odds and ends

time for another 'what's up at dorset custom furniture lately' post.  i notice i haven't been writing much lately ... change of seasons from summer to fall, change of seasons from golf and tennis to paddle tennis, reading some good books, ('gone girl', 'sisters brothers', 'crossing to safety', and others), wash and wax the convertible and store that for the winter, subdivide our property so we can refinance and build a new metal shop, design the metal shop, help a friend build a workbench, get ready to do some pottery, and on top of that there are lots of small projects, repairs, office stuff, and new quotes going out at work.  phew!  is that all really happening?  yeah, it is.  above we have sam's railings for the new manchester-and- the- mountains chamber of commerce building on main street.  he and jim installed the railings for the handicap ramps today and i know he has a couple other things to do there too.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

 he also recently made us a nice welded base for a claro walnut table that is leaving for florida on tuesday.  the one piece claro walnut table top is 52" wide by 102" long and about 2.75" thick.

i've lost count of these, but now we have another slab in the shop, below, that will soon be a table, and will head out for houston when it is finished in a couple of weeks.

that one will have one of our steel 'shaker' bases.

and our friend, joe hart, a local antiques dealer, brought this Grand Army of the Republic sign by sam's metal shop for a tune up.  the star 'arms' are flapping.

after a quick cardboard test template, Will made Sam a jig and some patterns and he welded up this reinforcing 'star' that we will screw to the back side of the sign frame ... good as new, and ready for another 100 years  or so.

a little paint and some screws, we're good to go ...

 joe and sue find the coolest stuff.  this snake weathervane needs a wall mount.

and then there's the other stuff that is happening in the wood shop.

trevor just finished 4 of our 'transitional' chairs to go with the cherry tables we finished recently

and now he's well on his way to 8 more, only in bubinga.  hard heavy stuff, but no match for trevor and his cnc work

16 legs ... couple three hours, max.  we're all going to help him sand these ones.  he says 'thank you'.
they will be heading to england shortly with this table and a few other pieces we made a few years ago for some english clients in Connecticut, who are moving back home after many years in the states.

one of our favorite forms.  we've made about a dozen of these in various sizes, detailing and wood combinations.  this one opens to about 10' as i remember.

and will finished a long, skinny cherry console in the 'studio style' that will be leaving for houston, as soon as our long island based shipper ply con, recovers from hurricane sandy.  they are scheduled to be here next tuesday for the pool table, the table to florida, and this one.  will had his plane sharp in this photo.  that's an ebony and maple end grain inlay he's planing off there, with his block plane no less.  sharp, i guess.

nice figured cherry.

and he's also in the finishing stage of this 18-36 x 60" double gate leg console/'dining table for overflow dinner parties'.  that one is off to vail, colorado, next week.seats four with the legs opened a little, it could seat six i you open the legs until they touch in the center. 

what else? aahhhh, the friend's workbench ...

mike has been a contractor for 30 years, and now has a serious interest in upgrading his woodworking/furniture building skills.  i like doing stuff like this.  passin it on, and give me a chance to feel like i've learned something over the last 40 years.   i've talked him through roughing out, mortising and tenoning the legs, and we roughed out the 2.5" thick cherry top last weekend ... he'll be back when he's got that all fitted up and ready to glue. vises and dogs next.

here's the new metal shop/photoshop mockup, hopefully to be built in the parking lot at the woodshop in the spring.  30 x 28.

floor plans

oh yeah, repairs.  we've had a run of them.
let's start with randall's little plant stand.  it is a family piece she's passing on to another family member,  but first, it needed a tune up.  polish the marble, replace the missing moldings, polish the finish ... love the legs with their elegant shape and corner carvings.  the sliding top/drawer was neat too.  cool object.

i think it's called a 'dutch' foot, and the bottom of it is turned on the lathe on two different centers.  i made some myself for a client about 20 years ago.  good luck finding that picture.  hmmm, i do go on ... and on ... it is a busy time though.

in the top photo, we had to carefully rout out the damaged wood and fill it in with new pieces.  than we routed that again and added another new piece on top.  then, below, since the tenon was sheardce off at the leg face, i carefully add two trim head stainless steel screws in place of the tenon and then inlaid a square flush patch over them ...

this chair was fixed a million times before we got it, but this time, it was fixed more correctly, sort of.  not a museum job, but i'll guarantee it for my and my client's lifeitme.   a little paint and it was out the door ...

and then there was that custom brass strike plate on the cnc for another friend ...

and now yesterday and today, will and i are on to the next pool table, in reclaimed hemlock to match the post and beam frame of the client's home in stowe ... forward ...

the beginnings of the rails, cushions, and the slate support frame ... if you can believe it, that's all for now.