a pin and hole jig

we had a little run of tables with leaves lately and it caused me to appreciated anew a jig we made a few years back for drilling pin and holes in table leaves. above is the walnut table we finished recently .. that had three leaves. click the photos to enlarge them ..

the jig could be made of all wood too, but we chose aluminum for the top for light weight, thinness and stability over time.
you can either use a center mark and arrange the orientation so that you use one side for holes and one side for pins as shown in the top photo or you can cut everything to length and square first and then use the sliding stops shown above .... you can purchase the drill bushing you need to build this jig from mcmaster-carr ... we have different spacings for different table sizes ... in the cad drawing, i drew ones that i thought would be universal. we don't have that many, but if i were building it again, i might ...
i tuned it up for this long table with 4 leaves we were cutting on the cnc for our friends johannes (the wood hat guy) and deb, who are building the table. sample test pieces above ...
after installing the holes and pins, trevor put it on the router, cut the channels for the mother of pearl inlay, the rounded corners and all the leaves to length ... i suppose you could do this by hand .... but i wouldn't want to ...
the blanks being checked for square, straight edges and parrallel.
the finished table parts ... lined up fine ...

a walnut slab bed

the completed bed
3/24/2011 ... we'll be finishing up an interesting new bed project today or tomorrow. it started with an internet request and an inspiration photo. we offered a couple of photoshopped options and settled on using some local slabs i had bought from lathrop's lumber, specialists in vermont wood, in bristol, vermont.
as is photo from the client ....
photoshop option #1 ... photos of the slabs we used in the end, cropped and floated behind the existing bed
option #2 ... wide planks glue up square and straight ... the more time you spend with photoshop, the more rewarding and handier it is ...
the actual slabs cropped and photoshpped into shape
here's the layout ... click it to see the details ..
the end result, in process ...
discovering the high and low points ...
having at it early on .. trevor is great with the power planer
deciding which way is up ... not that way ...
we added some butterflies ..
we needed quite a few ...
will fabricated the drawer boxes ...
glued them up ..
and made some drawers ...
and we erected a temporary timberstrand wall to lay out the french hooks that will hang the bed on the wall ... they will have to be drilled and screwed to the studs in on site, (florida). fortunately the client is a tradesman and undaunted by the process ... wrap up photos later ....

12/7/2014  .. we finished another version of this bed recently  more photos at that link

a big ash table

we are coming down the home stretch on an ash table that is based on the design below that we completed about a year ago ... the base is welded 3 x 3" steel tubing and it has a clear, natural finish ... the top started out as 12/4 (3" thick) which we flattened and planed to 2 and 3/8 ths" thick. it has breadboard ends, secured with splines and 4" timberlock screws, which are covered with end grain white oak 3/4" plugs ... fairly straightforward, except for the size and weight, with a clean contemporary look. in the photo above, you are actually seeing the bottom of the table top which will be flipped and final coated tomorrow ... ready to ship to martha's vineyard later this week ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
we made the base for this recycled spruce slab top last december ...
this table is 54" wide and 9' long ... the finished slab top weighs about 250 - 300 lbs ...
above you can see the breadboards before trimming ... we mortise and fit the plugs while the breadboard end is off the table, flush up the pegs, knock them out from the other side, trim the ends and reinstall with the bolts and the plugs ...
since the top is so thick, we installed the splines above center and the bolts pass through the breadboard and into the solid wood. typically, in a thinner table, the bolts or screws have to be long enough to go through the breadboard and half the 1" spline in the table top .
the spline slot is stopped in both the table end and the breadboard, making it invisible when the table is finished. the splines are about 3" wide and are glued only into the table top with the grain of the spline wood oriented in the same direction as the grain of the table top to eliminate any problems with cross grain expansion and contraction ...
the bit used to cut the splines ... 1/4" x 1/2" deep slot
the base tubing has caps welded on the bottoms of the verticals and the 'aprons' are 3" x 3 X 3/16ths angle iron ... plenty stiff enough to support the top ...
a couple close ups of the finish on the steel ....
one more photo coming when it's finished ...

capistrano

today is really the first day that truly feels like spring ... there's a great smell in the air and it's probably going to hit 50 or so. there is not a cloud in the sky .... the ducks arrived last year on the 15th but the weather looks like it was more hospitable then ... we'll see if they show later today ... click the pictures to enlarge them ...
last year ... the photo says 3/15/2010 ... no show today ... maybe tomorrow ...
but mr. owl is out looking for the mrs ....
and mr. turkey has already found his harem ... see him strut his stuff in a short video here ...
sooo cool the way he folds it up when he is done ....

update

every once in a while i get a little behind in my blogging and need a 'mega post' to catch up ... i feel one coming on now .... pull up a chair .... bunch of pictures coming up .... we're finishing up the walnut table above this week .... click the photos to enlarge them ...

the mdf pieces ... from a post way back on january 16th ....
we finished and delivered the mdf couches and chairs a couple weeks ago ... they looked and sat great!
the house is almost, but not quite, finished so we left the cushions covered up ...
the chairs, before they left
the gold leaf frame ... from the same post .... totally hard if not impossible with my skills to photograph anything in gold leaf ...
another mdf 'niche market' ... we made 24 of these in 3 different sizes to be painted and sold by vermont pet beds
update on the ash table next ...
it will have the last two coats of finish tomorrow and friday ... there was a delay while we were waiting for confirmation that it would be 'natural' looks great with the steel ...
the 46" round is gone ....
and will is coming along on banjo #4
it's an interesting combination of part fretless at the top end of the fretboard where the iontonation is easier and fretted at the pot ens where precision is more important ...
and, this time, because of the way he's doing the fret board with no binding, he bought a .023 router bit .... yeah that is less than 1/32nd of an inch, and is exactly the size of the 't' on the fret wire ... so, he was able to cut the stopped slots on the cnc and the edges of the fretboard will be very cool ... more on that when the fretting is finished ... he's got his own banjo website up now ...
check it out if you're into banjos ...
and, we started a new bed project .. it will have a pair of slabs hung on the wall for a headboard,the platform attached to that 6" up from the floor, and a box with a drawer on either side at the top of the mattress ... king size .. cool concept ...
this is a photoshopped slab arrangement .. we'll start smoothing and joing them tomorrow ...
more on that later ... and, there's other stuff too, but for now, this is enough for me ...