Wednesday, November 30, 2016

top 25 woodworking bloggers ...

i am honored to say that i have recently been selected as 'one of the top 25 woodworking bloggers!


from there you can access the home page and check reviews of top woodworking tools.  i checked a few and haven't seen much that i would disagree with yet .. the site seems to have some link to amazon but i am not sure exactly how it works or what that means .. i'm sure it's a good place to start if 
you are considering purchasing a new tool of some type ...
anyway, it's nice of em to appreciate my efforts over the last 8 years .. i'm flattered ...
 enjoy your tour ...

from there you can access the home page and check reviews of top woodworking tools.  i checked a few and haven't seen much that i would disagree with yet .. the site seems to have some link to amazon but i am not sure exactly how it works or what that means .. i'm sure it's a good place to start if 
you are considering purchasing a new tool of some type ...
anyway, it's nice of em to appreciate my efforts over the last 8 years .. i'm flattered ...
 enjoy your tour ...

if you're new to this blog, i have been writing since the fall of 2007,
and there are over 900 posts on a wide variety of topics ...

Saturday, November 26, 2016

a couple of pool tables

this started out to be the definitive pool table post, but after finishing these up 
last week, i'm going to take a break before i do the serious detailed writing, which will
be mostly so we remember exactly how the steps to make one of these next time ..
these are our 4th and 5th editions of the pool table above that we originally designed and sent to chicago in november of 2012 .. here's a link ..
surprisingly, as i look back at the blog post for that table, we started it with two 
shipments of broken sets of slate.  this time, we had two broken sets also, 
only they happened in the same shipment, so we lost a lot less time ...
all but the first version of this table have been 8 foot tables, so i had my cad drawing ready to go ..
unfortuantely, they are milled as sets so you can't mix and match them,
but we were able to get started while waiting for the replacements.
a shout out here for my supplier, ae schmidt billiards in st. louis
for being so understanding and quick to ship out the new sets.




sam cut the parts and polished them up
pretty cool to do two of these at the same time .. we almost got efficient about it ...
stack em up  ...
fitting up the rails
 with the black simonis felt
with the simonis olive felt
and then we had the cue rack too ...
and a couple close ups of the rails ...





Tuesday, November 15, 2016

for the holidays

so, we're wrapping up two pool tables this week and today, for the first time i
can remember in a looong time, the finish room is empty of things
being finished.  and so, i could see (and photograph) the odds and ends
of wood stacked around the perimeter.more than one of them could make
that perfect 'holiday gift' for someone on your list.
let's start with the two walnut slabs above.  the one on the left is claro
from california, and the one on the right is american black walnut
from central pennsylvania ...both have striking color, figure and grain ...
either would make a great small coffee table.
they are both 30 + wide and about 42 long .. the claro is thick, (2.5")
and the americanwalnut is about 1.25"  see this link for some table base ideas.
all of these items are reasonably priced and nearly ready to go .. discuss ....
then we've got this relatively inexpensive unfinished slab of white oak ...
it needs a couple of butterflies, but it also would make an
excellent coffee table, small dining table or desk top .. 
+/- 30 x 72 .. click the photos to enlarge them ..
we also have this interesting birch burl wall piece (or small table top) 
with (or without) a small shelf ... it's about 30" in diameter ..
the straight edge was where the burl was cut off the tree.
and this interesting piece of claro .. +/- 36" at its wide point
about 75 long and an inch and a quarter thick.  can be cut to shape to suit
desk top, coffee table, headboard, worktable .. open to your thoughts on this one.
cool piece of wood .. the picture doesn't quite do it justice.
and we also have a good selection of lightly spalted +/- 60 x 22+" wide maple slabs
these are very reasonable in price, and will finish up nicely, similar to the
one below, which is also available as a desk top, coffee table or queen headboard as shown.
+/- 24 x 62
more spalted maple below
i've still got the unfinished mate to this thick spalted slab
+/- 34 x 50 .. photo below
matched pair .. see more pictures here
how about a live edge oak table?  the two slabs above are yet to be surfaced,
and probably have fairly plain grain.  but they are reasonably priced 
and they'd be perfect for the right space. they'll finish out as a table top at about 42 x 84 .. 
a great size to seat 8 comfortably...
above is a reclaimed chestnut console ... 14 x 60 x 32, i think ..
i need a better photo ...
and here's a piece  of verde antique vermont marble that would make a great coffee table .
20 x 66, but it needs to have one edge polished and could easily be cut down ..

 Black Friday Pricing Applied to your inquiry !!

i'm thinking i've got a few more items .. i'll add more later as the weekend progresses.
call me at 802-867-5541, or

Have a great weekend !