buildup that, while it protected the table, proved difficult to remove. the table was also in a sunny south facing room, which created a kind of sunburned bleached surface which was kind of whitish until we got through it.
this picture shows my first wiping with mineral spirits ... more work to do ...
and here it is after the first coat of finish ... ill be interested to hear what the clients have to say about it after it is returned to pennsylvania on thursday ... its a cool thing to visit with an old friend ...

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some carved scrolls for a mantle

we recently carved some butternut scrolls for a mantle that one of our clients was making.  we had sort of an internet fuzzy photo to use as an inspiration, but we did some google image research and came up with the drawing below.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

 

we were pretty happy with it, as was our client, but i did put  it up on the door for an hour or two to make just a few refinements before it went into our cad program.

draw over it ... copy what you need

the reason we decided to do that was that, as you can see from the first photo, the element had to be 13" thick (!!) to complete the design.  after a little thought, we realized wed need a whole bunch of pieces (about 20, not counting a couple of miscuts and practice pieces) and that led us instantly to the cnc.

after we finished the first one, we checked it on site before we did the second one ... good to go.

 this is an onsite photo after the finish was applied

 

i have the actual cad drawing somewhere and ill post that later ... all for now ...
on site 12/14

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a walnut table with carved legs

1/10/2012 ... all in , all done ... leaving for arizona thursday morning ... were all happy with the final and will is proud of his carvings ...
12/27/2011 ... were on the home stretch on a new walnut dining table. this client came to me from reading this blog, so we knew how to work together immediately. and, the process was, as expected, a pleasure.
the concept for this table is based on two previous tables, the original, a more formal mahogany project with wildlife carvings (ducks, a turkey, a woodcock and a grouse) on the leg corners,
and the maple leaf table, a project that appeared in this blog in june of last year.
this table also, is a variant of our own dining table, a studio style dining table that first appeared in my design repetoire back in 1987, and still is a popular part of our style. we have made many, many variations on the theme. you can see some by browsing that link to the small tables section of our website. im working up to a post on the life of various designs concepts and how they can run as threads through a designers work and continue to generate new ideas. maybe soon ...
on to this table ... this client has a background in the california fruit orchard culture and while we kicked around a few other ideas, the fruit themed carvings were the final winner. after a couple of quick test carvings where we even considered paint and color, we gravitated to a natural finish for the whole table with some glazing in the carvings to make them stand out a bit and give them depth ... well be wrapping it up this week and hopefully sending it off to arizona shortly after the first of the first of the year.
here will is scraping the two board 42" wide, bookmatched walnut top. these are boards from the same log as the bethlehem steel table, only without the defects.
beautiful natural grain, here with two base coats of gloss poly.
early stage in the joinery where the tenons are cut and fitted before the angles, shadows and borders are finished.... easier that choice.
the original, client supplied avacado sketch, and wills sample carving of it.
the final with our inspiration photo below.
and below is the orange with a blossom and our brief experiment with color ...
might have been nice, but i prefer the understated elegance of all one color with hints of glaze.
last fit check before the carving.
and heres how we glue up those legs with the rounded, carved corners.

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