what's happening now

we could be setting the record here these days with 'stuff going on at the same time 

right before the holidays' at dorset custom furniture this month.

started a couple weeks ago with this railing from sam's shop

and a stand for a 1953 packard hood ornament

and a maple leaf belt buckle .. first one of these i think ...

 and then these last week

 

and this one cemented in place, just before the snow ...

 

the terrain and the recent crushed stone fill around the new stairs made

this one a challenge.

and then, the snow

and the new railings at the dorset field club

still more to go there with railings at each set of stairs

and will's been busy .. here he is modeling a 'goatskin necklace', the trimming from 

a natural skin head installed on a recent banjo he finished.

more photos of this and other many other banjos at seedersinstruments.com

and i've finished some new pottery, just in time to give it away for christmas ...

and while it may not look it, this was a challenging redo, given the existing tile,

slightly out of plumb walls, and complex existing infrastructure under the old vanity.

after

and trevor's got a 42" round table with 4 -20" leaves

 home stretch; ready for light stain with black details soon ..

 and at the very last minute, a client we've been working with since may added these counters to the mix.  this one is 28" wide by 12'8" long by 350 pounds or so.

 this one is 5' x 6 feet by about 350 pounds or so too

 

 and this rather substantial claro walnut slab arrived last week from good hope hardwoods ..

63" at the wide end; 13' long; 3" thick in the rough ..

 trimmed er down a little at the local jk adams factory where we had it delivered

(they have a forklift)

 great figure !!!!!

 trimmed and in the truck.... now in the shop .. in the on deck circle for next year

and jim just sanded and reoiled a set of six of these outdoor chairs ... 

ugh! .. he was glad to deliver them back to the client

and the last two pre-christmas projects that should be finished at the end of the day today ..

above another 'x based table' from reclaimed barn parts; last coat of finish today

 

and this custom cue rack ... finished now, and i'll install it this morning

and on christmas eve, a last minute 'gift certificate' for a slab top coffee table .. 

i'm sure it was a hit with the client's wife on christmas morning

lit the tree at the shop yesterday .. 

merry christmas to all !!!

rudolph .. by sam, 1986

furniture from reclaimed lumber

we've been making furniture from reclaimed lumber for many years now.  i am in the process of collecting the photos of this furniture in one place and have created this slideshow where you can see some of them.

here are just a few of my favorites ...

the 'bridges' bench   .. made for the 2010 bennington museum show 'state of craft: fifty years of crafts in vermont'.  the theme of the show was 'continuity' and this piece involved 4 members of our family.

one of our early chestnut projects ... it was a project for a friend, and it involved this table, 

a gateleg pull up extension table, and 8 chairs

i put my feet up on this one every day.  it was an early collaboration involving me and kit, and our metal working son sam

part of our series 'empire deluxe' ... reclaimed chestnut and vermont marble

and who doesn't love a nice post and beam custom pool table

and about 50 more photos and blog links here

sunny winter light

friday morning was clear and sunny and the winter light was beautiful .. 

love the way it rakes horizontally across the house.

click the photos to enlarge them

makes the cherry glow

turkeys love it too

and the frost on the windshield was excellent