time flies ...

3/6/16 .. no snow!

it's been almost a month since i wrote my last blog post ... don't know why, just needed a break i guess.  it might also be the spring in the air ... the convertible is out and the top has been down several times.  crazy weather for march.  the wood frogs are croaking (most years it's april before that happens), the robins and buzzards are back. ducks on the pond.  black spotted salamanders are out ... all that is also rare in march. and, i've golfed twice already!  once at 'arlington national', a par 3 down the road, and once at kingswood, a real course that opens early in nearby hudson falls ... manure on the asparagus and the garden today, kit stacked some of next years firewood.  cold again now though. so here's what happens in about a month at DCF. ... long post coming up ...

we have managed to get a few things out the door though, and that feels good ...

this 'black' walnut desk was a collaborative design with a new local client ..

and we did a couple small tables for the husband's office at the same time . 

they've got stone tops on them now

and i learned of the death of a long time friend ... i lived and traveled with mr. johnson, on the right above on his 59 caddy.  that's me on the left on my '61 f-85.  we lived and worked as bartenders/waiters for 2+ years traveling the country and europe .. starting in december of 1969, we moved from ft lauderdale to the ocean reef club in key largo, then to washington,dc for a month at blackies house of beef, 22nd and m st.,

then on to montauk, above for the summer of 1970.  fall we went off to san francisco, which turned out to be unionized, so we couldn't easily get jobs there, and then to palm springs, which wasn't.  we spent the winter there, saved enough money to do a couple months in europe, (on $5. a day as the book said then), and then to vermont where my sister got me a job as a bartender, and johnson got a job as a waiter.  i got off the bus in arlington, the 5th of july, 1971 with $6. in my pocket and everything i owned in one hand ... met the wife about a month later and here we are now, 45 years later, buried in stuff.

life goes on ...enjoy every healthy moment ...

from basket case to good as new (almost)

original horsehair upholstery

and here we have another challenging restoration ... it is the client's father's chair, and he has been sitting in it daily since at least 1992.  i fixed it quickly about 10 years ago, but this time we did a frame off restoration.  it's at the upholsterers now for the new leather .. should be sharp when it's done.

lots  of tracks of previous repairs ... a worthy piece though .

made me think of this new yorker article again

all in, all done .. new leather

and we delivered another spalted maple table this week.  this one with benches with little mini shaker legs.  the  benches will have cushions eventually ..

i received an enthusiastic email from the clients below who were not there when we delivered it ...

'We LOVE the table and benches!!! I'm working on the chairs that will go at the ends, and cushions or sheepskins to go on the benches, and once the look is complete, we'll send you some good pictures.

I'm at the office in Manchester today, Paul is with the boys- not sure if they'll be home this morning or not.

thanks again,

Chrissy'

and this fairly serious project metal working project will be headed for burke mountain vermont on friday.  a pair of bunkbeds above and a trundle bed below .. they have a bronze patina on them now and the walnut headboards and ladder are finished .. should be sharp when it's all set up ...

and we've got another bed headed for albany, probably tuesday.  you can;t see them in the photo, but there are also sort of 'hidden' big drawers under the platform.  they have angled faces, which were kind of a pain, but you'd never know they were there without getting down to look ..

the drawer box slabs will hang separately from the main headboard.

and we refinished a couple of small tables for a local client ..

and delivered and installed these 8/4 walnut bookcase down by new york city ..
32" x 7'  lookin' sharp

and we cut a long slab that a client purchased for a bar top and coffee table

sanded and finished them and sent them on their way ...

so, while i haven't been blogging, i have been posting to instagram, a newish thing for me ..
it's been fun trolling through the old stuff from the 80's and 90's, before digital.
follow along if you're interested ... #dorsetcustomfurniture

and sam is #sammovt

for banjo stuff, will is #seedersinstruments ...

manure on the asparagus 

and on the garden yesterday .. this time of years it's good to be on at least one person's shit list ...
all for now .. paddle tennis at 10:00 ...

A Tall Case Clock Restoration

We had a nice tall case clock repair come through the shop recently ... Looks to be (except for the missing brass moldings) pretty much original ... There was some loose stuff that we glued and tacked back on and there are a couple of painted wood/brass molding replacements that we left in place ... We weren't after an all out restoration but when we finished, it looked ran and looked just fine ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ....
all together in the shop ...
one of the missing brass moldings, which Trevor duplicated in short order using the cnc ..
After
Will did most of the work on the case and he also replaced a couple simpler missing brass pieces ...
There was no key and the case was locked ... With a little flashlight work and some trial and error, Sam not only got the lock to open, but made us a new key which worked better after we added the wood shim inside the lock ...
Trevor had to unstring and rewind both cables before we hung the weights to get the cable to track right, but as soon as he did, things started to tick tock and gong way .... We hung the pendulum onsite, set the date, time and phase of the moon and tomorrow we'll go back and check and adjust before installing the bonnet ... An interesting project ....
All in, all done ... ticking away and keeping great time .... It seems that it's older than I first thought. My client sent me a link and some information below, on the maker, whose name is inscribed on the dial ...

A late 17th or early 18th century bracket or table clock signed "Markwick, London". The Markwick family is known as one of the earliest of London’s clockmakers, with James Markwick being succeeded by James, presumably his son. The second James Markwick ascended into the Clockmakers Company of London in 1692, becoming a master in 1720, and it was he who sometimes signed his work as simply ”Markwick” http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7421270.