The Shelburne Museum

 originally published in 2010, 

here's one about the Shelburne Museum, which is just south 

of Burlington Vermont.  i was in Burlington a couple of weeks ago

and passed by the entrance figuring, 'been there, done that'.

looking at this post, now i wish i had taken the time to stroll around.

it's a great venue with all kinds of interesting historical stuff ...

don't miss it if you are nearby ...  

Interested in spending a day or so looking at a bunch of humbling woodworking and artwork? A trip to The Shelburne Museum would be worth your while then ... I big recently went to see an Ansel Adams show and found that that was just a small part of how I spent my time there ... I had been a long time ago when the kids were small (25 years ago maybe ??) but had forgotten the depth of their collection ... I do remember the Dentzel carousel though ... probably the best carved and painted carousel you'll find anywhere ... They have extensive documentation of the ongoing 'restoration' and conservation on Facebook and there is more info there ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...

the artistic color choices and details are really good ...

In person, they sort of seem almost alive ..

and they are housed in a beautifully detailed round barn at the entrance to the museum ..

with beautiful framing

and a wonderful quilt exhibition on the lower level of the barn ..

Two other displays of interest to me were regarding painters who lived and worked for years in the Manchester, Dorset, Pawlet area, Ogden Pleissner and Jay Connaway ... They both had a whole building dedicated to their work and Pleissner's actual studio (below) was assembled there on site

on to the tools

and metal stuff

and the working blacksmith shop which Kit's counts as perhaps 

one of the things that sparked Sam's interest in blacksmithing and metalwork

Then there is an excellent collection of carved decoys in original paint, with info on the makers as well as at least a half dozen sneak boxes and market guns displayed in a house moved to the museum from its original location in North Dorset.

Then there's The Ticonderoga, a 220 foot long steam powered ferry that was moved from the lake across a mile of frozen cornfields to its present location ... It has recently been re-restored and is a gleaming example of curved and angled ship's carpentry ...
I didn't have time for the Electra Havermeyer Webb mansion which houses Electra Webb's high Federal furniture and other objects from her New York City apartment ... Been there, done that ... It's beautiful ...
There is much more to see than I have covered here .. check it out if you are in the area ... You'll be glad you did ...

'Common Tools Defined'

 below, a blog post originally from 2009

 This just in from my friend, fine furniture builder and local wit Steve Holman of Holman Studios ... It came to his inbox and he forwarded it to me and I forward it here to you ... enjoy ...

Begin forwarded message:

COMMON TOOLS DEFINED

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly- painted vertical stabilizer which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, "Oh sh!#..."

SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

WELDING GLOVES: Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction of intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool ten times harder than any known drill bit that snaps neatly off in bolt holes thereby ending any possible future use.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the
outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN * x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A very large pry bar that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip outPhillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling 'DAMMIT!' at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

portfolio pictures

 

Labor Day!  a day off 

the blog post below was originally published in 2016.

 i stumbled across it yesterday in one of my 'blog to print' books

and thought it would be interesting to new readers.

the 2016 blog post starts below ...

and in the 'slide show' section on my blog there are even more

early portfolio images. 

 

2016 ... well, ok ... i stumbled across a folder full of pictures this morning and 

i thought they would make a good blog post.  as an example, on the 'page' above, there is a 

10' cherry table, 8 windsors, 4 stools and a nine foot wide by 8 foot high sideboard.  couple of months right there.  also, a pair of maple cabinets with c.r. ashbee inspired  inlays and a 60" round table ...

another couple of months there.

until 2007, when i first started my blog and more or less moved my 'portfolio' online,

i kept photos of my work in these three 20 page, 14" x 17"  binders.  in august of 2014, i intended to migrate these portfolios into my slide show area by taking careful photos of each page but never finished the job or ever finished taking the photos .. looking through them this morning made

me realize i maybe ought to get on it and finish that project ... maybe next week ...

anyway, here they are .. click the photos to enlarge them ... 

honestly, i forgot i made a lot of these pieces ...

 

a desk, a credenza and a coffee table, and the inspiration for the 

c.r. ashbee arts and crafts style pieces pieces

a couple desks, a small dining table, a really funky windsor and some stools ..

a nice game table .. another desk some side tables and a japanese rice paper screen ..

the famous 'snook table' .. 46 x 68 and 

at the beach' a small half round with similar inlays .. i still have that one ..

a coffee table, a cabinet with a curved front, a 54" round cherry table with a lacewood inlay, 

a cherry and lacewood coffee table, a reclaimed chestnut table and a funky sideboard piece.

lots more stuff here

and here .. the bubinga sideboard goes with the 

one board bubinga table on the 'page' below ..

a nice 'studio style' sideboard and an 8' knife display case

some nice doors; an interesting masonic table restoration and a classy 

cherry and figured ash desk with some rosewood inlays

a cherry corner cupboard with curly maple panels and drawer fronts ..

 

skippy, our dog, who left us in 2006 .. a nice cherry and maple dresser ..

another big sideboard, one of a pair, and a nice curly maple dining table

my favorite curly maple sideboard 

and a cool bench and mirror with carvings and appliques ..

a few more 'studio style' pieces

  just found some more ...

my, my, my ... lots of pictures ... the tapered cabinet made the back cover of one of 

the fine woodworking design books ... must have been around 1990

 game tables ..

 wildlife carving on the table legs ...

 early headboard inlays

 ditto ...

 metal chairs .. a black console ...

more game tables

 first cabinet with abalone center right .. 1985??

 'shaker' hutch

 early 80s brochure cover ..

 2nd commisssion .. 1979 .. the yellow shaker desk ..

'japanese style' coffee table .. studio style table and sideboard

glass topped coffee table ...

 'greene and greene' style chairs with handpainted silk seats

the original tansu stairs photos .. before and after .. 1989

a crotch mahogany veneered sideboard .. 

notice the difference a professional photographer can make ..

"it's where we keep the tv to keep it out of sight"

some detail shots ...  the studios .. central park west .. 

the pieces barely fit in the elevator ..

 i used to make a lot of ornamental sash

 the original mother myricks .. 1983, manchester center ...