a spalted maple breakfast table

 

 

we recently sent this spalted maple breakfast table off to its new home in florida

it is about 27 x 62 and features one of our waterjet cut 

solid steel bases ... 

 

 

we made a quick mdf mockup on the cnc, got the client's approval

                                    and sent the file off to mainly metals in bristol, vt to be cut

the slab had been a coffee table that i made for a show, but when the client came to visit he decided it would make a perfect breakfast table for his banquet

good to go

Another Claro Walnut Slab Table

well, OK … this semi retirement thing must be ok … after writing

many posts per month since November of 2007, I just noticed I 

haven't posted anything since april … i'm still working, but I only need 

a little work to keep myself out of trouble all week, and the nephew busy Tuesdays and Wednesday. I seem to be good for about 5 or 6 hours a day. in by 9:00, hour for lunch with a nap, off to the golf course or the tennis court by 3:30 or 4:00 ... it has been a great summer, and

the pressure is off of the marketing department …
work continues to roll in more or less at about the right pace … 

here's one we finished back in june ..

the process was typical .. we have made about 50 of them ...
pictures and notes below.

the raw slab from goodhope hardwoods

adjust in photoshop to the clients dimensions and request for 'straightened edges'

the client requested a new design trestle steel base

 made a new model with the new base design

sam whipped it up

and we had it powder coated up the road in poultney

while Kristian and I did a few repairs

and laid out the 'straightened edges with placemats

you can see the cuts in the photo with the green tape

 

all in, all done … out the door in early july

more new projects

 following up on some stuff from the previous post, and getting some other new projects underway.  happy to clear the decks a bit and make room for some new stuff.  we hung the big mirror yesterday, all 13' 5" of it.  it was interesting as the building is old, the floor and ceiling or both out of level and when we hung it up level, it was just so obviously wrong that we had to move it around until it looked right with everything else that is going on there.  as it hangs now, the right end is about 7/8ths higher than the left end but it totally looks 'right' given the other stuff that is going on .. haven''t had to do that for a while.  click the pictures to enlarge them ...

 

 and the cherry bookcase clients will be in town this weekend ... that piece will be 

joining its friends that we made previously ...

 and the dart cabinet is happening now ... it can be fun working with crooked old barn boards.

 you certainly can't be fussy, and you definitely have to go with the flow.

 and it's been a good excuse to have a dartboard next to the chop saw for a while.

recipe for a railng .. cut a bunch of steel up into very specific lengths, and weld it all together,  

then take it to the client's house and bolt it to the posts you put there last week ..

 looks easy when it's done ...  

 

and sam's got a couple other table bases in the works.  the one above will have a danby marble top.  that's 1" rebar .. polished .. it's a nice look and the rebar is becoming popular with our customers .. 

 

 and another nakashima style base 
he's just making the base.  the client is making his own top.

and there's a new claro walnut table happening too ...  4' x 8' x 2.75" thick, with a 

beefed up steel base to go with the beefier slab.  it's gonna look good.  we've done a 

heavier base before in 1.75" steel, but this looks fine in our regular 1.5" steel.

the price of steel has increased so much lately that it's hard to justify working in the thicker stuff.

 

 the slab had a few surface, non structural, cracks that we filled with our usual advantech tintable epoxy.

  

chris finished the chest of drawers for the shaker piece .. we may install that tomorrow.

and trevor's underway on a new 60" round walnut table with a 22" crotch walnut inlay in the center of it.

 

more on that as we progress ... all for now ... dan
update: i'll do a complete blogpost when we're finished

 

back to work

we'll ok .. it's the new year, and we're back at work, and from the looks of it here, we're pretty busy.  luckily, the last few days things have kind of come into focus and under control ... a little new year miracle, compared to the last couple weeks of 2013.  click the photos to enlarge them.

trevor seems to have the 12' cherry cabinet details mostly complete, and we'll be doing some preinstallation recon work on site tomorrow or friday.  it's always nice to check the floors for level and the walls for plumb when you are installing a major piece in an older house.  well, first we have to finish the piece, but as soon as everything else here leaves, we'll be on that ...
it should be ready for finish after tomorrow.  next week after the other stuff leaves

the pool table is finished now that will has felted the rails below .. the felt is simonis, dark green and i believe it's the first time we have used that color .. like it.

and for above the table ..

 

we're working on this light, assisted by authentic designs, up the road in rupert .. 

it's nina mooney, the designer's concept, and i think it's going to be cool ...

we had to do some creative cutting, drilling, tapping, and epoxy work,  but i think we've got it.

 

photoshopped concept by nina here

and in the pool table photo above, you can see the model for the table in the drawing below.  it will be made from recycled chestnut and we should be starting the joinery tomorrow sometime.

and the benches below go with 8,  30 x 36" quartered oak table tops we finished on  monday.

the commercial pedestals are on site, and hopefully we'll install them next week with the 

pool table, the benches, and the dining table below.

we're using a fine (new to us) polyurethane varnish.  it's by a company called lenmar, which has been recently purchased by benjamin moore.  we used a coat of gloss as a base and applied two coats of satin on top with a 3" foam brush.  flowed out like it was sprayed.  i'm going to go out on limb and recommend it ... not something i usually do, but i like it as a finish.

this is another project for the hill farm inn, a rehab of a venerable bed
and breakfast down the road in sunderland.

there was concern that the antlers on the deer from the logo inlay

 would disappear if we left them in the burl.  sooo.

 

there was an antler that sam found in the woods rattling around, 

and trevor made some 'antler antlers'.  fun.

and we moved the mill from the old metal shop

 to the new one thanks to the help of our friend malcolm cooper, president and owner of jk adams

and his new company peace street rigging ... any excuse to use one of his tractors.

 the mill is happy to be back in a heated space ...

 sam's busy in the new metal shop .. knocking out a few projects before 

starting on a new big one next week

this coffee steel table base going to san francisco

and this one will be a base for a new claro walnut slab table we'll be building from the slab below.

it's going to be a nice one.  there's some good figure lurking in there

all for now ..