Beer Aps

i dont have an i phone at the moment, but i saw this article in the times wednesday and it made me think i might want to have one on hand next time im thirsty and in a strange town ... i was telling a friend about it last night and told him id send him a link ... then, i thought, well certainly inquiring minds like your own would want to know about this ... so ... pretty amazing ... who knew?

Read More..

Sams Railing

Sam is coming down the home stretch on a big railing project hes been working on for a while now. The first section went in before the holidays and the second section went in yesterday ... The last section that goes down the steps in the photo above has been templated , the parts are completed, and welding on that section will start tomorrow ... Click the photos to enlarge them.
The first step was to make a full size template on site.
The post fabrication is sort of technical and fussy but very effective and rigid when installed .
Then back to the fabrication department above ..
There was a little on site welding ...
And then, back to the shop for the last section that goes down the steps in the photo above ....
The main balcony section is a long one ..... 20 or so and solid as a rock ...
Looks good from below, too ...

Read More..

A New Railing Project

Im cleaning up my back list of unfinished blog posts tonight. Heres another one I started back in March and never quite completed ... Its about a railing Sam made for a house in Peru. I never saw the house, but he said it was a very tasteful modern house with nice architecture. The stair rise and runs were all a little different, and, because of the design, the execution required some extra care to be sure things were centered and spaced correctly before welding welding commenced. It was a big one and it came out well, but I know he was glad when it was over .... On to something a little looser like the doors below ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
Rough layout to check angles, rise and run
Assembly jig by Sam and Trevor on the CNC
Various modifications were required as each of the three flights of stairs were different ..
A welded and ground corner ... The railing was finished with a clear coat of penetrol.
The builder finished it off with a wood top cap .... Looks great !

Read More..

always time for a fundraiser

we dont do all the fundraisers. if we did, there wouldnt be time for work. some of them are fun though and we cant resist, even if we do let them go until the totally absolute last minute. and, i mean the last minute ... this ones due tomorrow morning at the dorset theatre to be auctioned off august 21st, at hildene with other birdhouses by artists at some point in the future ...the event is called flights of fancy . more details and photos of the other birdhouses as they become available ... ive had the blank birdhouse for two months ... due tomorrow, started around 5:00 today finished a half hour ago ... fun with woodburning ... get out your stuff from when you were a little kid ...
click the photos to enlarge them ... its lots of fun ... goes great with a beer or two ... heres an earlier post i wrote about woodburning ...
they gave us all blank birdhouses to work with ...
this was fun ..
usually i paint my woodburnings, but it takes a long time, and then i might have had to bid on my own ...
tools of the trade
one of my painted efforts. ive alchoices meant to incorporate this technique into my furniture .. maybe soon ...

Read More..