another interesting repair ...

   

this one came in last week ... missing a few pieces, 

but the main parts were all there 

had to make up a few of the missing inlays

a little glue and masking tape

getting everything to match involved some stain, 

some acrylic colors, and some shellac and wax

ready to go back home ...

nice spot for it!

a few repairs ...

 

from a previous post 

 we have been fixing stuff for as long as we have been making stuff.

it is an often interesting part of the gig. 

'you make furniture?'  ... 'can you fix this?'

typically that's how it goes ... and we do 'fix this' ...

here is actually my favorite rescue ...

anyway, we fixed a bunch of stuff last week and i have

one more item to finish for those folks ... 

some were easy, others a little more complex.

we had three pieces of gallery that need repair or replacement ... 

fortunately, we had one almost complete one that we 

could scan and draw over in our cad program ...

we thought about repairing this one, but decided

 once we made the two others, it would be easier to 

just replace it

the two on the top left are new and the one on the far right in the front are new

there was also a pullout below the glass door where

the face flipped down and created a little writing surface.

that needed a repair to the catch and a little wax and love ...

we put one of the drawers back together and replaced

three missing drawer glides on the side of the case ...

a worthy restoration!

and there was a drop leaf table whose leaf had dropped off ...

the screw holes for the handmade hinges were totally

stripped out on all three mortises of  one leaf,

which called for what we refer to as a 'proper repair'.

we did just plug the third hole, but we glued a piece of new wood 

for two of the screws to bite into on all three hinges

on the other leaf we only had to plug one hole ..

once we got the leaf back on, we sanded the finish lightly and 

applied two coats of waterlox oil finish as the client

did not want to refinish the table, which can kill the

antique feeling.  it looked sharp in the end ...

crazy thin wood on the drawer bottoms and sides ..

i had to add some glue blocks, no room even for brads ...

and a bed rebuild ... the screws for the steel rail hardware

 were stripped out, and we were able to replace them with longer

screws .. we reglued the footboard post and made new slats ...

i have one more 'eastlake' piece that needs a backsplash 

i am working on the design concept still

this ain't it!

this piece is one from google images search for

'eastlake furniture' and the piece i am repairing is of the 

eastlake style ... i don't think we would find marble to

match, so i am suggesting wood to match the cabinet ..

there was a splinter in the drawer, and an obvious place 

for it to go ... 

 

more repairs next week ...

have a good weekend!

a mahogany sideboard

well, in my previous post i mentioned that we had TWO 

challenging projects ...  here's the second one .. 

click the pictures to enlarge them

a few inlays, some nice mahogany, a natural finish,

what's the big deal? 

like a lot of things, if  you do it right, it all looks easy.

ever watch a good golfer? try that and see how you do ..

so, we had some info from a designer that determined 

the basic inlay layout and colors

it was relatively easy to import that image into our cad program

and draw over it, keeping as faithful to it as we could ...

but then we had to make the wood look like that, and

have all 50 little leaves fit precisely into all 50 little pockets

that Kristian cut for them on the cnc.  we first tried cutting

them and sticking them in the pockets, sanding them flush,

then taking them back out and painting them, woodburning 

the veins into the leaves and gluing them back in ... 

this is the general idea, in walnut. originally it was

going to be a redwood piece, but at $42. a board foot plus shipping

and not easily accessible in the rough, we tried walnut and

in the end settled on some old, wide, short, 

6/4 x 3' mahogany boards i had on hand ..

tedious for sure, and tough to glue them in perfectly flush.

the paint could not be sanded even a little bit or the 

wood showed through. will suggested that we try some of 

the pressure dyed colored veneers he uses for his

banjo inlays ... BINGO!

these veneers were a little over a 32nd thick and kristian

 epoxied them to some 1/16th inch poplar, cut them to fit,

sanded them flush and made some test panels from mdf.

the branches are made up of multiple pieces of natural walnut

joined in the obvious places ... lots of pieces there too!

there was a thought that we could add some 'falling leaves'

to the third door, but they didn't seem to fly.

 and did i mention the refrigerator?

all kinds of complications there ... 

the door rises as it opens and the door can only be so thick

or it binds on the case before it gets to 90 degrees.

'do not obstruct the vent in any way' said the

instructions ... but it's ugly

and there's a switch that turns the light on when

you open the door. we compromised by making 

some slots, cutting the switch thing shorter and using

magnets to allow the base piece to be removable as needed.

anyway after some trial and error and some serious back and

forth emailing and sample mailing, we were able to 

wrap it up last week.  we are waiting for our shipper

to  grab it and deliver it to asheville ... 

hats off to kristian for pulling this one off !!!!

it was not as easy as it looks!

 

a couple of challenging projects

 ok, it's good to be challenged, especially when you have an

extremely talented nephew for an assistant on the job.

hats off to Kristian here!

this is the first of two challenges we wrapped up recently

 and i can't wait to see this one in its new home ... 

it's a Moroccan inspired sideboard with lots

 of carved details that all had to line up horizontally and

vertically as they went around the cabinet ...

a bit of a cad drawing challenge ..

 head on view here 

 

inspiration photos above ... our clients decided against

the carvings on the end panels as there is a wall close by on

the right, and a door to another room on the left and the 

cabinet ends will not be very visible ... 

getting the finish right turned out to be a bit of a challenge.

we made lots of samples before we ended (finally) with an

aniline dye, milk paint over that sponged, and a matte finish

top coat .... the gray lends it a bit of a 'not too brand new' feel.

rather than the Moroccan wood details on the doors,

we at first suggested some perforated steel panels, but

the holes allowed too much visibility into the cabinet interior

and did not really 'pop'..

Sam had some square hole material from a previous job 

and when we painted it a bronzy color and put a stained and 

painted mahogany veneer panel behind it, it was an instant winner

a couple of other photos by Kristian on his @vttrees

instagram page below ... quite the piece!

 

custom cast pulls by ball and ball hardware in pennsylvania

we have been making this pull in wood since the mid 80s, 

and i started having them cast about 10 years ago.  fortunately

bob had saved the patterns and once he got the sample i sent

we were good to go ... 

 

and i leave you with a few images from a friends 

recent trip to Morocco

the famous 'goats in  the trees'

it's not photoshopped!

and some other Moroccan carvings and tile work ... 

they like geometric forms!

all for now...

the old man project

ok .. i have been out to lunch for a while on the old man project, 

that i started in july of 2022  ... i am back at it today, 

a rainy sunday at the end of april 2023 ..

in july of 2022, i started to write a somewhat lengthy

history of my time as a woodworker and 

furniture maker over the last 50 years ... 

here's a link

you should be able to start with 'milestones' and at the end 

of that post go to the 'older post' link for the next installment.

i am approaching the beginning of my blogging in 2007,

and from there, it's all here .. nearly a thousand blog posts 

and over 2,000,000 page views ... it's been quite a trip ...

if you have the google photos app you can 

view the slide shows, with literally thousands of photos 

of our work over the years

feel free to comment or ask questions if you have any.

thanks for reading!

 

 

 

a vermont sap spout maple console table

 

ok ... this is a fun one!  

last week and some of this week we have been waiting for 

a big load of reclaimed chestnut to arrive from west virginia .. 

we got word yesterday that it will be here by friday ..

in the meantime we made some pieces for sale 

out of wood that has been 'hanging around'.   

these three boards i know i have owned for since at least 2015 ..

 
anyway,  this table is 18 x 58 x 30" high and would look great in your

entryway, behind your couch, or as a compact work desk.

ready to ship or deliver immediately.

vermont maple at its finest

more pieces 'ready to go' on the 'pages' section 

at the top of the home page on my blog ..

a few more ready to go in the previous blog post.

click the pictures for a closer look ...

some other recent pieces ready to go ...

in an effort to 'clean house' a bit, below are some pieces for sale,

ready to go, for immediate delivery .. 

the 52" round table below has a bit of history ..

it can be characterized as 'very slightly used'.

the top of the table above was once in a law firm in new jersey 

you can see it in the photo below ...

several months after they received the 52" table they asked if 

i could replace the top with a 60" round, which we did ...

they asked for a 'credit' for the existing top, which i sort of

grudgingly granted.  my delivery guys installed the new top

and returned the original to me in 2018, and it has sat, 

wrapped up in my office, ever since ...

last year we made this round expanding table, 

and as we got underway, the client requested

a change in the design of the base that you can see above ...

we had already made the base pieces so they went into the office

with the 'reclaimed' top ... they are now the base for this new table ...

 priced below the cost of new,

email, text or call me at 802-379-1478 to discuss ... 

 

here's another, a claro walnut, cut off, coffee table, 

28 x 46 x 18 high (adjustable), could be lowered ...

in the rough, with a pocket for the butterfly

nice figure!

this coffe table was made from one of thee these two cutoffs that

have been hanging out here for at least a couple of years

i found another nice curly claro cutoff in the cellar from 

which we were just able to get the four legs ...

the cutoff in the back of these two became the table below ..

+/- 38 wide x 40 long x 16 high claro walnut 'corner' table

we were going to cut a 30" round from it, but we decided

it might be a cool accent for the right situation.

the steel trapezoid base pieces came from a gallery table that 

a client purchased, but requested that we make that table 'taller' ..

a 'corner' application below ... the straight sides are +/- 22"

the lounge chairs are about 36" deep ...

and below, i updated my 'paintings for sale'

at The Coffee Bar, junction of routes 7 and 9

in downtown Bennington ... lots of art for sale there!

'my corner'

some of the other art, and the live music stage

great place! loads to see there!

 

and lastly, we still have this claro walnut desk that is looking for

a good home .. it is in a gallery in manchester now, but i have informed

the owner that i am trying to sell it on my own ......

 

 a claro walnut desk, with a drawer and a 

secret compartment .. steel base by sam .. +/- 44 x 70.

 

beautiful color and figure in the desk top

call or text for a price ... 

 

all for now ...