as i was a little rushed setting up for open studio, i feel a couple of our pieces that we finished last week deserved a few more comments and photos, so here they are, along with some other photographic highlights from the weekend ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
above the open studio shop photo is a better photo of the claro wlanut slab table we had on display this weekend. it is leaving tomorrow with the ladderbacks to spend the summer at the vermont visitors center in guilford. a lot of folks (about 600,000 stop there per year) enter vermont from massachusetts and connecticut on route 91, and were hoping that some of them will see our work and contact us with new commissions .. it seems like we ought to be able to get at least one or two out of 150,000 or so. summers a good time here ...
this is a close up of the under structure with our new base design using polished and welded 5/8ths" rebar. people almost smiled when they noticed the rebar ... it fits in with our bethlehem steel and bridges series too.
for the copper table, which was the other big furniture hit of the weekend, we started out with a 1/2 size model a month or so ago. i did that on my own nickle, even before i actually got the commission for the big table. i figured i couldnt go wrong with whatever i wound up with, and i was intrigued with the clients concept as well as my concept for executing their ideas. it also was a test of my local sheet metal shop on the execution of the design ...
the clients loved the model and i even found a half size chair mockup i made a long while back to contribute a sense of scale. this is it in the raw and our only objection was that the copper didnt lay perfectly flat and humped and rattled occasionally, a problem i expected to get worse as the individual sheets doubled in size. i also figured there are only so many nails you can apply before it would look too naily.
so, our solution was to get some weldwood contact cement and glue each copper piece to the plywood and 2 x 10 substrate as we went along. before we got our veneer bags, this was our typical process for installing central inlays in our dining tables. it also works great for male/female lamination forms. these are mostly 2 ton hydraulic jacks you can get quite cheaply on line or at your local hardware. i think i have about a half dozen. be sure to support the table underneath before cranking them up.
the last little bit of design was stablilzing the two base pieces and supporting the 9 span, which we did with sams help and a little twisted and welded steel ...
tah dah ...
after sanding and sort of polishing the copper and the nails with some red 5" round scrotchbrite pads we found at the hardware store, we applied a chemical called liver of sulfide (outside please... rotten egg smell) and today, after some back and forth, i oiled it with a polished on coat of linseed oil which blended the fingerprints from the weekend and made it look like a beautiful old penny. i absolutely love the look and i have a couple proposals to send out for other sizes and different bases. liver of sulphur is available from dickblick art supply. clean the copper first with dish soap and a little ammonia. follow the directions and rinse neutralize (2 spoons of baking soda to 2 cups of water) the copper when it looks they choice you want it to. the initial cleaning seems really important ...
here jim patinas the 1/2 size mockup. you can clearly see the before and after here.
a view down the tables 11 length ... its off to Connecticut tomorrow ...
and we have a 10 claro walnut table that is virtually finished, slightly ahead of the house where it is going to live. it needs only a final topcoat and some polish. i thought about setting it up on its base for the weekend, but its really heavy, and the shop was too full, and maybe wed drop it, or someone would scratch it ... in the end, we left it on edge, covered with soundboard and only occasionally allowed interested visitors to have a peak ... enlarge this one. it has a great fiddleback figure over its entire length and is without a doubt the most consistently figured slab i have ever seen.
we did set up its blackened base though .. folks are alchoices amazed at the minimalness of the structure, but that is made up for by the weight of it. steel prices have skyrocketed lately though and that is the reason we are exploring other base deisgns like the rebar above. just the steel and the cutting was $1800. and then the pieces still have to be drilled and tapped, ground and polished, sanded, patinated and finished, a process that almost doubles the cost of the steel. i get a lot of inquires on these, but few takers.
sams spark screens above and wills custom banjos below were also much discussed items.
hes got a pete seeger type longneck in the works at the bottom of the photo above. the fretboard for that one is as long as the entire new daffodil picolo banjo below.
skin head, nylon strings, canary wood inlays, antiqued brass hardware, warm tone.
pennys colorings are back in her home gallery ...
we delivered the claro walnut sllab coffee table to connecticut yesterday. it was one of the slabs that we received back in february. one is slated to shortly become a gallery piece and two are still available. the clients found our website, and, coincidentally, they have a second home in the area and were able to stop by, select the slab the like, check out several base designs and finalize the details. it was one of those projects that went along quickly and smoothly from start to finish. i hope to get an onsite picture at some point as jim said it really completed the room. click the photos to enlarge them ...
this was our original photo shown on our blog ...
this is the side they selected and the details we decided on during their visit .. 
the cad drawing
after the second coat of gloss ...
sams welding jig that we made on the cnc ...
parts and pieces ... in the end, we used our blackening finish ..
we did a little custom cnc work for our friend bill laberge recently. he designed a table with a 2.75" thick edge, cut on a 60 degree angle ... we had a bit that would work, but it was too small to do the work efficiently, so for a moment, we considered alternate methods ... bandsaw it with circle jig? different angle like 45 degrees? in the end, trevor found a larger 60 degree bit and the cuts were faster, very smooth and exact. bill glued up the apron blanks with the grain running parallel to the table top to minimize the effects of seasonal movement. the table has four 22" leaves. (wow...big one), trevor cut and beveled the leaves to length and bill cut the leaf apron edges on his tablesaw ... ill try to wrangle a finished photo when its finished ... i saw it mostly assembled last week and it looked pretty cool. cilck the photos to enlarge them ...
stepping cuts had to be made ahead of time to allow room for the collett that holds the bit
in the middle is the top mated with the apron piece .. very smooth and precise ...
Instructional Video on KungFu chairbuilding
12/30/11 .. okay ... update here ... all in all done ... leaving for d.c. tuesday morning ... were all liking this new trestle design .. the weight, the proportions, the floating arc element, the rigidity
low angle view
end view
12/18/2011 ... home stretch on another 10 table. well start the finishing tomorrow ...
the concept was loosely based (with a few modifications) on a table we made in the early 90s. the clients nixed the lower crossbar and the verticals in the model below, and sam came up with the idea of suspending the curved stretcher between the verticals with the metal pins. it called for some fussy and careful measuring and drilling, but the concept turned out to be really valid .. we all like the new design and the blackened, tight fitting steel pins give the structure total rigidity with a relatively light and graceful somewhat asian feel. click the photos to enlarge them ...
above the new and the old model that i first wrote about back in august ...
everything but the breadboards, which lorne completed today
view down the end before shaping the vertical ... the cold rolled 3/4" pins are blackened now ..
the top is 42" wide and 1.75" thick, made from some of irion lumbers finest 8/4 cherry.
glue up
rough joinery
1/4" mdf patterns ...
and here with a temporary spacer in the middle for fitting up the curved stretcher ... the real connecting piece was mason mitered into the stiffeners at the tops of the vertical elements.
we decided to skip the middle stiffener and little outriggers at the ends. the middle stiffeners seemed extra and the outriggers seemed to serve no purpose ... final photos next week sometime ... happy holidays ...
closed.. 18.5 high x 21.5 long x 11" deep ... 10 drawers on the top behind the fall flap and 3 regulars in the lower case.
aside from refinishing the top and fall flap, and replacing the bras around the keyhole, the lock was the most troublesome thing .. it was in one of the drawers and had been for quite a while ... mainly, because there was no wood left to attach it to ...
first i routed the recess level, then added some prefitted new mahogany support pieces glued to the freshly routed surfaces ...
after and overnight dry, i remounted the lock to the new blocks with really small (1/2 x 3) brass screws ... cant wait to get my good camera back from the repair place ...
all in, all done ... good to go ... all the scalloped pieces on the top row have drawers attached
