well, im gonna try your patience here. i havent been writing much lately, (too busy, the weathers too nice, pick an excuse ) so i thought i would catch up with a monster post summarizing the last week or two. here goes:the photo above is not from the guggenheim, but rather from the house where we delivered the circular bench this past thursday. fit like a glove, as the saying goes.
the pictures were a challenge as the light was intense at the top of the steps late in the day ... you get the idea. the stairchoice is three full stories and is a 6 radius at the outside of the curved railing
the bench went to the same house as the swinging bench
and weve got two claro slab dining tables underchoice in the shop .. a ten footer and a twelve footer. both slabs are from the same log and are going to two different clients, one in chicago, and one in northern vermont. one of the table tops will be finished in a satin black color, which should be interesting as its the first one of these tables we have made to be stained. the sample was elegant, so im looking forward to seeing it finished ... this week?
the 10 footer will have our regular natural finish, and both slabs are now routed for the bases. on to the finishing room monday with this one.
while were talking about claro walnut, were also working on some pieces for an upcoming show at a new venue in the berkshires opening on the 21st of july. its a converted mill space in housatonic, mass., near great barrington, and while i haven;t seen it yet, the space looks fantastic in the photo above. we started out figuring on a minimal presence, but at the urging of the organizers, were now making a bigger effort. were working on a couple of pieces using the small claro slabs we purchased back in february.
weve got a funky mdf desk mockup going, which sam will fabricate in steel this week. im not sure yet about the vertical things and well have to see as we go along. i might try some more polished rebar instead.
weve also got this coffee table slab. the base is completed and will be like the one we finished recently. ive decided not to reinvent the wheel with every piece we build. enough is enough.
also early last week, we started a new pool table. this is a long story i will eventually tell in a dedicated blog post, but for now, heres what we have so far ...
a bunch of parts roughed out, the slate, the slate support pieces and below,
a mockup of the leg details and and full size drawing. the table will be walnut, with quilted maple panels, which will veneered earlier last week.
and weve got this very funky bench project in the works, proceeding from the sketch above,
to the cad drawing ...
to the actual thing nearly completed. the last thing will did friday was cut the back on the cnc and hell fit it up and fabricate the round cap on manday ... its made from reclaimed white oak. hopefully, it will be ready to roll out by the end of next week.
and, speaking of rolling out, the benches for the copper top table left tuesday and are now on the porch in connecticut. im waiting for a photo of the whole setup from the client ... these are, like the table 11 long and have reclaimed chestnut x bases with new, distressed and painted ash tops.
and, that copper top table and benches led sam to create this 8 table for one of his clients. hell be making matching benches with steel x bases soon .... take an object, do something to it, do something else to it. this is a perfect ...
and we cut this quickie elm slab desk top from a slab we purchased at berkshire products ... in the door; meet with the client and cut it to shape; apply some finish; out the door last wednesday ... love a quick turnaround. still with me? almost done now .... my A D D is kicking in and it is a BEAUTIFUL day here in vermont ...
this one was a rescue operation ... it had been previously altered (20 years ago?) with some bad cast iron rail hardware that never quite was iustalled correctly. if you touched a post, the whole bed wobbled and schoiceed and seemed ready to collapse. we reversed the repair by removing the improved rails, patching those moritises and made new wider rails that were attached through the original bed bolt holes. new bolt covers and a ply mattress support and this bed is ready for the next hundred years. nice turnings and design. solid as a rock ...
and it seems things are picking up a bit ... these are just a could of projects that popped into the design quay this week ... more on those as they (hopefully) progress.
im outta here ... time to go watch the orioles ... click this one .. its one of my best bird photos ...
Yesterday, Sam and I went to the Salem Art Works to see an event that Sams friend, Pat Quinn was involved in. It took place at The Salem Art Works, an up and coming local arts place. It was my first trip there and it seems like the place has a lot of energy with a focus on glass, metal, wood fired pottery, and general fun and funkiness. On the choice to SAW, Sam and I stopped to see Sue and Bill Clarys shop, Maccartees Barn , a shop with a mix of fine antiques and really fine, fine art. Their roster includes local artists Penny Viscusi, Brian Sweetland, and many others ... Worth a stop if youre in the area. Click the photos to enlarge them ...
The event was billed as an iron pour with, I think, 3 or 4 four colleges represented by at least 30 art students who had prepared sand castings that would be poured. Here Sam checks in with Pat
In conjunction with the pour, for $15.00 SAW offered a blank for you to carve that they would then include in the pour ... Above, one of the directors carries one Sam and I whipped up out to the staging area. Interesting process. You have to visualize the reverse of what you are carving, a fact that stumped me for a minute. The tools available, a couple big nails and some mangled clay trimmers, showed that it could be as crude or as detailed as you wanted. The sand was surprisingly hard to carve and held fine details surprisingly well. They poured it, but it was still hot when we left.
While we were waiting for things to heat up, we toured around and checked it all out ...
There was a funky, summer only large and well lit gallery space ...
and a great glassblowing hot shop where Leif Johnson , a local blacksmith and glass artist was leading a workshop ...
Leif does incredible combination of forged steel and hot glass.
Back at the furnace, the pour was about to begin ... 
fantastic to see the liquid metal rushing out of the spout.
pouring some of the student molds
Thats our sand, but we had to run ... Pat was going to pick it up for us at the end of the day ....
Busy week ... Lots of stuff went on ... Click the photos to enlarge them ... Will almost finished the half rounds ... actually they are half ovals, which complicated the process even more... The drawers are finished and the bottoms are fitted... Above, he has the first coat of stain on the tops and tomorrow hell sand most of that coat off as it is mainly to raise the grain, and next hell apply the second coat, being careful not to get the inlays too dark ... Varnish Tuesday ... out the door soon ... 
Trevor started a new partners desk project. Its actually for a husband and wife and their new home office in upstate Vermont. We found some really wide (30") mahogany at Irion Lumber that allowed us to make the top and the end panel out of just two boards ...
The lumber arriving from Pennsylvania ...
We rough assembled it Friday, did the inlays and built the drawer box ...
Weve got to finish up the screen porch and the Wagatha racks this week so this one might be on the back burner for a minute ...
We also got some really fin curly cherry in the same shipment for a dining table and we finalized the design on that this past weekend ... I have a drawing somewhere ...
And my wood Revolving Door prototype finally bit the dust .. The luann plywood just couldnt hold up to the wind and rain and if fell down piece by piece ... Sooooo ... time for the steel version.
The wood version was up since early summer and it spun nicely in the wind .. well see if the steel turns more slowly and less violently .. I hope so ...
I changed the proportions of the rectangles slightly and got the first three together inside the shop today ... It was a rainy Sunday and it seemed like a good thing to do ..
Were also working on posting items to our new home on www.custommade.com ... We havent tried much online marketing outside of our own website and blog, but given the times, Will and I thought we should try some ... I signed up for a year and well have a lot of photos there by the time were done with it ... What a time sink though ... Hope it works ... I think Im about half posted now ...
We also made a prototype chair for a clients dressing room ... we made several dark, rich pieces for it a few years back and our client found this Ruhlman inspired design on 1st dibs ... With the clients input and fabric choice, well be doing our take on it in East Indian rosewood.
The inspiration photo ...
The bookend raffle went live at the library ...
And we reviewed some very nice drawings for an upcoming project ... Best shop drawings by an architect ever ... My hat is off to Ramsay Gourd Architects ...
And, lastly, I dug out a photo of my original Arlington shop that I built in 1976 for a video were working on ... The new owners removed most of the second floor, added a kitchen, a fireplace and a big screened in porch off the back, and it is now a fine guest house for them ... It was a good shop for me ...
