These are just a few photos, of the finished boat and what it looks like today.
It was an ambitious project, but I learned a lot about woodworking during the process. 
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Kamis, 26 Januari 2017
More Photos of Yacht Tender
These are just a few photos, of the finished boat and what it looks like today. It was an ambitious project, but I learned a lot about woodworking during the process. 
Selasa, 20 Desember 2016
You Cant Leave Em Alone For Even a Minute
Will and I went home for lunch the other day and when we got back, Trevor had us rolling in the aisles with his new Halloween decoration. He was in the middle of a big mdf run and had an extra piece so he whipped this up for the kids in his neighborhood ... He says he has some glossy white spray paint for the full effect ... BOOOOOOOOOO ! ... Loved itSenin, 31 Oktober 2016
A Little Humor For All You Chair Builders Out There
Instructional Video on KungFu chairbuildingMinggu, 23 Oktober 2016
Three Years of Writing
I could do another picture of a sunset here and say something about how now I like to write, (like I said on anniversary one and two), but a couple things have come together in the last two months that make me want to go a little deeper ... While we were making the recent shop video, I went through our scrapbooks to get images of our first shop, and, scattered around there, were pictures of some of my early work ... my first table; my first chairs from scratch; my first sideboard (still have it); and, like David Byrne once famously wondered "How did I get here???. Is this my beautiful house??? ". Well, the days have gone by and I have now been making stuff from wood for over half of my 63 year old life. I didnt set out to do this; there was no grand plan, and as Anne Beattie so gracefully points out in the passage below, things happen ...In looking back through the stuff I have written and photographed in the last three years, its easy to see we can now make a lot of different stuff, but, really, it wasnt alchoices like this ... Like most other folks I know, progress is incremental; we do not know instantly what to do. We work from one recovery to the next. In one of Malcolm Gladwells latest books, Outliers, he notes that interest and coincidence often combine to produce surprising careers. I was interested and was fortunate enough to encounter the coincidences I encountered and rise to the good fortune that arrived at my door.
I cant do the whole 38 years in one shot, but Ill briefly touch on the first 10 or so years and hopefully come back to finish up as the spirit moves me ... If youve gotten this far, this will be a long one ... Thanks for sticking with me. Click the photos to enlarge them ...
Thank you Ann Beattie for writing this passage and thanks to my friend Tom Peters, who passed it on to me as an important piece of child rearing and general life information. Its been on my various bulletin boards for about 10 years ... See also the related quote at the end of this post from Jim Harrison .... ready and attentive ... be there ...
My first (or second?) table, my brothers stereo cabinet, my first chairs from scratch ...
Images 1973-81 ... the Welsh Cabinet I built in 1973 using F.E. Hoard and A.W. Marlows book Good Furniture You Can Make Yourself .. page 150 and 151 ... a corner cupboard lower right from our house ...Some later Windsor chairs and a cabinet for a friends daughter ... Bottom left is a table I still have in my dining room ... made in early 1981.
Before we got to furniture, we first needed a house ... which is part of the story ... In the top photo with the mustache and long hair, I am working on a project in the basement of the apartment I rented when I first came to Vermont. Kit joined me there shortly after I moved in and I later went on to work as a carpenter for my landlord, even though I knew absolutely nothing about carpentry at the time ... It was interesting work though and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to build my own house ... By 1974, the economy was in the tank and my landlord/contractor was now running a logging business, and I was working in the woods, sawing, skidding and Prentice loading. The schedule was, start at 5:30 ... out of the woods at 2:30, back to town by 3:30 ... It was summer and that gave me 5 hours or so of daylight after my real job to work on my house. Home to bed... up and at it again the next day. We moved in in November ... I was young and energetic and in great shape from logging (3 coincidences there) and we were on our choice ...
We borrowed and cheated, (a little) to get a piece of land; we somehow got a mortgage, (the bank presidents mother was Kits fifth grade teacher). We bought books and lumber ... We worked hard. We built a house in our spare time!!!! By that time, it was the gas crisis, my landlord was out of business, I got another job with a real carpenter, Mark Breen, with whom I still do projects, like right now ...
We built a shop/garage in 1976 ... I did a few things on the side until December of 1979, when, after about 40 houses, Mark and I went our own choices ... I was on my own as a furniture maker ... I often say I then attended the "checkbook" school of woodworking ... Checkbook needs money ... go figure it out .... One of Marks first jobs after I left in 1980 was a house for some people who had come to town from California. Mark hired me to build some French doors ... Well, were all still friends today. Cook Neilsen, the husband and famous motorcycle guy, and his wife Stepper, went on to become our longtime friends and photographers for the next 20 years. Stepper called me two weeks ago to adjust the latch on one of the 30 year old doors I built below... It just needed a little tuning and lubing .... Proper lubrication is, after all, the key to life. I had a nice visit with their stuff and it all still looks good. A truly nice feeling.
One of the 4 french doors in the original project ... 
The cat shelf, bolted to the fireplace corner...
And a pine cabinet from, I think 1982.
Its 1982 now and kids (Sam and Kit are in the lower left corner) happen ... This photo was taken by Cook, Labor Day 1983 ... Thats Stepper in the middle along with cousins, friends, friendss kids, neighbors ... were all still here today,
And I thank my wife Kit for her constant and unending support through the last 39 years. As the official sees all, knows all, arbiter of taste branch of my work, she is and alchoices will be truly indispensable. Photo above is from the windowsill in our kitchen 1971. And finally, below, we have some wisdom from one of my favorite writers, Jim Harrison. I am now in the rowing mode, approaching life backwards, looking at the past, wondering indeed, How Did I Get Here? More later ... 1982- 1996, when we moved and built our current shop, would be the next logical chunk. Stay tuned ...
Jumat, 07 Oktober 2016
Enjoying My Summer Weekends
Just Enjoying My Summer Weekends
I cook outside all year round, but probably a little bit more in the summertime.
I havent blogged for a while,
so I thought I would just take you through a photo journey
of some of my favorite summertime joys.
Pizza ready for the grill.
Hows that for Pizza?
Growing my own peppers.
Family backyard campers.
Shes a pretty small boat but lots of fun to sail.
Not much wind on this day but so quiet and relaxing, without the sound of a motor and no exhaust fumes to breathe.
So, until next time . . . Heres wishing you all smooth sailing.Stay Happy,Steve
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And of course rigging up Gypsy Rose for a sail around the lake.
So, until next time . . . Heres wishing you all smooth sailing.Stay Happy,SteveMinggu, 31 Juli 2016
what kind of custom dining tables do you make
someone, i forget who, asked me over the holidays, so what type of furniture do you make most often? my answer was dining tables. a lot of our projects take longer and require a lot more concentration, organization and problem solving, but im fairly confidant if you asked my guys what their favorite type of project was, youd get the same answer. dining tables. one of the reasons may be is the flow of them. you start. not that long later, you finish. they leave. you know people will have good times around them ...next project ...
how many different tables have we made over the last 34 years? more than a hundred for sure. i put this slide show together as much for my own convenience, so i can find a picture of a table that is not on my website when i want it, and also so folks can see the different styles we work in. this is certainly not all of the tables we have made, but it does cover some stylistic ground, from high traditional, to contemporary slabs. click any photo at the link above to start the show, and enjoy your tour. a few of the highlights are directly below.
some have carved details
some are very traditional
some are made from one slab of wood, in this case bubinga
and some have inlays and specific stylistic details ..
anychoice, there are many different tables in the slide show, and were alchoices on the lookout for new opportunities to stretch our design legs .. send us your ideas and well have at it ..
ps ... im working on getting links from the photos to the blog posts, but it will probably be a while before i finish that part of the show .. enjoy!
Jumat, 24 Juni 2016
How Did You Spend Your 4th of July
We are aboard Gypsy Rose on this hot 4th of July morning. She sails beautifully. 
Connie and I are loving it. She was taking pictures on launch day and did not get in much sailing time but today we will be out for several hours.
The temps today will hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats why we dressed in light colors to beat the heat. 
Here is Connie, my smiling beauty of a wife with her sailing gloves on. 39 years together and we are still best friends 
Gypsy Rose is a very unique and vintage looking boat and we can already see that she will attract attention wherever we sail her. 
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............Pirate Island?? 
A board sailor out enjoying the wind and waves. 
Lots of flags out today. I for one love the USA! 
Back in the slip and the weary but happy sailors head for home, only 10 minutes achoice. 
Shes a little beauty. 
Thank you for visiting my blog. I look forward to reading your comments and hope you have happy times ahead. 
Happy sailing everyone!Steve and Connie. Jumat, 17 Juni 2016
a hanging chestnut swing
well ok, this was a fun one ... this week well deliver it to the walnut trestle table house we visited back in december. weve got a curved project coming up there, so well get to check our templates for the next project while we are there. click the photos to enlarge them.
check out the video of the test hanging here ... 
we started with an inspiration photo from our designer client, jennifer palumbo interiors, of newton, massachusetts, which we translated into the drawing above. it looks pretty straightforward, but has the classic three choice intersection joinery challenge, coupled with an outside installation situation, and the ability to seat three (at least) people. so, we had some serious, long term structural considerations. we chose reclaimed chestnut for the wood as it has a reputation that in outside use, it last two years less than stone. in fact, i have some chestnut fence posts in the woods, by the corner of my property, still sound, and surrounded by 65 year old trees. good enough for me.
first set of corners was easy. bridle joints on the table saw all around.
i made a sample corner, which i later changed to a square tenon on the ends of the crosspieces, and inserted 1/2" x 6" stainless steel hanger bolts through the bridle joints, with stainless washers and bolts securing them.
the assemble corner sample
the brain storm was using the assembled bench to drill the pilot holes for the hanger bolts. by carefully drilling centered holes in the corners of the end assemblies with the pilot bit on the drill press, i had a guide for drilling the 3" deep pilot holes for the hanger bolts. i then disassembled everything, drilled the holes in the ends sections large enough for the hanger bolts to pass through, reassembled everything, and inserted the hanger bolts with the bench already put together. otherwise, it was almost impossible to get those 6" long bolts in straight.
lots of mortising and tenoning later, we had the bench below.
we hung it in the shop and grabbed some cushions from the lounge chairs in the office and had a swing.
the springs and hardware gave the whole deal a wonderful feeling, even with three of us and wills dog in it. be sure to check the video ... its one of our best.
the finished bench color with the sample of the rough sawn siding
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i found the perfect swing hardware and springs online and they are sweet.
the custom forged steel swing hooks that sam made for this project
