woodworking tools tips

Completed the second of two nightstands for our bedroom. This project has been on the list for longer than I can remember so I am getting closer to finishing the bedroom furniture. The cabinet sides, top, and door frame are solid cherry. The sub top, divider, and bottom panels are Baltic birch edged with 1/4" cherry strips. The hand cut dovetails are still a challenge for me but I am getting better, practice makes perfect I guess.

There are faster choices to cut tenons but for me none more enjoyable than cutting them by hand. These are the rails for the base. Each leg has 2 mortises that I drill on the drill press and chisel to size.

This is the finished base prior to finishing. The corner blocks add strength and also a choice to attach the cabinet.

Edge jointing the cherry to glue up panels for the cabinet with a No.6 which for me is a good size plane for this type of work. The Stanley No.386 attachment works great in keeping things square.

Assembled cabinet with the door installed. The hinges make the door adjustment a breeze.

Another view of the finished nightstand. The finish on the cherry is Tried & True oil, 2 coats, and I add a light coat of wax. The base is finished with General Finishes Black. I wanted a nice contrast between the base and the cabinet.

The next project for the bedroom will be a dresser that matches the style and finish of the nightstands. Need to get this done before it warms up and the golf courses open up :)

Jumat, 25 November 2016

A Custom Walnut Vanity

I put a few pictures of this project up in a what we are working on post last week. Its finished now and while it was pretty straight forward, there were a couple of interesting wrinkles ... Our client liked the onyx top and the choice that the sink was carved out of the solid block .. The metal base that came with it though didnt go with her decor though so we got to make a new one, and a matching mirror. The vanity had to have an interrupted back rail to accommodate the holes that were already drilled for the faucets. Sam rolled us a couple of pieces of steel and he also made a couple of curved brass pieces to line the opening of the mirror frame ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...

The finished vanity base with an mdf mockup top/full size drawing in place.

With the top removed to show the two custom steel pieces.

better view ...

The onyx top and the base that came with it ... I havent seen it in person, but the onyx started out as a block 6" + thick and they milled the sink from the solid ... Very cool, but hmmm ... seems like there would be a lot of waste ...

Ahhh, the mirror ... Everyone likes the mirror. The light sconces are antique brass and Joan asked if we could add some brass details to the mirror frame .. We tapered the frame like the legs and added some curves and small round headed brass pins to hold the brass in place.

Close up of the brass detail ...

Will, fitting the brass prior to antiquing it ...

Ready to apply. The steel parts were painted black ...

Rabu, 23 November 2016

The Maple Leaf Table

6/12/10 Home stretch now ... A couple of polish coats and its out the door next week ... Tough one to photograph ... 42 x 90 is too big for my background paper ....

The maple leaf table ....

Every design comes from somewhere ... In this case, take an interesting leg with carvings. Simplify the design of the turnings, add a Vermont maple leaf and get rid of the edge inlay .... Change the wood to curly maple and get rid of the black .... presto ... new design ... We really liking this one, and Will did a great job handling the turnings, carvings, and, really, the whole thing ... Love it ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ....

We started with this concept of a table leg with some kind of detail on the corners ... We discussed a leaf as a metal applique since, at the time, we were working on the duck bed ... In the end, we decided on a carved maple leaf ....

The clients chose this leg design, one of our standards, and we added some detail to the apron, but eliminated the black paint and changed the wood to all curly maple ...

Went out the door and grabbed some maple leaves to get the feeling of the carvings right ...

We glued up the top next and made up the apron parts. Here Will is doing some after work banjo finishing ... more on that project later ... banjo #2 ...

Fitted it all up and laid out the corner cuts on the top ...

The first coat of stain was applied to the legs and aprons and sanded before the base was glued up ...

The curved corner legs complicate the base glue up somewhat, but it all went smoothly ...I hope to deliver the table before the weekend and have dinner on it with my friends/clients Saturday night .... The first coat of finish went on everything today, but weve got a couple coats to go ..... Well see ... itll be close.

Senin, 14 November 2016

Jewelry Box Curly Maple and Wenge

Just completed this commission piece for a client who had made a previous purchase. The box measures 14"w x 9"d x 6 1/2" h and is constructed from soft curly maple, also known as ambrosia maple, and wenge (wen-gay). The drawer liners are craft foam and worked out surprisingly well. I wanted something different than the traditional felt.

Shown with the lid and drawers closed, note the shape of the front and rear legs.

The curve of the drawer pulls match the curve of the lid handle giving the viewer the impression that there are 3 drawers.

Sabtu, 22 Oktober 2016

Childs Table and Chairs

My son and daughter in law asked that I build a chair and table set for our grandson for his play room. The table is 24" square and is made of white limba, a wood I havent used before and chose based on the recommendation of my lumber dealer. It works very much like poplar or soft maple. It is also only $1.80 bd. ft. There is also black limba, a beautiful wood, and is a little more.

I built two chairs and added a walnut strip for a little detail in the seat. I will deliver the set this weekend on our next visit north this weekend. I enjoyed building this set. I had built an identical set for our grand daughter about 7 or 8 years ago.

Rabu, 31 Agustus 2016

cant keep up

busy, busy, busy here the last couple of weeks. so busy, i havent been able to keep up with my blogging ... its a GOOD problem, actually. possibly a sign that things are finally, maybe, picking up a bit. we have had some good new sales and a definite increase in requests for quotes on new projects. let us all knock on wood here. where to begin? above, is the finished upper cabinet for the kitchen we have been working on. that project is all installed now. click the photos to enlarge them ...

in the works now is another pool table to go in the room with the 12 claro walnut table we shipped back in july. must be a big room !

there were two different designs floating around and so we made a scale model of both options, and the client chose the long x in the top photo. sam will be making a welded metal base for this one ...

the only problem was, not one, but TWO different sets of slates arrived from florida broken. definitely a setback as we had to drive to albany to purchase a third from an old friend who restores pool tables, so we could finally get underchoice this week.

will has about got the rails under control ...

and jim and i have about got the slate support frame under control. it will have metal edges to match the metal base that sam is making ....

and sam is ready to weld tomorrow

besides the pool table, sam is extremely busy in the metal shop. he installed two railings this week, a short one at a home in rupert, and then a more substantial one at the new chamber of commerce building in manchester ... photos of those later. he also delivered the bench above to go with the x table he made a few months back. (scroll down)

and back in the woodshop, will wrapped up this cherry trestle table Thursday, and it is in the finish room getting its final polishing.

its a new, custom version of one of our early (1980s) shaker inspired designs

.and we went to a wedding and celebratory bonfire last weekend ... it was a good un. we burned 10 years of old bookkeeping in that one ...

hot an fast

and quite beautiful ...

and will found us an almost new in the box number 80 on ebay ... you cant have too many of those around when there are four people in the shop ...

and, weve also got a pair of cherry tables going that will be mostly separated, but can be put together for large parties.

we had some beautiful matched figured cherry boards from our friends at irion lumber.

and laid them out and cut them ... going to be cool ...

and i loved this one from the new yorker ... the red sox fans are back to moaning now ... theres alchoices next year ... what else ... oh, and we stripped and refinished a nice knoll-like teak veneer desk/table from the 60s or 70s? i think ... looks like new, thanks to our friend steve holman ... spray finisher extraordinaire ...

all for now .. gotta get those quotes out ...

wait ! its hard to believe, but i almost forgot the next big claro walnut table. the slab for it is now in the garage, waiting for the pool table to get out of the shop. well be working on that soon ... it will have a metal base like the table we recently sent to aspen.

really, now, all for now ...

woodworking tools tips

Pages

Senin, 19 Desember 2016

Cherry and Maple Nightstands Complete

Jumat, 25 November 2016

A Custom Walnut Vanity

Rabu, 23 November 2016

The Maple Leaf Table

Senin, 14 November 2016

Jewelry Box Curly Maple and Wenge

Sabtu, 22 Oktober 2016

Childs Table and Chairs

Rabu, 31 Agustus 2016

cant keep up

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