2nd Floor CNC

First time visitors to the second floor of my shop often ask 'How did you get that thing up here?' Invariably, I can't find the book with the pictures from the installation so I'm putting them here so I can find them ... Open Studio is coming in May and I know I'll need them then ... Click the photos to enlarge them ... About 25 more shop photos in the post below.
The completed installation.
Beginning of the installation process .. That's Jim with one of his favorite weapons.
Ready to go .. +/- 2;30 in the afternoon.
The next morning ... Noel Dydo, my main excavating man at the wheel. It was a borrowed Lull and his last comment before he got on board was 'I haven't ever driven one this old before' . Comforting.
Anyway ... In it went at about 11:00.
Buttoned back up by the end of the day ... That was five years ago in November and I think my last payment will be in July ... Mortgage burning party coming up .... To see what we do with this tool, check the category to the right called 'Trevor's CNC Projects' ... It's amazing. We do custom cnc work for other furniture makers both locally and not so locally ...

A Little Humor For All You Chair Builders Out There

Instructional Video on KungFu chairbuilding

A collection of shop photos

I realized recently that I have never done a post of just shop photos, where you can see the layout of the various work spaces throughout the buildings on the property. We have been working on it all since 1998 and it's grown over time to accommodate a lot of flexible spaces. There is also a stand up attic over the shop that accommodates lumber and veneer up to 12' long and a concrete floor crawlspace with wheelchairs for mobility, where the boiler, air compressor and additional lumber, pattern and jig storage live. Stuff expands to fill it all of course, and we dream about a better/bigger metal shop, but not this week for sure ... maybe sometime though ... Click the photos to enlarge them and enjoy your tour ...
Summer view
Winter view with the finish room on the right
Side porch with a Safety Speed Cut panel saw, lumber and ply storage shed with the blower at the far end, and a separate, free standing shed for sawdust ...
Summer porch use ...typically on Friday afternoons
The interior of the 16 x 22 finish room ... the tv cabinets (scroll down on that post) are still lurking under the big green drop cloth
standing on a stool, looking from east to west ... note dueling table saws with foot operated off switches, nested placement of jointer and planer, and dust collection under the strip oak, radiant heated floor.
looking from east to south showing the sanders (on wheels and the 16' of counters and drawers at workspace one.
radial and chop saw for rough and finish cuts on the same fence system
looking toward workspace #4, on wheels, 42 x 60 with the lathe tools on the back side, and at the outfeed of the sander with a light for defect spotting. The gray table in the foreground has a removable top over a router table on wheels.
workspace two, also on wheels, (behind the headboard), 43 x 84, with a pattern vise, sink and additional 8' bench with a vise.
workspace #1, 44 x 96 x 30 high with power on the four corners, also on wheels. Actually, everything that can be is on wheels.
workspace #3, where I work when I'm in the shop.
The cnc upstairs ... best place to see what we do with this is at this link here ... And, if you're wondering how we got all 1400 pounds and 11' feet of it to the second floor here are some photos of that operation .... unbelievable in hindsight ....
workspace upstairs with mortiser, drill press, sander and bandsaw, adjacent to the cnc so Trevor can do two jobs at once.
library in a small hallway between the cnc and the office
my main workspace with computer, phone, fax, scanner, printer and music
southeast end of the office with another computer for Will or Sam to do their CAD drawings and email
a small collection of models in the bathroom
my board of finish samples and hardware for clients when they come ..this photo also works as an email to clients out of the area ...
looking out the office window and door to the pond
with the ducks recently back in town....
The metal shop is at the house, attached to the end of the garage ... More photos here
Looking into the shop with the double doors open ..

I hope to soon add plan view drawings of the shop for my own records but I'll have to do them first ... The woodshop was planned as a workshop, but built as a 3 bedroom two bath house where we lived for two years while we were waiting to sell our former house in Arlington ... I have some good pictures of the shop as a house that I'll post later too ... All for now ... If you made it all the way to here, you might also enjoy these photos HERE showing how we got our 1400 pound cnc machine installed on the second floor. (Through the second story window)

Bed Update

3/28/10 ... Ok Home Stretch .... The woodworking part of the bed is pretty much complete and the first coat of stain is already on all the bed parts except the headboard, where we still have to do the inlays this week. They are going to be fun .... Click the pictures to enlarge them.
headboard assembled, ready for the inlay strip and inlays
This is the first sample inlay for one of the pair of center ducks. We did it in aluminum as a test, but the real inlays will be steel copper and brass ,,, all colored slightly with different patina solutions ... like a painting, sort of ...

The nearly completed CAD drawing

3/16/2010 OK ... we're making progress on the bed ... Will has finished carving the spiral posts and the walnut pine cones and is about to mortise the headboard posts to receive the headboard ... Below, Will and Jim are checking the pattern to be sure everything's the right size now that we've got it together for the first time. Happily, it all seems to line up ... Tomorrow, we mortise and cut the real headboard to shape for the final fitting before the inlays ....

Bolted up for the first time .... Click the pictures to enlarge them ,,,

Close up of the post top and one of the walnut pine cones

A sample center inlay Trevor cut today ... The ones in the bed will be made from brass, (beaks and feet), copper (reddish color details) and steel, blued, blackened and polished for grays ... It's going to be really interesting when we get to that ....
Some really fine curly maple for the headboard from our friends at Irion ... Totally white, totally nice and totally consistent figure across all the boards ...

More Metal Doors

Sam has another little door project for Peter Moore Masonry. Similar to the last one that covered a digital thermometer in a traditional brick oven, these incorporate parts of the logos of the owner's companies ... Love the pulls ....click the pictures to enlarge them ...
The first door ready for patina ...
In its frame yesterday
The second door ... might be a copper rivet/sun on this one later ...

Claro Walnut Table Progress

We're on the home stretch on the big claro walnut table now and I think the next time you see it, it will be completely finished... Below you can see we have gone over the surface with a sidelight and a curved scraper to get the biggest rough spots all smoothed out ... The grain in the area of the photo below was incredibly tough to smooth without chipping it out and we didn't/couldn't get every chipout. It still had a nice shine, even before the first seal coat of shellac ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
Unbelievable figure and color
Looking from the end after the shellac ..
We used a sidelight to find any big chipouts that needed final scraping and sanding
Even without the finish, sanded to 320, it had a good shine
Here's Sam polishing the 1.5" thick steel 'legs'... Tough stuff ...
All done ...
A close up in process, before the final, final polish ... We went for a shiny but not mirror finish and the sealing oil in the photo above really brought it up nicely.

The Ducks Are Back

(Almost) Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the ducks are back ... They arrived last Friday, as usual, almost to the day that the stream first cuts a channel across the ice. They were tired from their trip and were napping when we got to work on Friday, but Monday, whoa, below, we had an intruder ... a single female and they did not like here. We watched off and on for the morning while they chased her back and forth across the pond, and finally, she left ... Things were back to normal today but it was fun while it lasted ... Kit's got the redwing blackbirds at the feeder too ... Big Tom turkey yesterday morning and the she also saw the bobcat briefly one morning last week, probably stalking the squirrels. Spring is coming ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ...
Back and forth ... when she got to the edge, she would fly back over their heads and the chase would continue, til finally she left ... haven't seen her since ...
A little earlier than usual ... but Sam said this afternoon 'the leeks are up' ... global warming I guess ...