a few of my favorite things ...

 conveniently listed on the home page of my blog

are, according to blogger, my 'popular posts' ...

 the one at the top of that list has been viewed 

more than 35,000 times, which does make it 'popular',

at least in my book.

below i list not my 'popular posts', but some of my 'favorite posts'.

ones that feature projects that i enjoyed writing about,

and/or feature projects that i am proud of.

here we go .... lots to read here ...

'all the pretty pool tables'

at the time i was writing this post i was also reading

a cormac mccarthy book titled 'all the pretty horses'.

hence the post title, which explains what that post is about ..

the duck bed

i could go on and on about this one, 

and in the duck bed link above, i do ...

 

'chance to be a hero'

this was a rather miraculous repair if i do say so myself ...

we were able to get all the veneer pieces back to flat 

without disturbing the original finish ..

 

some libraries we have built

at least 6 of them there ... one of them took

nearly a year from cutting the trees to installing it

on the upper east side in new york city ...

some big projects there ...

 

all claro, all the time

about a dozen live edge tables in the blog post at that link

and about 45 more at this link

 

algebra and geometry in the workplace

 
a real, deep, head scratcher here ..

create the supports for a conical ceiling ... 

here are the 'plans' from the architect

Ensure Slope Matches Side Wall Angle for Conical Ceiling'

at 2 and 1/16th x 12

and there is always the onsite variable where

the concrete wall on the right is maybe on 2 and 3/16ths x 12

instead of the required 2 and 1/16th x 12, which in

7' adds up!  crazy stuff !

 
a 1/8th" to the foot scale model ...

and your basic algebra here ...

and in 2010 we collaborated with a 

friend to build two rather large conference tables

at 20' x 8', this is the 'small one'

'small' because this one is 26' x 9'

about 2' of granite hangs out over the base pieces
we cnc'd and joined the knockdown parts, 

we did the steel that supports the granite

 and did the wood borders around the granite pieces ...

our friend steve did the finishing and onsite assembly.

                                                                             the crow bar  ... below

i think this will do it for today ... 

more 'favorites' to come sometime ...

lately

lately, loyal readers may have noticed that i haven't been posting very much to this blog ...

big changes are afoot here  ....  as of now, i am stepping

back a bit from almost 40 years of custom furniture making ... 

i am not 'retiring' per se, but after a four month warning to the guys,
 i no longer have employees in the wood shop, and i am giving
most of that shop space over to our son will and his business,
seeders instruments ... 

his business is growing, and there was no room in the current 

shop configuration for him to expand.  i informed my employees back on 

memorial day that i will soon be back where i started in 1979, working by myself on

things i can handle by myself, with the occasional assistance from sam or will 

rather than the wife, kit, who helped me in the shop a bit back in the 70s.  no more 14' slab tables or (probably) pool tables.  no more payroll and payroll taxes. no unemployment tax and simple iras and health insurance. no paid vacations, and all the responsibility that goes along with having three or four employees.

i will certainly miss them and the 'socialness' and brainstorming sessions in our workspace, 

but at 71, my 'executive function' seems harder to summon, and the naps on the couch after lunch seem a bit too short.  fortunately, i have had plenty of time for golf and paddle tennis and tennis over the last few years and i am in shape for more of that.  hopefully the body will hold up.  

so, 18 years in this space, a few over 20 in the last shop ... what a mess i have created.

but i'm working through it now ... cleaning ... reorganizing ... rethinking ... it is an amazing process.

i wish i had had the time, money and brain space to put the thought into
the shop back in 2000 that i have put into it in the last 3 months ...
over my entire time in business, it seemed there was always 

another project to design, a job to get, a schedule to organize, etc. etc. and i just let

my employees wing it in the shop.  i have been pecking away the last few months, nights and weekends ... organizing the lumber, the veneers, the clamps (!), redoing the dust collection,

etc. etc. etc.  i have moved my office out to the finish building,

 and Will started moving his tools and benches into the main shop last monday .  

we have done a lot, but there is still lots to do ... looking forward to it!

so far ..

before .. it almost looked ok til i got into it ...

i got rid of the radial arm saw, (free to a good home), and redid the exhaust for the 

chop saw, two sanders and sent a branch to the cnc upstairs ..

cleaning out the closet and moving the office ... 

probably the biggest effort so far ...

old office

before we could move the office, we had to make a place to move it to ..

the finish room seemed the obvious choice .. 

serious editing involved

 

on the opposite wall, we needed some new, bigger windows .. a new desk,

and we moved two computers and got them all talking to the laptop at the cnc

tetris jigsaw puzzle of will's upstairs banjo shop

first, we had to deconstruct and clean up 18 years of dust in some places

step one ... move some benches around to make room for will's stuff

this was at the end of last week .. much more organized now

i had to dust off and move the models out ..

i'll probably keep about 15 or so and give the rest away ..

so, if you think you might need that short piece of cherry or burl, or some of 

those old photos you took in the 80s and 90s, take my word for it and 

start thinning the herd now ... it won't get easier .. trust me .. 

more to follow as we progress ... 

and, we are still working ... 

more on that later ..

 new skylight

stop in if you are out and about ... 23 goodwood lane.
on your left, one mile up danby mountain road from route 30

ceilings are all repainted ... starting on the walls

ready for wall paint in the former office ...

testimonials

8/9/17 .. this just in ...

a reclaimed hemlock table made from un nailed wood the clients

'picked up off their barn floor'.

6/9/17

note above for  the walnut table in this blog post
and the chestnut console table below

a claro walnut slab desk

a couple tables to north carolina

 

i got a nice email from our recent pool table client the other day and it made me think of the other wonderful comments i often get from our clients, some of whom we have met, and some, like the one from england, obviously we haven't.  it's always nice to hear a kind word after you ship something out into the great unknown.  letters and notes like these keep us going ... 

click the photos to enlarge them.

the big ash table

a claro walnut table to florida  i liked this one ... 'It's better than i imagined' !!

a mahogany table to california  .. scroll down through this post

a cherry table to wisconsin

the steering wheel restoration

chairs and a table to boston  this is the client, but i couldn't find the most recent stuff ... it's probably in one of those 'more news from the metal shop' type posts.

 a walnut slab table to london  scroll down about half way

more testimonials from our website here

yet one more round walnut table

12/13/16 ... all in , all done .. ready to roll off to new york this week

12/19 .. home for the holidays

 high gloss laquered ceiling .. wallpaper

72" round, 2 18" leave ... below is the story ...

first, a couple of scale drawings of the table in the room

and an elevation below

i am not sure what is going on in the marketplace, but this year has been one for us

just full of round walnut tables, with and without leaves, lots and lots of live edge 

tables, claro walnut and spalted maple mostly, 3 serious steel and walnut pool tables of the same design,   and other items involving steel in some form or another.  i'm not complaining mind you, in fact, i like

the mix ... i'm just curious why the mix isn't more broad.  must be google ...

so, here comes another round walnut table, at least the 5th this year ...six feet in diameter with 2 leaves,

to be followed shortly afterwards by another round walnut table, 60 inches in diameter, no leaves. ... 

go figure ... where are the desk, sideboard, and other case piece folks?

no worries ... here's the wood we got from irion lumber for the 72" round  ... some progress photos below ..

the base is veneered and the columns are cut to a rough shape.

they will be sanded up and the base should be all assembled tomorrow or wednesday.

 trevor cut the halves of the tops today .. waste not, want not ...

he cut it close with his glue up

the two halves of the top and the apron parts .. all cut on the cnc

the sub top, the equalized runners from rockler, and the leaves waiting to be cut and fitted.

more photos as we progress ...

11/29/16  first rough assembly of the parts today