another claro walnut slab table

up next, another claro walnut slab table.  this one will be about 52" wide by 102" long after i make the final cuts tomorrow. the base will be welded steel, similar to the one on the desk we made in july  and the dining table we sent to aspen in august.  click the photos to enlarge them.

sam is ready to weld the base pieces tomorrow, and the jig is ready to go too.

the process of moving these tables from the rough slab to the final dimensions is one that we approach very slowly, a bit at a time.  once you cut something off, there's no sticking it back on again.  and, a lot of the time, we disagree amongst ourselves what is the 'best' cut to make.  we try to involve the client as much as possible, but it's often hard to portray in photos what exactly it is that we see in front of us. 

 in this case, we started by trimming off the 'legs', and obvious choice.  we did leave a little bit of the crotch showing on the face side, and we may go back and trim that a bit more before we finish.

 we then cut some of the cracked portion off the far end as the table wants to be around 102" long when we finish it.

we then did some rough planing and splashed a little alcohol on it to check the figure .. looks good.

we then made a 2x4 mockup of the base and checked the proportions ... now, as you can see from the top photo in this post, we've moved the slab down to the shop now that the pool table and the oak table are gone.  it'll move right along now ... updates as we go ..

a custom floor inlay

trevor finished up the 68 pieces for a custom floor inlay we're making for a local client today.  you can see half of it here.  it will be 3/4 " thick, 60" in diameter when it's installed.  click the photos to enlarge them.

he started with this cad drawing i made from my memory of a compass rose we did in a 'sea chest' lid about 15 years ago.  that was a small inlay, and i can't find a picture, but i remember the layout.  we then made a quick 1/4 inch mdf sample of half the circle, which gave us patterns for the blanks.  

there was, of course, a little bit of programming involved. but, on the whole, it was a pretty quick piece of cnc work compared to cutting and fitting the pieces by hand.  the next step, is the final fitting and gluing to the mdf core and installing it in the floor after it is laid. more on this project later ...

plymouth rock chickens and a few fall things

it's fall.  the light is changing.  you start to notice stuff.  like chicken feathers. you gotta love those barred rock feathers ... this one has been stuck in my van dashboard for a few weeks now ...
and then there's the foliage... click the photos to enlarge them ...

makes the old back yard sparkle .. and vegetables !

and tomatilla skeletons

and the asparagus bed on almost frosty morning

and the last of the zinnias ... days are dwindling down ... a few more golf days, a few more tennis days, on to winter paddle tennis ... and more big claro walnut tables

all for now

wrapping a few things up

it's been a busy, busy couple of weeks!!  we're hoping to wrap up three good ones by the end of this week.  the table above is white oak, and there are pullouts underneath that support two leaves on the ends.  hopefully, tomorrow the finish will come and it will turn white and be ready to ship to connecticutt on friday.  optimistic? hmmm, yeah, for sure.  we'll see.  click the photos to enlarge them.

here it is, upside down, earlier in the construction process.  you can see the leaf support mechanisms and the skeleton of the bracing support structure. 

here it is with one of the leaves on the closer end.  the leaves are 21" wide, expanding the 90" main table to 11', room for 12, or even 14, good friends.  i like the thin top and delicate, but rigid understructure.  it was a collaborative design with my friend liz of elizabeth bauer designs in downtown new york city.

 looks just like the drawing.

the table will have a whitish, distressed, 'cerused' finish, something like one of the samples above. we're not sure exactly which one yet, because we've never done a finish like it before.  it should be fun ... we'll see.

and then we have this one in it's final stages.  a new pool table design in steel and claro walnut.  it will be headed to chicago next week sometime.  gray felt playing surface, figured claro walnut rails, and the steel base will have a dark 'rainbow' finish.  it should look pretty much like the model in the photo above.

the short ends and one of the long ends are welded and ready to finish.  i hope to test assemble the whole thing, steel base, slate, rails, and all either late tomorrow or friday.  off to chicago next week.

 last bit of welding tomorrow.

it's got a steel and claro cue rack with it.  the steel has the dark patina on it now, and the wood pieces are at the finishers.  we should have them back tomorrow, and we'll assemble that too.  it's been an eventful week and it's only wednesday ... more later ...

 last but not least, the matched cherry dining tables have all their finish now and will be ready to go on friday too.   all for now.

will's banjos hit the tv news

WCAX burlington recently featured will in their 'made in vermont' last monday on the six o'clock news.
here's a link to the tape.  it was great!.  check it out if you have a minute.  they filmed and talked for about an hour and boiled it all down to about 3 minutes.  a lot of work goes into this stuff.

 

he's currently working on banjo #13 and i'll post more photos tomorrow ..

6/22/2014 .. for photos of 20 more banjos visit will's website at seedersinstruments.com

cool inlays .. should have the finish on it soon ...