well, the verdict is in ... the slab i wrote about back in april is now a coffee table ... on its choice to aspen, colorado this week sometime ... it was
almost a desk, and then it was
almost a dining table. but this client came up with the both the idea and the bucks and now it is his coffee table ... looks great and i hope he has a big couch ...
4/29 ... on the wall ... waiting to be something ... +/- 50" x 108"
top view
seated view
first step in sam making the legs .. cap the open bottoms of the 3.5" pipe and tap it for adjustable levelers ...
then he added the plates that attach them to the table top and painted them black. simple, direct, cost effective and they look great ..
desk concept with slab below before it was finished ...
table concept ... this client switched to and elm slab .... which was also nice ..
the finished elm slab ... arrived in chicago yesterday ...
more slabs, ready to go ... get em while theyre hot ...
4/29/11
i bought a nice claro walnut slab last year about this time and the client i bought it for changed her mind to english elm at the last minute ... its been gathering dust in the finish room for the last year and this week we decided it would be easier to sell if folks could see what it actually looks like ... duh ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
the photo above is from a post about a claro walnut slab table last summer. it shows me and my trustly (25 years), puny 3.5" makita power planer that we use as a first step to quickly remove the rough stuff and flatten it out ... just like a hand plane only louder and less tiring ...
the next step after the power planing is to scrape achoice the tracks . in the video clip here, you can see the progress will and trevor make on removing the power plane tracks in the 21 seconds of the clip. its why we dont much believe in belt sanders for table tops and panels. they probably spent about 5 minutes total, including short breaks, to completely prepare the slab for final sanding with our porter cable 505 sander. typically after scraping we start with 150 and finish with 180 ... i have written briefly about the two handled scraper in the past and i still think it is one of the
essential tools a furniture maker should master ... with the grain, across the, against the grain ... if its sharp, it doesnt care ... it leaves a most pleasing hand smoothed, ripply surface similar to a fine antique ... try it !
you probably already have one of these gathering dust somewhere ... learn how to tune it up and get it working. youll be glad you did ...
in this photo, trevor lays out cuts that could straighten the slab somewhat to show a potential client its mellower shape .. inside the tape it measures +/- 48 x 102.
first coat of finish yesterday .. open studio is coming, and for that, the slab will be hung on the wall using temporary french cleats as on the bed we finished recently ... as i mentioned in this previous post, it is hard for a client to visualize the finished look of a slab in the rough ... more photos later next week ...
we delivered the claro walnut sllab coffee table to connecticut yesterday. it was one of the slabs that we received back in february. one is slated to shortly become a gallery piece and two are still available. the clients found our website, and, coincidentally, they have a second home in the area and were able to stop by, select the slab the like, check out several base designs and finalize the details. it was one of those projects that went along quickly and smoothly from start to finish. i hope to get an onsite picture at some point as jim said it really completed the room. click the photos to enlarge them ...
this was our original photo shown on our blog ...
this is the side they selected and the details we decided on during their visit .. 
the cad drawing
after the second coat of gloss ...
sams welding jig that we made on the cnc ...
parts and pieces ... in the end, we used our blackening finish ..
all in, all done ... i had to take pictures of this one three different times before i finally got it right, but it was worth it ... this is a really wide piece of walnut and its kind of unlikely ill get one like it again. click the photos to enlarge them ...
you can see a little more of the base here ...
and in this shot, some of the natural defects (ant trails) that we left in the finished piece ...
and heres the photo from my supplier, good hope hardwoods, that i sent to the potential client to seal the deal.
and here is sams fabricating/welding jig that he used when building the trapezoidal shapes for the base verticals ... those he connected with 2.5" angle iron which gave us a rigid, independent base structure which we will remove for shipping ...
this table top had some miles on it before we finished, and it was no picnic to move it .. it started in california somewhere, went to pennsylvania, to dorset and the woodshed at my house, moved to the garage, from there to the shop for final smoothing and sanding, and then to the finish room on a special cart we built to get it out the door .. going down the 2 high 8 long ramp from the front steps of the shop was thrilling.
across the drivechoice was a piece of cake comparatively ... jim is actually on tiptoes here ...
and here you can see the cart and the more relaxing ramp into the finish room ...
where it went through its usual paces ... off to aspen this week, or maybe el paso first.
couple close ups of the rough slab here ... were working on it in my garage as were a little jammed up at the shop at the moment.
will and trevor wheeled it out to the shade by the woodshed yesterday to begin the flattening process. fire up the makitas ...
today we finished the rough smoothing of the top of the slab, did some rough sanding and mocked up the base with some 2 x 4s we had from when we picked it up at our friends loading dock.
just like this only in natural finish steel .. all for now
people tell me over and over that they are getting good results from their facebook business page ... i believe them, i do .. and now, ill actually see ... i now have a facebook page for dorset custom furniture. like it if you like it ... thanks
This was a challenging photograph. My camera is not quite good enough to keep the whole 10 feet of it in focus and also the reflections from windows and lights in the somewhat shiny finish were really tough to eliminate .. Best I can do I think ...
A view from below ... The base is bolted together and will completely disassemble for delivery to CT
The picture below is a close up of this section of the table
Close up of the crotch end of the slab ... 
With (coincidentally) ten almost finished ladder back chairs for another client. I first wrote about these chairs in a post last November.
Its not a Pink Floyd project, but it is a wall for sure ... about 18 long and 8 high ... A couple little pieces and a touch up on the paint were all set ... This ones been going on for a while and at the end of the day yesterday, the shop seemed quite a bit bigger than it has for the past couple of weeks .... Ron and Jackie and Buddy (see the previous post) were on hand to pass out the beer at the end of the day ... Weve been working with them off and on since 1983 ... Well go back in and finish it up today .... It was a total room transformer ... Click the photos to enlarge them ....
This was a discussion drawing that shows the basic elements but not all the details. Some of the proportions and measurements changed after we got to this point, but rather than spend more time drawing went from here to full size layout sticks that we made on site. We have done all these elements in other pieces before so everyone is already familiar with the basics and detailed drawings werent necessary.
Taking shape in the shop ...
We managed to set it up temporarily in the shop to check everything and cut the crown molding in the shop .... If youre not a carpenter, on site crown work is a total pain .... 
We had to rent a 14 U-Hual, which was an 
Getting close ... Will and Jim attach the last piece of the shelves ...
Since the fireplace is 99% decorative, I made a few sketches for a fireplace screen that Sam will construct later .... Beutiful day ... Lake Paran Bluegrass Festival starts tonight and Wills band will be closing the show ... Set up for yet another Guild furniture show tomorrow ...
The power of paint .... heres a before shot early in the design process ...
