this table is heading to california tomorrow. its been in the works for a while and we had a small glitch when it came to the final finish color . its a totally new color and today, will said weve got to get more of this stain ... it was hard to photograph, and how it reads is sensitive to how your monitor is set. its a really warm orange brown color .. click the photos to enlarge them.
close up
earthquake handles .. i did mention california, didn;t i?
the clients original photoshopped image
this project started with an inquiry from a prospective client who had taken a image from my blog or website and photoshopped it himself to make it into something that better fitted the dimensions of his dining room. basically, he stretched out the table below and added another pedestal. brilliant, imho.
even though it was early in the corresponding stage and no money or commitments had changed hands, i was intrigued by the concept. since we still had the drawings for the original table, and its model, it was a simple matter to create the new model.
birds eye view
there was some talk about earthquakes, (the client lives north of san francisco), and earthquake handles, which turn out to be something to hold onto if you have to get under the table in the event of the earthquake, the design work proceeded and eventually we struck a deal.
above is the cad drawing showing the origin of the curves for the base elements and the seating and plate layout. room for 12 good friends at least.
handle and base layout
even though the table is over 50" wide and about 10.5 long, trevor managed to create a clever pair of interlocking 1/4 oval templates that allowed him to lay out the wood for the glue up below.
one of the boards was
just about, but not quite, long enough and we lost about an inch in width and length creating the revised oval. not bad. 11 walnut matched sets are hard to come by, even from irion lumber.
after a rough cut with the jigsaw, trevor used the template and a top bearing flush cut bit to rout the table to final shape and add the aprons and stiffeners
then, using the cnc, he cut the patterns for the base pieces. on the original table, the pieces that ran the length of the table were longer than the ones that ran across the table. after some study though, we decided that with two pedestals, the bases should be all the same.
bandsaw, sand, bandsaw, sand ... repeat as necessary.
then the pieces have to be mitered and dowels inserted to give the end grain of the curves some cross grain material for the lag bolts that attach the horizontals at the floor. i missed it this table, but you can see photos of how that works in the post about the previous table, back in august 2010. there is also a discussion there about strengthening the short grain where the top is attached also ...
fit it up ...
interesting shapes upside down too ..
sams sample earthquake handle approved and good to go ... 9 more in the works ...
We do this repair pretty often ... Broken bow .... We set it up so we can rout accurately with a small laminate trimmer, first the fromt usually, then the back, which is a little more complicated. we glue the repair pieces on as we rout. This bow was hickory and we had some ... Rout, glue, rout, glue, file trim, sand, color ... Will did this one and it went by so fast I didnt even get pictures of the intermediate steps... The chair was a worthy example though and it looked good when it was done ...
Broken
Front view finished ... A good save ..
Repair zones ... one side is usually longer than the other to (hopefully) eliminate new weak spots
Close up .... cant hardly tell ...
below is a post i wrote for the guild of vermont furniture makers blog back in 2009. i was waiting for photos of the actual show at the furniture society before i put it on my own blog, but i didnt attend the conference and so, never got any photos ... i wanted to have it here on my own space and low and behold select all, copy and paste, and here it is ... looks like i used my old camera ...
Tapered cherry cabinets from last fall 1/6th scale, 30 x 21 x 6
revised models
One of the finished cabinets
More models and some finished tables below
One of my favorites from 1990
happens to be currently in my home office
Night pictures are alchoices a little color challenged .. the tops are natural curly maple 
i sometimes comment here on folks who have left the building and was sad to hear of andy rooneys recent passing. i have alchoices enjoyed his choice of complaining ferociously without a hint of whining. a rare talent that i would enjoy, at times, having a little more of. i knew somehow that he was a woodworker and happened across this article he wrote about tools .... its worth a read, regardless of how you feel about tools. its more about andy ... check it out here. you might have to be a fine woodworking member. im not sure ...
well, we have put our toes into what i would imagine to be an extremely teeny tiny niche market ... we have a friend, george bouret, who is a professional photographer and gallery owner in pawlet, vt. he bought a new lens for his antique deardorf view camera. it had a different focal length from most other lenses used on this type of camera so he needed a holder that would position the new lens one inch closer to the film. will whipped up the new one and after a little fine tuning ... (angling the bottom slightly as the holder had to swing into the opening because the top metal holder was fixed) off he went ... i dont expect much repeat business on this one but george says even the normal replacement lens boards are hard to find and really expensive if you can find them .... who knows ... maybe well be retiring soon after all ... ahhhh, just kidding ... what would i have to write about then? click the photos to enlarge them ... 
original on the right ..
new one on the left, before modification ... good to go now ...
we fixed another clock this week. there was a handwritten note pasted inside the case that said it was "old in 1854 when _________ gave it to my grandfather." im waiting to hear from the british clockmaker, who is repairing the works as to his best guess on the date and geographic origin. its american, with a cherry case with mahogany details, and appears, with the exception of the lock, pretty original. like the last one we fixed in the spring, the weight had fallen and taken the floor with it ... all better now. click the photos to enlarge them ...
we started with the easy stuff, some missing moldings here and there. a brainstorm i had was to do the first couple coats of dye and shellac before gluing them in, which simplified the blending of the finish later on.
this was the most troublesome aspect of this project. its the front right leg, and it had been nailed through the glue block in several directions. it twisted off easily in my hand, the nails, not so easily. eventually, i worked them out through the hole and repaired the surrounding area and drilled a new, slightly larger hole. i had to make a stacked jig to keep the little foot vertical while i drilled the new hole for the new tenon, which was simple once i worked through the concept phase of it.
viola ...
new bottom from recycled chestnut ...
out the door ... pics with the works when they arrive later this week i think ...
State of Craft ... Exploring the Studio Craft Movement in Vermont: 1960-2010. Runs from May 22nd to October 31st at The Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont . Curated by Jamie Franklin and Anne Majusiak, it displays the work of 85 craftspersons, (is that how we call us?) 125 objects, oral histories, studio interviews .... I dont generally look for shows to be in, but this one found me and Im glad it did .... Click the pictures to enlarge them ....
"Bridges", our piece, is a collaboration between Dan (b. 1947) , Sam (b. 1982) and Will (b. 1984) Inspired partly by my grandfather, Irvin Seeders, a bridge riveter for Bethlehem Steel for 52 years (b. 1902), BS from 1916 to 1968. For the show, I thought it would be good if his generation, my generation and the next generation were represented. You know, a 100 years of craft or something .... just a thought ...
Our piece started as a couple of different ideas, based on other designs we had created, but took on a life of its own. For a while it was going to be gold leaf and bubinga, then high finish walnut and blued steel, but in the end, it came to be made of recycled oak (heritage and tradition) and painted steel, with the rivet connection to my grandfather the coup de grace. Sam did the steel work and the green paint; Will did the burning and finishing, and I did a little roughing out of the wood and assembly and helped with the conceptual stuff. On the whole, a lot of fun. The show opens next Saturday and I am really looking forward to it ... Should be a good party ...
Early on .. after we decided on the recycled oak, but before the rivets ... The burnings seemed unrelated ...
The initial paint job, which was later toned down by sanding through to the red primer and glazing ...
The rivets ... I forget 
Will, burning the oak prior to staining and glazing ....
After the burning and stain, before the sanding and glazing ...
Its a bridge ...
A rusty one in Shelburne, MA
A soaring and inspirational one in New York, the GW, which Im pretty sure my grandfather worked on ...
Some of the other pieces in the show .... this is the underside of the quarter bench below
There was no label and I dont know the artist, but hes from Brattleboro.
Other objects ready to go ..
