Drilling Holes on the Lathe

We made a jig this week that saved about 3 times the time it took to figure it out and construct it and will save many more frustrating hours in the future .... Whenever we have to turn something longer than our lathe can handle (36"), we have been setting up this complicated and intensely fussy drill press jig below ... It is impossible to set it up accurately without a bunch of test holes and test pieces and I just hate it. We were doing just one turning for a friend this week and someone was using the drill press, so I thought, now's the time ... It took about a half an hour and worked on the first try ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ...
The old set up on the drill press above ...
The new set up ... You've got to have a chuck that fits in your lathe drive shaft.. I used a regular 1.25" spade bit for these holes and turned an oak dowel to fit. Once you start, you can drill the whole depth of the spade bit if you want, which is about 3". The bits, with their tall straight sides and no lead screw just drill right in there if they are sharp ... I used the tail stock crank to push the stock onto the bit and by first mounting the stock on the regular drive center and tailstock dead center, I was able to locate the guide strips on either side of the stock before inserting the drill chuck ...
It was smoother drilling if I clamped the jig to the lathe ways before drilling ..
There's the tenon in there ...
Perfect alignment .... we made a stubby tenon that was just an inch longer than the hole was deep
that fit nicely. The extra inch let us clamp the stub that stuck out in the vice to remove it after we finished turning and sanding ... Next time we'll do work like below with a jig like this ...
bed blog post here

Sam Mosheim Metalwork

OK ... Well, I posted quite a bunch of Will's work recently and now it's time for a little of Sam's .. You can see more details regarding these photos by clicking on the 'sam mosheim' category below to the right. Using Picasa 3 and the 'slide shows' post instructions, I put up a a slide show of sam's work, most of it from previous blog posts .... Take the tour at this link if you have a minute and give him a call if you need some custom metalwork ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
The hanging lights
Custom belt buckles
The Classic 'Vermonter'
'Bridges' Bench
The Tansu Stairs
The Balcony
The Cockatoo Chairs
A Cool Signpost

Banjo #3 Is Finished

When last we left you a couple of weeks ago, Will was heading down the homestretch on banjo #3, thinking he was making a Christmas present .... In the end, he got an extra couple of weeks that he really didn't need. It turns out it's to be a birthday present, the 20th of January to be exact .... It took the pressure off and allowed him some extra time to do a really super job ... Looks cool; sounds even cooler .... one of the happiest instruments I have ever heard ... Here's a one minute concert clip ... Take a bow Will ... 6/22/2014 .. for photos of 20 more banjos visit will's website at seedersinstruments.com

Click the photos to enlarge them ....
12/14
12/31
He finished it Wednesday, we photographed it today ...
For Mackintosh H.M.Swan .... 1/20/2011 is his birthday
Gold abalone in pearl inlays ...
Back view ... Keep in mind that this is actually a 'mini' banjo with an 8" head and a shortened scale and fretboard ....
from the video ... check it out
And the 'coup de grace' is the nameplate ,,,, made by Will on the CNC with a 60 degree bit .. the brass plate is about a 1/2 " tall ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!!

PS ... We posted start to finish photos and comments on Will's first banjo here .. at the bottom of that post are links to three others ... make a banjo, start to finish ...

The Estey Organ Desk

We don't don't often take on work like this, but we just did a refinish on this 19th century desk for a friend ... The story was intriguing ... It was supposedly made by the owner or son of the owner of the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, Vermont ... An amazing 100 plus year old Veront company that made over 520,000 !! reed organs and over 3200 full size pipe organs before it went out of business in 1960. The desk appears to be from about the right mid to late 19th century time frame judging from the look of it. It had a severely distressed, insulted and alligatory shellac finish that was beyond saving which Jim removed with a little (lot) of alcohol and a white Scotchbrite pad ... After some serious sanding, we put a couple coats of dye stain and our typical gloss/gelstain/satin finish ... It now looks like it's ready for another hundred years ... Out the door Friday morning ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
This is in the sanding stage, ready for the first coat of stain ...
The completed desk with the fall front open ...
Trevor made a quick replacement arch top ... the second from the left ... It had a neat detail. The shapes are cut from 1/4' thick lumber, but the back side of the profile is relieved to 1/8" thick which gives the appearance that the wood is half as thick as it is ... clever ....

A Christmas Jewelry Box

Will recently completed this nice jewelry box for a client to give to his wife for Christmas ... It was a surprise, but the cat's out of the bag by now I'm sure ... It was a nice little project ....Click the photos to enlarge them ... Above is the back side ...
From the front .... We used a piece of figured cherry left from the new trestle table we delivered the weekend before Christmas ... The square trays are about an inch tall and slide side to side or lift out easily ... The mirror was a last minute addition ...
Will did the walnut inlay with the initials on the cnc ...
When he glued up the box, we weren't sure whether the outside was to be stained or not. Since the bottom of the drawer and the top compartment are covered with a suede like fabric, we shellacked the interior before the glue up and taped it off for staining and finishing the outside ...
Will fitted up the drawer and installed the hinges before disassembling the box for finishing ...
The dividers, taped off
From the front before finishing ... We've got a CAD drawing somewhere ... I think it's about 10 x 14 x 7 high

The Trestle Table

We delivered the trestle table the weekend before Christmas ... It fit right in and replaced a table we had built in 2001 or so .. Their previous table was narrower and shorter and has been moved to their new guest house ...
The chairs are by Nakashima Studios and lower than my typical chairs .... The new table is 28" high instead of our typical 29.5" ...

Original post below ...
11/18/2010 ......... We're working on a new trestle table design ,,,, The trestle is one of my favorite forms .. it can be light and airy or substantial and weighty ... In the end, the base of this one has a kind of 'bridgy' feeling ... it seems to be on eof my influences lately ... I like the tapered verticals and it was fun figuring out how to make them efficiently and accurately. If it looks a little low, it is. The clients Nakashima dining chairs are only 16.5" to the top of the seat .. We dropped the table about 1.25".... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
We glued up the top from three beautiful 16-18" wide 8/4 planks from Irion Lumber ... Spectacular grain below ... Can't wait to see them finished...
They'll have one of our 'aged cherry' finishes when we're through ...
After lucking into an 18 " wide 16/4 plank, (again from Irion's) we next had to figure out how to make the tapered solid verticals. The jig above consists of a carrier with half the total taper for the first shim and them twice the total taper for the multiple passes. We had to add the sacrificial ply rails to allow the planer to 'pull' the wood through and engage the tapered cuts smoothly ... We tapered the ends after we tapered the 18" wide thickness.
One in, one out of the jig right before the last pass.
We made a full size drawing below and added the plinths and 'skids' above ... In the photo above there is also a mini stretcher that we made to check the final angle cuts on that ... We hit it pretty much right on using the angle from the cad drawing ,,,
The finished verticals and the full size layout ...
Will got it all together Friday and we put the top on to check it out ... We have literally no room in the shop to set it down on the floor right now with the 16' 'big island' in the works .... Maybe later this week ... We can't deliver it until Christmas so there's no real rush ... More later as we progress ...
We have done extensive work for these clients including the small room library featured in my 'Libraries We Have Built' post (5th and 6th photos down). Here Jim is checking out a ship model case we built about 8 or 9 years ago ... It's a fantastic model with extraordinary detail ... the story is my client's father was a specialist in arthritis and 'cured' the model maker enough that he made this model in appreciation ... It is spectacular ...

Merry Christmas !!

Merry Christmas Everyone ..... I was sort of stumped as to what to say and put up here until I noticed the framed card above hanging in our bedroom ... It's a card Sam drew when he was (we can't remember exactly), 3 or 4 years old ... We remember watching him do it though ... He started with the four red foot dots, then drew the reindeer, and then switched back to the red for the nose ... Rudolph ...

Well, a lot has happened in the last 24 or so years and I thank all of you .... readers, friends, and clients ... for your support and enthusiasm for our work over the years. Kit and I and Sam and Will wish you and your families a Happy Holiday Season and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year ...
And Mr. Barred Owl came by the shop yesterday and today to say Merry, Merry too ....