another torah cabinet

ok ... out the door a couple of weeks ago ...

another challenging project for sure!

we made one of these for a Holocaust Torah for

a synagogue in Bennington Vermont in 2017

being that we could not visit the site on long island, the design

required much back and forth confirming concepts and measurements ...

 this is the second cabinet for a holocaust Torah that we have made .

and, we are now in the process of adding a bookcase to be installed

under the cabinet above ...

click the photos to enlarge them ...
 

Torah dimension check

here's Kristian with the mdf mockup we made showing the theoretical finished cabinet

we got an eps file with the lettering from a designer there,

and kristian cut it on the cnc and painted it

the cabinet, ready to go, with the hanging instructions ..

the eagle has landed!

hung and ready for the Torah !

the great neck cabinet and the 

Bennington cabinet below 

the bennington cabinet

we are honored to help with the preservation and display of these historic pieces ...

 

soon after the cabinet arrived, we were asked

to design a bookcase cabinet to go underneath it ..

fast forward to 6.24 ...

homestretch on the bookcase

we offered two options for the bookcase ... 

the clients selected the longer option.

we had a few questions ... or actually, a lot of questions ...

and then there was the outlet for the lights ...

although i had the theoretical location for the outlet, 

we all decided that it would be best to cut the box in on site ... 

it would have been a project to fix it

if i got it in the wrong place ...

above is the base with the levelers we needed in place.

the cabinet, ready to go, and out the door on Monday... 

it arrived in Great Neck on the 3rd of july

and will be installed sometime soon ... 

i admit to being a little anxious about it as the floor is not level,

the wall is not perfectly plumb, there's the outlet,

and the list of instructions i sent were all COMPLETELY theoretical.

i have faith in Major Tom, who sent me measurements and

agreed to cut the outlet in on site ...

i cross my fingers and await some installation photos ... 

7/11 ...

well, as the auctioneers say "all in, all done!"

i am so happy that the installation went well .. 

thank you Major Tom! and everyone else who was involved in this project ..

as they say, 'couldn't have done it without ya!'

tonight i will probably not wake up at 4 AM and wonder if 

everything is going to fit! 

 

 

a display cabinet for a Holocaust torah

we have been working on a display cabinet for a Holocaust Torah for the
Congregation Beth El, the oldest synagogue in vermont, founded in 1909.
it was a complicated but rewarding project.

the above photo was just a test set up on installation day.
the parchment will be rewound and level when the wiring is done
and the torah is finally placed in the cabinet ..
the lights will be dimmer too ..


trevor drew and carved the letters on the cnc and added a little gold paint

there will be a dedication ceremony sometime in the near future ...
tough lighting on installation day .. i hope to get a better picture later ..

when i made the original drawing, we had planned to move a memorial plaque and

 hang the cabinet in the back of the synagogue, but as we progressed, 

the current location across from the entrance became more appealing 

since we didn't have to move anything

fun with photoshop

the wood bars holding the scrolls were different lengths 

so we had to mock it up and take careful measurements so we

could return the torah to its home in bennington while we worked ...

once we had the bones of the case built, we brought the torah

back for a test fitting to be sure we had it right.

it was pretty good after one minor adjustment of 

the size of one of the holes on the top of the cabinet

i originally saw it with green velvet,

but i had some fabric from another project that 

seemed to me to be more suitable ..

we took a vote and the beautiful orangey fabric won out

two choices for the layout of the lettering

and we went with the curved letters you see 

on the finished case