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

seeders instruments instagram feed

any of you folks out there interested in musical instruments or musical instrument repair would likely enjoy visiting seeders instruments photos on facebook.  if you've ever wondered what's inside a guitar or violin, you'll find out there .. enjoy ..

the friday before christmas

well here we are, approaching our 34th christmas at dorset custom furniture.  we got the spirit friday, when jim put up the traditioinal 'tree' lights on the end of the shop.  it may be the last year for this string as about half the lights are out, and the local stores no longer carry the bulbs ... maybe we'll get lucky and find some in 'the big city' (rutland or bennington)  if we get there over the holidays.  click the photos to enlarge them ..

as usual, there is a lot going on in the shop this time of year .. the pool table is part 

of the hill farm project and it looks like that will be finished by the 1st.  

it's now ready for blinds and finish and felt on the cushions

we're working on several projects for a local inn restoration

down the road a piece in sunderland

one of the projects involves some steel cut outs, based on their logo, on the gable end, and trevor cut some samples for size.  i took them to their friday christmas party and nina mooney, the designer we're working with, bravely got out on the porch roof after lunch and held them up .. 

we decided the deer has to be bigger.

back at the shop, trevor was putting the finishing touches on the inlay in the 

trestle table for the same project

the base is finished

but we were all concerned the the deer antlers would get lost in the sky

fortuantely, we had an antler that sam or someone found and we sliced a couple pieces 

up and trevor cut them out and fit them in ... viola!  antlers!!

and we installed the drawers in the 12' bedroom piece we've been working on

the faces will have an ebony and quartered cherry detail to go with the ebony and burl edge inlay ..

and we're waiting for the custom cast pulls to arrive from ball and ball.  they've done them for us before and they should be here soon.

and will's wrapping up another banjo to be shipped out before the 1st.  it was a tricky one where he had to figure out how to steam bend and laminated curly maple for the rim, engrave a bunch of pearl inlays, and engrave words and initials into the ebony on the finished rim .. not an easy task ..

talk about the workmanship of risk ...

and sam has finished his first 'larger than a belt buckle project' in the new metal shop

the client sent us a photo of a similar wood base with funky metal connectors and we figured out how to weld it up in 3" steel tubing.  cool object.  it will have our bronze patina on it before shipping.

and the carpenters wrapped it up on friday .. they finished the siding , installed the collar ties on the second floor and insulated the ceiling so we can at least heat it occasionally for painting

we'll finish it off as our cash flow allows

ta dah

and tah dah  in here too

and the final part of the dorset church rails is ready for christmas services .. just in time ..

merry christmas to all !!