The Week in Review

Busy week ... Lots of stuff went on ... Click the photos to enlarge them ... Will almost finished the half rounds ... actually they are half ovals, which complicated the process even more... The drawers are finished and the bottoms are fitted... Above, he has the first coat of stain on the tops and tomorrow hell sand most of that coat off as it is mainly to raise the grain, and next hell apply the second coat, being careful not to get the inlays too dark ... Varnish Tuesday ... out the door soon ...
Trevor started a new partners desk project. Its actually for a husband and wife and their new home office in upstate Vermont. We found some really wide (30") mahogany at Irion Lumber that allowed us to make the top and the end panel out of just two boards ...
The lumber arriving from Pennsylvania ...
We rough assembled it Friday, did the inlays and built the drawer box ...
Weve got to finish up the screen porch and the Wagatha racks this week so this one might be on the back burner for a minute ...
We also got some really fin curly cherry in the same shipment for a dining table and we finalized the design on that this past weekend ... I have a drawing somewhere ...
And my wood Revolving Door prototype finally bit the dust .. The luann plywood just couldnt hold up to the wind and rain and if fell down piece by piece ... Sooooo ... time for the steel version.
The wood version was up since early summer and it spun nicely in the wind .. well see if the steel turns more slowly and less violently .. I hope so ...
I changed the proportions of the rectangles slightly and got the first three together inside the shop today ... It was a rainy Sunday and it seemed like a good thing to do ..
Were also working on posting items to our new home on www.custommade.com ... We havent tried much online marketing outside of our own website and blog, but given the times, Will and I thought we should try some ... I signed up for a year and well have a lot of photos there by the time were done with it ... What a time sink though ... Hope it works ... I think Im about half posted now ...
We also made a prototype chair for a clients dressing room ... we made several dark, rich pieces for it a few years back and our client found this Ruhlman inspired design on 1st dibs ... With the clients input and fabric choice, well be doing our take on it in East Indian rosewood.
The inspiration photo ...
The bookend raffle went live at the library ...
And we reviewed some very nice drawings for an upcoming project ... Best shop drawings by an architect ever ... My hat is off to Ramsay Gourd Architects ...
And, lastly, I dug out a photo of my original Arlington shop that I built in 1976 for a video were working on ... The new owners removed most of the second floor, added a kitchen, a fireplace and a big screened in porch off the back, and it is now a fine guest house for them ... It was a good shop for me ...
All for now .. Back for another week tomorrow ....

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Gettin Er Done

Actually, the claro walnut table above is not quite done, but we did put a polishing coat over the final brush coat of finish today when we got back to the shop. That one will be finished up by the weekend. Will and I were in Grafton most of the day finishing up the This Old House project that we have been working on off and on for over a year. We had two missions today: the first was a small adjustment to the big tv cabinet to get one pair of the folding doors sliding smoothly into the cabinet when it was open. When we left it a month or two ago, it was on a couple of furniture pads and the tv and audio equipment had not yet been installed. Happily, all the stuff fit in nicely and the door adjustment went smoothly. We got a demo from the owner of a short segment of the Roy Orbison Black and White video and the surround sound really rocked !!!! It was close to feeling like a live performance .... The TV was not too shabby either ... Click the photos to enlarge them .
Figured cherry, curly maple panels and walnut moldings ... Getting started info on the construction of this cabinet at the link above ...
Looks good closed too ... another post on the construction of this cabinet here
The other cabinet in the family room was fine and the tunnel we created for the cable box installation worked slick .... This cabinet needed no adjustment ...
Post on this cabinet here ...
Our main mission today though was to install the shutters above in the family room across from the cabinet above. This project was a little nerve racking because it was added at the last minute and we had to construct and finish the shutters in the shop without checking them in the opening before we finished them ... Will was relieved when they fit like a pair of gloves and even complimented me on my hinge layout jig, which I forgot to take a picture of and did work slickly...
Pretty dark in here with the shutters closed ...
The lights were on in the fireplace cabinet (scroll down), and it had a nice glow ...
And the front door, which Im pretty sure is the original, looked happy to be back in place ...
Tthe cabinet we wrestled into place the last trip was full of stuff and looking like it was designed to be there from the start, which it wasnt ... Over all, its a great felling when you finish a large project with a client you have particularly enjoyed working with for an extended period of time .. I hope hes not completely finished though the house looks good, and Im sure hes ready for at least a deep breath ...
We even had time to stop for a late lunch at The Wood Fired Pizza Company where Peter Moore built the oven and Sam made the doors ... Yum ... All for now ....

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