well, you probably know what this is ... another banjo by will ... #4. curly maple, ebony, and brass this time ... half fretless. kind of a neat concept that allows the player to slide notes on the upper part of the fretboard where the frets are further apart, but yet play accurately up high on the neck. click the photos to enlarge them ...
heres a link to a 40 second you tube concert here ... a short improv of mole in the ground ...im told #4 has a nice sustain compared to the others. ok ... i can hear that.
being the fourth banjo, it required new new techniques and new and more accurate jigs and processes like the ebony backstrap and the adjustable 3 degree compound angle drilling jig for the dowel stick hole that was based on this jig we made for drilling long turnings on the lathe .... slick
next time, he says hell add a push block to the back of the jig so he can drill the hole using the tail stock crank, but this time he just pushed it slowly against the bit.
will cut the stopped fretboard slots (a nice clean feeling edge, but without the fussy banding on banjo #2 )(scroll down) on the cnc using a mini mini .026 diameter router bit. for the decimally challenged out there, that is 2/3rds of a 32nd of an inch. a pretty small router bit ... get em from mcmaster carr or stew mac i think. ...
the fretboard binding on banjo 2 .. getting that fifth string tuner curve was a trial as i recall
and then, to secure the brass, he used a variation of a nifty trick we read about on a greene and greene details forum where the hall brothers applied ebony edge details with slotted brass screws and then filed off the slotted parts, leaving tapered smooth tipped pins ... i think he also used a little epoxy or something for insurance .. its a very cool detail in person ..
the whole deal
close up of the fretless part with the stainless steel pins
pot shot ... ha ha
and the back view with the ebony details
nice curly cherry and nice detail on the hardware and dowel stick ... i particularly like the brass wire armrest ... the ebony split line is a cool detail ... and i think the finish is 6 or 7 coats of tru-oil, a gun stock finish ... seeders instruments, wills new website has recently received two orders for complete banjos and one for a reproduction neck for an existing older pot ... the boy is off and running ...in case you missed them
banjo #1 is here
banjo #3 is here
will took this picture at frog hollow yesterday when he dropped off the bench ... they decided to display it with the frame that will be buried in the ground under the installed bench ... i guarantee, no one will be walking off with it once its installed ... other entries are in the frames above ...
5/1/11 ready for the show that opens at frog hollow in burlington next week ... it will be there for a month and then installed at the museum ... the openings next friday evening ... come by if you are in the area ... it should be fun ...
were coming down the home stretch on the montshire museum bench. the top half of this post i wrote back in early february and now were wrapping up the actual construction .. if you missed the post back then, its a really nice project and a nice collaboration with the museum and frog hollow to get artists work in the public domain. we are flattered to be included ... scroll down to see the bench in process ... well be finishing it up later this week .. 
2/1/11 We were flattered to get a letter in the mail Saturday from The Montshire Museum of Science. They announced a competition last fall for the purchase of 5 benches, made by Vermont artists and furniture makers, for their outdoor garden walk project. Thank you Dave Hurwitz for reminding me (several times) to enter. they selected a new version of our Bridges bench that we made for the State of Craft ... 50 Years of Craft in Vermont show at the Bennington Museum last spring ... Were flattered and honored and I located the chestnut planks well use for the wood part earlier today .... ready to go ... All five benches will be displayed at Frog Hollow in Burlington for a brief time before being installed in their permanent location at the museum in May ... Looking forward to it ... Click the photos and specs to enlarge them ...
step one ... roll the 3/8ths by 2 steel into two identical arcs and weld on the top rails and the bridge struts ...
prime and paint the steel
make the wood base and lay it out for the bolt holes ...
here will is drilling for the rivets that will go in the edge of the seat ... he made a jig with the layout holes on the drill press and then drilled the holes in the seat edge freehand using the jig as a guide
we collaborated on the installation base design with the museum installation experts and we will install this base on the bottom of the base after the show ... all stainless and pressure treated ..
well be finishing the chestnut using a penofin verde color .. weve used penofin products in the past and they are excellent, except for the smell when you first apply it ... it dissipates pretty quickly though and leaves a nice water resistant finish ..
and we got a nice photo of our original bench in the recent montshire news letter ... thanks ! ill post more photos when were finished ...
well, we shipped out a couple more fine slabs of claro walnut from goodhope hardwoods today. ive been buying slabs from them for about 10 years now and ive never been disappointed. these two were no exception ... click the photos to enlarge them ... 
a crotch slab my client found for me in the specials section on their website, a category that comes and goes as needed apparently. this client chose the same simple block base we have used on tables like this before ... 
the table above is part of our shaker series with 1.5" thick solid steel bases. this client wanted to have his base blackened, a patina process we do with a chemical called redi brown from, i think, triple s chemicals ? in LA. ill have to look it up. 
sam did a beautiful job applying the patina and neutralizing it, and we then sprayed on a couple coats of clear satin metal finish. 
we started with two of these slabs ... the one on the wall we previously made into a coffee table and shipped it to aspen; the horizontal one is now the coffee table above, and the one on top of the stack standing vertically became the dining table. 
here trevors chiseling in the butterfly keys to restrain the natural drying cracks. 
ready to plane flush ... 
off to the finish room for its first coat of gloss ... 
and today, jim took off in the town and country for north east hampton, long island. i cant feel too sorry for anyone who gets paid to take six ferry rides over two days, even if it is a long drive ... he was ready to go when he left. youve got to be at least a little amazed that we can get two 7 plus tables and 8 chairs in here and still have room for more, even if there will be some assembly required on delivery ... and, its a smooth ride to boot ... 
back in the beginning of the year, we were awarded a commission for a bench for the montshire mueum, in norwich, vermont. it was part of a contest, and they selected 5 winners, bought benches from all of us, and installed them in their woodland garden. click the photos to enlarge them ...
bridges 2 variation on the bench for the bennington museum show, state of craft ... dan and will, wood; sam mosheim, metalwork and paint
dave hurwitz, one of the other bench makers visited the museum recently and sent me these photos of the benches in place and the documentation the museum posted inside. great job by the staff there ... its an impressive show ...
dave hurwitz, white oak
mark dabelstein, burlington
lars larsen, furniture maker, and rolf kielman, architect, also of burlington
and doug clarner of east burke, vt
