a couple of challenging projects

 ok, it's good to be challenged, especially when you have an

extremely talented nephew for an assistant on the job.

hats off to Kristian here!

this is the first of two challenges we wrapped up recently

 and i can't wait to see this one in its new home ... 

it's a Moroccan inspired sideboard with lots

 of carved details that all had to line up horizontally and

vertically as they went around the cabinet ...

a bit of a cad drawing challenge ..

 head on view here 

 

inspiration photos above ... our clients decided against

the carvings on the end panels as there is a wall close by on

the right, and a door to another room on the left and the 

cabinet ends will not be very visible ... 

getting the finish right turned out to be a bit of a challenge.

we made lots of samples before we ended (finally) with an

aniline dye, milk paint over that sponged, and a matte finish

top coat .... the gray lends it a bit of a 'not too brand new' feel.

rather than the Moroccan wood details on the doors,

we at first suggested some perforated steel panels, but

the holes allowed too much visibility into the cabinet interior

and did not really 'pop'..

Sam had some square hole material from a previous job 

and when we painted it a bronzy color and put a stained and 

painted mahogany veneer panel behind it, it was an instant winner

a couple of other photos by Kristian on his @vttrees

instagram page below ... quite the piece!

 

custom cast pulls by ball and ball hardware in pennsylvania

we have been making this pull in wood since the mid 80s, 

and i started having them cast about 10 years ago.  fortunately

bob had saved the patterns and once he got the sample i sent

we were good to go ... 

 

and i leave you with a few images from a friends 

recent trip to Morocco

the famous 'goats in  the trees'

it's not photoshopped!

and some other Moroccan carvings and tile work ... 

they like geometric forms!

all for now...

the old man project

ok .. i have been out to lunch for a while on the old man project, 

that i started in july of 2022  ... i am back at it today, 

a rainy sunday at the end of april 2023 ..

in july of 2022, i started to write a somewhat lengthy

history of my time as a woodworker and 

furniture maker over the last 50 years ... 

here's a link

you should be able to start with 'milestones' and at the end 

of that post go to the 'older post' link for the next installment.

i am approaching the beginning of my blogging in 2007,

and from there, it's all here .. nearly a thousand blog posts 

and over 2,000,000 page views ... it's been quite a trip ...

if you have the google photos app you can 

view the slide shows, with literally thousands of photos 

of our work over the years

feel free to comment or ask questions if you have any.

thanks for reading!

 

 

 

a vermont sap spout maple console table

 

ok ... this is a fun one!  

last week and some of this week we have been waiting for 

a big load of reclaimed chestnut to arrive from west virginia .. 

we got word yesterday that it will be here by friday ..

in the meantime we made some pieces for sale 

out of wood that has been 'hanging around'.   

these three boards i know i have owned for since at least 2015 ..

 
anyway,  this table is 18 x 58 x 30" high and would look great in your

entryway, behind your couch, or as a compact work desk.

ready to ship or deliver immediately.

vermont maple at its finest

more pieces 'ready to go' on the 'pages' section 

at the top of the home page on my blog ..

a few more ready to go in the previous blog post.

click the pictures for a closer look ...

some other recent pieces ready to go ...

in an effort to 'clean house' a bit, below are some pieces for sale,

ready to go, for immediate delivery .. 

the 52" round table below has a bit of history ..

it can be characterized as 'very slightly used'.

the top of the table above was once in a law firm in new jersey 

you can see it in the photo below ...

several months after they received the 52" table they asked if 

i could replace the top with a 60" round, which we did ...

they asked for a 'credit' for the existing top, which i sort of

grudgingly granted.  my delivery guys installed the new top

and returned the original to me in 2018, and it has sat, 

wrapped up in my office, ever since ...

last year we made this round expanding table, 

and as we got underway, the client requested

a change in the design of the base that you can see above ...

we had already made the base pieces so they went into the office

with the 'reclaimed' top ... they are now the base for this new table ...

 priced below the cost of new,

email, text or call me at 802-379-1478 to discuss ... 

 

here's another, a claro walnut, cut off, coffee table, 

28 x 46 x 18 high (adjustable), could be lowered ...

in the rough, with a pocket for the butterfly

nice figure!

this coffe table was made from one of thee these two cutoffs that

have been hanging out here for at least a couple of years

i found another nice curly claro cutoff in the cellar from 

which we were just able to get the four legs ...

the cutoff in the back of these two became the table below ..

+/- 38 wide x 40 long x 16 high claro walnut 'corner' table

we were going to cut a 30" round from it, but we decided

it might be a cool accent for the right situation.

the steel trapezoid base pieces came from a gallery table that 

a client purchased, but requested that we make that table 'taller' ..

a 'corner' application below ... the straight sides are +/- 22"

the lounge chairs are about 36" deep ...

and below, i updated my 'paintings for sale'

at The Coffee Bar, junction of routes 7 and 9

in downtown Bennington ... lots of art for sale there!

'my corner'

some of the other art, and the live music stage

great place! loads to see there!

 

and lastly, we still have this claro walnut desk that is looking for

a good home .. it is in a gallery in manchester now, but i have informed

the owner that i am trying to sell it on my own ......

 

 a claro walnut desk, with a drawer and a 

secret compartment .. steel base by sam .. +/- 44 x 70.

 

beautiful color and figure in the desk top

call or text for a price ... 

 

all for now ...

A new set of ladderback chairs, and a trestle table to match

I should start by introducing myself as Kit and Dan's nephew Kristian Moore

I have been working in the dorset custom furniture shop for the last four years and am excited to be writing my first blog post. Thank you Dan, for creating such a vast depository of custom furniture, art, and life!

For this most recent custom order of ladderback chairs the clients requested a taller back with more space between backsplats. After a few design changes and reprogramming we started cutting out parts on the CNC.

our traditional ladderback on the left, and the new design on the right

back legs and mortices cut with the cnc

Every time I build chairs I am surprised by the amount of time they take! Lots of parts and pieces to mill, each piece with mortises of tenons to cut, and lots of sanding…

Once assembled they get a once over before the staining begins. For this set of chairs the client wanted a near black finish, so we used three coats aniline dye, black, brown, and black again before having our neighbor Kevin spray a dull finish on everything.

For this project I gained some experience doing the upholstery. Using a ½” plywood seat blank I added three layers of batting for the cushion before applying this distressed cowhide. The upholstery was a new challenge for me and I’m very glad I took it on as it was gratifying to work with the leather, a new medium.

The table top was a beautiful set of variegated walnut from Irion lumber which we decided needed breadboard ends aesthetically and to ensure minimal movement over time as we were able to get the top out of a three board matching set. The Trestle base is very rugged yet appears light weight due to the two vertical legs on each end and two horizontal beams that mirror each other.

And here we are all finished with seat cushions attached. ready to be shipped

a few more favorites

in my previous post i promised 'a few more favorites'

and here are 'a few more' ... with almost 1000 posts to choose from, 

it gets a little tricky ...

click the pictures to enlarge them ...

interior design, and

'the spaces we make'

the blog post for the link above is mostly highlight 

general thoughts on architectural and interior design, and

comments on the furniture design/make process ...

 

drawing and thinking : thinking and drawing ...

this is an excerpt from an article by ashley ericsmoen,

an australian based furniture designer/maker and professor of design ... 

i have been drawing for pleasure since i bought the book

'drawing on the right side of the brain' by betty edwards,

back when i had to learn how to present my ideas to 

potential customers back in the late 70s. sadly, i made it

through high school and college without ever having an art course.

there are two relevant posts at the link above and both are 

discussions of the creative process

and two articles recently in the new york times and the new yorker

on ideas and creativity

new york times   temple grandin .. visual thinking

 new yorker  'how should we think about thinking?'

'handwork'?  'machine work'? cnc? does it matter?

 

some cnc work ... 1997, using a cnc at a friend's shop

all 'handwork', no cnc ... 1993?

a cnc router is 'just a tool' that lets us

do things no one would likely pay us to do without it.

the tansu stairs .. both of them 

                                     

these stairs went to california, along with about 15 lineal 

feet of railings for the second floor

the photos the client sent that we used for the concept drawings;

the builder provided onsite measurements to create the shop drawings.

the original tansu stairs,  a local project we did in 1989 ... 

with the railings we added in 2014

sam's belt buckles

pretty much anything you want on them ...

and if you need a railing of some sort, here's the place to go ...

and in case you missed it back in july, 

there's my 'old man project', still a work in progress ...

there are 6 posts there that i still add to from time to time .. 

story of my 51.5 years of life in vermont, and a little bit

from before i stepped off the bus in arlington to visit my sister.

i had $6. in my pocket, and everything i owned in one hand.

all for now ... 

all the best for 2023

happy new year all !!

after 15 years of writing this blog, 

i am a little short on new things to say about 

the past, and about 2023, except to wish you all the best.

we had a great 2022 and i hope you did too.

here's what i said back in 2016 and again  2010

some of my favorite quotes are there ... like the one below

and others like that ...

and ok ... new year, new slide show

here is a link to the page where you will find it, 

down toward the bottom of it there.

'work from 2022'

i let myself get a little carried away, adding some 

pet photos, historic items, music videos, golf and weather stuff, 

making it a bit of a lengthy one ... you can click through pretty quickly.

42 years of our previous work there too.  literally thousands of photos ...

if you are looking for more info on any of the photos,

 you may see a link with the photo, and though it won't work, it will 

tell you the month in 2022 that i wrote a blog post about it

which should make it pretty easy to find ...

  

onward !