the kitchen's in

this week and last, we moved the curly maple kitchen we have been working on from the shop to its new home.  it was trickier than it looks.  typically, templates for the counter tops are made after the counters are installed, but because of the timing, and, in particular, the long lead time on the sink, we had to make the templates and the sample sink as we started the cabinets.  click the photos to enlarge them ..

before we left the shop though, we had to finish up the plate rack cabinet.  since we actually hadn't built one of these, we made a prototype section with a tablesaw cove to keep the plates in place, (run the board on an angle over the blade raising it a little at a time). BE CAREFUL !!

then, we got to the site, which is a 1920's era large colonial that our client has been working to restore for several years.  we used the slate templates to locate the cabinets and then brought in the slate, which was cut and milled at sheldon slate in granville, just across the line in new york state ... i posted photos of their facility when we first started this project a while back.  there are more early pictures of this project at that link.

the slate was delivered and installed by tom mullan, (seated here), and his crew, sheldon's installation subcontractor, who was the epitome of professionalism, and maintained complete calm as the ineveitable little problems we encountered were overcome.

 

they had a slick little four wheeled dolly that enabled them, and us, to move the +/- 450 pounds pieces into place.

 

ta dah on the corner piece ... it fit perfectly against the wall even though there were some 'old house, out of square corners that we had dealt with when we made the templates.

next came the sink cabinet below.  we had a one dollar pool in the shop where we all guessed the weight of the 42" x 21" x 13" deep slate sink.  trevor took the loot with his guess of 425 pounds ... it said "430 pounds" on the crate.

complicating this operation was the fact that the sink was wider than the opening for the doors.  we made the corner section removable so that we could slide the sink into place and locate it (using the mdf template) and installing the doors and returns after the counter was in place.  we only had to slide the counter back once to relocate the sink about an 1/8th of an inch so that the 1/4" counter overhangs were consistent.  i was some glad when that process was finished.  there was no margin for error.

 

we returned a couple days later with the long, glass doored upper cabinet that will built, and that part of the installation went very smoothly.

 

all in, all done, except for the last piece, a 42" marble table that fills the space between the two counters.  that goes in tomorrow, just in time for the fundraiser party the client is hosting saturday night for the local dorset nursing association .. it should be a great party!  more pics when we are totally totally finished.

trevor put the finishing touches on it today ...

there are a lot of interesting details in this house, like the island we made back in may, (another challenging project), the soft corners on the wall openings, the owner made concrete floor tiles, and the curving steel and marble stairway...

all done; the table's in ... 

my friends, the bald faced hornets

i like these guys ... we leave them alone, (mostly) and they leave us alone and amuse us with their wonderful creations ... it seems that every year we have a nest of them somewhere, usually in an out of the way place on the house or in the woods nearby ... i was wondering where they were this year until i spotted them last night while sitting on my back deck and looking up at the incredible blue fall sky .. hi guys ... nice spot you picked this year ... probably the best one yet ... click the photos to enlarge them ...

last year they were occasionally warmed by the outside lights

but one year they decided to do the garage door thing, which made me nervous each time i backed the convertible out with the top down. in the end, with regret now, i nuked them in early august when the buzzing got really loud ...

and here they were, high in the tree tops back in 2008 ...

discover dorset this weekend

we've got a new event in town this weekend called 'discover dorset' ... it's an attempt by the chamber of commerce and some of the businesses in town to enlighten the public as to what dorset has to offer ... there are many events, speakers, and open studios, and there is a full schedule here at the town's website. will and i and maybe sam at some point will be in the studio from 10-4 to welcome the public for tours of the shop and past and present projects. click the photos to enlarge them ...
our claro walnut and rebar table and ladderback chairs will be on sale this weekend with a special price ... there are other examples of these large slabs of wood, both finished an unfinished available for viewing.
and sam will have a couple of his recent 'california balconies' on display. they will be heading for grafton to be installed in a new house next week.
and will will be on hand, working on seeders banjo #12. walnut ebony and gold mother of pearl. he may even be doing a little engraving on the inlays ... a very cool process.
stop by and check it out and you can hear about his recent visit from WCAX in burlington ... he will be featured either this monday or next on the CAX segment 'made in vermont' .. i can't wait to check it out ...

and i'll be working on my drawings and model for an upcoming steel and claro walnut pool table (below), that will go in the same room as the 12 foot claro walnut table we sent to chicago back in july.
and we should have the custom curly maple kitchen we've been working on (see the previous post) all together in the shop, ready to deliver on monday morning ...
lots to see... come on by ...

a custom curly maple kitchen

ok, we're coming along on the custom kitchen i first wrote about when i visited the slate mill back in august. this job was a little bit of a surprise for me, even though we built the kitchen island in the adjacent room back in march and april. anyway, by the time it came our way, it was too late to proceed in the normal manner, which is to install the cabinets and then make the templates for the slate counters. because of a tight timeline involving a large fundraising party on the 29th of this month, we had to make the templates and hand them off and then finish the cabinets and install them. it's a little nerve wracking, making sure everything adds up, but i think we've got it now. click the photos to enlarge them ...
here's where we are as of yesterday. trevor hass prefinished the door panels and frames and he'll glue up the doors and end panels today. we should have everything pretty much finished and fitted up by the end of this week. that is, if the drawers by stratton creek arrive on schedule. we've been using stratton creek for a few years any time we have a bunch of big drawers and not as much time or budget as we need. they do a great economical and timely job for less than we can even think about doing them .. they also do through dovetails, which look as handcut as any premade drawer i've seen.

so, here's the process ... we built the rough boxes and made the templates from our cad drawings

and took them to the job site, checked everything, and handed off the templates to the slate guys ... there is, to make it even trickier, a large 42 x 21 all slate, two level sink that has to be fabricated in maine. to facilitate this, we actually made two mdf sink mockups from 1" material, same as the slate, and sent one off to maine. just for fun, there's and angled wall and an installation quirk to deal with. the sink will be too heavy to drop into the hole, and the door beneath is is too small to slide it into place from below. so, we have decided to fit up the doors and angled face frames, but not glue them to the cabinets until the sink is installed. it's a little anxiety producing to contemplate, given the minimal counter overhangs on the sink and the then necessary exact sink placement and a million other things, but having the two identical mockups eases the mind ... somewhat ... i don't even want to think how much the finished counter is going to weigh.

it should work ...

back to the shop with the cabinets

start the mostly glass single upper cabinet ... that will be about 8 feet long and about 48 inches wide when it's finished and will be assembled on site.

and then there's the undercounter oven ... we could not make any sense of the online descriptions, but fortunately, the appliance supplier was able to get it for us so we could have it here to figure it out. NOT straightforward ...

then we needed some crown moldings, which typically we make ourselves ...

we run the shape and then glue on backing pieces so we can attach the molding without visible fasteners ... it takes a minute, but is worth the effort.

it's just a bunch of 45 degree table saw set ups ... more pictures coming as we finish it up ...

felting the rails ... and them rack 'em up !

when last we left you reader, on the subject of pools tables, (almost a month ago), the pool table was set up in the shop and ready to go ... last tuesday, on the urging of our client, will and i took a long road trip to virginia to set it up. it was definitely the longest trip to install one yet, but on the whole, interesting, relaxing and rewarding on a lot of levels. it's amazing what a difference a smart phone with navigation and an ipod with spotify can make .. conjure a song; listen to it. get lost .. find yourself .... amazing ...

back to where we left off ... after laying out the cuts on the cushions with a jig we made a few years back, we trimmed them on the chop saw and trued them up ... pictures of that operation in the previous post.

then comes the tricky part .. click the photos to enlarge them ...

will created the series of photos and notes above and below to document the process some time when we were making a previous (green felted) table, and he still reviews them each time he does the rail felting. it's an important, fussy, tricky, part of the project that makes the table what it is. below are some larger versions of the same photos

the 'pucker' ... see notes in the fine woodworking article about that .. you may need to be a fine woodworking member to view that ... $15. well spent ...

do a couple sets of these and you'll have it.
then for us came the set up ... in a very nice room i might add ...

the felt is stretched from the side pockets and centers of the end rails out to each of the corner pockets ...
and then the corners are stretched and stapled to the slate liner pieces ...
bolt on the rails and pockets and rack 'em up ...

drawing and thinking with michael graves

there was a great little essay by michael graves in the sunday times this week ... in it, mr. graves visits one of my favorite themes, drawing as thinking, which i have written about myself here. it is, in many folks' thinking, an integral part of the creative and communicative process. it is, if i had to pick one, the thing that enables us, as a team, to do what we do. the back and forth sketching, the doodling in our spare time ... the communicative sketch, it's all part of it ...

you can click the photos above and below and read it here, but if you don't mind seeing about a thousand ads, the first link above takes you to the new york times website, where you can read it much more easily ...

mr. graves has also written other pieces on the subject, and here is a link to a nice slideshow of his drawings, with comments, that i encountered online while writing this post ... and here's another link to some of my 'spare time' drawings that sometimes lead to new furniture designs ...