top 25 woodworking bloggers ...

i am honored to say that i have recently been selected as 'one of the top 25 woodworking bloggers!

here is a link where you can see websites, blogs and bios of the other 24 ...

from there you can access the home page and check reviews of top woodworking tools.  i checked a few and haven't seen much that i would disagree with yet .. the site seems to have some link to amazon but i am not sure exactly how it works or what that means .. i'm sure it's a good place to start if 

you are considering purchasing a new tool of some type ...

anyway, it's nice of em to appreciate my efforts over the last 8 years .. i'm flattered ...

 enjoy your tour ...

from there you can access the home page and check reviews of top woodworking tools.  i checked a few and haven't seen much that i would disagree with yet .. the site seems to have some link to amazon but i am not sure exactly how it works or what that means .. i'm sure it's a good place to start if 

you are considering purchasing a new tool of some type ...

anyway, it's nice of em to appreciate my efforts over the last 8 years .. i'm flattered ...

 enjoy your tour ...

if you're new to this blog, i have been writing since the fall of 2007,

and there are over 900 posts on a wide variety of topics ...

a couple of pool tables

this started out to be the definitive pool table post, but after finishing these up 

last week, i'm going to take a break before i do the serious detailed writing, which will

be mostly so we remember exactly how the steps to make one of these next time ..

these are our 4th and 5th editions of the pool table above that we originally designed and sent to chicago in november of 2012 .. here's a link ..

surprisingly, as i look back at the blog post for that table, we started it with two 

shipments of broken sets of slate.  this time, we had two broken sets also, 

only they happened in the same shipment, so we lost a lot less time ...

all but the first version of this table have been 8 foot tables, so i had my cad drawing ready to go ..

unfortuantely, they are milled as sets so you can't mix and match them,

but we were able to get started while waiting for the replacements.

a shout out here for my supplier, ae schmidt billiards in st. louis

for being so understanding and quick to ship out the new sets.

sam cut the parts and polished them up

pretty cool to do two of these at the same time .. we almost got efficient about it ...

stack em up  ...

fitting up the rails

 with the black simonis felt

with the simonis olive felt

and then we had the cue rack too ...

and a couple close ups of the rails ...

for the holidays

so, we're wrapping up two pool tables this week and today, for the first time i

can remember in a looong time, the finish room is empty of things
being finished.  and so, i could see (and photograph) the odds and ends
of wood stacked around the perimeter.more than one of them could make
that perfect 'holiday gift' for someone on your list.

let's start with the two walnut slabs above.  the one on the left is claro
from california, and the one on the right is american black walnut
from central pennsylvania ...both have striking color, figure and grain ...
either would make a great small coffee table.

they are both 30 + wide and about 42 long .. the claro is thick, (2.5")
and the americanwalnut is about 1.25"  see this link for some table base ideas.

all of these items are reasonably priced and nearly ready to go .. discuss ....

then we've got this relatively inexpensive unfinished slab of white oak ...
it needs a couple of butterflies, but it also would make an
excellent coffee table, small dining table or desk top .. 

+/- 30 x 72 .. click the photos to enlarge them ..

we also have this interesting birch burl wall piece (or small table top) 

with (or without) a small shelf ... it's about 30" in diameter ..

the straight edge was where the burl was cut off the tree.

and this interesting piece of claro .. +/- 36" at its wide point

about 75 long and an inch and a quarter thick.  can be cut to shape to suit

desk top, coffee table, headboard, worktable .. open to your thoughts on this one.

cool piece of wood .. the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

and we also have a good selection of lightly spalted +/- 60 x 22+" wide maple slabs

these are very reasonable in price, and will finish up nicely, similar to the

one below, which is also available as a desk top, coffee table or queen headboard as shown.

+/- 24 x 62
more spalted maple below

i've still got the unfinished mate to this thick spalted slab

+/- 34 x 50 .. photo below

matched pair .. see more pictures here

how about a live edge oak table?  the two slabs above are yet to be surfaced,

and probably have fairly plain grain.  but they are reasonably priced 

and they'd be perfect for the right space. they'll finish out as a table top at about 42 x 84 .. 

a great size to seat 8 comfortably...

above is a reclaimed chestnut console ... 14 x 60 x 32, i think ..

i need a better photo ...

and here's a piece  of verde antique vermont marble that would make a great coffee table .

20 x 66, but it needs to have one edge polished and could easily be cut down ..

 Black Friday Pricing Applied to your inquiry !!

i'm thinking i've got a few more items .. i'll add more later as the weekend progresses.

call me at 802-867-5541, or

email me at  dan@dorsetcustomfurniture.com

Have a great weekend !

another spalted maple table

 11/3/16 .. all in, all done .. ready to deliver early next week

see below for start to finish ...

the raw slab, marked out for cutting, above ..

10/28 .. first coat of finish on the top

the raw, sandblasted, water jet cut steel parts before polishing and the black patina ..

the legs have been blackened now, and we'll be putting it all together monday or tuesday ...

 this top is another slab table from the maple log i picked up recently ...

cutting it down to 93" to fit the space ... same base as the last one ...

it had some cracks and defects, and we'll be adding walnut butterflies to the large crack at the far end.

i missed a photo here where we had gone around all the cracks with green tape before we poured the 

clear epoxy fill .. you can just see one piece of tape that was left in the near right corner.

it's gray now from sanding, but the larger areas will be water clear when they are polished and finished.

it takes a couple pours, and this was the final one ... west systems epoxy ...

next !!

october 21 .. good to go ... off to boston tuesday ..

pretty crowded in the finish room .. hard to get a good photo

10/25  on site .. more room for a photo here in its new home

this is an interesting photography technique i've been noticing in more than one high fashion magazine ad .. rather then a tedious and quite time consuming photoshop backround cut, it's a fast, approximate cut that still dramatically isolates the image from what is sometimes a confusing background.

10/13/16

we shipped a 4' x 10' claro walnut slab table and 8 chairs last week, and this one 

will be ready to go by the end of next week ... it is the most popular size requested, +/- 42 wide by +/- 8 ' long.  luckily, our friends at goodhope hardwoods had a great slab on hand ..

 trevor flattened and smoothed it up with the power planer, and routed the bottom for the base.

the top is nearly finished and is just waiting for the base to be patinated
and attached before it gets its final topcoat ..

 the parts are drilled, tapped and assembled, and i hope we can start the patina process by monday ..

 the waterjetted parts.  it takes 'almost all day' to cut just one of the verticals ..

setting up to drill them on the drill press .. we have a system by now ...

updates to follow ...

Capital Letters

I stand corrected, if only for this particular blog post.
My Uncles have all passed on, but I would

be appalled to miscommunicate ANY information regarding
my friend Jack and his horse.

 I plan to use CAPITAL LETTERS for at least 

the next hour or two ... Beyond that, probably not so much.

Your friend,

Dan

a claro walnut update ... with chairs

 we'll be delivering the claro walnut table on thursday this week. 

for the full story on this table, including a chain sawing video, 

click this link

thanks to sandy sherman chair caning, for the danish cord seat weaving,
everything is ready to go and it all looks great!

10/7/16 ... on site now ...