we installed this barnboard vanity last week. challenging project in that you have to go with the wood as it is. if you joint and plane it flat, there goes the patina. and what a patina it was. some light hand sanding, and a little very diluted aniline dye on the fresh surfaces made it look like a pretty thing. no finish, as its been outside for a hundred years just fine ..click the photos to enlarge them.
in the second photo down, i have moved the sink to be centered on the space from the corner to the window trim. we had originally thought to center it on the door, but no longer think thats the best place for it.
i had just enough stock
we had originally planned to include some molded details around the panels per the designers request, but they would have exposed more fresh wood and most likely been a distraction from the patina itself.
there was another complication as the whole thing had to be installed in pieces since it went wall to wall in a small room ... it broke down into base, left half, right half and then the face frame and doors last.
fun project!
I put a few pictures of this project up in a what we are working on post last week. Its finished now and while it was pretty straight forward, there were a couple of interesting wrinkles ... Our client liked the onyx top and the choice that the sink was carved out of the solid block .. The metal base that came with it though didnt go with her decor though so we got to make a new one, and a matching mirror. The vanity had to have an interrupted back rail to accommodate the holes that were already drilled for the faucets. Sam rolled us a couple of pieces of steel and he also made a couple of curved brass pieces to line the opening of the mirror frame ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
The finished vanity base with an mdf mockup top/full size drawing in place.
With the top removed to show the two custom steel pieces.
better view ...
The onyx top and the base that came with it ... I havent seen it in person, but the onyx started out as a block 6" + thick and they milled the sink from the solid ... Very cool, but hmmm ... seems like there would be a lot of waste ...
Ahhh, the mirror ... Everyone likes the mirror. The light sconces are antique brass and Joan asked if we could add some brass details to the mirror frame .. We tapered the frame like the legs and added some curves and small round headed brass pins to hold the brass in place.
Close up of the brass detail ...
Will, fitting the brass prior to antiquing it ...
Ready to apply. The steel parts were painted black ...
A client sent me some links recently to tables that she had seen online that she kind of liked but not exactly ... The size she was looking for (60 x 86) was not a standard one for most manufacturers so, I made a drawing for her. Working with ovals to define the curves, I played around with the proportions until I arrived at something that had some promise .. I got her ok for the concept and gave the drawing to Trevor, who cncd up a quick 1/6th scale model to look at. After a little more back and forth, we came to an agreement and we were off. Click the photos to enlarge them ...
The 1/6th model is on top of the bottom of the English elm table we finally finished this week ...
Without the top showing the interior flower kind of concept ...
We started with 4 really nice wide boards of walnut from Irion Lumber ...
and after the top was glued up started in on the 16/4 pieces for the base. From the model drawing, Trevor made full sized patterns to help layout the cuts
After mitering them on the tablesaw, we added 3/4 inch hardwood dowels that passed through the center of each section to allow us to later run timberlock bolts up through the x cross base and into the four sections.
Before gluing up we also added some long grain walnut to reinforce the short grain out near the ends of the arcs. 
We tried a bunch of different approaches to clamping ...
and then hit on the idea of a cut out piece of plywood collar, clamps on the bottom, and cross clamps on the top, which allowed us to view the place where the four miters came together ... It all seemed good until we added the actual glue which for a minute turned the whole process into a small wrestling/clamp juggling match which we eventually won ...
Before adding the crossed base elements, Trevor routed and glued and screwed in a half inch baltic birch play reinforcing spider that gave us all confidence in the integrity of the glue up ...
A little more sanding and it will be off to the finish room next week ...
Were liking it and have already discussed a couple of variations on the theme ...
Legsm aprons, face frame, drawer framing members
Close up of the corner detail and the channel down through the leg
Here were starting the finish .. Below with a temporary top for the photo ...
The CAD drawing showing the overall layout and dimensions ...
The original bar cabinet with an blackened finish on the walnut ...
We started with the legs. Will made the notches for the moldings on the tablesaw.
Next we ran some panel details on the cnc which defined the centers of the stepped panels, defined the center molding location and gave him a place to start with his frame pieces.
The end panel and front apron are completed ... doors and moldings next ...
We got the whole claro walnut table together for the first time today .... Theres other stuff going on in the shop but Ill have to write about that later . Were off to see Iris DeMent in Middlebury in a couple of minutes ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
Heres the process ... We made jig for routing for half the base, routed inside that and then flipped it to complete the pocket ... The slab was too big and heavy to get upstairs to the cnc ... Anychoice, it was dusty, but fine and the base is incredibly rigid ...
All bolted down to flip over ...
Flipped over .... with one of the ladderbacks from a November post that were finally getting around to making ...
With some people for scale .... Its a big one .....
