'retirement project'

 

ALL IN, ALL DONE !!

as the saying goes, my part of the project is finished.

Lincoln Coderre, of Domain Doors, hung the overhead door on

Will's carport on Thursday, and while he was doing that, i finished up a corner

workbench inside the shop that i started Wednsday, so, i am 'all done'  !!

It has been and interesting 6 month exercise.

 

From 1974 to the end of 1979 i worked as a carpenter for

Mark Breen Builders in the Manchester/Stratton area. during that time,

 i think at one point we counted up 30 plus houses that we worked

on in that time ... things were simpler then, for sure!

for instance, some houses take a little longer these days ...

we started doing some work on that one in late 2021 and i'm

not sure if it is completely finished yet!

 12.12.2024

 i tried the 'retirement thing' once before,

back in 2018 ...

but for many reasons back then it didn't 'stick',

and i spent the next 5 years working with and mentoring

our nephew Kristian Moore, who is now taking

on the new furniture projects that come our way ...

at this point, he can do anything i can do,

only he can do it better !

my 'executive function' has left the building, and,

i realize that at 77 it ain't coming back. 

so, what to do with all that free time since my 'last project'

 well, i guess you can't have too many buildings, and Will 

is taking up quite a lot of space in Sam's shop

with the mills and lathes for his banjo business.

to be located just outside of Sam's shop

so, here we go!

this one will likely be the last building at 

the 'west dorset industrial park'

below, the rafters will start to go up tomorrow!

nothing like three weeks of concrete and carpentry

to make you feel all of your 77 years ...

more process photos below

slab by ashley waite, of waite foundations ..

AKA 'hippie foundations' in 1974 ...

ashley poured the foundation for our first house

in arlington in 1974 ... it was great to work with him again.

red mountain road  arlington, 1974

this past tuesday 8.27 ... progress has been made ...

 

we had some professionals here from Scott Thompson Builders 

for 4 days the week of september 3rd, and they got us going pretty good

 

they got the ridge beam up, the rafters and the plywood and paper on the roof .. 

they also studded the gables and got the plywood on them ... thanks guys!

 

Luke and i trimmed the roof and we are ready for the slate, which should 

start to happen soon ... first day of rough wiring by brophy electric last Friday ... 

10/13  Update ... 2 months and 10 days since the dydo and company 

backhoe arrived, things are really happening now.   

the siding is complete most of the way around the building 

and we should be able to wrap it up on the next sunny day .

the beautiful purple slate is being installed by Dave and Zack Wilmott of

Battenkill Slate and is complete on the right side and on the carport,

and, as with the siding, the roof will likely be done the next sunny day too ...

the sheetrock has been hung by versatile drywall, and the taper 

will be here 'first thing Friday' ... 

seth of longboardlumber.com will be here  tomorrow

with some ribbon stripe mahogany for the the double doors

on the front.

then, some paint on the walls and floor, the big doors on the front, 

and we'll be ready for the lights and Will's machines!

more soon!

 

november 1st ... three months to the day since 

Dydo and company showed up with the backhoe ...

the slate is all on now ... 

Dave finished it up last saturday ...

 

the attic stairway went in yesterday

and the doors are hung with temporary plywood panels ...

i have to detail the sapele panels and make 64 moldings 

to fix them in place ... we hope to move

 the machines in next week!

the heat is on thanks to GSK Climate Control

 

11.15. 2024 ... OKAY!  the machines were moved yesterday 

and they are in their rough locations now ... thanks to

Sparky from Dydo & Co. for his help moving some

 heavy and sometimes awkward stuff!

 

the super accurate hardinge lathe

the spinning lather and horizontal mill

the leblond in the corner

and Sam has his shop back!

with LOTS more space!

and the new brazing station is almost set to go

a 360 degree video view here

12.12 ... the big sapele doors are done, and all

of Will's machines are wired up and ready to run

for me about all that is left to wrap this up is

a nice overhead door for the car port.

we are meeting with the overhead door guy tomorrow.

i am hoping to do something on the left there 

in keeping with the big doors  ... i need to order 

some sapele marine plywood to match.

 

four buildings plus a sawdust shed .. that should about do it !

home stretch on the overhead door, the last piece of the puzzle

the glass is in and the finish is on!

there is a hardware part that is back ordered and 

will not be here until early February.

we're ready to go!

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

.

pottery show

still fooling around with the pottery thing .. had a few new platters and plates

come out of the kiln lately ... got another batch in the works.

working with color is so different, (and quieter), than working with wood ...

neon orange + cobalt black

spring green, kentucky bluegrass, neon blue, cobalt back

neon orange + neon blue and teal blue

bottom side

teal blue and yellow

jasper johns target

 neon green + black

teal blue, red clay, hunter green, yellow orange

hunter green, marine blue, black, red clay

more to come ...

Furniture Making and Interior Design

let us now talk about interior design and furniture making. they are related .... i have always thought them to be separate disciplines, but in looking through my 'on site photos' folder recently, i realized that making a piece of furniture, particularly a piece for a particular client, for a particular spot, with their design input, is more than furniture making. if you get it right, not only have you manifested their vision, but you have created for them a 'special place', a place where they too can see 'their vision'. powerful stuff, when you think about it .... so, that said, i will be adding a new category to my blog, interior design, where occasionally i will post a few photos of successful collaborations that i feel meet the criteria above. like the sideboard above, some are from my own home, where the realization began; others from my local clients' homes.

click the photos to enlarge them ...this is one of my favorite before and after rooms ... the challenge was to take a little used guest room/fly tying spot and turn it into a husband and wife home office/fly tying spot ... lots of conversations, lots of drawings, lots of changes ...  before above ...

after

we did, in the end, receive a couple of design awards for this one ...