Claro Walnut Table Progress

Were on the home stretch on the big claro walnut table now and I think the next time you see it, it will be completely finished... Below you can see we have gone over the surface with a sidelight and a curved scraper to get the biggest rough spots all smoothed out ... The grain in the area of the photo below was incredibly tough to smooth without chipping it out and we didnt/couldnt get every chipout. It still had a nice shine, even before the first seal coat of shellac ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
Unbelievable figure and color
Looking from the end after the shellac ..
We used a sidelight to find any big chipouts that needed final scraping and sanding
Even without the finish, sanded to 320, it had a good shine
Heres Sam polishing the 1.5" thick steel legs... Tough stuff ...
All done ...
A close up in process, before the final, final polish ... We went for a shiny but not mirror finish and the sealing oil in the photo above really brought it up nicely.

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Saw Bench

Catching up on posts after spending time in the shop, and figuring out how to D/L photos on this new iMac, I wanted to share my version of the saw bench on Dans workshop. 48" long, 15" wide, and 19" high, I added an additional feature of the bench hold fast hole. I had to add a thicker block underneath for a better grip, works great. Thought a lot about the overall length and settled on 48" based on space in the shop and the typical sized rough boards I cut. Made from scraps found around the shop.

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Chair Progress A 6 Pack

After returning from the great Thanksgiving trip, and back to my day job, I was able to hit the shop hard and finish all six chairs up to the point of upholstery. I finished the chairs with 2 coats of General Finishes Lamp Black Milk Paint. I had not used that product before and I was pleased with the coverage and performance straight from the can. Top coat is General Finishes Hi-Perfomance semi-gloss. Well deliver the chairs next week and will apply the 2" foam and the fabric my daughter-in-law picks out.If you dont like mortise and tenon, dont build these chairs :) The are 22 of them per chairs so I cut a total of 132, not counting the ones I screwed up. I think overall the chairs came out well and I will post some photos of the upholstered chairs after we return from the Christmas trip.

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The Ducks Are Back

(Almost) Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the ducks are back ... They arrived last Friday, as usual, almost to the day that the stream first cuts a channel across the ice. They were tired from their trip and were napping when we got to work on Friday, but Monday, whoa, below, we had an intruder ... a single female and they did not like here. We watched off and on for the morning while they chased her back and forth across the pond, and finally, she left ... Things were back to normal today but it was fun while it lasted ... Kits got the redwing blackbirds at the feeder too ... Big Tom turkey yesterday morning and the she also saw the bobcat briefly one morning last week, probably stalking the squirrels. Spring is coming ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ...
Back and forth ... when she got to the edge, she would fly back over their heads and the chase would continue, til finally she left ... havent seen her since ...
A little earlier than usual ... but Sam said this afternoon the leeks are up ... global warming I guess ...

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Toolmongers Bosch Axial Glide Miter Saw Write Up

As many of you know I took the plunge and bought the Bosch Axial Glide Miter Saw. Ive had it for over a week now, and Ive still not been able to fire it up due to the bench slab experiment which has been taking up most of my shop. Ive finally got the slab experiment done (complete failure by the choice) and Im hoping that the four day Thanksgiving weekend lets me do a little shop re-organization and finally set up the Bosch.

Toolmongers New Bosch Axial Glide Miter Saw.

In the mean time, please check out Toolmongers review of the Bosch. Its a great write up thatll probably give you more information than mine even after I finally write it. If youre not already a Toolmonger fan, you should be. They cover tools, and whats not to love about that?
What tool have you lusted for, bought and then not had a chance to set up?

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open studio update 5 27

we had an excellent first day of open studio weekend saturday. we started off with a long list and a pretty big pile of disorganized stuff friday morning, but by 5:30, we had it all together, the studio doors were locked, and kit and i were sitting by the pond. click the photos to enlarge them ...
we added the leather seats to the chairs first thing and put them upstairs out of the dust explosion that occurs once a year when we clean the shop for this event.  this is what it looked like around 9:00 am, and the photos above and below were taken just before i shut out the lights at around 5:00.
as you come in the door there are two slabs of claro walnut that we finished in anticipation of clients who were arriving friday after lunch to discuss a coffee table, which they ordered. the weekend was off to a good start ...
they considered the two we had put finish on, but in the end, selected one that we hadnt prepared ... bonus ..
these 6 ladderbacks we built to go with the claro slab table with the rebar x base that we finished thursday. that table and chairs will be going to the guilford, vermont, welcome center on route 91 for july, august, and september as a display piece to troll for new work. the state offers space to crafts people who ask for it for free in three month blocks. i was lucky to get the summer block and my contact told me that over 600,000 people stop there in an average year. it is a beautiful space. imagine that ... we have high hopes for that piece of marketing.
probably the most commented on item of the day was this copper top table we finished on friday around 2:00. (cut it a little close) .. its 3 wide and 11 long.
its based loosely on an antique french provincial wood top table image from the internet. this table will get its own post as the whole process was interesting. you can see most of the half size mockup behind the chairs photo above.
it turns out that the mahogany coffee table will be around for another 3 weeks or so so we found a place for that .
sam finished the base thursday for this bench we fabricated from an offcut of a table we made two years ago. it was originally about a foot wider and had some issues, but after some judicious trimming, made a nice little bench ... i actually sold it today and it will be going to a local home where theyll use it as a coffee table on a covered porch ... perfect ...
sam had two of his three spark screen/fireplace inserts on display and they received some excellent reviews ...
and will dropped off his new daffodil banjo that he finished wednesday on his choice to a gig in glover, vermont, waaaay up north ...
rum drinks and beer for my crew ... kit got her jewelry set up in the finish room ...
and penny set up her colorings in the finish room with kits jewelry and then took a rum and a tour of the shop with trevor ...
we go back to the late 70s with jim and penny, and you couldnt ask for better friends ... all for now ...
more photos tomorrow ...

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Table Saw Finds A New Home

Along with the jointer, the table saw has now found a good home and I have no intentions of replacing it. As I continue to change my work habits, I found I can do everything I need to do with my 14" band saw and my array of hand saws. I have started building another saw bench using this method and I am really enjoying it. Along with the table saw, the buyer also purchased my workbench. It was a fine work bench patterned after the Essential Workbench plans in FWW a few years back. It was big, and very heavy. Since we decided to sell the house here in Tennessee and move back to the Greater Cincinnati area, I saw this as a great opportunity to build the Benchcrafted Shaker Bench and will do so as my first project once we are settled in up north. I have the plans, and the hardware is on order. I intend on keeping my DeWalt 3 head planer for shop use when needed, and some other associated power tools used for home improvements and for the kids to borrow :) Anything else I sell will be some excess hand planes and some wooden planes I dont want, dont use, and dont want to move.           I will post those later.

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Chain Saw Fine Furniture

3/2/10 Were moving relatively slowly on this project to allow the 2.25" thick slab to acclimate to our heated shop ... It had been stored in a concrete floored, unheated barn until it arrived here last week .. We took a little off both sides last week and we flip it pretty much every day. It has stayed remarkably flat and now were working to assemble the base ....click the pictures to enlarge them .
The figured are at the crotch end of the slab
looking down from the crotch end
from the stump end
Last week, ready to cut ....
I started my woodworking career in 1974 as a logger for a local timber contractor ... I lasted about 6 months ... After that, I spent the next 23 years cutting and splitting firewood to heat my house and shop in Arlington .... I got back into the wood heat thing last year and Ive become pretty good friends with my chain saw again. When we had to cut this slab to size, I thought that my Stihl might be the best tool for the job as the log had already been chain sawn to rough shape before it was milled into slabs .. Ta Dah ... The edges actually will look like before we cut it .... Dont try this at home ....
Click the photos to enlarge them .... Previous post on this table ...
It was a bit of a reach
This was actually really fun .....
Cutting to 10
All done ... ready to smooth ....

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An Interesting Post on Boschs Awesome New Saw

New 12-inch Miter Saw from Bosch - Fine Woodworking

Just a quick post here. Check out the above link. This Bosch saw looks fantastic and may very well find a home in my shop. I cant wait to try it out.

powermatic 66 table saw for sale

 fast sale record ... about 10 minutes after i posted this, i got a call from my neighbor and golf partner, bill laberge, who bought our saw .. what luck ..

 we got the sawstop out of the crate and assembled yesterday, and we just have to connect the two in their new configuration ... havent turned it on yet, but were set to run.fellow woodworkers:
i thought i would let you all know that i have a really nice powermatic 66 table saw for sale for $1350. f.o.b. my shop in dorset,vermont.  its (imho), in perfect shape, has a foot operated off switch, and is wired for 220, though i think it can be changed to 110.  you can see by the plate next to the crank that it was at one point remanufactured by the famous woodshop specialties in rutland.   i have purchased one of those hot dog saving sawstop saws and that will be arriving later today.  below is how we have it configured in our shop and if you have the space, it is a really handy set up.  our layout has it at about 6 wide by 7 deep, but it could probably be done in a space maybe 66 x 72 or even smaller.  let me know if any of you are interested ... terms or swaps can be considered ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
you all have a really fine weekend ...  dan

 

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