A triangular coffee table

well ok ... here's one from back in the fall.  thanksgiving to be more precise.

the clients had a table that had been made for them, but

over time it had acquired some structural concerns, like about an inch

and a half warp across across the middle, and they we looking

for something with a 'live edge on three sides', kind of a tall order.

BUT!, Goodhope hardwoods had the exact slab i needed for the project!!

cad drawing to measurement specs ..

then i photoshopped the planned cuts

and we did the initial surfacing down the road at a friend's factory ...

a little scraping and we moved it to the shop

after Sam fashioned the steel parts, we decided that the initial

bracing concept was unnecessary and we went with just the three legs

i cut the legs from a dead tree that had fallen in the woods behind the garage ..

beautiful double crotch figure!

home in time for turkey day ..

june

where does the time go?  it's almost the first day of summer !!

since my last blog post on may 22nd we have been ripping through

lots of projects including some that were in the works a month ago.

below is a sample of some of the more interesting ones

a nice walnut coffee table .. 40 x 60 x 18 with two drawers

a beautiful job on a king size cherry pencil post bed by trevor

first time running the pencil posts and mortises on the cnc

safe and perfect .. gold star for trevor

 and i got some time in on the lathe for the finials .. 

first time i turned anything in  quite a while ... 

kinda like riding a bicycle, but not quite ... i'm a little rusty ...

 and the metal shop has been particularly busy the last couple of weeks

sam installed this railing high above lake george today .. 16' 7" long ..

and he made some parts for another railing before this one .. 

same  builder, different house

lots of parts

lots of railing too

and tyler did 5 repairs the week before last ..

this chair was a family heirloom and needed some love

like some new front rail tenons

tah dah .. ready for another hundred years

and the cutest little chair about 18" high ... 

it needed a disassemble, reglue and polish 

and we installed vanities 3 and 4 on the vanity project

chris has become the resident vanity expert .. 

danby imperial on site now by bennington marble and granite

ready for plumbing by GSK climate control this week

and we picked up the 'thoreau cabin project' bed from sandy sherman chair caning yesterday

beautiful job by tyler and sandy

and today tyler and i finished the reproduction rocker for the cabin ..

though i have made a lot of windsors over the last 40 years, this one was

the first in this style and the first windsor in about 15 years

talk about rusty for sure .. 

quite the four weeks ...

claro walnut slab tables

finishing up a couple of claro walnut slab projects next week.  above is the slab we started with for a dining table that will go in a half round room about 10' in diameter ... the drawing is below.  

click the photos to enlarge them ...

here's the finished table .. the story is below

typically before i actually purchase the slab, i will crop it to size in photoshop and often, can erase the dimensions with the 'rubber stamp' tool ... that gives us and the client and idea of the final shape.  in this case, i actually made a full size cardboard template for then to try in the room for a while ... here's the drawing ...

and the model below, with a new base design

painted mdf base, 1" = 1' scale .. picture of the slab glued to the mdf top

the base only ...

the base rectangles are actually welded now ...

and the slab is filled and has its first coat of finish .. 

the steel will have our 'bronzy' patina when it is finished

the base is welded up now .. ready for patina
 

before the final cut to length

we use aero marine clear epoxy fill, #300/21.  scroll down on the epoxy page .. we outline the cracks with a couple layers of tape and then fill to the top of the tape, which after a tiny bit of settling, allows us to
scrape it to a level filled finish.

the second, (and there is actually a third shown briefly in this post) is a largeish coffee table, 

about 46" wide by 66 " long by 15.5" high .. same process ..

first a drawing with the cropped slab photo ...

in this case, we made a full size painted mdf mockup to confirm the proportions ..

 5/2 .. all in all done .. good to go.

it'll be off to providence next week or the week after ... 

more on the '3rd' project as it progresses ... it is being made from slab cts#23

and it has some cracks, but also some seriously dramatic crotch figure ... the first stage

of the clear fill is hardened and we are awaiting delivery of another batch on monday ... 

a live edge coffee table

we delivered another nice claro wlanut slab coffee table this week.  the slab is one of a pair we bought back in january, specifically for this project, and in the meantime, sold the other one to another client who just happened to be looking for a small dining table exactly the size of the other slab.  

sometimes you just get lucky.  clcik the photos to enlarge them.

so here it is, onsite friday morning .. a cloudy day, but still a warm object with a little light.

at one point, i considered straightening the flair, but decided to not even ask .. the

live edge was just too nice ..

the base design is one we have used before in flat, 1/2" steel, but the tubing is a little more refined.

we added our dark bronze patina to the natural, polished steel.

 earlier in the process, i took the base to the client's home nearby with a piece of half inch mdf cut the to same size and shape as the actual slab.  i then took a couple photos ...

 and then, with a little creative photoshopping, added a photo of the the sister slab from the table below, which by that time was already finished and shipped.  this mockup helped the clients visualize the

finished table in their space .. it took a minute,  but was well worth the effort.  compare this photo with the onsite photo at the top and you can get a handle on the 'power of photoshop'.

all for now.  enjoy your sunday ...