This case was commissioned by a customer who wants to display and protect her keepsake quilts.

The case is 29" wide x 19" deep x 21H and is constructed of Red Oak and finished with General Finishes Shaker Maple and the New General Finishes Water-based Urethane. If you havent tried this finish yet I can highly recommend it.

Frame and panel construction (glass on front and both sides, oak ply on the back and bottom). 

The plugs you see on the front are only decorative. 

The beautiful quilts you see in the case for the photos were made by my wife Kathy who is a very accomplished quilter and craftsperson in her own right. 

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one of the often overlooked rules of architecture is to "alchoices site your house so that the sun shines into the shower on the winter solstice".  like stonehenge, this lets you know exactly when the days will be getting longer.  this rule was even overlooked, as far as i know, by famous architectural idea organizers like christopher alexander.   in his famous book, a pattern language  which is one of my favorites, he describes a set of "design patterns" that can be used to solve complex problems.  the wikipedia link above describes the book, and you might want to check it out if youre about to design a new place to live or work or are just interested in organizing your design thoughts.  its a good one.
for our house, the rediscovery of this important rule was a happy accident of house positioning that i have enjoyed every morning the sun comes out around the time of the winter solstice.  i was lucky today.  the world did not end, the sun shone at least briefly while i was showering, and the days will soon be getting longer.

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another restored display case

 as the work on the jj hapgood store in peru is wrapping up, i felt it was time to finish up the cases that were rescued from the original store that have been resting in the finish room since july.  i must admit i was ignoring them a bit cause i wasnt sure what would be involved in getting them to look good enough to go in the new store, which is going to be spectacular.  the photo above is the closest thing to a before shot i have, but when i say it was an awful looking thing, youll have to believe me.  under the sliding shelf was a half inch of some white powder that might have been baking soda, and under that was some interesting mold.  the rotating shelf had a 1/2" hump in it and, well you can see the case door in the photo above.  click the photos to enlarge them ..

 

 the top of the case had a large, sort of scummy spot, that required us to strip it and restain and refinish it.  in fact, quite a bit of scrubbing and restaining on all the parts was involved.

 

 the wavy glass, however was all there and is unbelievably spectacular. 

 both cases in fact, have fantastic glass.

 this photo shows the hardware that pulls the shelf out as the door is opened .. 

simple, and extremely clever.

 the shelf rides on v grooves and is trapped by the runners (b) below, and drops into an opening in the tracks (a) and there is a stop on the front of the shelf at (c) that stops the door and keeps i level.  although we didnt have to disassemble this one, the whole design is screwed together, i assume for ease of both original construction and later repairs. 

    nice piece!!

and for petes pizza oven at the store, sam made the door below, using a graphic from the website.

all good ... 

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andy rooney

i sometimes comment here on folks who have left the building and was sad to hear of andy rooneys recent passing. i have alchoices enjoyed his choice of complaining ferociously without a hint of whining. a rare talent that i would enjoy, at times, having a little more of. i knew somehow that he was a woodworker and happened across this article he wrote about tools .... its worth a read, regardless of how you feel about tools. its more about andy ... check it out here. you might have to be a fine woodworking member. im not sure ...

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a commercial reception desk

along with the 14 fumed, fsc, quartered, figured eucalyptus table, weve been working on a painted reception desk for a client in boston. its a crispy commercial project designed by the worldwirde architectural firm, gensler. the granite is from johnson granite and marble of proctor b=vermont. loyal readers may recall that they also did the granite for the large conference tables we made last year. click the photos to enlarge them ...
cad plan view and granite layout ..
no overhangs, everything flush and fitted ... though it looks easy, now that its done, there were a number of interesting and exacting challenges to solve along the choice ... timing was one, and we had to order the granite and the glass before we even started building the piece. the glass will actually not arrive until about a week after we deliver it this friday. fortunately, there is a commercial glazier working on site and he will install the glass when it arrives, saving us the trip.
the glass is mitered and back painted and will cover the low protruding, overhanging counter face, the short return, and the far end, and is bordered by 1/4" satin stainless edge pieces. not having the glass on hand, we cut mitered 1/4" mdf panels on the cnc to the exact sizes of the glass we ordered and hopefully, our tape measures are the same. there is not much room for error and few places for adjustment now that everything else is finished.
we made a slick jig for sanding the stainless steel edges and sent them on edge through our wide belt sander. probably not a recommended application, but it was the only choice we could come up with, and it worked perfectly ... the flat pieces were no problem and we sent them through with the exhaust off and used an old 80 grit belt. there were virtually no sparks or heat build up, and i would say it was a valid technique for surfacing them to create the industrial look required.
the miters were cut to rough length and adjusted and fitted using a 45/45/90 jig on the edge sander.
we framed the piece with timber strand, a stable flat stud material becoming more popular in high end housing projects around here. its not cheap, but it is flat, straight, square and stable. except for the weight, its a pleasure to use.
we also created a flip down door for the electricians, which i am sure they will approve of ...
and a sturdy 8/4 ash and steel frame to support the +/- 600 pounds of granite counters.
the blue line denotes the largest piece that had to fit in the freight elevator .. 44 x 42 x 80".
the granite was cut from one large slab so the grain matches over the entire counter surface.
lastly there is a little box of drawers that supports the frame end and ties everything together. below you can see the steps in the simple assembly. looks easy now that its done.
the corner piece will be set first over the wiring feed and the L shaped glass piece is attached from the inside of the desk.
here trevor is installing the screws to secure the two main pieces together.
the granite frame is next. it sits temporarily on two angle iron pieces, and then is securely bolted to the stud framing with 4" timberlock hex head lags.
the drawer box is slid in to complete the base assembly and the removable panel on the inside back wall is installed last.
the first piece of granite is slid into the corner, and the rest are added to complete the puzzle.
and while we were at it, we put some cardboard on the top of the eucalyptus table frame and took a quick snapshot ... all in, all done .. onto the truck for boston tomorrow.
crazy wood that eucalyptus ...

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a claro walnut coffee table for sale

well ok, this ones just back from a gallery in great barrington ... theyve had it long enough and now its my turn to try and sell it ... its of a generous size, about 45 x 55 x 18, but in the right space it will be really spectacular.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

 

 crazy figure pretty much everywhere in this slab.

 heres a low angle view so you can see the blackened steel base by sam ...

a filled and butterflied crack on the corner .. give me a call at 

802 867 5541, or send an email to 

dan@com for pricing details ...

subsidized blanket wrapped shipping, depending on your location.

free local delivery

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a pair of reclaimed oak tables

well, after a long wait for the wood to arrive from west virginia, we finally wrapped up this pair of reclaimed oak tables.  they are designed for high stools and to be used both separately and together as a long skinny table, 36 x 96, or squared up at 60 x 48. 

our classic, bethlehem steel bases, made from 2.5" square steel tubing and 2.5" angle iron.

  we tried to line the boards up as best we could, trimming the edge defects as required, and matching the grain.  new man on the job, chris, checks them out before gluing them up.  there were also a few holes that required patching too.  as the saying goes, if they were on the floor, youd trip over them.  we did leave a lot of the natural small knotholes, which add to the reclaimed wood feeling.

before the stain, we burn the oak with a red dragon torch to enhance 

both the grain patterns and the color.

in the shop, and ready for finish ..

as two separate tables

a reclaimed oak coffee table of the same bethlehem steel series, only with tapered legs.

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Senin, 18 Juli 2016

restoring a schwanbeck brothers display case

 i alchoices enjoy a nice restoration project where you make something nice out of something not so nice.  this is an excellent case in point.  i didnt take a before picture, but you can see from the one below that there was some pretty serious mouse damage on some of the rails of the case.  someone must have left a few pies in there when the store closed.  click the photos to enlarge them ..

 the case appears to be from the late 1800s and i give the schwanbeck brothers credit for some good design sense.  the case is entirely held together with screws, no glue, and so, was easy to completely disassemble.

 there was a little groove on the bottom of all four panels that engaged the top lip of the base.  once the panels were assembled on the base and screwed together on the corners, the top was put on like a hat.  screws were added from the top and bottom that went into the edges of the vertical panels and the case was then completely rigid. 

  pattented 1897 ...

the new guy, chris, did most of the work on this one .  sweet little case .. its headed for the store with the new pizza oven ..

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