Dorset Custom Furniture's New Blog

"Welcome to Dorset Custom Furniture's new blog. Here you will find new projects we are working on, recently completed pieces, and other useful information regarding our furniture and designs. We have a wide range of many styles from Beidermeier, Federal, Traditional Country, Contemporary, Arts & Crafts, Japanese influenced, Greene and Greene and many more. All of our work is 100% custom made and designed from the ground up with the clients. We look forward to working with you on your custom piece."

www.dorsetcustomfurniture.com

11/1/2015
i think will wrote that introductory blog post for me back in october of 2007.   my, my, my, who knew?  here we are, 8 years and eight hundred and seventy six (!!!) blog posts later, on the first of november 2015.  it's been a long, fine ride, and while i tend to lose focus and slack off from time to time, i think i'll keep writing for at least the foreseeable future ... i like it .. the nostalgia of it, the record keeping of it, the diary function of it, and yes, the occasional comments from readers like you.  it seems a worthwhile undertaking.  so, thanks to all you 303,368 visitors who have read 1,963,322 pages of it for spending time with me, and hats off to all of you.

my very best regards,
dan

if you are new to the party, here's a link to a few of my personal favorite blog posts.  'most popular' are over there to the right side.  also below the popular posts are the 'categories' where posts are grouped by subject.

and at the top of the home page up in the right corner there is a link to our on line SLIDE SHOWS ! with some links to their corresponding blog posts ...

12/24/15

the beautiful music all around us .. stephen wade stops by ....

we had a great event in manchester last wednesday evening.  the verrmont council of the humanities 'first wednesdays' program featured stephen wade, a grammy winning banjo player and music historian.  he is a stunning performer and great story teller.  he spent an hour or so describing his travels through the south, meeting and playing with the old time musicians in the 60s and 70s interspersing the story with song on about 7 or 8 historic banjos from his collection.  naturally, at the end of the show, will needed to buy his book, 'the beautiful music all around us ... field recordings and the american experience'.  more about that book at this link.  while doing that, he struck up a conversation with stephen and his friend sandy, a banjo collector.  next day, wouldn't you know, they showed up at the shop for a visit and to test out a few of will's banjos.  great music, great banjos, and a great time was had by all ...

sandy, with a new one, hot off the press

 

and will plays a tune for stephen ..

see more photos of will's banjos and their construction on his seeders instruments instagram feed.

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

road trip ... pool table installation

 will and i took a nice road trip today to sugarbush ski area in warren, to install the reclaimed post and beam pool table we finished last week.  it was a beautiful, sunny two hour drive, over brandon gap in the national forest, and up route 100 to warren, vermont. 

 the house had an easy, back door access and the installation went off without a hitch.  here's a link to a video of the table in action, with me missing some easy shots so you can see how the cushions work.  ha ha ... i'm liking the video thing as you can now see a little bit how the table plays and sounds.  i think i will try to do some other videos on a couple of the local tables we have built over the years.

we installed this table on a polished concrete floor that was absolutely, 100 %, perfectly level.  never saw anything like it before.  it was a welcome change from the last table we installed, where the floor was about 1/2" out of level from one end to the other. 

 

 it was a very nice, lower level room with great light, easy access and the tv was already installed.

 

 after truing up the edges of the slates with very thin index card shims, will bondoed the cracks before we stretched the felt.

 a little pocket trimming and some leather liners ...

 and it was time to rack 'em up.    

we had a couple of job site labs to help us out and keep us company ... good dogs...

the cue rack installation was easy ..

the house was beautiful and almost finished

 there was no snow, but the mountain looked steep and challenging, and they were trying ... all the guns were blowing snow, but it still looked pretty thin.  one of the carpenters said 'they're grooming the same four inches for the last two weeks'.

 on both legs of the trip, we passed the very scenic moss glen falls, around granville, on route 100.

 

sunset coming down brandon gap the other way ... home by 5:00 ...