readers

now that I no longer have to keep three employees busy anymore

I have been a bit lax in my blogging for the last year or so. 

 as I finished the previous post about an art deco sideboard, out of

curiosity, I clicked on the 'stats' page … it has changed since the

last time I looked when it showed 30 day visits and you had to manually 

enter dates to view total page visits

here's where we are as of September 6th …

 one million, seven hundred seventy three thousand, eight hundred and forty five page views!!!

so, thank you readers.  I hope you have enjoyed your visits here,

and I am flattered by your attention.  I will keep writing occasionally, but

certainly not like I did from 2010 to 2014 when I was trying to share and document 

everything I did so I could remember the process and explain how we did things both 

to my employees who maybe weren't here for a particular project, or were 

working on something else, and also so as I aged, I could remember 

how things were done my own self.

as I look back through the 900 some blog posts, I am amazed and honored

at the number and variety of complex and rewarding projects our clients

have allowed us to create … 

Onward we go!

steel base for a slab table post 36,401 views

.

a fireplace mantel ... with ducks

fun one here !! we made this mantel for a client's rustic retreat on 

a tributary of the mississippi river .... on the central flyway

the masonry was going to be finished before the mantel, so we
sent a drawing to thebuilder, which he and the mason executed flawlessly.
 jon slid it right into place when it got there ..
click the photos to enlarge them ...

 essentially, the builder gave the mason several 2 x 8s cut exactly to the
size of the mantel (6" x 84") we were making to install  in the masonry.
the topp one was removable and that allowed the mantel box to be
recessed into the stone work

we sent an installation template for installing the backing block

it was commissioned by the folks we made this bed for in 2010,
one of our all time favorite projects .. lots of words and photos at that link .. 

 

we started with a mockup and full size drawing, mounted to the front outside wall of the shop

beautiful walnut from irion lumber (naturally), and trevor made some sample
pockets in mdf to fit the inlays into for the patinas.  there is a flush, no hardware, 'secret compartment'
on the right end that you open with a piece of steel that is attracted by some
rare earth magnets inlaid into the inside face of the drawer ... fun!!

all the ducks, with almost all their patinas on them

the central inlay on the bed headboard mentioned above ...

these two photos show how the inlays that are cut on a local waterjet

arrive for us to work with ... all the parts have little 'bridges' that keep the parts from flying around as they are cut.  those have to be sanded off before the pieces will fit together.

it's basically a high tech jigsaw puzzle

tah dah!

Another Week Goes By

Well, after Labor Day, it was only a four day week, but still it seemed to go by unusually quickly ... What happened? It's Sunday night already ... Back to work tomorrow ... Oh well ... good things are happening, and it seems there's always a little time for a little golf ... Click the photos to enlarge them .... There's a flag out there 87 yards away .... There are tree hazards, but the pond is dry, for now anyway .... click the photos to enlarge them ...
Will will finish construction this coming week on a mahogany vanity he's been working on off an on for a while now. It has real, solid wood raised panels, for heaven's sake....We haven't done any of them in years and I had to scratch my head for a minute to refresh my feeble memory. It will be a nice dark finish with a Danby marble top from Johnson's Marble ... It''l be real nice in its new home.
The front face frame is glued on and we'll glue the mitered sides to it first thing in the morning .. Hang the doors and bang out a couple of drawers and it will be ready to finish ...
We made another thirty display racks for Vew-Do Balance Boards last week and the week before ... I thought I had a picture of them, but since we have made many of them in the past, I might have missed them this time. They are totally CNC produced with only a little bevel edge hand routing. As a result of the Vew-Do project, we were introduced to the owners of Wagatha's Vermont Made Organic Dog Biscuits, made right her in Manchester, Vermont. They are sold all over America and Canada, and when I was touring the factory last week, they told me they make about 100,000 human food grade dog biscuits A DAY !!!! Right here; in a space about the size of my shop ... Verrry impressive. Anyway, we spent a couple hours brainstorming and whipped out our first prototype of a display rack for them ... It will ship flat and 'key' together on site ... They liked it and now we're working on the graphics and another prototype with open, lidded compartments for bulk, unbagged sales. A fun project, particularly for the dogs around the shop.
The mirrors are done ... we're thinking of shipping them to their home in Aspen unmirrored ... safer that way ... Beautiful cherry, beautiful abalone ... Wait til the curly cherry gets a couple years of age on it and they will be really sharp looking...
Ah ... Vermont Wood Manufacturers Design Contest coming up at the Woodstock Vermont Fine Furniture Show in two weeks ... (Why wait til the last minute?) ... We were kind of joking around with some cutoffs from the center of the elm oval table ... But now, maybe it's not so funny ... I think it will actually be a cool piece with potential spots in many a home ...
I think we'll add a little more flare to the legs at the bottom. With a metal base though, we're thinking it could be quite stable.
On another note, in this month's Woodshop News, I wrote a "Pro Shop" column (wow, I see they even put my smiling face in there) on the pros and cons of CNC in the really small shop, and out of the blue we received a gift from the Center/Edge Finder folks ... Thank you, Thank you ... We'll try it out next time we have some inlay work to do ... Looks like it will be cool for that, and maybe some other stuff too. We'll write a little review once we have tried it out a couple of times ... 'Used on the space shuttle and other US Government Projects' ... should be good ...
And, after a what seems like a forever and a half of dinking around with wires, swivels and various connectors, I finally got my sculpture prototype to hang up, swivel, and make it through a couple of wind/rain storms. I thought for a minute I was going to have to burn it before I got to the steel version. You would think a 350 lb test stainless steel deep sea swivel from Cabela's would hold 15 pounds of painted luan, but I'll tell you, it won't ... I'm not sure where I'm gonna shop before my next blue fin tuna trip ...
Anyway ... it's kind of nice I think ... Painted one side .. Inspired by Sam Ogden ...the original
Plain the other ...
And, we're still working on the big table. We're picking up the steel base pieces tomorrow at Melanson's and Trevor is ready to do the inlays to stabilize the drying cracks. .
He is also in the process of gluing up the chairs tomorrow and they will go off to Sandy Sherman Chair Caning to have the Danish cord seats woven on to them ... 140 nail holes per chair ... now that is where a cnc is REALLY handy ...
And .... Hot off the press on Friday, we got a little concert from Banjo #2 by Will ... Due to a switch in the tone ring wood from walnut to bubinga, even I can hear the difference .. It's brighter, louder, and warmer all at the same time. Want to build your own banjo ?? ... click this link for the one we made last year ...
Same apple and walnut pot. Rosewood fretboard and peg end with gold abalone inlays
Very fine detailing on the inlays (click this one)
A nice original peg head design ... Take a bow Will .. Love the 'W' at the top ... Short video clip coming soon... it's a different banjo, but here's a link to a 45 sec video clip
All for now ... I'm outta here ...

Finished the Walnut Paneled Room (for now)

OK ... We're done here for a while ... The carpenters now have to install the columns, ceiling and ceiling beams and the door and window trim before we can finish the baseboard, the moldings, and the other miscellaneous parts that return into the trim ... Lookin' good ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ... Don't be alarmed by the pink/purple paint .... it's just a primer for a dark rich red trim color ... We still have a desk to finish and a bar cabinet to build, so, ... more later ...

showing the wall opposite the fireplace and the niche where the desk will go

The sliding doors go in the opening to the right which is the entry back to the main house

showing the doors open and ready for the tv

Here I photoshopped tv in place

A Walnut Paneled Room (Update)

Update for 6 /23 ... back tomorrow for more

We put the fireplace/tv surround in place today

Baseboards and moldings tomorrow ...

This is an update from the post of June 14th, entitled the 'Current Big Thing'
6/22/09
Today we delivered and began the installation of a roomful of walnut paneling that we have been working on, off and on, for the last month. We had to wait for the floor to be finished, and it was, last Friday. Picked up a U-Haul today, loaded up and delivered the panels. They fit fine and we were actually able to install all but one of them, for which we needed a router we had left behind in the shop. Back tomorrow, (and probably Wednesday) to finish the fireplace and tv surround, the shelves on the tops of the panels, and the baseboards and moldings. When you're working on a project like this, you always wonder if everything's going to fit the way you planned and today it was nice to find out that it does. It has been an interesting project, both from a design and construction viewpoint. There was an effort to do a really nice job without totally breaking the bank, so we chose walnut veneered mdf for the panel elements and added solid wood edges and moldings to create a look very similar to all solid wood. One benefit of the veneered panels is the match that we were able to create by selecting groups of panels with attractive patterns. We purposely did not order the whole job to be 'sequenced matched' which would have resulted in a similar veneer pattern running completely around the room. We actually used panels from two suppliers to get a variety of veneers though we were able to match the panels on the two long walls, on either side of the fireplace, and on either side of the pocket doors. Click the photos to enlarge them,,,,

Taking the measurements for the shop drawings back in May

Working on the layout and planning the cuts for the panels themselves. The narrow tan strips represent the 4" pieces that create the stiles and rail of the panels when they're assembled. It's sort of a 'preview' feature ....

Gluing up ... It's all preveneered mdf excepot the solid wood moldings. All nicely finished by my neighbor, Steve Holman of Holman Studios ...

On arrival today, we distributed the panels around the room

Cut in for the various boxes and wires

and fastened them in position

Tommorow we'll add the rest of the fireplace surround and mantle shown above, earlier, in my shop ...

Sping Fever

The Garden ... of course

Yo! I see I haven't been writing much lately ... must be Spring Fever in Vermont (finally). I think I've played my last paddle tennis for the season and I made it to the tennis court and the golf course in the last week. Too much going on outside to sit in front of a computer any more than I have to, which, (fortunately), has been quite a bit lately. We've had a flurry of requests for new quotes and designs which is quite a change from the last couple of months when I thought someone had stolen my phone or taken down my website. We've got quite a few projects on the board and in the pipeline which is nice. Some of the things we've been working on ... click to enlarge ...

A challenging desk repair .. delivered it today ... more on that later

Finished the doors .. more info here

Put the stove in last fall ... Need a wood shed now ... concrete Friday

Me and my original woodshed with beams I hewed from pines on my property in Arlington, VT .. circa 1975.

A cherry, burl and walnut coffee table to go with a credenza we made four years ago .. roughed out the lumber and stickered it today ..

A cherry bed like we made for my neighbor Sheila (and a few other clients)

Will roughed out the turnings today and Trevor started on the rails and the bolts.

We're copying a knife display case we made about 10 years ago for a new store J K Adams is opening in Stowe ... If the felt for the back of the top case comes tomorrow, we'll finish it up..

In process

This is the next tbig thing ... a room full of paneling, a desk and a bar/stereo cabinet ... concept below ...

Designs for a 'dragonfly ' coffee table for a potential new client

the bar cabinet for the project above ...

All for now though that's not all that's going on ... They say Spring is a time of renewal ... I guess ...