woodworking tools tips

5/1 12 ... ok, the curly maple island is ready to go ... were going to move it in one piece to the site tomorrow, weather permitting. it was an interesting project, more complicated than it looks, and were looking forward to seeing it later this week with its granite top and sink installed in its new home. we finished it at the clients request with a wash coat of shellac and two wipe on coats of waterlox. very smooth feeling and easy to apply. fast drying too ... good job trevor ...

end view with the open shelves for large pots

other end

stool side ... still cant figure out this new blogger interface ... i may have to actually watch the video ..

..............................................................................................

........................................................ 4/12/2012 above ...........

island update 4/11 ..... ok, were coming along now ... after working out the construction details with the full size corner mockup in the two photos at the bottom of this post, we started actual construction by building the kick space directly on top of our full size cardboard layout drawing. on this drawing seen below, (a bad image, poorly photoshopped to compensate for low contrast and glare) we laid out our cabinet and corner post lines, the sink, and inverted between the orange lines, our vertical section which shows panel and face frame details .. click the photos to enlarge them ....

from that drawing and the original mockup, we turned our round column bases that the octagon columns sit on. we then drilled the rounds for timberlock lag screws which we used to attach the round bases to the tablesawn octagons. the orange arrows on those indicate the sawn faces which came out ever so slightly smaller than the planed faces ... it seems impossible to get them all perfectly the same size but we wanted the face that our face frames attached to to be all the same size. follow that? good for you. we notched the octagons for the face frames and routed L shaped recesses in the round bases for the little bead moldings that allowed us to transition the beveled tops of the turnings to the panels. got that? really good ... i think you can see that detail in the mockup too.

i forgot to mention we also had to cut a freehand corner out of each round where it intersected the toe space on the bandsaw before attaching the whole deal to the kick with more timberlocks ... got that?... im trying not to bore you with all the details; but there were certainly a lot of things to think about on this project before we could even begin ...

now were on to the more straightforward part of the construction where we build the boxes and add the face frames and panels ...

one more shot of the base with its curly maple kick faces and all the columns in place.

and we had a moment where we stopped to appreciate mother natures veneer work with the naked lady doing a handstand ... fun!

part of the project was that the owner would supply the wood, but after struggling mightily to make silk purses from not so great material, the owner graciously allowed us to get a bunch of matched curly maple lumber from our friends at irion, and you just cant believe how much happier we all are ... piece after consistent piece .... beautiful panel after beautiful panel, matched drawer face with matched drawer face ... its a true pleasure to work with their stuff ....

tomorrow we will finish the frame joinery and assemble it all for a test fit before gluing all the panels up .... more as we move it along ... were liking it ...
3/27/12

we have a new kitchen island project getting underchoice in the shop ... all natural curly maple with a stone top. open shelves,drawers, a recess for seating, pretty straightforward except for the octagonal columns on the corners .... finished my full size mockup today and once that is approved, well have at it ... click the photos to enlarge them ...

here are the cad drawings that we made from the owners graph paper layouts ... the plan view shows some of the complications where the octagonal columns meat the panels and cabinetry and open shelves but conceptually at least, i think we have it worked out .... were currently working from a full size 4 x 8 cardboard plan view which is a great tool for making cut lists and box sizes. we find the full size things can minimize errors and they dont take too long to create ...

since i sent these photos to the client, i thought i might add these examples of other islands we have built in case you are thinking about designing one yourself. the island above is in my home ... cherry counters with tile around the stove; the seating on the end is where we live, lunch and dinner, good for up to 5 people seated ...

and we built this one in 2007 i think ... it even made it into house beautiful ... actually, it was one of my very first blog posts in october of 2007

another view of it ... the rest of the kitchen and the reclaimed chestnut stools are ours too ...

and heres a nice walnut island for the same client who got the walnut paneled room in 2009...

another wash painted island, very similar in detailing to my own kitchen ... we did some tin punching on that project ...

and then theres the big island ... almost a continent by some reports ... quartered white oak

and here we arrive at the mockups for our new project ... the octagons seemed simple until i actually had to add the kick spaces and the turned round pedestals ...

the base will be the first piece and it will have a 3/4" top that the cabinetry will be attached to from above ... like a really big puzzle ... more photos as we progress ....
on site but the house isnt quite finished

Kamis, 07 Juli 2016

20 years of open studio

this weekend marks the 20th anniversary of vermont open studio weekend. we took a couple years off when we moved from arlington to dorset, but i think this is the 16th or 17th year for us. its a great event. there are over 250 artists across vermont who will be opening their studios to the public saturday and sunday, 10-5 both days. look for the yellow signs. there will be a lot to see at our shop: kit will be there with her handmade jewelry, penny viscusi will have her locally inspired pastels, sams metalwork, wills banjos and for one reason or another, a large collection of our furniture, both completed and in process. there are two pieces left from our winter show, the mirror and the bureau, an unusual 11 copper top table, waiting to be delivered to connecticut next week, and the square mahogany coffee table in the previous blog post.

this figured cherry bureau measures about 36 wide x 39 high by about 23" deep. all items will have special open studio special reduced prices.

and the mirror has a stand from the show or can be hung directly on a flat wall.

well also have a claro walnut slab table with the rebar base with six chairs. we are planning to have that all finished friday so that it can be delivered to the guilford, vermont welcome center where it will be on display for the summer months.

and a copper top porch table which is a new concept for us .. above is an early view, before the copper was nailed on and the base completed ... this post will be updated with new photos as we approach the opening bell saturday morning ... come on by if youre in the area .. this saturday and sunday 10-5 both days.

Jumat, 29 April 2016

the worms crawl in the worms crawl out

wormy recycled chestnut ... i love it ... were currently working on three or four projects where we will be using it ... a snatch of a childhood song came to mind today as we were cutting a log that will be used for a mantle in one of those upcoming projects .... when we cut it to length, we happened to hit on an extra wormy cross section. for some reason, you can see the tracks where the worms went in and then round and round in the log ... ive never noticed it before, and i thought it was cool enough to share ... kind of made me think of a brice marden coloring ... click the photos to enlarge them ..

the mantle log .. 7 x 9 x 72"

brice marden

the hearse song

Selasa, 19 April 2016

cool stools

the finished stools

were working on some tables this week that go with the cherry stools that we finished last week. they were designed by my friend and weekend neighbor, anna, for whom we made them .. anna has been designing and buying custom jewelry from kit for the past few years, so i knew she had a good eye and an excellent design sense. anna gave me the sketch above on her daughters construction paper and after a brief discussion, we made the cad drawing above and the first prototype below.... click the photos to enlarge them.

i started our first prototype with some sort of out of the air dimensions and we found the mockup to be too big for the space, and as a stool in general ...

but, with the prototype we were still able to work out the construction concepts, like the housed tenons shown below .. the housed tenons and the alternate height stretchers are key concepts that allow good noncolliding joinery that allows for slender legs with no loss of strength at the stretcher points. the housed tenons allowed us to not worry about the fit of the horizontal stretcher to the sanded curves of the sculptural legs. otherwise, i dont think we could fit the 8 curved ends of the stretchers efficiently enough for someone to want to buy the stools. we cut those mortises while the leg stock was still square, cutting the curves after.

the stretchers had to have an 1/8th" radius on all their edges to fit the routed mortises, but that was a small price to pay for the quickness of the solution ...

the final prototype, in oak below, was comfortable, particularly sitting across the diagonal of the seat, and fit the space well. anna accepted it and she and her husband selected some beautiful red leather for the seats. this week were working on a pair of matching tables, 19 x 26 x 20 high that will be used mainly as side tables, but can be pulled together as a serving/coffee table for their nearby seating area.

the sketch for the small tables ... more to follow as we work on them ...

woodworking tools tips

Pages

Senin, 31 Oktober 2016

A Little Humor For All You Chair Builders Out There

Rabu, 28 September 2016

the kitchen island over and out

Kamis, 07 Juli 2016

20 years of open studio

Jumat, 29 April 2016

the worms crawl in the worms crawl out

Selasa, 19 April 2016

cool stools

Postingan Populer

Blog Archive