and then it was friday

quite a lot went on this week ... i wasn't sure i was going to make it through all of it, but, in the end, i did ... click the photos to enlarge them ...

will is finishing up a new version of this sideboard we made back around 2004 or 5.  it will be stained and have walnut hand turned pulls.  he's got the top moldings installed now and will be starting the turning and finishing process on monday.

and sam had a busy week, working on some BIG turnbuckles for a local  remodel project

 

and the stratton rails are finished except for some touch up paint on the welds .. complex project.  angles, level changes, drainspouts ... all done now. 

and he welded up a whole new railing job ... straight rail sections plus the stairs ... paint 'em black next week.

and jim's working on some curved benches from some curved planks we have had air drying outside the finish room for at least a couple of years.  (actually they are in that link from 2010 ... finally made a decision.

first we curved the front and back edges of the tapered ash supports, then we burned them with the big torch, and then we swabbed on some red and black oil based paint ... these bookmatched benches will be good for indoors or out .. they are homeless for the moment and looking for a place to live ... price on request.

and trevor finished up the curly maple trestle table with some stain and varnish.  that one will be around until the room where it is going is finished in a couple weeks ... nice color!

and he started a new 11'6" long version of the table above, also from the mid 2000s.

 

roughing out the top made us think of bar shuffleboard .. all we needed was some wax.

the scale was different so we made mdf mockup aprons and a new, 4" square leg sample.

approved by the client ...

and the top is glued up .. nice cherry from our friends at irion lumber.

  and i'm working on my pottery chops, with a new technique of my own devising.

 

i have never had the time to put in to learn to throw shapes like these, so i devised some lathe turned mdf forms. first i roll out a .2" thick slab, then after it is on the form and rough trimmed, i put it on the wheel, add a 'snake' for a foot and throw the foot onto the bottom of the bowl form ... it has allowed me to make shapes that my pottery throwing skills will most likely never be up to, and, i love the 'target' shapes.  i can pretend i'm jasper johns or josef albers for a minute or two ... more on this technique later.

and we're fooling with some new zinc table top concepts, like maybe a 'hammered over' edge on a round top ... it could work .. 

and jim picked up a few items from a temporarily closed gallery in massachusetts ... ready to go and attractively priced for sure.

including this very fine claro slab table ... +/- 44 x 90 ... it has a polished rebar base, but we are open to other options .. call for prices and details on all these former gallery items .. 802-867 5541

   and the last of the ice went out of the pond today with the sunny skies and 50 degree temperatures.  i thin it is finally gonna be spring now ...

a couple of cherry dining tables

 

we wrapped up a couple of cherry tables this week, and they couldn't be more different, probably, if they tried.  the table above, a slab of 8/4 cherry with small bevels and rounded corners, has a welded metal 'x' shaped base, no ornament, straightforward and uncomplicated.  forthright, i guess you could say.

it goes with this painted, built in banquette that we recently installed for our clients.

 

  we had originally discussed having one of our 'shaker' style metal bases, and i went so far as to paint some mdf mockups that we put with an mdf top and tried in the space.  we decided in the end that the mockup was too long, but the right width.  the shaker bases are expensive though, and the table was only 32 x 60,  so we discussed other metal base possibilities.  click the photos to enlarge them.

i had a mockup i had made for another potential client a few years back and when i sent her the picture of it, she said her friend had a table with an 'x' base, and she really liked it.  it turned out it was one sam had made for her friend last summer.  so, we were home free.  the other table was 8' long and so had a 3" square tubing base, but since this table was shorter and narrower, we went with 1.5 x 3" rectangular tubing and no center stretcher. 

to replace the rigidity function of the center stretcher, sam added 'wings' to the tops, which, when screwed to the table took away even the slightest shake.

  

  end view in the shop, before the finish ...

no legs on the corners to facilitate sliding in to the banquette.

and at the same time, will was whipping up another version of our round, 'tapered octagonal' pedestal tables.  this client , who is also local, was visiting the shop and saw this one back in january, which was slightly smaller, (42" in diameter vs 48" above) but the same in every respect.

both tables are simplified versions of the original design we made back in 2003.  that table was larger to start and had three leaves, as well as some painted details, and a more elaborate edge and center inlays, but certainly related.  'take an object; do something to it'.

 

i had hit the highlights in the previous post in january, but here are a few more in process photos anyway.  above, veneering the edges of the 'propeller' base.

the center burl inlay border installation.

another cherry table coming up soon ...as soon as we finish a curly maple trestle table that goes to the same client as this one ... more on that later ...

the next cherry table will be a 42" x 11'6" version of the one below, from 2005.

update on the george the third style table

well, due to the vagaries of my shipper's schedule, i'm going to have some time to get a formal picture of this one,  but for now, here's a snapshot.  there were a lot of steps and stages in its construction and i'm glad to see it finished.  here's a link to the original blog post that details making, detailing and gluing up the pedestals, and photos of the edge and inlay details.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

a close up of the walnut and burl edge detail

 early in the stain/finish process

a view of the bottom

and a photo of the the original, larger, expanding,version that we made waaaay back in 1991 ...

almost thinking about spring

 ok, at least we're starting to think about spring here ... the ducks came back to the pond on thursday, but after a cold but sunny friday, it snowed again last night, and it's in the 20's again today.  the ducks are frozen out of the pond until it warms up again.  it's pleasant today, but not like wednesday, when it hit almost 50 and the sky was that incredible blue.  springtime in vermont is something of a tease.  back and forth, forth and back, and on and on for a few weeks.  we should have crocuses in a week or two, but you'd never know it today.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

 

we've had daffodils from the store on the counter for a couple weeks and they are always welcome.

 but the back yard and the mountains are looking like winter still

 and then you've got the 'black and white' days like this one last week, where the only color in the picture is the stop sign ...

no color at all here

 but the barred owls are calling ... nesting time for them soon , and even though the pheobes won't be back for a few weeks,we cleared their  nest off the cornice return this week ... 

 yeah, it's as soft as it looks ... a work of natural art weaving for sure

there's wood to stack.  i'm outta here ...