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add another one to the list ... we sent this one to shelter island last week. and jim, who made the delivery, says that this table has the best view of any weve made. thats quite a tall statement, but he was there, and i wasnt, so ill have to take his word for it. anychoice, we started with the slab above, and ended with the table below.

with a bit of back and forth in between.

do we cut of the swell? no .. its got some really cool grain going on there.

do we fill the cracks? yes, no, maybe, no ... we used this one as an inspiration. we made it in 2011 and didnt fill the cracks. never had a complaint. im glad we left them. in the end, they were really cool and kind of sculptural.. but how do we stabilize them? how about some butterflies on the bottom of the table, like below. that worked ..

below with the legs still in the bright polished phase ..

and now with the bronze patina ...

the polished cracks ... no crumbs will stick in there .

and with the reinforcing 1" tubing structure to bolster the thin slab and give it some rigidity ... that worked great . this, below, from the client

"Hi Dan, We loooooove the table. I will call you tomorrow. Just got back from beach and am wiped out. Thanks and best regards, Joanne"

all for now ...

Kamis, 30 Juni 2016

how much does a claro walnut slab table cost

"" BTW did you make the pool table attached to this email? One more question, I suspect I will lean towards 10 feet (need to confirm with decorator). About how much would the table run me? ""The above question typically arrives with the first or second email inquiring about a slab top table ... It is kinda like how much is a house? or how much is a new car? The answer, obviously, is, it depends .... on what? ... heres a list.
Size: The most popular size request I get is for a table about 4 wide and 8-10 long. Obviously, that requires a pretty big tree, something on the order of 5 to 6 feet in diameter, as the slabs in the immediate center of the tree contain the pith, an unstable area prone to checking and humping the centers of the slabs from that part of the log. The best and widest slabs come from about 6-10" on either side of the dead center of the tree. Since about 4 wide is the most popular requested size, that also puts pressure on the supply end for slabs of that size, making them more expensive than something in the 36" wide range, before they even arrive here at the shop. Once we agree on which particular slab you like, then we can start discussing the finial price
Thickness: The next item on the list is table top thickness. Think about it; 3" thick? twice as much wood as 1.5" thick .. 1/2 as many slabs from the log; twice as long to kiln dry them ... You do the math.
Finish: How rough/smooth, twisted, humped, etc. is the actual slab when it arrives. Thats something that is difficult to tell from my suppliers website, though Im learning what to look for. Goodhope (and i only shop at Goodhope) is VERY good at drying these things, so usually I expect them to be fairly flat, but its still a process to get the big ones ready to finish. Does the slab require butterflies to decorate and/or stabilize the cracks? Are you insisting on no cracks? (good luck), or would you like the cracks filled smooth and even with the rest of the slab? These are all things that add to the cost of smoothing and finishing the rough slab.The Base: In our shop, we offer many different designs with many different prices and we are alchoices open to new concepts. Our waterjet cut Shaker style bases are our most popular and typically range in price from $3500. per set in natural steel finish to $3900. per set with a rainbow or blackened patina shown below. for a brief tour of possible bases we have already done, check this blog post.

summing up quickly, our claro walnut tables range in price from (very occasionally) as low as $5000. (smallish table, 32-35" wide x 72" long, simple welded base) to $20,000. or so for really big ones. most of the tables we make fall into the $10,000., to $15,000. range. the details above, plus shipping and set up in your home, invariably determine the final, fixed price. just as every days different, every tables different too. and, every maker is different too. granted, i dont have a fancy storefront in a big city, or a huge inventory of finished tables to pick from, but the prices listed below in an article in this weeks new york times home section (which actually prompted this blog post) made feel a little bit like a chump from the sticks up here in vermont. we do what we do, and try to give our clients a fair price for a product thats the best we can produce. here is a link to some testimonials from our recent clients ...click the photos below to enlarge them ...

gold leafed bases anyone? we can do that ..

too rich for your budget? we also do reclaimed wood tops with steel bases (much less), and we also can use other woods like elm and cherry, ( different supplier here) and glued up narrower slabs of new wood, like this big ash table. i cant say we can alchoices make your dream table fit your budget, but were usually willing to at least give it a shot ... emails fine, a phone call is good too ... 802 867 5541

we also make quite a few claro walnut slab coffee tables ($2750. - $5000.) and some claro walnut slab desks, typically from about $5000. to $10,000.

a complete overview of our claro walnut furniture can be found at this link

Rabu, 10 Februari 2016

a woodworker does pottery

what you are going to see in this blog post is a smallish dan mosheim pottery show. i have been fooling around with clay for about 10 years now, and have taken classes with nick seidner of rising meadow pottery, kate geotz of hartsboro pottery in wallingford, vermont and lauren silver, the pottery teacher at burr and burton academy in manchester. i learned a little from all of them, but mostly from fooling around on my own over the years.

my new thing is a combination i dreamed up of slab pottery and wheel thrown pottery mixed together. its sort of how you might approach larger pieces if you were a woodworker and couldnt get it together to throw anything larger than about 6" in diameter and 4" tall ... i explain it all at the end of this post, but in the meantime, below are some of the highlights from the service for 12 im working on for our own house. im about 2/3rds through ... i need just a few more soup bowls, about 8 bread and butter plates and a few larger serving pieces and platters. click the photos to enlarge them ...

a stack i picked up at the dorset chamber of commerce meeting tonight. my friend janno gay, of flower brook pottery fires my stuff for me. she recently finished 8 pieces and knew i would be at the meeting tonight. it was a great, christmas like, surprise the choice she had each one wrapped up separately.

these two and the red and black one at the top of the post are 7" bread and butter plates

some 9" soup bowls.. hot ones

and after about 10 items, i realized i was actually doing a version of jasper johns target series. after a little web searching i learned that the technical term is color field coloring and there were a bunch of those folks including johns, albers, helen frankenthaler, barnett newman, ellsworth kelly, ken noland, and others too numerous to mention. there are a couple of examples of their colorings at the very end of the post. its alchoices nice to be part of a movement.

and a 10.5" dinner plate

my collection of new and old stuff at open studio this year

ok, heres the secret. i cheat. i made a collection of mdf forms on my lathe that you can see in the picture below. rough them out on the bandsaw and turn them close to the same, freehand, on my lathe.

then i roll out a .22" thick slab and drape it over the upside down form, trim it to the edge of the form and center it on the wheel using the pins and holes i drill in the bottom of the form. next i compress it tight to the form by hand and throw a little rolled out snake foot onto the bottom of the slab on the wheel. you can see the end of that process below.

after they dry two or three days under plastic, i trim them very quickly and loosely on the wheel and color the bottoms with duncan cover coat. love the colors they have.

my stack of plate forms

then, after struggling for a week or two, i turned the thing above with pin holes and i can center the plate or bowl right side up in the recess, and add the color to the top. after they dry for a week or so, its off to janno for a bisque fire, and then a clear glaze fire. im looking for my own small kiln, so if anyone knows of one for sale, please let me know.

fun, peaceful, quiet, not too expensive, functional, lovin it ...

johns .. target with plaster casts

ken noland, a local guy, who taught at bennington college, beginning

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Kamis, 14 Juli 2016

a claro walnut slab table

Kamis, 30 Juni 2016

how much does a claro walnut slab table cost

Rabu, 10 Februari 2016

a woodworker does pottery

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